Page:Little Ellie and Other Tales (1850).djvu/25

Rh that struck her was as much to her as a whole shovel-full would be for us, her whole body being only an inch long. To protect herself from the weather, she wrapped herself up in a dead leaf; but there was no warmth in it, and she trembled from head to foot with cold.

Close to the wood where Ellie lay was a large corn-field; but the corn had long been cut, and only the dried stubble now stood above the ground; but to Ellie this was a wood, and hither she came. So she chanced to arrive at the house of a field-mouse, which consisted of a little hole among the roots of the corn-stubble. Here, warm and comfortable, dwelt the field-mouse; she had her whole room stored full of corn for the winter; and besides it a nice little kitchen and larder. Poor Ellie approached the door like a little beggar child, and prayed for a morsel of barley-corn to eat; for she had tasted nothing for two whole days.

“Poor little thing!” said the field-mouse, who was very good-hearted; “come into