THE MOUSE THAT TICKLED A CAT

Evening Star, Issue 22026, 11 May 1935, Page 5

THE MOUSE THAT TICKLED A CAT

There was once a mischievous mouse named Horace. Whenever ho was missing from home, and that was often, his mother and father were always worried. Father Mouse would stroke his long whiskers and say; “ 1 know something will happen to Horace one day,” and Mother Mouse would say: “ Shall 1 ever see my son again?” And then their mischievous son would come scampering in and tell the most wonderful tales of life “ above the boards.” He brought rare tit-bits with him, too, such as sugar, jam tart, butter, and sometimes cheese!

There wore other families of mice living under the skirting board, but the only time that they went into the house was when they wanted food, and then they went in - the night. But Horace went all over the house in the day!

It made things more difficult for the other mice -when* a cat came to live in tho house. Not for Horace, though, he went about the house as usual, and once he actually brought home some of the cat’s hairs. Oh! Terrible! It made all tho mice shiver with fright. “ However did you get them?” asked Mother Mouse, who would not even touch the horrible things. “ They were left behind on the sofa in tho sitting room.” said Horace. “ Pussy must bo shedding her coat.” “ Pussy will have you for dinner one of these days,” said Father Mouse. One day Horace was seen making a hole in the skirting board of the kitchen. He only madea very tiny hole, and, what do you think? He used to sit and peep through at the cat! The other mice were content at first with hearing about it, but, after a while they asked if they might peep, too. So it came about that Horace made several holes in the skirting board. x The hole that Horace .used was very, very close to the cat’s favourite place by tho fire. If; was when all tho mice were peeping through these little _ holes that Horace did the most astonishing thing. He poked a little piece of straw through his little hole and tickled the cat’s chin with it! All the mice stared in

surprise, but as soon as they found that the cat could not get through the holes at them_ they enjoyed the fun. , It might have gone on for a long time, but a littlp brown mouse thought it so funny that she burst out laughing. A mouse’s laugh would startle anybody, let alone a cat, and puss sprang up. Away scampered all the mice, Horace as well. Mother Mouse never got oyer the fright, and they moved to a house without a cat'. Everybody in Mousetown heard about Horace, and flicked to see him. . ■ Wlien he grew older ho had a big notice put over his door, and it said: “ Here lives the mouse that tickled a cat.” ■