9. What do you suppose the mouse was thinking all this time?

10. If you had been the mouse, would you have trusted to what the
cat said in her misery?


CHAPTER VI


It was not until the moon had set and the light of the dawn had put
out that of the stars that the mouse, made any real effort to help
the cat. By this time the hunter who had set the snare came to see if
he had caught the cat; and the poor cat, seeing him in the distance,
became so wild with terror that she nearly killed herself in the
struggle to get away. "Keep still! keep still," cried the mouse,
"and I will really save you." Then with a few quick bites with his
sharp teeth he cut through the string, and the next moment the cat
was hidden amongst the barley, and the mouse was running off in
the opposite direction, determined to keep well out of sight of the
creature he had kept in such misery for so many hours. Full well he
knew that all the cat's promises would be forgotten, and that she
would eat him up if she could catch him. The owl too flew away,
and the lizard went off to hunt flies in the sunshine, and there
was not a sign of any of the four inhabitants of the banyan tree
when the hunter reached the snare. He was very much surprised and
puzzled to find the string hanging loose in two pieces, and no sign
of there having been anything caught in it, except two white hairs
lying on the ground close to the trap. He had a good look round,
and then went home without having found out anything.