"Oh, my dear, my dear! what is the matter?" cried his wife. "Did you
see the dog? Was the cat chasing you?"

"No, no!" panted Mr. Mouse.

"I was hunting for a house, and I climbed up on a tall box.

"Just as I had found the very place for us, there was an awful noise
inside the box."

"That was a clock, my dear," said his wife.

"It tells Boy Blue's mother when to have dinner, and when to put the
baby to bed.

"I have heard her telling Boy Blue about it."

"I think it was telling me it was time to go home," said Mr. Mouse, and
they both laughed softly so as not to wake up the babies.

The next night Mr. Mouse went house hunting in the barn.

There he found a very good home in a box of grain.




Mistress Mary, quite contrary,
How does your garden grow?
With silver bells, and cockle shells,