That discovery did not please Solomon at all.

“Look here!” he said. “Since we are hunting together it’s only fair to
divide what we catch, half and half.”

Simon Screecher hesitated. But after reflecting that his cousin was very
big and very strong, he agreed to Solomon’s suggestion.

So they resumed their hunting. And every time one of them caught two mice,
he gave one mouse to his cousin.

Still Solomon Owl was not satisfied.

“Wait a moment!” Solomon called to Simon Screecher. “It has just occurred
to me that I am more than twice as big as you are; so I ought to have
twice as many mice as you.”

This time Simon Screecher hesitated longer. He did not like the second
suggestion even as well as the first. And in the end he said as much, too.

But Solomon Owl insisted that it was only fair.

“You surely ought to be glad to please your own cousin,” he told Simon.

“It’s not that,” said Simon Screecher. “It seems to me that since I’m not
half your size, I ought to have twice as many mice to eat, so I’ll grow
bigger.”

Well, Solomon Owl hadn’t thought of that. He was puzzled to know what to
say. And he wanted time in which to ponder.