  One Cent Books Dolls and Games. YOUNG AMERICA'S SERIES. Title: The Mouse and the Christmas Cake Author: Anonymous Language: English Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
E-text prepared by Louise Hope
Some illustrations have been moved up or down to distribute them evenly through the text. Their original locations are marked in the margin. The spelling “none where near” and the comma after “Industrious Boy”are unchanged. A LITTLE MOUSE THAT BUILT | ||||||||||||||
| A PRETTY story I will tell, Of Nib, a little Mouse, Who took delight, when none where near, To skip about the house. Her little nose could sniff and smell Where all good things were kept, And in the pantry well she knew That mistress Pussy slept. But, notwithstanding, in she crept, And on the shelf she found A Christmas cake, the top of which Was by a castle crowned. The subject of the present cake Was Windsor’s mighty walls; With turrets, windows, standard too, And entrance to the halls. |
mouse investigates cake while cat dozes nearby
Why, here within such walls as these, Thought Mousey, I could dwell; And should the Cat lay siege to them, Defend myself right well. So, with her little teeth, which served For pickaxe and for spade, She gnawed right through the gothic door, And thus an entrance made. Then climbed the turret, which she chose Her residence to make; And thought to leave it now and then, And feast upon the cake. All this occurred on Christmas eve, And next came Christmas day; And then some little folks arrived, To eat, and drink, and play. |
mouse prepares to move in
| Right merry are the little folks, And what a noise they make, When Windsor castle they behold, Displayed upon the cake. The turrets and the walls they view, The cannon, too, admire; 6 [Ill. 2] [Ill. 3]The soldiers ready to present, And then—pop!—pop!—to fire. On this, when they had long enough All exercised their wit, They scrutinised the cake, and wished To taste a bit of it. Each guest prepared,—the knife was raised Some slices to begin, When, lo! with wonder, all exclaimed, “I hear a noise within!” |
consternation as mouse jumps off the table
| Poor Mousey, when she saw the knife, At once expressed her fear, By squeaking out with all her might, Which every one could hear. Then John, as he the turret viewed, With consternation cried, “There’s something, I am sure, alive, And moving, too, inside.” All now were hushed, and knew not what All this could be about; While Mouse, in fright, forgot her tail, Which at the top popped out. “Why, here’s some trick,” the lady cried, “I’ll knock the turret down.” Mousey, in terror, gave a leap, And ran along her gown. |
mouse disappears into hole as children try to catch her
| “Oh!” screamed the lady, “what is this?” On each side was dismay, Which Mousey took advantage of, By scampering away. Their fright all o’er, loud laughs ensued, From all within the house, To think that so much fear should be Caused by a little Mouse. The children hunted for this Mouse, But she was not a dolt To wait ’till she was caught, but made Right through a hole—a bolt. The party then began their dance, And singing next ensued; And then came supper, with its cakes, And very best home-brewed. |
