The Tale of Dickie Deer Mouse | Page 4

were almost ready to fall apart. But Dickie Deer Mouse
finally found one to his liking--a last year's bird's nest where two
Blackbirds had reared a promising family. They had not come back to
Pleasant Valley. And there was their house, almost as good as new, just
waiting for some one to move in and make himself at home.
Nobody objected when Dickie took the old nest for his home, though
many a bird in the neighborhood remarked in his hearing that he would
hate to be too lazy to build a house for himself.
Dickie Deer Mouse was too mild and gentle-mannered to make any
reply to such rude speeches. Besides, he expected to make a good many
changes in the old nest before the place was exactly what he wanted.
"I don't understand," he said aloud to nobody in particular, "why most
birds don't know how a house should be built. Of all the birds in
Pleasant Valley the only good nest-builder I know is Long Bill Wren.

He must be a very sensible fellow, because he puts a roof on his
house."
Now, Dickie Deer Mouse may--or may not--have known that some of
his bird neighbors were near at hand, watching him. Certainly they
must have heard what he said, for they began to scold at the top of their
voices. And one rude listener named Jasper Jay screamed with fine
scorn:
"What do you know about building a nest?" And then he laughed
harshly.
But Dickie Deer Mouse only looked very wise and said nothing.
[Illustration]

[Illustration]
V
DICKIE'S SUMMER HOME
Dickie Deer Mouse was busier than ever. When he wasn't looking for
food--and eating it when he had found it--he gathered cat-tail down in
Cedar Swamp.
If there was one thing that he liked in a house it was a soft bed. And he
knew that if the weather happened to be chilly now and then, he could
snuggle into the cat-tail down and sleep as comfortably as he pleased.
The swamp was none too near his new home; and he might have found
moss or shreds of bark near-by that would have served his purpose. But
he would rather have cat-tail down, even though he had to make a good
many trips back and forth before he finally lined the old bird's nest to
his liking.
Then, having finished his bed, he had to make a roof over it. So he

covered the top of his house with moss, leaving a hole right under the
eaves, for a doorway.
When Dickie's home was done he was so pleased with it that he asked
all his neighbors if they didn't like his "improvements," as he called the
additions he had made. And all his Deer Mouse relations told him that
he certainly had a fine place.
But none of the birds cared for it at all, except Long Bill Wren; and
even he remarked that the house would be better "if it was rounder."
As for Jasper Jay, he told Dickie Deer Mouse that, in his opinion, the
house was ruined.
"It's nothing but a trap," he declared. "And I'd hate to go to sleep inside
it."
His views, however, did not trouble Dickie Deer Mouse in the least.
The place suited him. And he was so happy in it that sometimes when
the weather was bad and he wasn't whisking about in the trees, or
scurrying around on the ground, he would stay inside his cozy home,
with only his head sticking out through the doorway, while his big,
bright, bulging, black eyes took in everything that happened in his
dooryard.
Dickie Deer Mouse knew that one needed sharp eyes to spy him when
he was peeping from his house in that fashion. And often when
somebody of whom he was really afraid came wandering through the
woods, Dickie would keep quite still, while he watched the newcomer
without being seen.
But with some of the wood folk he took no chances. Whenever he
heard Solomon Owl's rolling call, or his cousin Simon Screecher's
quavering whistle, Dickie Deer Mouse always pulled his head inside
his house in a hurry.
For they were usually on the lookout for him. And he knew it.

Of course, if they had been aware that Dickie Deer Mouse was hidden
inside his rebuilt, last year's bird's nest, either of them, with his sharp
claws, could easily have torn the moss roof off Dickie's home. But
luckily for Dickie, there were some things that they didn't know.
[Illustration]

[Illustration]
VI
A WARNING
If old Mr. Crow had minded his own affairs everything would have
gone well with Dickie Deer Mouse, after he moved into his new home.
But Mr. Crow could not forget the time when Dickie had awakened
him out