A MOUSE DIES
A friend was telling me the other day how a field- mouse in which he had taken a great interest finally met its end. The mouse lived in a crack in the stones of a wall and came out to feed in a court a few feet from my friend's window so that, sitting in his room, he was able to see the mouse making its way among the stalks of grass and weeds growing between slate flags with which the court is paved. It was noticed that when any shadow fell upon the yard from above the mouse stopped for a second or two and then made a dart for the hole, crossing the intervening area with incredible speed and avoiding obstacles with skill. After these alarms the mouse always showed reluc- tance to reappear and when it did it darted back for no apparent reason. One afternoon some hens flew over from an adjoining hen-run and one of these approached the terrain used by the mouse. The mouse appeared, and this time the hen 'froze.' her head slightly cocked as she inspected him. 'I was about • to rap on the window when it happened,' said my friend sadly. 'All at once the hen's head shot forward and the mouse was in her beak. It was gobbled down before I could do a thing about it!'
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