short life.
âWell,â said Beaumont, âisnât there any way we can get rid of the beastly thing?â
âAlas, no,â said Mr. Brown. âCats can kill mice, but, unfortunately, mice canât kill cats.â
âOh,â said Beaumont. âSo we have to wait till it dies of old age, do we?â
âThat might be a long time,â said Mr. Brown.
âWhat can we do, then?â
âNothing, Iâm afraid, Beaumont. The giants have got a cat, and we have got to live with it .â
Have we? thought Beaumont. What if ⦠? No , Iâd better ask Dad first.
âGot to go,â he said. âNice talking to you, Uncle Brown.â
When he got home, he said, âIâve been talking to Uncle Brown, Dad.â
âHave you indeed?â said John. I bet the old chapâs pleased at being called that , he thought.
âYes,â said Beaumont. âHe saved my life, Dad. I went up into the kitchen and the cat nearly got me!â
âGosh!â said John.
âUncle Brown says we just have to live with the beastly thing.â
âWell, heâs right, Beaumont. We have no choice.â
âYes, we have, Dad,â said Beaumont. âIf the cat wonât leave us, we can leave the cat.â
âWhat dâyou mean?â
âWe can move to another house, one without a cat. We can emigrate, Dad,â said Beaumont.
3
âEmigrate?â said John to Beaumont.
âYes, Dad.â
âBut ⦠how will I know if another house has a cat or not?â
âIf it has a cat, itâll smell of the beastly thing. If it doesnât, it wonât. Simple, Dad.â
âItâll take me an awfully long time to inspect every house on the street.â
âIt would if it was just you, Dad,â said Beaumont, âbut what if we all helped, eh, Mom?â
âI certainly will,â said Janet, âbut you kids are too small to take the risk.â
âWeâre not,â said Beaumont, turning to the other five mousekins, âare we? We can help, canât we?â
And with one voice, Ambrose and Camilla and Desdemona and Eustace and Felicity cried, âYes!â
Janet looked proudly at her six children.
âAll right,â she said, âbut not just yet. Wait till youâve grown a lot bigger.â
âAnd a lot faster on your feet,â added John. âThereâll be other cats in other houses on the street, and dogs, too, and then thereâs all the traffic. Wait till youâre as big as Mom and me.â
âBut thatâll be ages, Dad!â said Beaumont.
âDo as your father says,â said Janet sharply, and in unison, Ambrose and Beaumont and Camilla and Desdemona and Eustace and Felicity muttered, âYes, Mom.â
Â
Â
In fact, a month went by before John and Janet allowed the six mousekins out of the house.
John had established a routeâfrom under the kitchen floor through a runway that led down into the cellar, and from the cellar up and out through a grating onto the sidewalk outside.
Janet made a plan of action. Their house was number 24, even-numbered like all those on that
side of the street. Each night she and the three girls would work their way down the road, somehow making their way into number 22, then number 20, and so on, while John and the three boys would be inspecting each house up the streetânumbers 26, 28, 30, and so on.
âLetâs just hope they donât all have cats in them, Janet,â said John. âI donât fancy having to cross the road.â
But luck was on their side.
On the fourth night, Janet and the girls explored number 16 and came home excited and delighted to report that there was no smell or sign of cat or dog in that house.
âAll we could smell,â said Janet, âwas mice
âGreat!â said John. âWeâll emigrate there.â
Five of the mousekins
Debbie Gould, L.J. Garland