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                             Willie Mouse


                                  by

                              Alta Tabor


                            [Illustration]




                                 The

                     Saalfield Publishing Company

                  Chicago    Akron, Ohio    New York

                         PRINTED IN U. S. A.

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[Illustration]




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Willie Mouse

Goes on a Journey to

Find the Moon

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[Illustration]




Willie Mouse


Willie Mouse had often heard his Ma and Pa say that the moon was made
of green cheese, and one evening he thought he would see if he could
find it.

He packed up a piece of cheese and a crust of bread, and, taking his
lantern, set out on his travels.

[Illustration]

[Illustration]

He had not gone far when he met his friend, Mr. Woodmouse, who asked
him where he was going.

"Oh!" said Willie, "I'm going to find the moon; it's made of green
cheese, you know."

"I don't believe it's made of green cheese at all," said Mr.
Woodmouse, but Willie wouldn't listen to him and went on his way.

[Illustration]

Coming round by Clover Green whom should he meet but Miss Jenny Wren,
looking very gay in her yellow bonnet.

"Where are you off to?" she asked.

"I'm on my way to find the moon."

"The moon!" cried Miss Wren, "you'll never reach it."

[Illustration]

"I flew ever so high one evening and I didn't seem to get any nearer."

"Well," said Willie, "why should it be made of green cheese if you
can't reach it?" And on he went.

[Illustration]

Presently he came up to a wood, and looking up he saw Mr. Squirrel
jumping from branch to branch.

"Good afternoon," he said.

"You do seem high up. Surely you can tell me the way to the moon. It's
made of green cheese, you know."

[Illustration]

"I don't think it's made of green cheese; why shouldn't it be made of
nuts?"

"How ignorant everybody is," said Willie Mouse to himself.

[Illustration]

So on he went once more until he came to a little hole in the ground,
and being very curious he peeped inside. There sat Mrs. Mole, who came
out when she saw him.

"Do you live down there?" asked Willie politely.

[Illustration]

"Yes," replied Mrs. Mole.

"Then I'm afraid you can't tell me how to get to the moon. It's made
of green cheese, you know; Ma says so."

"Nonsense, my child. Don't waste your time looking for the moon; keep
your eyes open for worms."

[Illustration]

Willie said "Good-bye" to Mrs. Mole. Then he sat down and opened his
parcel because it was getting late and he thought he had better have
some dinner.

"I may not reach the moon yet awhile," he thought, "so I had better
save a little piece of cheese for supper."

[Illustration]

[Illustration]

[Illustration]

After dinner he fell asleep, and on waking he found that it was quite
dark. He looked up and there was the moon right high up in the sky.

"Oh, Mr. Moon!" he cried, "You do seem a long way away. I think it
would be much easier for you to come down here than for me to get up
there." But Mr. Moon stayed where he was.

[Illustration]

[Illustration]

[Illustration]

Looking up Willie Mouse saw two big eyes gleaming in the dark. They
belonged to Mrs. Owl, and as Willie was only a little mouse he didn't
know that Mrs. Owl had a special liking for little mice.

[Illustration]

"Please, Mrs. Owl," said he, "how can I get to the moon?"

Down flew Mrs. Owl. "This is the way to the moon," she said, and she
caught him up in her beak and carried him back to the owl house where
she lived.

[Illustration]

When Willie Mouse saw all the owlets with their beaks gaping open he
began to be frightened, for he feared that Mrs. Owl was going to eat
him all up. But he didn't know that a good green elf, who lived in the
trunk of the tree, was near at hand, and just as Mrs. Owl opened her
beak the leaves rustled and there stood Mr. Elf, who jumped to the
ground with Willie on his back.

[Illustration]

When the good green elf had shown him the way home he thought he would
ask him if the moon were really made of green cheese, but all of a
sudden Mr. Elf disappeared, and Willie Mouse still thinks that one
day he will find the moon and have enough cheese to last him all his
life.

[Illustration]

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But he will wait until he is a little older and bigger before he tries
to jump to the moon. And perhaps by that time he may be wiser, too.

[Illustration: Willie Mouse]

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Uniform With This Volume:

The Little Red Hen

Little Black Sambo

Wee Peter Pug

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The Saalfield

Publishing Company

Chicago

AKRON, OHIO

New York