[Illustration: Nibbles Poppelty-Poppett]




                                 _By_

                          _EDITH B. DAVIDSON_


                     THE BUNNIKINS-BUNNIES IN CAMP

                    THE BUNNIKINS-BUNNIES IN EUROPE

                       NIBBLES POPPELTY-POPPETT




                   [Illustration (Two mice walking)]




                                NIBBLES
                            POPPELTY-POPPETT

                                   BY

                           EDITH B. DAVIDSON

          AUTHOR OF “THE BUNNIKINS-BUNNIES AND THE MOON KING,”
               “THE BLOWING AWAY OF MR. BUSHY-TAIL,” ETC.

                         With Illustrations by
                            CLARA E. ATWOOD

                 [Illustration (Colophon of a mouse)]

                                 BOSTON
                       LITTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY
                                  1911




                           _Copyright, 1911_,
                     BY LITTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY.

                         _All rights reserved._


                      Published, September, 1911.




               THE UNIVERSITY PRESS, CAMBRIDGE, U. S. A.




                            [Illustration:
                                   To
                              MY DORMOUSE

                            from her friend
                               the Writer]




                 [Illustration (Mouse outside cottage)]




                       _NIBBLES POPPELTY-POPPETT_

                         _The Story of a Mouse_




                       [Illustration: Chapter I
                                  The
                          Poppelty-Poppetts]


Nibbles Poppelty-Poppett was a nice, plump, little mouse, with bright
black eyes, and a silky coat of soft gray fur.

He lived with his mother, and his sisters and brothers, down a green
lane near the river. There were Sniffy and Snuffy, the twins, who were
always having colds together; Gobble, who, I am sorry to say, was very
greedy, and Little Topsy, the baby.

                     [Illustration (Mouse family)]

Nibbles’s father had come to a most untimely end in a mouse-trap, into
which he had been beguiled by a too attractive bit of toasted cheese.

                 [Illustration (Wash on a clothesline]

Poor Mrs. Poppelty-Poppett had then been obliged to move into a wee,
little cottage, where she did cooking and washing to support her
children. Her apple-seed cookies, pine-cone and maple sugar roly-poly,
and cheese and acorn pies were quite famous among all the little
squirrels, mice, and rabbits of the neighboring woods.

She had a tiny mite of a shop, in the front part of her house,
where Ruddy Squirrel, Frisky Bushy-Tail, and Bobtail and Rosamund
Bunnikins-Bunny spent all their pennies on cakes and goodies.

It made Nibbles very unhappy to have his mother work so hard, although
he did his best to help her; so at last he decided to go out into the
world and seek his fortune.

One fine morning, bright and early, he kissed the family good-bye, and
away he went, after making Sniffy, Snuffy, and Gobble promise to be
good children and mind their mother.

Mrs. Poppelty-Poppett, shedding many tears, had made a little bundle
of his clothes, neatly tied up in a red bandanna handkerchief, which
Nibbles easily carried over his shoulder, at the end of a stick.

               [Illustration (Nibbles walking outdoors)]

At first he felt very sad and lonely, but the sun was so warm, and the
crickets and birds were singing so gayly, that he soon cheered up, and
trotted briskly along.

Towards noon Nibbles began to feel so very hungry that he decided it
must be about dinner time. Not far off he saw, beneath a shady elm
tree, a neat, cosy-looking house. From a branch of the tree there hung
a sign, on which was written in large gold letters:

                         THE GUINEA PIGS’ REST.

“That is just the place for me,” thought Nibbles, “for I am fond of
guinea pigs.”

                            [Illustration:
                                  THE
                              GUINEA PIGS’
                                 REST.]




                       [Illustration: Chapter II
                         _The_ Guinea Pigs’ Rest]


In front of the inn, leaning comfortably back in his chair, with his
feet up against the door post, sat a fat, black and white guinea pig.
When Nibbles went up to ask him if he could have some dinner, he saw
that Mr. Guinea Pig was fast asleep, and snoring loudly.

“It is a pity to wake him,” thought Nibbles, “but I am awfully hungry;
and besides, his mouth is so wide open that he might easily swallow a
wasp.”

Nibbles coughed, and then he whistled, but the Guinea Pig never
stirred. Finally, in desperation, Nibbles got a straw, and began to
tickle his nose.

First Mr. Guinea Pig twitched his nose, then he opened one eye; at last
he gave such a tremendous sneeze that he nearly fell out of his chair,
and with a snort he woke up.

“Hullo!” said he angrily. “What do _you_ want? This is the third time
this morning that I have been waked up, and I’m sleepy and want my
nap.”

           [Illustration (Nibbles and Guinea Pig at hearth)]

“Excuse me,” answered Nibbles timidly, “but I am very hungry, and
should like to have some dinner.”

“Well, go into the house and get the Salamander,” growled Mr. Guinea
Pig. And before Nibbles could ask another question, he was sound asleep
again, and snoring away as hard as ever.

“I wonder _what_ the Salamander is?” thought Nibbles. “It sounds like a
sandwich or a salad. The thing is to find it.”

As Mr. Guinea Pig completely blocked the front doorway, Nibbles had to
hunt about until he at last found another entrance. Then he wandered
down a long hall with empty rooms on either side, but no Salamander
could he find.

Finally he heard a squeaking and a squealing, which seemed to come from
a room at the end of the hall. He knocked gently on the door, but, as
no one answered, he ventured to peep in.

A bright fire was burning in the fireplace, in spite of its being a
summer day, so the room felt very hot.

On a footstool in front of the fire, sat two tiny guinea pigs, who had
evidently just been washed, and were now being dried. Their hair had
been carefully curled, and each had a blue ribbon tied around its neck
in a big bow.

Mrs. Guinea Pig held on her lap a third little pig, whose hair she was
curling, while the littlest piggy of all was sitting in the bathtub.

            [Illustration (Mrs. Guinea Pig washing babies)]

“I beg your pardon,” said Nibbles politely, “but can you please tell me
where I can find the Salamander?”

Mrs. Guinea Pig, whose back was to the door, gave such a jump that she
nearly dropped the little pig.

“Oh, come right in,” she said pleasantly, when she saw Nibbles. “I am
delighted to see you, only please close the door, as I don’t like a
draft.”

Nibbles thought a draft of fresh air was very much needed, but he said
nothing, and closed the door.

“You will find the Salamander in the kitchen,” said Mrs. Guinea Pig.
“He ought to be cooking the dinner, but he probably is asleep, as the
heat from the stove seems to go to his head.”

            [Illustration (Guinea pig falls into washtub)]

Just then there was a sudden splash and a loud squeal. While Mrs.
Guinea Pig had been talking to Nibbles, one of the little pigs had
jumped off the footstool, and had come over to see what the littlest
piggy was doing. He had climbed up on the edge of the tub, and then had
slipped, and fallen into the water, right on top of the baby.

Mrs. Guinea Pig was very angry with the naughty little pig for being
disobedient, and also for spoiling its best blue bow. While she was
giving him a shaking, the piggy on her lap fell onto the floor, and
then there was such a squeaking and a squealing that Nibbles ran out of
the room, without even waiting to say good-bye.

                    [Illustration ()]




                      [Illustration: Chapter III
                            The Salamander]


Nibbles was sorry that he had not asked where the kitchen was, but he
preferred to hunt it up himself rather than to go back to Mrs. Guinea
Pig’s hot bath-room, and after a little while he found it.

The tea-kettle was boiling cheerily on the stove, and Nibbles noticed
a delicious odor of toasted cheese and bacon, but nowhere could he see
the Salamander.

              [Illustration (Nibbles looking in coalhob)]

He looked in the cupboard and under the sink, behind the door and under
the table, in the coalhod and behind the stove, until at last, being
very hungry, he began to call: “Mr. Salamander! Oh, Mr. Salamander!”

At once he heard a sleepy, squeaky voice saying: “Yes, yes, I’ll get up
in a minute. Is it time for breakfast already?”

The voice came from the stove, and, to Nibbles’s amazement, he saw the
oven door slowly open, and the most curious looking animal with a very
sleepy face jump out. It looked like a fat black lizard, with large
flame-color spots, bright black eyes, and queer, short little legs.

                      [Illustration (Salamander)]

After giving such a prodigious yawn that Nibbles was afraid that he
might never be able to shut his mouth again, he looked at Nibbles and
said very sadly: “Oh, dear! I was having such a lovely dream when you
woke me up.”

“I am very sorry,” replied Nibbles, “but I am so hungry that I shall
soon be ready to eat my whiskers.”

              [Illustration (Nibbles eating at a table)]

“Well, well,” said the Salamander, “you sha’n’t wait another minute”;
and he bustled about so fast that, before he knew it, Nibbles was
eating large quantities of cheese and bacon pie, and drinking cups of
tea so hot that it made him wink.

Meanwhile, the Salamander had climbed up on top of the stove, where he
sat with his feet hanging over the edge, nodding and dozing.

               [Illustration (Salamander on the stove)]

“Do you _never_ get too hot?” inquired Nibbles.

“Oh, no,” replied the Salamander. “I belong to a very chilly family. We
are all devoted to heat and poetry. Would you like to hear my favorite
poem?”

“Yes, very much,” said Nibbles.

So the Salamander, in a high, squeaky voice, began to recite:

   “The Salamander loves to sit
    Upon the red-hot stove,
    And longs to clasp it in his arms,
    Wherever he may rove.

   “He likes the little scarlet flames
    That sparkle in the fire,
    And in a boiling tea-kettle
    Sees something to admire.

“Do you remember what comes next?” he inquired anxiously. “I am afraid
that I have forgotten.”

“No,” said Nibbles. “I am very fond of singing, but I don’t know any
poetry.”

“Well,” yawned the Salamander, “in that case, I think, if you don’t
mind, that I’ll take another nap. Poetry always makes me very sleepy.”

Then, curling his short little arms around the tea-kettle, and resting
his head so near the spout that Nibbles was afraid the steam would blow
it off, he began once more to recite very drowsily.

By this time Nibbles had eaten all that he possibly could, so he said
good-bye to the Salamander, who paid no attention, and started off
again.

As he trotted briskly down the hall, he could still
hear the Salamander murmuring sleepily to himself:
“He--likes--the--lit--tle--scar--let-――-flames-――-which-――-” and then
nothing more; so he must have gone fast asleep.

                   [Illustration (Nibbles leaving)]




                       [Illustration: Chapter IV
                                  The
                                Terrible
                                  Cat]


Nibbles spent the night in a cosy nest which he found in a hazel bush,
and early the next morning he was off once more on his travels.

Towards noon, while he was picking acorns for dinner, whom should he
see, running along the road, but his cousin, Teenie Weenie, the dearest
little white mouse in the world?

“Hullo, Teenie Weenie!” called Nibbles. “Where did you come from?”

“Why, I live in a village not far from here,” replied Teenie Weenie.
“And where are you going, Cousin Nibbles?”

“I am going to seek my fortune,” said Nibbles.

“Oh, _do_ let me come, too,” begged Teenie.

“All right, come along,” answered Nibbles. “Two is company and one is
none. Only don’t keep getting tired.”

“No, I certainly won’t,” promised Teenie. “But you must come and have
supper at my house before we start.”

              [Illustration (Nibbles and Teenie Weenie)]

By the time they reached the village, it was dark, and the lights in
the houses were beginning to shine. They crept cautiously down the
street until they came to a pretty house in the middle of a large
garden.

               [Illustration (Scaling the garden wall)]

“That is where I live,” said Teenie Weenie, “but look out for the Cat.”

A brightly lighted window was open, around which grew a honeysuckle. Up
the vine ran Teenie Weenie, closely followed by Nibbles, and, sitting
on the windowsill, they looked into a beautiful room.

On a long table there were numbers of lighted candles in high silver
candle-sticks, and never had Nibbles seen such wonderful things to
eat,--nuts and raisins, figs and dates, oranges and grapes, cakes and
candy.

                    [Illustration (Table of food)]

In a moment, Teenie Weenie and Nibbles had run across the room and
jumped up on the table. Nibbles tried first one thing and then another,
each tasting better than the last.

Suddenly Teenie Weenie gave a little gasp of terror, which startled
Nibbles so that he nearly fell into a finger-bowl.

“What _is_ the matter, Teenie?” he asked, rather crossly, for in his
fright he had dropped a particularly nice bit of cake on the floor.

“The Cat,” whispered Teenie Weenie, in a terrified voice.

              [Illustration (Nibbles and Teenie Weenie)]

Nibbles looked around, and suddenly he saw, in a chair close by, a big
gray and white animal, which was evidently just waking up, and was
stretching itself and yawning. Such terrible teeth and sharp claws as
it had!

While Nibbles gazed at it, too frightened to move, the Cat turned
around, and its green eyes glared as it saw the two trembling little
mice.

                     [Illustration (Cat, yawning)]

Before the sleepy Cat could jump on the table however, Nibbles and
Teenie Weenie were on the floor, and an instant later they were fairly
tumbling out of the window into the garden. Down the village street
they ran, and never stopped until they were safe in the open country
once more.

“Well,” said Nibbles, “I have never seen a Cat before, and I sincerely
hope that I never may again. You may live in a village if you like,
Teenie Weenie, but I prefer the quiet woods.”

          [Illustration (Nibbles and Teenie Weenie fleeing)]




                       [Illustration: Chapter V
                                  Down
                                  the
                                 River]


They traveled on for several days, close to the river, until Nibbles
suggested that it would be more fun and easier to sail than to walk.

They at once began to make a little raft with willow twigs and bits of
birch bark, and to prevent the water coming through, they filled up the
cracks with clay. The big bandanna handkerchief they used as a sail,
and with his jack-knife Nibbles whittled out a nice little rudder.

One warm, sunny day, they hoisted their sail and were just starting
off, when they heard some one shouting. Looking around, they saw, on
the bank above them, a big gray Rat, waving his hat and calling: “Wait
a minute, and take me with you.”

“I am very sorry,” answered Nibbles, “but the raft is small and there
is not room enough.”

“But I _will_ go,” shouted the Water Rat very rudely, “and I am in a
hurry too.”

Poor Teenie Weenie was frightened, for she knew that Water Rats
sometimes ate mice, especially if they were cross or very hungry, so
she begged Nibbles not to go near the shore.

As they sailed away, the Water Rat, I regret to say, danced with rage,
making frightful faces at Nibbles and Teenie Weenie, and saying things
which were not at all polite.

                     [Illustration (Raft and rat)]

Day after day they sailed down the winding river, sometimes landing for
dinner, and at night always tying their raft to a tree or bush in some
sheltered cove, where they could find a comfortable nest to sleep
in.

                  [Illustration (Raft and alligator)]

One afternoon they came to a pretty wood, where they decided to spend
the night. Near the bank was a dark, gravelly point, which seemed an
excellent place to land. Nibbles got out, and was just beginning to
pull the raft up high and dry, when suddenly the whole point began to
move, and then something struck poor Nibbles, and sent him whizzing far
out into the river.

Down down, down he sank, until he felt sure that he was going through
to China. His head was buried in the soft sand at the bottom of the
river, and he had to struggle hard to free himself. Finally he came up
to the surface of the water, and was able to swim to the raft, where
little Teenie Weenie still sat, too terrified to move.

                   [Illustration (Nibbles in water)]




                       [Illustration: Chapter VI
                                  Mr.
                            Scratchetty-Claw]


Floating on the water, so near the raft that he could have touched it,
Nibbles saw a huge animal covered with brown scales. It had small black
eyes, and a long tail, while its head was mostly made up of a very long
nose, and a huge mouth full of sharp teeth.

“Hullo!” said the Animal, “I thought you were never coming up. What
kept you so long under the water?”

Poor Nibbles was dripping wet, covered with sand, and still gasping for
breath, but he tried to answer politely:

“I could not come up any sooner, Sir, because my head was stuck in
the sand. Will you please tell me what you are? I thought you were a
landing place.”

“No, no,” replied the Animal, “my name is Scratchetty-Claw, and I am an
Alligator of a very fine old family. I have lived in this river for a
hundred years, and I probably shall live a thousand. I am very sorry
that I upset you, but I thought a fly had lighted on my back, so I
swished my tail, and I am afraid that you rolled off.”

“I certainly did,” said Nibbles sadly, as he tried to wipe the sand out
of his eyes and ears.

         [Illustration (Alligator, Nibbles and Teenie Weenie)]

Suddenly Mr. Scratchetty-Claw opened his eyes very wide, and staring at
Nibbles, he shouted:

“Why, _what_ have you got around your neck?”

Nibbles put up his paw, and, sure enough, there was something which
felt like a ring. How it came there he could not imagine, but he must
have pushed his head through it while he was floundering in the sand at
the bottom of the river.

                [Illustration (Ring on Nibbles’ head)]

Teenie Weenie helped him pull it off, and when they had brushed the
sand away, they found that it was a gold ring, beautifully carved, and
set with diamonds and rubies.

“That must surely be the Lucky Ring of the foreign Prince, who owns
all this part of the country,” said the Alligator. “He lost it one day
last summer, while out sailing, and nobody was able to find it. The
Prince offered a big reward for its recovery, as he prized the ring
more than anything he owned.”

“Then we must take it to him as soon as we can,” said Nibbles.

                [Illustration (Alligator leading raft)]




                      [Illustration: Chapter VII
                                  The
                                 Lucky
                                  Ring]


The next morning Nibbles asked Mr. Scratchetty-Claw where the Prince
lived.

“Just fasten your raft to my tail,” said the Alligator, “and I’ll take
you there before you know that you’ve started. Only wait until I get my
shade hat, as I don’t like the sun in my eyes.”

“Please don’t go too fast, Mr. Scratchetty-Claw,” said little Teenie
Weenie, timidly, “or we might be upset again.”

Scratchetty-Claw promised to be very careful, and after he had tied on
his shade hat, and Nibbles had fastened the raft to his tail, away they
went.

The Prince’s beautiful garden was close to the river, so when Nibbles
and Teenie Weenie landed, they soon found their way to his palace.

Nibbles had put the ring around his neck again for safe keeping, but
when he showed it to a footman in the palace hall, he took Nibbles and
Teenie Weenie at once to the Prince, who was sitting in a lovely rose
arbor in the garden.

                      [Illustration (Rose arbor)]

After taking off his hat, and making a low bow, Nibbles said:

“I think I have found your lordship’s ring, which you lost. I have it
around my neck.”

The Prince lifted Nibbles up, and looked at the ring.

“That is most surely my Lucky Ring,” said he. “Where did you find it?”

“In the sand at the bottom of the river,” answered Nibbles, and
he told the Prince how nearly drowned he had been, and about Mr.
Scratchetty-Claw.

“My old friend, the Alligator,” laughed the Prince. “Oh, I know him
well, the lazy scamp, for he eats up all my best trout.”

Then he took the ring carefully from Nibbles’s neck, and put it on his
own finger.

“You have given me back what I prize most in the world,” he said, “and
your reward shall be in proportion. Every year, as long as you live,
you shall receive a bag of gold.”

Nibbles was almost too happy to speak, but he thanked the Prince and
kissed his hand. A page was sent to bring the gold, and a few minutes
later, Nibbles and Teenie Weenie, carrying the precious bag between
them, were hurrying back to the raft.

They found Mr. Scratchetty-Claw fast asleep, but Nibbles, dancing with
joy, woke him up to hear the great news.

“Good enough!” said the Alligator. “It’s a lucky thing for you that I
tipped you into the river.”

“It certainly was,” said Nibbles, “for now my mother will never have
to work any more. Let us hurry home to her as fast as we can, Teenie
Weenie.”

“I’ll take you part of the way,” yawned Mr. Scratchetty-Claw, “although
I am fearfully sleepy.”

               [Illustration (Nibbles and Teenie Weenie]




                      [Illustration: Chapter VIII
                                Nibbles’
                                 Return]


Away they sailed towards home, as happy as two little mice could be.

Mr. Scratchetty-Claw towed them for a long way, until he became so
sleepy that he had to stop and take a nap. He shed tears when he said
good-bye to Nibbles and Teenie Weenie, but he soon settled himself
comfortably on a mud bank in a shady spot, and in two minutes was
snoring so loudly that you could have heard him half a mile away.

Nibbles and Teenie hoisted their sail, and, as they floated along,
Teenie Weenie sang this song:

   “Two little mice sailed down the stream
    One lovely summer day.
    The sky was blue, the banks were green,
    The birds in the tree tops sang unseen,
    As they merrily sailed away.

   “Their silken flag was red and white,
    Their sail a butterfly’s wing;
    With a firefly their pilot light,
    They went to seek their fortune bright,
    And found it in a ring.

   “Deep buried in the golden sand,
    Beneath the water blue,
    Far away in a distant land
    The little mice went hand in hand,
    And sought the token true.”

For more than a week they sailed up the pretty river, but at last, one
afternoon at sunset, they reached home. Quietly they stole up to the
cottage and peeped in at the window.

                [Illustration (Mrs. Poppelty-Poppett)]

There was Mrs. Poppelty-Poppett cooking supper, while Sniffy and Snuffy
were peeling potatoes, and Gobble was eating an apple behind the door.

                 [Illustration (Mouse family cooking)]

Nibbles tapped gently on the window-pane, and Mrs. Poppelty-Poppett
turned quickly around. With a squeak of perfect delight, she cried:
“Oh, here is Nibbles!” and ran to the door, upsetting the soup-kettle
right into the fire in her haste. Of course, Sniffy and Snuffy, Gobble
and the baby, all ran out, too, and then they all talked together so
fast that no one knew what any one else was saying. Pretty soon they
quieted down, and Nibbles told them of his wonderful adventures, and of
the finding of the Lucky Ring. When he gave his mother the bag of gold,
poor little Mrs. Poppelty-Poppett did not know whether to laugh or cry
with happiness, so she did both. She had worked hard for her children,
and now there would be comfort and plenty for the rest of her life.

                  [Illustration (Mice greet Nibbles)]

After a little while she dried her eyes, and thought of supper. It was
all in the fire and burned up!

“Never mind,” said Nibbles. “Teenie Weenie and I would far rather have
some of your nice corn cake and toasted cheese than soup.”

         [Illustration (Mrs. Poppelty-Poppett serving a meal)]

“Indeed we would,” said Teenie Weenie.

So they all helped, and in a few minutes everything was ready; and how
good the supper tasted!

When at last they went to bed, they all dreamed of bags of Lucky Rings,
and rivers of gold, guarded by Alligators, who ate nothing but toasted
cheese and corn bread.

                    [Illustration (Nibbles in bed)]




Transcriber’s Note:

Words and phrases in italics are surrounded by underscores, _like
this_. Descriptors within parentheses were added to illustrations
without captions.