But what do you think happened _then_! Why, Bruno and Bounder didn't give her time even to call Nurse Norah and get dressed. You see, Bruno and Bounder did not often have so nice a little visitor, and they were ready to begin play that very minute. Bounder was jumping up and down and all over the room, and at last he spied Elinor's slippers on the floor and caught up one of them between his sharp little teeth and ran round and round the room with it. But Bruno chased Bounder all round the room trying to make him drop the slipper, while Elinor stood still and laughed and laughed and laughed! But just then Nurse Norah came rushing in from the next room, asking what _was_ the matter and in a minute, the naughty Bounder was made to give up Elinor's slipper, and Bruno chased him all the way out of the house. And just as soon as Elinor had had her breakfast, she ran out and had a fine romp with Bruno and Bounder in Grandmother's garden. [Illustration: From the engraving of the painting by Arthur J. Elsley. "TIME TO GET UP!"] MAGGIE'S VERY OWN SECRET By SARA JOSEPHINE ALBRIGHT (_For Very Little Folk_) Mr. and Mrs. Squeaky were two little, gray mice. They lived away back in the corner of a great, big, empty box in the cellar. One morning Mr. Squeaky went up the cellar stairs on tiptoes, to hunt for some bread and cheese in the kitchen. All at once he heard some one talking, and he hid behind the broom and was as still as he could be. It was the little boy Johnnie, who lived up-stairs. He had a big hammer and a saw in his hand, and he was talking to his little sister. "I think that big, empty box down cellar would make a fine dolls' house, Maggie. I can fix a little porch on it, and make an up-stairs and a down-stairs," the little boy said. "Oh, Johnnie, that will be lovely," his little sister said. "I'll do something for you sometime. Maybe--maybe--I'll draw a whole slate full of el'phants, for you to look at!" Then they started down the cellar steps. Mr. Squeaky was so frightened that he almost tumbled down the stairs. "Oh, my dear," he whispered, "they are going to break up our house with a big hammer and a saw, and make a dolls' house out of it! Let's run as fast as we can!" Poor little Mrs. Squeaky began to cry. "Where shall we go?" she whispered. "Oh, I am so afraid, and there are always those dreadful traps around to catch us!" But they ran as fast as they could to the darkest corner. Mrs. Squeaky's sharp little eyes saw a hole, and she ran into it, and Mr. Squeaky squeezed in after her. Now where do you think they found themselves? Right inside of an old shoe! The hole that they came through was just a hole in the shoe and made a nice little door. And there was another hole a little higher up that made a nice little window to peep out of. "Why, this is the dearest little house, so cozy and warm," Mrs. Squeaky said. "Nobody will ever find us in here, I know."