5. By this time he was very hungry, and he reached out for the dainty morsel; but there was a sudden click, and he turned back--but too late! His tail and one of his legs were caught by the cruel teeth of a trap. 6. He pulled with all his might, but could not get away. He heard a little squeak, and an old mouse came limping up with only three legs. 7. "Pull hard, my son; better lose a leg and tail than your life. See! I was caught like you. How came you here?" he asked. 8. "I came to see the world, and 'tis a terrible place!" As White-paw spoke, he pulled himself free, but left one paw and the point of his tail in the trap. 9. The two hopped off together, and, after some friendly advice from the old mouse, White-paw limped away to his home, and soon found himself by his mother's side, where he could have his wounds dressed, and rest in peace. LESSON XXIX. _WHITE-PAW'S ACCOUNT OF THE GREAT WORLD._ [Illustration] 1. "My dear son, what is the world like?" asked Mrs. Mouse, after she had hugged White-paw, and set his supper before him. 2. "Oh, it's a grand place! There are great black mice, and great white ones, and great spotted ones, and great friendly mice with long noses, and great uncivil mice with horns. 3. "Then there are queer mice with only two legs, and some terrible mice that make a great noise." At this moment, Gaffer Graybeard came in, and White-paw said, "Sir, I've learned what a mouse-trap is." "Ah! then," said the sage, "you've not seen the world in vain." _THREE BLIND MICE._ [Illustration] Three blind mice! Three blind mice! See how they run! See how they run! They all ran after the farmer's wife; She cut off their tails with a carving-knife. Did you ever see such a thing in your life As three blind mice? LESSON XXX. _THE DEATH OF POOR PUSS._ "Here lies poor Puss!"-- "Who saw her die?" asked Grandmother Mouse, Just peeping forth from her hole of a house. "I," said Tommy Titmouse, "I saw her die; I think she was choked while eating a fly." "Who'll dig her grave?" asked Granny again; In her voice, strange to say, there was no tone of pain. "The honest old dormouse, out in the wood, He'd dig a good grave, if any one could." "Who'll be the bearers?" The grandchildren all Were ready at once, at sound of the call. "We'll carry Puss, since she can't carry us, And bury her deep, without any fuss." One seized her fore paw, another her tail, Another her ear, to make sure not to fail. Then off they all ran, for Puss winked her eye, And sprang to her feet, as the mice squeaked "Good-by." [Illustration] LESSON XXXI. _FIELD-MICE._ 1. Some kinds of mice live in the fields and woods, and never come into the house. The tiny little harvest-mouse has its home in the grain or thick grass, and feeds upon grain and insects.