The little gray mouse came out of her house Just at the hour of twelve. And what she saw on the moonlit floor Was a tiny woodland elf. "S-s-sh!" he said, as the little mouse blinked her eyes, frightened, I suppose, at seeing such a strange sight. "Don't wake up the little rabbit." "What do you want?" asked the little mouse. "Mr. John Hare is very kind to me, and I don't want anything to happen to him." "Ha, ha!" laughed the little elf, only very low, of course, so as not to be heard. "How could I hurt a big rabbit?" "I'm not so sure about that," replied the little mouse. "Sometimes little things are more dangerous than big ones," and she tried to look very wise instead of a little bit frightened. "Don't be worried," said the elf, "I'll tell you why I'm here. Jack Sprite, who lives in a jack-in-the-pulpit flower in the wood, is asleep upstairs. I must see him before the big red rooster crows at three o'clock." "Mercy me," said the little mousie. "I didn't know there was a fairy upstairs. What's this house coming to? A fairy upstairs and a fairy downstairs. The first thing you know there'll be a giant in the garage." "Never mind," whispered the elf, walking over to the door. "I must go upstairs and wake Jack Sprite. Otherwise something dreadful is going to happen." And so up he climbed on his tiptoes to the spare room where the little fairy lay asleep in a big feather bed. "Gracious me!" said the elf to himself. "I shall have to climb up the bedpost," and up he went like a telephone man, only of course he didn't have any spikes in the heels of his shoes. And it was just as well he didn't, for he certainly would have scratched off all the nice varnish. "Twinkle, twinkle, firefly, like a lantern in the sky," he sang, very soft and low. And pretty soon Jack Sprite opened his eyes and when he saw the little elf, wasn't he surprised. "Come, Jack, you must be quick. The Ragged Rabbit Giant is gathering all the Jack-in-the-pulpit flowers and pretty soon there won't be one left." "But how can I stop him?" "Come with me," said the little elf. "I'll help you." So they both opened the window and slid down a moonbeam. Well, pretty soon, the little gray mouse grew impatient. So she ran upstairs to see what they were about, and in the next story you shall hear what happened after that. "FEE, FIE!" "The moonlight shone on the bedroom floor As the little gray mouse peeked in through the door, But the little fairy I told you about Had opened the windows and just gone out. So the little gray mouse had nothing to do But close it again to keep out the flu."