St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1886-11-06
A MUD MOUSE.

A Little, NJ dest, Beautiful Animal which
Creeps Quietly About Mt the Bottom OF
the Sea-How the Pretty Miss Breathes
and Walks.
A mouse, my children! A mouse
with no particular head, and no par
ticular feet, and no particular tail. A
mouse that does not know the taste OF
cheese, and that never saw a mouse
trap; a mouse that can not squeak. and
that actually lays eggs! How the little
brown fellow, whom you hear scamper-
ing and squeaking in the wall. would
open his bright black eyes if he were to
hear of such mouse as this.
That creature mouse?" he would
say. where is its long, beautiful tail?
Where is its sharp nose, and its pretty
white teeth, and its four trim little feet.
with their dainty claws? Pooh! don t
believe it's mouse at all!
Between you and me, my dears, the
little brown fellow is right. and this
strange creature is not really mouse;
but that is what it is called-the sea-
mouse.
Brownie might well be proud, how
ever, if he could claim it as his cousin.
for she is one of the most beautiful
creatures in the world. Her long,
oval body is covered with thick coat
of hair. and every single hair in this
coat is tiny bit of living rainbow.
flashing back the light in q thousand
many-colored rays. Rubies, emeralds.
| sapphires, topazes, diamonds. ame-
| thysts, opals-take handful of each,
mix them all together, and toss them up
| in the sunlight at noon when the sun Is
| brightest then you may have
some idea of the sparkling beauty OF
| this little sea-mouse, which creeps SC
| quietly about i'm the mud at the bottom
| of the sea.
b. the way, she has another name
besides sea-mouse, and much prettiel
one--Aphrodite. Let us call her that
i'm the future.
Now, is Aphrodite proud of hel
beauty? We should be, | am sure. III
her place. We should spend all onr
time in the brightest sunshine we could
find, on top of the biggest rock, and
we should sparkle and sparkle until the
sun himself would be jealous. Bu'
Aphrodite is not proud: on the con.
trary. she is the shyest little creature
in the world. Instead of summing her
self, and enjoying the sensation sh'
creates, her one desire is to keep out o
the way. Burrowing into the mud
hiding under stones or in empty shells
Wrapping herself up in sea
| weed mantle, she seems to be con
stantly saying:
..Oh! don't, beg of you. take thu
trouble to look at me, am only fou
inches long. and l haven't any hea'
worth mentioning. You really EN-
barrass me by staring; and there ar
so many creatures all around here tina
are really worth looking ut. See tina
great octopus over there, who is tryin.
so hard to attract your attention. Gt
and look at him, like good people
He is fifty times rs big as am. and b
likes to be stared at, and can star
back again."
Humph. l don't want to look at th
octopus now, do you? Ugly thin.
We will see him some day. however
But now l really must stir up Mis-
Aphrodite, and let you see how Sh
walks.
You see those punches of bristles O
each side of her flat body? Well. sh
walks-if you 1call it walking-wit
those. She does mot get about yer
fast; but there is no need of that, fo
she has plenty of time. and is never
a hurry. Another queer thing abot
her is the way in which she breathe
You see she lives in the mud 4 grea
deal. and yet she does not want
breathe mud: so. under her beautif'
rainbow cloak of hair. she has anoth'
coat of something that looks like fel
This felt coat catches and holds u
mud, and does not let any OF it pa
through; so hat the scale-like giils III
derneath. through which she breathe
get nothing but clear. good water.
am very sorry to be obliged to say th'
Aphrodite is extremely greedy. but It
. the melancholy truth. There is no er
to her appetite; and am afraid that
: she were very hungry she would n
5 hesitate to eat her own grandmothe
: Isn't that shocking?-Laura T.. BIC
e ards, in Our Little Ones.