Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1891-08-09

| lived the lalloI ocnHapps, WHOSE purse was
ever empty, and whose healthy family of
boys and girls was always hungry. Above
the tailors residence was loft, where
Schnurrdiburr loved to wander ON MOON
light nights, and here he often met his
friends, at which time the cats would sing
In such a manner that any one who heard
them imagined them to be in great agonyj
but that was not the fault of the cats, for
they had clear, strong voices, but had never
had the proper training.
Under the foot-board in the tailor's work.
shop, lived large family Of mice. They
! had chosen this place for their home be-
! cause the tailor greatly disliked cats, and
| would never allow Schnurrdiburr in his
room. Thus all the mice of the second and
third stories sought refuge in the tailor's
apartment But they did not enjoy very
bountiful living; for work was often scarce,
and the hearty children left very little Of
any food that was brought into the house
One time, the mice were So hungry that
they stole the bread and cheese which the
tailor had put away for his dinner. This
made the man so angry that he said to his
daughter katrine:
''To-morrow you must 60 to Merchant
Zimmer and borrow his cat and it will not
take Schnurrdiburr long to rid us of these
thieving mice"
The poor little mice, from their place be-
| hind the foot board, heard these words, and
| trembled with fear; for they knew what
sharp claws and teeth the merchants cat
had. That night family council was held,
| and an old mouse, who, on account of her
age and wisdom, was called the counsellor,
thus spoke while all the others kept re-
spectful silence:
We have a cousin Knuppchen, who, pro-
vided with every luxury, lives on the first
! floor of this building in the Counts room.
| Since Schnurrdiburr' arrival, none OF us
| dare to visit our relatives, for more than 20
of our number have perished by this cruel
| enemy. l know not whether our cousin
still lives, but if he does he will be able to
help us. He knows of chest Of gold
which was buried in the cellar years ago
by an old miser, who is long since dead.
Knuppchen, thinking to find bacon, once
gnawed a hole in his chest and was much
disappointed to find gold. Of course the
gold is no use to mice, but we could
give a couple of pieces to the tailor, II he
would promise to keep the cat out OF his
apartment
"But how are we to do this7" asked one
mouse, eagerly.
81 shall tell you, )" replied the counsellor.
"Katrine's doll Nina is very good to us,
and often shares her supper with us. Rap
pelchen shall go to her and tell her our
plans. Katrine always takes her doll to
bed with her, and in the night-for that is
the only time dolls can talk-Mina will tell
the little girl what We propose to do. In
the morning Katrine will relate her dream
to her father, and thus the tailor will hear
of our wish to save our lives by giving him
gold, and surely he will pity us"
All the mice were willing to profit by the
II = ! thA
tailor's family had gotten quiet for the
night Rappeichen crept to the bed where
Katrine lay with her doll clasped in her
arms. The brave little mouse told his
story, which Nina at once whispered in her
Young mistress ear In the morning the
little girl said:
go, father, I have had such strange
dream. l thought that the mice were In
great trouble; because you had told me to
bring Schnurrdiburr here, and they said
that if you will keep the cat away to-day
they will bring us gold"
Him. said the tailor, 'T have very lit
tie faith in dreams; but You can try if you
want to, and keep the cat out of the way"
In the afternoon Katrine said to her doll: |
''Mina, am going to Merchant Zimmet's |
room; but cannot take you with me, for I |
am going to play with Schnurrdiburr, SO |
that he cannot run after the mice |
The mice listened with delight to these |
words; and a moment later Rappelchen |
started on his way to the first floor, where |
he arrived in safety. He soon found a snug |
little hole, lined with wool and pieces of |
soft silk. Here was large. fat mouse
taking his afternoon nap.
Rappelchen recognized his cousin, and |!
spoke politely to him. Knuppchen awoke, |
kindly greeted his visitor, and, after treat |
h
Counts storeroom, he willingly led the way !
to the chest of gold. Rappelchen took two |
of the shining gold piecesin his mouth, |
and, after thanking his friend and |
promising to make another visit soon, he |
hurried back to his home in the tailor'B |
workshop, where he was received with the |
greatest joy and many questions concerning |
his trip. Rappelchen told that on his way
home be had made a narrow escape. Just |
as he was passing the merchants room,
Katrine, with Schnurrdiburr in her arms,
opened the door. The cat spied the mouse, |
and wished to spring after it; but the little |
girl held him so fast that he could not get |
away until Rappelchen had made his es- |
cape. The gold pieces were intrusted to |
Mina's care, who carefully placed them on |
Katrine's pillow after the little girl had |
fallen asleep.
In the morning, the tailor was so de- |
lighted when his daughter gave him the |
precious gold, that he exclaimed in loud |
voice:
eff the mice would furnish me with |
enough money to buy this whole house, I |
would allow neither Schnurrdiburr nor any
other cat ever to enter the building"
When the mice heard this, they wondered |
if there was any way by which they could |
carry the gold to the tailor, for they thought
how, happy they would be if it was not for
their constant dread of cats
Another meeting was held, and the |
counsellor, as usual, did all the talking.
She said:
'It would require much gold to buy the
house, and we should be obliged to make
many trips to the cellar, and run great risk
of losing our lives before we could carry all
the gold here. But we shall mark the place
where the gold is buried, and then tailor
Schnapps can find the chest himself We
shall, through Mina's friendship, persuade
way. Then Rappelchen shall go to our
cousin, who will give him couple of small
bones, which he shall carry to the hole
leading to the chest. The tailor can go into
the cellar at any time, and when he has
found these he will know that the buried
is not far away"
All these plans Nina whispered to the
sleeping Katrine, who in the msrning told
them to her father The tailor laughed
over the little girls dream, and thought it
hardly possible that a chest of gold could
have been so long undiscovered. However,
he determined to explore the cellar and see
what could be found there. And taking a
lantern and shovel he descended the dark,
narrow stairs. The tailor was greatly ex-
cited when he found in remote corner two
III n hpnaD IN ri din |
1is surprise and delight knew no bounds
Il. Ea...,l kn ol,oct Gll,l