The daily morning journal and courier., 1898-08-09

over the Rockies, has hunted the bison and buffalo on the broad and rolling plains of Colorado, has banned gold in Montana mountain streams, and has led a command in the land of the Mon- tezumas.
 The Court House library is located on the top floor. It Is an old ramshackle apartment, with the ceiling cracked in sections and a general air of desuetude and desolation about it. It is here amid several thousand volumes of mus ty and calf-bound lore that Colonel Cole sits through the long hot summer days. No breeze ever finds its way into the Court House library, and at all hours of the day stiffness hangs over the place like pail. Once in while, perhaps, some lawyer may wander in to look up legal question or refresh his memory with 6 glance at the shelves, but beyond this the silence re- mains unbroken.
 But Colonel Cole is not lonesome, nor does he mind the gloomy surroundings and their accompanying mould. iIe has friends Small, interesting, viva cious, piquant pets. They know him and he has fatherly regard for their welfare These friends are the mice. These mice have taken advantage of the cracks and crannies in the court house, and have established well-popu- lated colonies which seem to flourish though on what they subsist is mys- tery. The family which has made it's home in the library is more fortunate than the other tribes of rodents which have been populating the building. It Is this family that Colonel Cole has taken under his fatherly protection They possess rare quality of intelli- gence and know the hours of the day as we'll as the clock in the Methodist church block away. Tn several places the flooring has been cut, leaving small holes, and to and from these the mice pass all day, walking and running about with no seeming fear. When Colonel Cole first arrives in the morning he gives these mice their breakfast He has peculiar way of calling them and at the first sound of his voice they seamper to the small openings in the floor, protrude their smooth, neat look ing heads in an inquiring way and then saunter out and gather in a circle about his feet
 After this their preceptor breaks Q biscuit and divides it among them They eat with nice discrimination and with much more regard for etiquette than Q great many people, and after finishing a meal brush the crumbs out of their delicate whiskers with grace very pleasing to watch Colonel Cole
  during the day and they know just when the feeding time comes When at noon the librarian eats his lunch the members of his family are given an ela- borate repast Sometimes it is not con- venient to eat this lunch at noon and Colonel Cole defers the important duty. On such occasions the mice become restless and climb up the table legs and upon the coat and shoulders of the man who withholds their dinner. Colonel Cole does not object to this and they climb tip his legs and he will push them off in good-natured way and open his lunch.
 There is in the office of the librarian dilapidated dictionary holder of anti quated pattern and decrepit underpin-
 
 cult, Colonel Cole ties about it a piece of ordinary wrapping cord and sus- pends it about three inches above the. floor attaching the other end to the stand above mentioned. This is d sig nal of play and the tribe make running jumps for the bread It is a little too high and the highest jumper can just touch the bread with his nose They run about the stand, fight each other and roll over like kittens enjoying a romp, and to end 1t all motherly old mouse climbs to the top of the stand and, taking the string between her two front feet deftly draws the bread up. much after the fashion of drawing bucket of water from we'll. When the bread is reached she breaks it from the string and lets it fall. The hungry family below soon dispose of it, and again retire to the silence of their homes beneath the floor. Memphis Commercial Appeal.