STORY No. XIX.
THE COUNTRY OF THE MICE.
Once upon a time there was a King who ruled over a large tract of country in which there lived a great number of Mice. Generally the Mice were very prosperous and had plenty to eat, but it happened one year that the crops of the country were very poor, and the Mice, who subsisted chiefly on the spare grains left after the harvest, found that their stores were running short before the end of the winter. So the King of the Mice decided that he would make a petition to the King of the country, to lend the Mice what grain they required on condition that they repaid the whole amount the following year.
So he dressed himself up in his best clothes and set off one morning to the King's palace. When he got to the door of the palace the door-keeper asked him where he as going.
"Oh!" replied the Mouse, "I wish to see the King of the country, as I have a petition to make to him."
When the King heard that a Mouse wanted to see him he was very much amused, and he ordered that the little animal should be admitted.
When the Mouse entered the King's presence
