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The Tale of Master Meadow Mouse, a short story by Arthur Scott Bailey |
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XXIV - Master or Mister? |
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_ XXIV - Master or Mister? LIVING, as he did, near the mill pond, Master Meadow Mouse saw a great deal of Paddy Muskrat. They had a number of tastes in common. They both liked lily bulbs. They both enjoyed swimming. They both disliked Peter Mink. They were bound to become great cronies--if for no other reason than the last. By spring Paddy Muskrat knew Master Meadow Mouse well enough to ask him a very intimate question. "Why does everybody call you 'Master'?" he inquired one day. Master Meadow Mouse looked at him in a puzzled fashion for a moment or two. "I don't know," he answered. "I don't know why, unless it's because they always have called me that. Don't you think it's a good name?" he asked Paddy Muskrat a bit anxiously. "Oh, yes!" Paddy assured him. "There's no doubt that it's a good enough name. But it's one that's given to a youngster--to a mere child." "I'm not a youngster!" Master Meadow Mouse cried. "Nobody can call me young. I'm almost a year old!" "I thought so," said Paddy Muskrat, as if he knew he couldn't have been mistaken. "You're grown up. And yet they still call you 'Master' Meadow Mouse. If I were you I'd get folks to change that." It was plain that Master Meadow Mouse agreed with him in every way. He had already made up his mind that he wouldn't answer to the name of 'Master' Meadow Mouse any longer. And he told Paddy Muskrat as much. "If they want me to answer after this, they'll have to call me something else," he declared. "Now, what would you suggest?" Paddy Muskrat said he needed time to think the matter over. And he thought that he'd like to consult his wife, who always had an opinion. "Wait here till I come back!" he told Master Meadow Mouse. And, diving into the water, he swam home. He was back in a few minutes, with a broad smile upon his face. "I've thought of the very thing!" he exclaimed. "Or, at least, my wife has. She says, 'Call him "Mister," of course'!" "That's fine!" cried Master Meadow Mouse. "I'm sure I couldn't have thought of that if I'd tried all summer. And now," he added, "I must go and tell everybody about this sudden change." So he hurried home. And, calling everybody around him, he explained that he was a year old, and that he had successfully dodged Miss Kitty Cat, Tommy Fox, Solomon Owl, Ferdinand Frog, Peter Mink, Old Mr. Crow and goodness only knew how many other dangerous folk. "I'm grown up now," he told his hearers. "From this time on I expect everybody to call me Mister Meadow Mouse." And everybody said that a new name was no more than he deserved. They all approved his choice. No! There was just one among all the company that was opposed to the change. He snorted and started to say something disagreeable. And for once everybody told Uncle Billy (for it was he!) to be quiet. And that was the end of Master Meadow Mouse. [The end] _ |
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