one fine morning in the month of may when stuart was three years old, he arose early as was his custom, washed and dressed himself, took his hat and cane, and went downstairs into the living room to see what was doing. nobody was around but snowbell, the white cat belonging to mrs. little. snowbell was another early riser, and this morning he was lying on the rug in the middle of the room, thinking about the days when he was just a kitten.

“good morning,” said stuart.

“hello,” replied snowbell, sharply.

“you’re up early, aren’t you?”

stuart looked at his watch. “yes,” he said, “it’s only five minutes past six, but i felt good and i thought i’d come down and get a little exercise.”

“i should think you’d get all the exercise you want up there in the bathroom, banging around, waking all the rest of us up trying to get that water started so you can brush your teeth. your teeth aren’t really big enough to brush anyway. want to see a good set? look at mine!” snowbell opened his mouth and showed two rows of gleaming white teeth, sharp as needles.

“very nice,” said stuart. “but mine are all right, too, even though they’re small. as for exercise, i take all i can get. i bet my stomach muscles are firmer than yours.”

“i bet they’re not,” said the cat.

“i bet they are,” said stuart. “they’re like iron bands.”

“i bet they’re not,” said the cat.

stuart glanced around the room to see what he could do to prove to snowbell what good stomach muscles he had. he spied the drawn window shade on the east window, with its shade cord and ring, like a trapeze, and it gave him an idea. climbing to the windowsill he took off his hat and laid down his cane.

“you can’t do this,” he said to the cat. and he ran and jumped onto the ring, the way acrobats do in a circus, meaning to pull himself up.

a surprising thing happened. stuart had taken such a hard jump that it started the shade: with a loud snap the shade flew up clear to the top of the window, dragging stuart along with it and rolling him up inside, so that he couldn’t budge.

“holy mackerel!” said snowbell, who was almost as surprised as stuart little. “i guess that will teach him to show off his muscles.”

“help! let me out!” cried stuart, who was frightened and bruised inside the rolled-up shade, and who could hardly breathe. but his voice was so weak that nobody heard. snowbell just chuckled. he was not fond of stuart and it didn’t bother him at all that stuart was all wrapped up in a window shade, crying and hurt and unable to get out. instead of running upstairs and telling mr. and mrs. little about the accident, snowbell did a very curious thing. he glanced around to see if anybody was looking, then he leapt softly to the window sill, picked up stuart’s hat and cane in his mouth, carried them to the pantry and laid them down at the entrance to the mousehole.

when mrs. little came down later and found them there, she gave a shrill scream which brought everybody on the run.

“it’s happened,” she cried.

“what has?” asked her husband.

“stuart’s down the mousehole.”