THE HISTORY OF A NUT-CRACKER. 5

I cannot say how long this strange slumber had lasted,
when, towards midnight, one of the nurses awoke with a
start. All the others were in a state of profound lethargy:
not a sound—not even their very breathing, was heard: the
silence of death reigned around, broken only by the slight
creak of the worm biting the wood. But how frightened
was the nurse when she beheld a large and horrible mouse

 

standing up near her on its hind legs, and, having plunged
its head into the cradle, seemed very busy in biting the face
of the princess! She rose with a cry of alarm; and at that
exclamation, all the other nurses jumped up. But Dame
Mousey—for she indeed it was—sprang towards one corner
of theroom. ‘The cats leapt after her: alas! it was too late—