But after twenty or so mouse-hours the truck stopped and Potato heard the men crunching along through shingle and unhooking the back door, then the inside of the truck was filled with a white glare of light.

"Careful!" said one of the men.

"Got it?"

"Watch the corner!"

Piece by piece the jumble of things in the truck was pulled out and carried away. Potato felt the thing he was inside being lifted too. He kept very quiet and very still, (which wasn't difficult at all for him because that's something mice do very well), until the men put his hiding place down and walked away.

Where was he? Dare he look? What if the terrier was there? He might stick his nose out and have it bitten off by a terrier, or perhaps a cat!

He decided to stay quiet for another mouse-hour, then, very cautiously, he crept to the hole he had popped in through, and looked around. All he could see was a wall, and a plug-socket, and the leg of a table. He was in a human's room. There was carpet on the floor, the same colour as the hay in the barn. There was a strange smell, like 'newness' in the air. It was made of plastic, and varnish, and paint and polish.

Potato hoped there might be some food about, but he was too sensible to go looking for it. Better to wait until dark. He would explore the house when all the humans had gone away, and the terrier was asleep.

He waited, and listened, and waited some more. The lights went dim and the humans went away, (because for some reason they always fell over and lay on soft tables when it was night), then there was no sound at all, except for a distant rumble, like thunder in the mountains, which went on and on but never came any closer.

Potato crept to the hole again and put his front feet down, then he pulled the rest of himself out and listened. Nothing came running after him, or barked, or grabbed for his tail,

He went to the edge of the thing he had arrived in and sniffed. It was a strange new world he had come to, that was sure. No humans, no animals, and no smells of the country. What on earth had happened to him?

He ran across the carpet and looked at the other things in the room. Chairs, a table, a fireplace made of stone with a heavy iron grate, a mantelpiece made of a solid