"Down Pens"
The short story of Saki titled "Down Pens" is a conversation between Janetta and Egbert, who are writing letters of acknowledgment to the people who sent them Christmas presents. They are so tired of writing letters of thankfulness that they start arguing who would write a letter to Mrs. Froplinsons who has sent them a calendar of William Wordsworth with a quote of him for every day of the year. The story ends with their never-ending discussion of how this formality of writing letters of thankfulness should be replaced, and at the end, Janetta again asks what does she need to write in the letter to Mrs. Froplinsons.
"The Mouse”
The story “The Mouse” is about a gentleman named Theodoric Voler who is brought up by his mother; he has been kept away from the “coarser realities of life”. One day, he was on a train returning from the vicar’s house. A lady was asleep in his compartment and suddenly he realized there was a mouse in his clothes. He felt embarrassed to undo his clothes in presence of the sleeping woman but he had to in order to get rid of the mouse. Just when he had gotten rid of the mouse, the rug fell and the woman woke up. He explained to her that there was a mouse in his clothes. The story ends on an ironic note when they get on the platform and the woman asks him if he would be kind to put her in a cab as she was blind. Theodoric was embarrassed for no use to get undressed in his presence.
