If You Please

From 1908 to 1918, my great great grandmother, Ethel Carson,  had a little book where she kept a record of income, expenses, and various happenings around the farm.  She also wrote or copied one poem, "If You Please," but unfortunately did not indicate who the author was or if she wrote it herself.

All dressed in gray,

A little mouse has made his home within my house;

And every night and every morn, 

I say, “I wish that mouse were gone.”

But why? A quiet soul is he,

 As any one need wish to see. 

 My house is large, my hearth is wide, 

With room for him and me beside. 

 Ah! yes! But when the lights are out, 

He likes to slyly peep about, 

And help himself to what he sees, 

Without once saying, “If you please.”

Have you ever heard this poem before, and if so, do you know who wrote it?

Update: Many thanks to Phil Gould and Carletta for finding the poem in Literature for Little People (1911) and Stickney's Second Reader, page 87, published by Ginn & Co. before 1897.
 (It is mentioned in the 1897 Proceedings of the Chicago Board of Education).   
If I ever need private investigators, I know whom to call! 

 Linking with: Good Fences, Rubbish Tuesday, and The Barn Collective.