6o Studies in Rat Catching, [ch. hi. 



This is a tiring long story to write, and I 

 have not quite done it yet, for I must finish 

 with the sand-pit man. He was tried, con- 

 victed and got three years. A year after he 

 had been in prison he tried to escape by getting 

 over a high wall, but in doing so he fell 

 from the top and broke his back. He 

 lingered some days and seemed to find a 

 pleasure in telling the prison parson of all 

 his misdeeds and in boasting of them. 

 There was a long list, but only the last part 

 of his story will serve for " the use of schools." 

 It appears from what he said that, after he 

 had given me the dog, he had intended to 

 steal back to his house and take the two 

 children to a deep pond and there drown 

 them. Then, free from family ties, he hoped 

 to get away and ship himself off to America. 

 He also said that in a fit of rage he had 

 thrashed his wife to death with his fists, and 

 that his boy from having seen him' do it had 



