184 Studies in Rat Catching, [ch. x. 



proud of the boy's gifts that I have known 

 him, when wind-bound in a harbour down the 

 coast twenty miles away, walk over the 

 whole distance on a Sunday morning and 

 back at night rather than miss carrying the 

 little fellow to church and hearing him sing 

 there. But it is eleven o'clock, and we were 

 up all last night. What, no grog ? Well, 

 good night ! Come and see me when you 

 can, and come and watch the sea with me in 

 another storm, and we will see if I can't rake 

 up another story of the doings of the rough 

 heroes of our neighbourhood who go down to 

 the sea in ships. Good night, good night ! " 



And so one of the pleasantest evenings 

 I had spent for a long while was over. 



Oh, dear ! oh, dear ! What a muddle, what 

 a hodge-podge I have made of this pen work ! 

 I sat down thinking it would be quite easy to 

 write a book on " Rat-catching for the Use of 

 Schools," and I have drifted off the line here, 



