160 



THE GENESEE FAR^CER. 



|oiuici %k^Ws |a(|e. 



ANECDOTE OF A TAME RAT. 



Buckland tells in his curiosities of Natural History ^he 

 following anecdote of a tame rat which, if it did not come 

 from such a reliable source would be scarcely creditable : 



"Some time ago the driver of a Bow and Stratford om- 

 nibus was moving some trusses of hay in his hayloft, 

 when snugh' coik'd up in a corner, he found a little miser- 

 able-looking rat, whose maniraa, having carefully tucked 

 bini up in bed, had gone out on a foraging expedition to 

 find something for her darling's supper. The little fellow 

 being of remarkably piebald color, excited the pity of the 

 omnibus man, who took him up, and brought him home 

 to his family. The little children soon took to their new 

 pet, and named him Ikey, after their eldest brother, 

 whose name was Isaac. The little creature soon grew up, 

 and reciprocated the kindness he had received, bj- excess- 

 ive tameness towards every member of the family. He 

 was therefore allowed to roam about the house at pprfect 

 liberty. His favorite seat was inside the tender, or on 

 the clean white hearth, but strange to say, he would never 

 get on it unless is was perfectly clean. 



" His master had perfect control over him, and made, for 

 his special benefit, a little whip, with which he taught 

 hitn to sit upon his hind legs in a begging posture, jump 

 through a whalebone hoop, drag a small cart to which he 

 was harnessed, carry sticks, money, etc., in his mouth, and 

 perform many other amusing tricks. 



"The master became so fond of his rat that he taught 

 him at the word of command, "Come along, Ikey," to 

 jump into his great coat pocket in the morning, when he 

 went out to his daily occupation of driving the 'bus. 



" He did not, however, carry him all day in his pocket, 

 but put him in the boot of his 'bus to act as guard to his 

 dinner. But why not the rat eat up his master's dinner? 

 because, as said the man, "1 always gives him his belly- 

 ful when I has my own breakfast before starting." The 

 dinner was never touched except when it happened to 

 consist of plum-puddihg. This Ikey could not resist; his 

 greediness overcame his sense of right, and he invariably 

 devoured the plums, leaving the less dainty parts of the 

 repast for his master. The rat ac'ed as a famous guard 

 to the provisions, for whenever any of the idle fellows 

 who are always seen lounging about the public houses 

 where the omnibuses bait, attempted to commit a theft, 

 and runoff with the bundle out of the boot, Ikey would 

 fly out at them from under the straw, and effectually put 

 to flight the robbers. 



"His teeth, after a time, became bad acd worn out, and 

 the children finding this out, delighted to give him a sort 

 of hard cake, made of treacle, cal'ed, in infant parlance, 

 jumbles, or brandy snacks. Of these Ikey, in his younger 

 days, was very fond ; bnt now, on the contrary, they gave 

 him much trouble to masticate, and his perseverance and 

 rage when attacking the said brandy snacks caused the 

 young folks many a liearty laugh. 



"This rat i.«. I bolieve, still alive, and enjovs good health, 

 though, the weight of aiji: pressing on his hoarv head, he 

 requires many little attentious from bia kind and tender 

 hearted protectors. 



A LITTLE GIRL'S INFLUENCE. 



Did you ever see the inside of a drunkard's home, wit 

 every thing going to wreck and ruin? If you have, yo 

 know how Old Hunter's looked ; not that he was ver 

 old, but he was so shabby and used up the boys used t 

 call him old. He was very ugly when in liquor, abusin; 

 his wife and children shametuily. They often hid whei 

 they heard him coming; and the time has been when hi 

 poor wife was turned out into a snow bank. He had on 

 little girl, however, the youngest, that seemed to far 

 better at his bauds than the others. To her he wa 

 always kind. In his worst moments he a))peared to knov 

 and spare Luly. 



One day she crept into his lap, and looking up into hi 

 face, "Father, I love 'ou," she said. Luly could no 

 speak all her words plain, though she was old enough to 

 "Father, I love 'ou," she repeated, "I love 'ou." "Di 

 you, Luly?" said her father in a subdued tone. "Fathei 

 I want you to be a good mans, 'cause I love 'ou. Yoi 

 will be a good mans, father won'tyou? God wants yoti 

 to be a good mans. 



Tears rushed to the poor father's eyes, and he hugget 

 bis little girl to his bosom. Then he set her down ant 

 hurried out of the house. He had a job that day, am 

 went back to his work. Tet he saw and heard nothinj 

 for the rest of the day but Luly and her pleading words 

 He loved, who had so forfeited all right to be loved ! JJ 

 be a good man ! He wished he could. He did not kno\< 

 that, when other means had failed to bring him back t^ 

 himself and to his duty, God sent his little girl to leac 

 him. 



Old Hunter was pricked in his conscience, for there was 

 a little left yet, and it kept j)ricking, until at length h« 

 went to a temperance man. "Sir." said he, "I want t( 

 sign the pledge, and turn over a new leaf " "God b« 

 praised," said the temperance man ; it's the best news 

 I've heard for a long w'jile; but you must know, taking 

 the pledge is not enough— it's only a beginning; you 

 must get help from on high to keep it. Now you takt 

 your family and come round to our church, and we"ll 

 rally round you and help you on." So one good step 

 leads to another. 



To make a long story short, Old Hunter is a reformed 

 man, sober and industrious. He is J/r, Hunter now, niid 

 goes to Snndav-school with his children every Lord's 

 day. — Child's Paper 



What a Farmer's Boy Should Be. — Some one, we do 

 not know who, says a farmer's boy should learn how to 

 do the following things: 



1. To dress himself, black his own shoes, cut his 

 brother's hair, wind a watch, sew on a button, make 

 bed, and keep all his clothes in perfect order. 



2. To harness a horse, grease a wagon, and drive * 

 team. 



3. To carve and to wait on the dlnner-tahle, 



4. To milk the cows, shear the slicop, and dress a veal 

 or a mutton. 



h. To reckon money, and keep accounts accurately, and 

 according to good book-keeping rules. 



0. To write a neat, anpropriale, briefly expressed busi- 

 ness letter, in a good hand, and fold to subscribe it 

 properly. 



7. To plow, sow grain and grass-seod, drive a mowing- 

 machine, swing a scythe, biiilii a stack and a load of hay. 



5. To put up a package, huild a fire, whitewash a wall, 

 mend broken toola, and regulate a duck. 



