COUNTRY PLACES. 177 



of the country, and I wrote to him about it, and he said 

 he would come and see them. The day he come was 

 rather roughish and cold : he seemed sort of bad when 

 he come into the house, and had to have some brandy. 

 By-and-by he got better, and out we started ; but just 

 as we was going through the yard this old dog nips him 

 by the hand — took him right through his hand — made 

 him look main straight. However, washed his hand 

 and bound it up, and started out again. (Chuckle.) 

 Hadn't gone very far, and was getting through a hedge, 

 and dalled if he didn't fall into the pond, flop ! 

 (Chuckle.) I suppose he didn't like it, for he never 

 said nothing about the mounds in his book when it 

 come out — left 'em out altogether.' 



This pond still exists, and Mr. Nestor Hay had noted 

 a curious thing about it. Across the middle of the pond 

 a tree had fallen ; it was just on a level with the surface 

 of the water. A pair of water-rats always ate their food 

 on this tree. They would go out into the grass of the 

 meadow, bite off the vegetation that suited their taste, 

 and carry it back in their mouths to the tree, and there 

 eat it in safety, with water, as it were, all round them 

 like a moat. This they did a hundred times — in fact, 

 every day. 'But,' said Mr. Hay, 'you can't watch 

 nothing now a minute without some great lout coming 

 along with a stale baccy pipe in his mouth, making the 

 air stink ; they spoils everything, these here half-towny 

 fellows ; everybody got a neasty stale pipe in their 

 mouths, and they gets over the hedges anywhere, and 

 disturbs everything.' It is common on the banks of 

 a stream or a pond to see half a dozen of these little 

 beaver-like water-voles out feeding in the grass, and they 

 eat it where they find it. At this particular pond the 

 two rats diverged from the custom of their race, and 



N 



