CHAPTER II 



ALONE IN A ROOM FULL OF RATS 



THREATENED BY A RAT, NOISY RATS, ENGLISH RATS, BAD RATS, 

 DANGEROUS RATS, SEWER RATS POLL PARROT WHIPS RATS 

 IN FAIR FIGHT SINGING MICE THE FAMILY OF BEAUTIFUL 

 PESTS, FLYING SQUIRRELS, THEIR NESTS IN A STOVE-PIPE, 

 IN TROUSERS AND IN BOOTS FLYING SQUIRRELS IN WINTER 

 AN ALBINO FLYING SQUIRREL WITH PINK EYES. 



Being curious to know how and for what pur- 

 pose the Norway brown rat, which infests our sta- 

 bles and houses, makes such a terrible rumpus 

 after dark, I visited a certain summer kitchen, one 

 night, that had the reputation of being haunted. 

 The room had a brick floor, board walls, a com- 

 mon iron sink with hydrant, and a flight of wooden 

 steps leading from the house proper, to the paved 

 floor. 



There was a gas-jet in the summer kitchen. After 

 lighting this, I seated myself upon the steps and 

 waited for the ghosts to appear; I had long 

 since learned that by keeping quiet and immovable 

 one can disarm the suspicions of the most timid 

 creatures, and I reasoned that since ghosts never 

 appeared in daylight and always fled at the crow 

 of a rooster, they must be exceedingly shy. I had 

 not occupied my seat very long, before I saw a 



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