270 ANIMALS AT WORK AND PLAY 



his dogs when at work. As soon as the house dog 

 was removed, one of Mr Barkley's terriers 'pointed' 

 a rat, apparently under the kennel. No hole was 

 visible, but the dog then entered the kennel, and 

 4 pointed ' a hole made through the floor. The 

 predatory rat was found beneath, and as there was 

 only one hole, it was evident that it must have passed 

 and repassed the dog when asleep every night. In 

 another house the dogs ' pointed ' a sofa in a bed- 

 room a rat had eaten a hole through the sacking 

 near one of the legs, and made a nest among the 

 springs ; a ferret was put in ; ' there was a rush 

 and a scuffle, the sofa seemed alive ; then three or 

 four small rats bolted out ; another squeak and rush, 

 and out came the mother, and then, as the ferret 

 did not come out, I ripped open the sacking, and 

 found it eating a tender young rat.' Church mice 

 are common in the Eastern Counties, which were the 

 scene of Mr Barkley's experiences ; they are alleged 

 to live on the samples of wheat and barley which 

 the farmers pull out of their pockets at vestry meetings, 

 and drop on the floor and desk. But Mr Barkley 

 discovered, and in due course caught, a church-rat. 

 He was amusing during the sermon, sitting on a 

 bench opposite, a score of village school-children, when 

 he was suddenly struck by the curious resemblance 

 of expression not in one, but in the whole row 



