9S THE OPEN AIB. 



him up and obstructed nature. The tongue in his 

 open mouth became parched and cracked, swollen 

 and dry; he slept indeed, but he did not rest; he 

 groaned heavily at times and rolled aside. Once 

 he awoke choking — he could not swallow, his tongue 

 was so dry and large; he sat up, swore, and again 

 lay down. The rats in the sties had already dis- 

 covered that a man slept in the cowhouse, a place 

 they rarely visited, as there was nothing there to eat ; 

 how they found it out no one knows. They are clever 

 creatures, the despised rats. They came across in 

 the night and looked under his bed, supposing that 

 he might have eaten his bread-and-cheese for supper 

 there, and that fragments might have dropped between 

 the boards. There were none. They mounted the 

 boards and sniffed round him; they would have 

 stolen the food from his very pocket if it had been 

 there. Nor could they find a bundle in a handker- 

 chief, which they would have gnawn through 

 speedily. Not a scrap of food was there to be smelt 

 at, so they left him. Koger had indeed gone supper- 

 less, as usual; his supper he had swilled and not 

 eaten. His own fault; he should have exercised 

 self-control. Well, I don't know; let us consider 

 further before we judge. 



In houses the difficulty often is to get the servants 

 up in the morning; one cannot wake, and the rest 

 sleep too sound — much the same thing; yet they 

 have clocks and alarums. The reapers are never 

 behind. Koger got off his planks, shook himself, 

 went outside the shed, and tightened his shoelaces 

 in the bright light. His rough hair he just pushed 



