so 



THE RAT 



only swings away further and comes back harder, 

 till at last I take a huge and monstrous jump, so 

 big that I seem to be flying, and when I get to the 

 place where it ought to be it has gone and dis- 

 appeared, and I come down ' splosh !' And some- 

 times that wakens me up, and sometimes the 

 ' splosh ' turns into a river, and I go on swimming 

 and swimming, till I think that I cannot swim a 

 single stroke further with any of my paws ; and 

 then I remember that I have a tail, and I try 

 whether T can swim with that, by wriggling it 

 round and round in the water, like an eel, and 

 then I go so fast that I soon come ' bump ' into 

 the bank, and that generally wakens me. 



Let me see ! I know that there was something 

 very particular that I was thinking of telling you. 

 I wonder what ever it was ! Something to eat ? 

 No ! I know that I had not got as far as that, and 

 I don't think that it was anything to drink either, 

 because that is just as far. Upon my word, I am 

 growing terribly forgetful. It was so awfully 

 particular, too. I wonder if you could possibly 

 help me ? I hardly expect that you can, because, 

 if I cannot remember, I feel pretty sure that you 

 cannot, either. My memory is generally so good. 

 1 remember, one day What did you say ? It is 



