MISCHIEVOUS IMAGINATIONS 



87 



When all the beer is finished, the man wonders 

 what to do with the empty jar, and looks at it 

 rather sourly, and, if he has enough money, he 

 very likely sends it back to be filled again. But 

 one day, when money was scarce, and the rats had 

 been rather troublesome, it occurred to a certain 

 man, who took a pride in circumventing the wary 

 rat, that this jar would hold a lot of us, if he could 

 only get us into it. He inspected the mouth of it, 

 I suppose, and thought how like a rat's hole it 

 looked — just a nice size. But, then, if a rat could 

 run in, it could also run out. Then the idea came 

 into his head that they could not run out if he could 

 only stand it upright while they were still in it ; 

 but, think as he would, he could not contrive any 

 device whereby to stand it up before the rats could 

 get out. And he went on thinking and thinking, 

 and his face grew more and more gloomy ; but at 

 last a smile came creeping round about his mouth 

 and up to his eyes, and at last he burst into a huge 

 chuckle, and in that chuckle lay the lives of many 

 rats ; and he slapped his hand upon his leg and 

 exclaimed, * Got it, by Jove ! got 'em !' Then he 

 went off and found a pricker and a hammer, and 

 he chopped away very carefully at the side of the 

 jar where there is a big bulge just below the neck, 



