114 



THE RAT 



excited and fussy about mere nothings, and ex- 

 claiming, ' I swear I won't !' ' I give you my word of 

 honour !' when nobody wants to question their 

 honour, and a simple ' Oh no ' would be quite 

 enough. 



Now, of course, I have one or two things upon 

 my conscience which trouble me at times, though 

 nothing so bad as biting ' Rosy-cheeks ' through 

 the ear. I bit another boy badly once, who had the 

 impudence to put his hand into my hole in the side 

 of a corn-stack, and to haul me out ignominiously 

 by the scruff of the neck, and I was compelled to 

 bite him three times before I could make him loose 

 his grip ; even then he only just gave me time to 

 wriggle out of his fingers, though he was bleeding 

 freely, and must have dearly w^anted to suck the 

 place. I was quite sorry then, because he was so 

 brave and determined, but I did not feel that I had 

 done anything very wicked in saving my own life. 



Perhaps I ought to tell you rather more about 

 my new quarters, though I have already told you 

 the most important point of all — namely, that there 

 were no traps. I am afraid that I cannot suppose 

 that there was any special desire to keep us there 

 from love of us and our innocent ways ; but we were 

 not there in any great numbers, which is always a 



