THE RAT 



to hope that none of my friends were at home in 

 that particular portion of the buildings ; but pre- 

 sently there was the sound of a scuffle, and the 

 biggest rat on the premises — Mr. Patrick, whose 

 father had come over from Ireland in a pig-boat — 

 made a bold rush for his life. He dodged the 

 sticks cleverly for some time, but at last one of his 

 doubles brought him within reach of that active 

 little ruffian Billy, who struck him a back-handed 

 blow fairly on the side of the head, and he gave up 

 the contest without a struggle, and took no further 

 interest in the proceedings. It was as clean a kill, 

 as fair a stroke with a shillelagh, as a brave Irish- 

 man could wish for, and I hardly felt sorry for 

 him ; also I knew that Master Billy would be sure 

 to brag of his prowess, and that Betty would do 

 her best to make things unpleasant for him. 

 Unfortunately, the scoldings of sisters never seem 

 to produce a very lasting effect upon brothers ; 

 they only trickle off the thick masculine hide like 

 water off a duck's back. 



Of course, there was a scene of noisy triumph 

 over the corpse, which was pronounced to be the 

 remains of the biggest rat on record ; and mean- 

 while the other ferret came out and slipped away 

 into the barn unnoticed, to do a little hunting on 



