124 



THE RAT 



He did appear on the following day, and was 

 found eating one of the chickens which he had 

 killed, so that he made himself thoroughly un- 

 popular with everybody, and his capture was hailed 

 with universal satisfaction. Perhaps I was more 

 pleased than anyone, for I was the only rat who 

 knew that he was still about the premises, and the 

 knowledge had altogether ruined my night's rest. 

 Also, my memory is so very short, unless I really 

 sit down and try to remember, that I was afraid 

 that I should forget all about his hateful presence, 

 and go blundering up against him unexpectedly. 



After he was gone our life went on peaceably and 

 happily enough. The boys were so upset by the 

 loss of their ferret in the pigsty that they never 

 came near the place again, and so we were left 

 to enjoy ourselves in our own way. The pig who 

 had slain our deadly enemy became a great hero 

 among us, and when he was eventually taken away 

 to be made into bacon we all attended the funeral ; 

 that is to say, we went by night to the place where 

 he had been converted, and buried such scraps of 

 him as we could find — in our own insides, for want 

 of a better place. I never enjoyed quite so pleasant 

 a winter again, as the sequel will show. 



