UNREST AND REST 



137 



those who might have had reason to think that 

 they were safe at last. 



So uncanny was his sudden disappearance that I 

 forebore to make any search. If he had fled, it 

 was because he had wanted to rid himself of my 

 unwelcome company ; if, on the other hand, he had 

 fallen a prey to the enemy, surely that same enemy 

 might well return for a second victim, for the poor 

 old fellow had but a scanty covering of flesh upon 

 his aged bones, and that second victim would be 

 me. In either case 1 was better in the hole, so I 

 went sadly in and slept the long sleep of utter 

 weariness. 



Whether I awoke on the following morning, or 

 only after many days and nights, I cannot say. 

 When you are a rat, time is of very small importance, 

 and that is where we have the advantage of you, 

 more than in any other matter. I am quite ready 

 to grant that it must be a fine thing to be able to 

 go out of doors, and feel that you are one of the 

 lords of creation ; that if you choose to kill, and 

 consider that you have the right to kill, you have 

 only to pull the trigger and hold the gun steady, 

 or to strike a straight blow with stick or stone, and 

 a life is gone. It may be laid to your account here- 

 after, but the hereafter is always a long way off. 



