'BY STREAM AND RIVER' 



165 



had brought me to my present haven of rest ; and a 

 very good fellow he was, just the kind of rat to 

 suit my taste — full of fun, ready for any adventure, 

 clever and handy with his teeth, and possessed of a 

 ready wit in time of danger. I took him to my 

 heart at once, and helped him to excavate a dwelling 

 alongside of mine — in fact, we joined the two by a 

 passage in case of danger. And for many days all 

 went well ; we were inseparable. Side by side we 

 wandered about that grassy wilderness, where the 

 nettles and water-plants now grew tall and rank, 

 and stroke for stroke we clove our way through 

 the transparent current, while the water -weeds 

 swept our lean flanks. We were in fine training 

 for lack of corn, as supple and sinewy as a pair of 

 greyhounds. 



And then discord came, not with a golden apple, 

 but in the shape of a mean little, skinny slip of 

 a girl — a girl-rat, I mean — with an evil eye. No 

 beauty nor grace had she to boast of, and yet, just 

 for the sake of her sickly little smile, and because 

 she was what she was, and because the young 

 summer was in their blood, too honest gentlemen 

 must needs fall out and fight. And even as we 

 fought, and as the lust for battle kindled in our 

 hearts, we realized that one or other of us must die 



