THE RAT 



persuaded me to come and live in a com- stack. I 

 told her that it was very dangerous, and strongly 

 advised her to come away and dig a hole deep under 

 a bramble-bush, which overhung a cosy little bank 

 well covered with long grass. But she was as 

 obstinate as the rest of her sex, and nothing would 

 suit her but the stack. According to her view, all 

 the aristocracy of the district were in the stack, 

 and holes under bramble -bushes were only for 

 outsiders. No one would call on her, and the 

 thorns would spoil her jacket. She wanted an 

 upstairs drawing-room and a boudoir. ' Bother the 

 aristocracy — drat boudoirs — give me comfort and 

 safety !' I protested. But she was very firm, and 

 said that I must choose between her and my nasty 

 bramble-bush, so, like a fool, I chose her, which 

 fact speaks volumes for her charms, but only waste- 

 paper baskets for my sense and wisdom. 



However, all went well for a month, and I was 

 becoming almost reconciled to the manners of 

 the aristocracy, which were free and easy in the 

 extreme. I could never call my house my own. 

 Harum-scarum young rascals of either sex trotted 

 in and out as they pleased, though I left the marks 

 of my teeth on one or two of the gentlemen, and 

 tried to provoke my wife by making violent love 



