218 



THE RAT 



between myself and the abode of that great black 

 cat. I had no desire to feel again the prick of her 

 teeth. 



I must now pass over many months of my 

 chequered career, and tell you how I learnt to hop. 

 I had taken up my abode for the winter months in 

 the outbuildings of a small house kept by two old 

 maids. They were not ordinary old maids, because 

 they kept no cats ; I made certain of that fact 

 before I engaged lodgings. I was also the only rat 

 on the premises, which fact promised well for my 

 safety. I thought at one time of settling in the 

 roof of the house itself, but I rejected the idea 

 ultimately for fear of alarming the two timid old 

 ladies, and found very nice quarters behind a pile 

 of old boxes, and such rubbish as old maids love to 

 accumulate, in one of the sheds. I did not bother 

 to dig a hole, but made a fine nest of straw and 

 paper torn up into shreds right in the far corner, 

 feeling pretty sure that, even if any unforeseen 

 circumstances did cause the lumber to be removed, 

 1 could make a bolt with impunity amid the 

 screams of terrified females. 



I was rather dependent on the larder of the 

 house for rny nicest food, though odd scraps that 

 were not unsavoury found their way on to the 



