220 



THE RAT 



many traces of my depredations. It is dangerous 

 to leave marks of your teeth on a piece of butter, 

 so I always chose a solitary pat and devoured it 

 entirely. The milk I was obliged to get at by 

 dangling the stump of my tail into the jug, and then 

 I licked that unornamental but useful member of 

 my anatomy clean. I doubt whether Dame Nature 

 thought of that possibility when she gave me a tail. 



How horrified the old ladies would have been if 

 they had known that a rat had dipped his ugly tail 

 into the milk which they put into their tea at 

 breakfast-time, and had dipped it not once but 

 many times I I had to be very careful not to 

 overbalance the jug when I sat on the top of it. I 

 ventured once or twice to take a look round the 

 house, but found nothing except their poor old boots 

 outside their doors, and I was not hungry enough 

 to get myself into needless trouble by gnawing at 

 them. I was too old then to love mischief for its 

 own sake, though I was very tempted just to 

 nibble the laces in half for fun. I wonder whether 

 the dear old innocents would have known that a 

 rat had been outside their doors ! 



Life was very secure in that quiet retreat, but 

 somehow I felt rather dull and out of spirits in the 

 absence of all danger, and I almost wished that 



