56 
THE RAT 
to have been found by his side besmeared and clotted with 
blood and fur. Now whether he died from fright or ex- 
haustion, or from both, or whether the rats in a body followed 
him up and killed him, will remain to all time a mystery. 
About forty years ago there was a pie-maker of Leith who 
met with his death through rats. It appears that he had 
gained great repute for his peculiar meat-pies, Avhich were 
considered both good and cheap. He was an industrious 
man, and acquired a large connection. It was his invariable 
custom to make his meat-pies over-night, so as to be ready 
for the morning's baking. But for some time past he had 
found the meat taken out of the pies in the night-time> 
Thus matters went on till pies and all went. This so 
puzzled him, that he resolved upon making his pies as usual, 
and stationing himself in the bakehouse in the dark to watch 
for the thieves. This he did. On the following morning 
the neighbours were stirring, but his shop remained shut ; 
they concluded he had been awake all night, and was having 
a morning's nap, and therefore would not disturb him. Mid- 
day came, and still his shop was shut. At last his customers 
began to muster for their pies ; and sundry inquiries were 
made as to what had become of the pieman. At last they 
burst open the door ; still no pieman made his appearance. 
They then searched the house all over, but to no purpose. 
At last they went into the bakehouse, and there they found 
him on the Hoor, a corpse, with his face, hands, and body 
most frightfully gnawed away. The bystanders were per- 
fectly horror-stricken, and could form no idea as to what 
could have so cruelly maltreated him. At length one of 
them passed out into the yard, and there lay a large wooden 
pump which had belonged to an old ship. He saw a rat pop 
out at the further end, which, as soon as it saw him, popped 
back again. This threw some light upon the mystery, and 
quietly searching, they found that where one end of the pump 
came against the outside of the bakehouse the rats had made 
a hole, and so got access to the interior of the bakehouse. 
They then set quietly to work, and stopped both ends of the 
pump tight up, and so fastened all the rats tight in. Then 
all the pots and kettles in the neighbourhood were set to 
work for boiling water, and after boring sundry holes in the 
upper side of the pump, they poured in the boiling liquid^ 
