82 
THE RA.T. 
years, were tolerably kind, perhaps more so on account ol 
the girl's misfortunes ; but one morning it happened that 
two very valuable gold rings belonging to her mistress were 
missing. What could have become of them 1 Who had 
seen them ? Her master had not ; and her mistress was 
certain that she had placed them on the table the night 
before. Then what could have become of them ? Sarah 
did not know ; master did not know ; nor did mistress 
know ; but yet two things were certain : first, that no one 
whatever had access to the house ; and, secondly, that no 
one had been in the room but Sarah. The consequence 
was, poor Sarah was urged to make a special confession of 
her crime, and bring the rings back, in order that no fur- 
ther proceedings might be taken in the matter ; but Sarah, 
conscious of her innocence, declared that she knew nothing 
of them, and, with all the dignity of wounded maiden honour, 
gently reproved them for their ungenerous suspicions. This, 
of course, was construed into hardened guilt. The result was, 
she was exposed before some of their friends, and in charity 
was not prosecuted, but sent about her business without a 
character, to the great grief of poor Sarah's friends and 
neighbours, who believed her perfectly incapable of any such 
offence. 
About six months afterwards there was a terrible stench 
arising from beneath the flooring in one of the rooms. A 
carpenter was sent for, who soon took up the boards. 
Nothing was to be seen that could cause such a stench ; but, 
on raising the hearth-stone, there were the putrid remains of 
a large dead rat. And what else ? why, the remains of a 
rat's-nest ! and what was in it ? the two identical rings that 
were lost. The thing was proof beyond all doubt. The 
master and mistress were both of them satisfied of the 
wrongs they had done poor Sarah, who was instantly sought 
for and found, and honourable reparation made by her master 
and mistress, who, having no children, adopted her as 
their own, and left her sole heiress of all their property. 
Some individuals may still have their doubts as to how 
the rings got into the rat's-nest, and probably suspect poor 
Sarah's innocence. Such persons can, perhaps, explain the 
following curious circumstances, which I found in an Edin- 
burgh paper. It states that, while some men belonging to 
