THE RAT. 
his heels and ran away, evidently to the chagrin of the rats, . » 
who began quarrelling with each other. At this juncture, i 
lip came a dog-dealer with a very handsome black tan 
terrier in a chain. To unloose him was but the w^ork of a ii 
moment, and in he went. The rats were ready to receive fr 
him. One sprang and met him, which the dog caught in se 
his mouth, and as quickly let fall dead. A second sprang, and ^ 
received a chop from his teeth and fell. A third had its, sa 
life shook out of it, and so on, till he demolished some seven tl 
or eight, when away ran all the rest at once. The thing ai 
was but the work of a minute. Yet it was evident to every o 
one present, that rats act in unison, and have their principles o 
of attack and defence. t 
I was lately informed by a gentleman that in the o 
house where he resided, the landlady had a very fine tor- d 
toiseshell cat, which was much valued for its abilities in c 
killing rats, with which at times the premises were very , i 
much infested. The kitchens, it appears, were kept as » i 
mere lumber-rooms, whither the cat was in the habit of ; i 
repairing, for the purpose of gratifying her propensity for 
rat-killing. However, one morning, when one of the domes- 
tics went down stairs, he found the poor cat in a most ; i 
helpless and lamentable condition. The household was i 
summoned to witness the catastrophe, and a pitiable sight it 
was. There lay the poor cat, perfectly helpless, and in the j 
agonies of death. They may well say a cat has nine lives, \ 
for the flesh of the back and other parts of its body, from | 
the nape of the neck to the root of the tail, was eaten entirely \ 
away to the bare bone. The poor animal was unable to 
move a limb, and looked up most piteously in their faces. < 
My informant requested them, in charity, to put it out of 
its misery, which was done accordingly. 
Now not one rat, nor do I believe half a dozen, could ] 
have so maltreated the poor cat, because she would have ! 
fought till she broke loose, and then have bounded up some- 
where out of their reach. It must therefore have been a 
resolution on the part of numbers ; for a cat is a most 
vicious and determined fighter in cases of danger ; and no- 
thing but overwhelming numbers could ever have served 
poor puss as she was served. 
Not long ago there appeared in a country paper, the 
