238 
THE RAT. 
white bitch ; at others, a black and white one. Then it 
would have a black or red patch over one eye ; or, if neces- 
sary, over both eyes. On other occasions she would be all 
one colour ; and lastly, to drown all suspicion, his novice 
would be black and tan ; indeed, she had been painted 
all the natural colours you could mention, excepting 
white. Thus were numbers fleeced of their money ; for 
while they thought they had a novice to deal with, they 
were contending with the fastest killer of the age under the 
disguise of hair-dyes. 
Take this case then as a warning ; and if gentlemen will 
match their dogs, let them know against whom and what, 
or they may rue their folly. 
I shall here relate a curious anecdote of " Tiny and the 
Baby." 
About three years ago, when travelling by rail from 
London to Winchester, I saw a man who was waiting at 
one of the stations with a large wire cage, in which were 
about a hundred rats. He had all the appearance of a rat- 
catcher. The circumstance excited great interest among the 
ladies and gentlemen in the carriage where I was §eated ; 
and this led to the recital of many anecdotes of rats, from 
which I selected two of the most interesting for my note- 
book. 
The narrator, it appeared, was an independent gentle- 
man, living in the neighbourhood of Leeds, who was 
accompanying his wife (an amiable-looking lady) and 
their infant son, about three months old, to Southampton, 
But the hero of the party was a pretty little black-tan ter- 
rier dog, scarcely as big as an ordinary cat. He was seated 
on his mistress's lap alongside the sleeping baby, but 
evidently very unhappy ; for he eyed with keenest suspicion 
every one that moved, and two or three times, when a lady 
attempted to touch the baby, he turned up his lips, and 
showed his little white teeth, which made her glad to desist, 
though it made her and every one else laugh. 
The gentleman told the history of Tiny, for that was the 
hero's name, with the greatest joy and delight, though at 
the expense of a deal of suppressed laughter on the part of 
his good lady, which seemed to give her lord and master the 
utmost satisfaction. It appeared they had been only some 
