THE KAT. 
other respect he might have been a marble statue, so frozen 
was his aspect. What did he behold ? Was it the idol of 
his heart a prostrate and lifeless corpse ? No ; what then 
was it? why, his pretty, amiable, nervous wife upon her 
hands and knees, underneath the table, seconding little Tiny 
in a life and death battle with an enormous rat ! ! In- 
stantly a thought flashed across his mind, that she had gone 
raving mad ! Down stairs he flew, upsetting the fat servant, 
who went rolling to the bottom. Out of the house he rushed, 
and ran along the road, with all his might, to fetch the old 
doctor. 
The facts of the case were these : — The lady, feeling un- 
well, was seated listlessly by the fire-side, with Tiny in her 
lap. The gentleman had proposed that they should go out 
for a drive, and had left the room but a few minutes, when 
in bounced a female rat, followed by two males, a larger 
and a smaller. The big fellow seized the smaller one by the 
ear, and gave him a sound shake, which made the young 
gentleman give a most unmerciful squeal. The lady in her 
fright gave a screech, and jumped up with the dog in her 
arms ; but instead of running out, she slammed the door 
to, — a thing very natural with ladies, when alarmed by the ^ 
sudden appearance of intruders. Still, in this case, instead ] 
of shutting the intruders out, she had fastened them in, 
when Tiny became so infuriated and ungovernable that he 
struggled out of her arms, and down he went. The she-rat 
was running across the hearth-rug, when he laid her dead. 
He dashed at the next, and laid him dead by the sofa ; and 
as the largest fellow of the three was running under the 
table. Tiny pinned him. But he was too large and too < 
tough for the compass of the dog's mouth. Still he stuck ( 
to his work like a lion, and held tight to him. The struggle r 
was a desperate one. They rolled over and over two or j 
three times ; and, though severely bitten, Tiny was not to f 
be worsted. This gave his mistress courage, and without | 
thinking of her situation, she went upon her hands and ^ 
knees, to cheer and pat him on to victory ; and just as Tiny ] 
had vanquished the rat, in came the gentleman, and hence ( 
his extraordinary suspicion as to the lady's sanity of. j 
mind. i 
We will now leave the lady, and follow her husband, who | 
