38 
WILD AMERICANS 
“Yes, and putting silk stockings in people’s coats? 
added Father. 
“A pack rat could,” said Uncle Ely. 
“A—a what?” 
“Pack rat. Sometimes it is called a trade rat.” 
“Never heard of him,” Father declared. 
“Yes, you have, but you’ve forgotten. We used to 
see them when we were kids, Bob. But your children 
never have seen them, probably because they have 
been reared in an eastern city.” 
“Tell us about him, Uncle Ely,” both children 
urged. 
While the two men broke dead wood from bushes 
nearby to build a campfire for breakfast, Uncle Ely 
talked about the strange rat which is in all truth one 
of the most mysterious creatures in the American 
wilderness. 
“ Tack’ is a western word, meaning to carry,” Un- 
cle Ely began. “We have pack horses, for instance. 
Well, sir, the pack rat is called that because he car¬ 
ries or packs things wherever he goes. He is not par¬ 
ticular about what he carries—just anything that is 
shiny or small. 
“We also call him trade rat, because he will trade 
one thing for another. If he is carrying a spoon from 
