THE PACK RAT 
39 
somebody’s kitchen—as he is likely to be doing if he 
enters a house—he may see a belt buckle that he likes 
better. Right then he will drop the spoon and pick 
up the buckle. A few feet farther on, he may trade 
the buckle for a pencil. You saw how he traded your 
watch for your father’s fountain pen, Ginger.” 
“Yes, sir.” 
“Well, now I want to find what he did with the 
fountain pen. I think we may locate it, too.” 
“How, Uncle Ely?” 
“See that mound of sticks and thorny things over 
there, under that bush? That looks very much like 
a pack rat nest. If our visitor didn’t trade the pen off 
before he got there, it will be in the nest. We will 
dig into it and see, after breakfast.” 
The two children talked about pack rats during the 
meal. They learned from Uncle Ely that these rats 
are common in the Southwest, that they are about 
the size of big house rats, but that they do not destroy 
much valuable property, and they can be tamed as 
pets. 
When the dishes were all washed and the campfire 
carefully put out, Uncle Ely took a small shovel from 
the car and dug into the nest under the bushes. One 
of the rats was found, but he promptly hurried away. 
