Four feet, wings, and fins . harf-rats, because, during thesummer, they reside principally in holes along banksof rivers, ponds and ditches, always seeking housesand barns for the winter, where they live in thewalls and under floors. They can burrow verydeep, throwing up great piles of dirt in their nightlywork at house-breaking. But to return to my story. The brown rat found his way into the greatlong corridor of a prison one day, and finding somewheat-heads upon the floor immediately began tomake himself at home. After he had feasted to hishearts content, he began to think of a hiding-place,
Four feet, wings, and fins . harf-rats, because, during thesummer, they reside principally in holes along banksof rivers, ponds and ditches, always seeking housesand barns for the winter, where they live in thewalls and under floors. They can burrow verydeep, throwing up great piles of dirt in their nightlywork at house-breaking. But to return to my story. The brown rat found his way into the greatlong corridor of a prison one day, and finding somewheat-heads upon the floor immediately began tomake himself at home. After he had feasted to hishearts content, he began to think of a hiding-place,and at last crept into a prisoners cell. While he 85 • DOWN BY THE CREEK. was cowering in a corner under the bed, the pris-oner came in and shut his door, thus making the rata prisoner, also. In the night the prisoner awakenedto hear a strange noise in his cell. By the light ofthe moon streaming through the one little window,he found the rat. He had a piece of bread in hispocket, which he took out and crumbled, flinging it. to the rat. So he fed her every day, and strokedand caressed her, until she would creep upon hisknee, and sit upon his shoulder. In a short time DOWN BY THE CREEK. she made a nest, and had sixteen little baby prisoner opened wide his eyes with astonish-ment—he had a few more pets than he bargainedfor. But the mother-rat concluded to help him outof his difficulty by devouring her children. O, Cousin Grace, was ever anything so unnat-ural ? asked May, disgusted. I hate wats! cried little Rose. They are very destructive, and eat their ownspecies right along. If it were not for that, theybreed so fast, there would be no living with black rats have been very plentiful, but inevery country disappear before their enemies, thebrown rats. Well, at last, the rat, pining for company, nodoubt, gnawed her way out of the cell, and, Ojoy, why could not the prisoner escape by the samemeans ? How eagerly he thrust his arm down thelong hole, and measured
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1870, booksubjectzoology, bookyear1879
