Jan, 14—With rain and sleet driving down on to an already water-Yogsed countryside, thi: walking abroad, 50 1 myself with a superficial enquiry into the habits of our local rat. Though these unpleasant creatures do not often come into our houses, they cer. tainly use our offices as play-grounds, during the night, and it was only the other day that a rat came and deposited in my drawer three well-nibbled chocolates, presumably filched from the store of a lady stenographer several rooms away. This. is merely further proof that' most rats have a For storing things away, whether eatable or nol: whi brings me to the case of the who missed all the euleglass stoppers from her cruet bolties (and. quite naturally blamed the servants. for breaking them!) only to find some years later, when the house was being Fepaired, that all her stoppers were be! Most amusing lying safe and sound ina rats nest
Jof all is a case just just reported in a Home paper, which will be of parti-Jeular interest to those who feed wild birds: a lady noticed that when she put bread out on the lawn a Tare rat its the shrub a it-was found to be storing the bread away In a deserted bird's So arch and beware, all ye feeders of birds, Test Afus huanitiatws should lenter' your peaceful domain. T often think that when the Pied Piper of Hamelin was doing his work in the 13th, century, he did not blow hard enough....this being the only case in which T would make such accusation against any piper.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.