THE WATER-RAT PLAYS HIDE-AND-SEEK WITH THE OWL
THE raft was quite big enough for them to sit side by side, but of
course there was not very much room for them to move about. They
were quite content, however, to sit quite still, and to watch the
banks slipping past them.
Several times they had narrow escapes from being drowned, for as
they had no means of guiding their little raft they had to go
wherever the stream took them, and once it bumped them right up
against a big stone that rose out of the water. This made the raft
tilt to one side so much, that if Fuzz and Buzz had not held tightly
to one another they would have slid off into the water. But before
either of them had time to feel frightened, they were carried safely
past the big stone and were floating down the stream again.
As the morning went on, Fuzz and Buzz began to get very hungry. So
when the raft floated to one side of the stream and got caught by
some tall reeds which grew at the edge, Fuzz and Buzz made up their
minds to land, and go into the wood and see if they could find
something to eat.
Leaving their raft among the reeds, they climbed up the banks and
went into the wood. And as just in that part of it some fine
beech-trees were growing, Fuzz and Buzz, to their great delight,
found several beech-nuts lying underneath the leaves. They sat down
and ate a good dinner, and then, taking the rest of the beech-nuts
with them, they went back to their raft and were soon sailing down
the stream again.
[Illustration]
Winter afternoons are very short, and not long after Fuzz and Buzz
had had their dinner the sun began to turn into a great red ball,
and to sink behind the trees.
"But we need not stop even when it does get dark," said Buzz, "for
we can float along in the night just as well as in the day, and
perhaps in the morning we shall find ourselves at Aunt Patty's
barn."
"Not you!" said a hoarse voice so close to them that Fuzz and Buzz
gave a little start, and then, looking down into the stream, they
saw that a big water-rat was swimming along beside their raft.
"What did you say, please?" Fuzz asked politely.
"I said that if you went on floating after dark you would never get
to wherever you are going," said the water-rat; "for in the hollow
tree at the edge of the wood a big owl lives, and if he sees you he
will have you for his supper, as sure as I am swimming here. Two
such tender, fat young field-mice as you are don't come his way
every night, and would be a rare treat for him."
But as neither Fuzz nor Buzz wished to be a rare treat for anybody,
at least not in that way, they looked at one another, and a cold
shiver ran down their backs. Fuzz was the first to feel brave again,
or at least to pretend that he felt brave, and he said to the
water-rat:
"But owls never come out in the daytime, they only fly about at
night."
"Well, of course I know that," said the rat.
But Fuzz and Buzz, at any rate, did not want to be eaten by the owl
who lived in the hollow tree, and they thanked the water-rat so much
for his advice that he was quite pleased.
"Would you like some of our beech-nuts?" said Buzz.
"No, thank you," said the water-rat, whose voice, like the voices of
all water-rats, was very gruff and hoarse; "I never eat that sort of
thing. But it is very polite of you to ask me to have some, all the
same."
Then, swimming sometimes beside them, and sometimes behind them, and
sometimes in front of them, the rat went with them down the stream,
and they told him where they were going and why they had to go.
"No food at all in your larder!" said the rat. "Dear me, that's bad.
That is the worst of living on nuts and things of that sort. Now, I
catch my food when I want it, and very good food it is too. Bacon
and candle-ends are what I like best, but of course, living in the
country as I do, I don't very often find any. In the spring, though,
I eat a good many birds' eggs; and that reminds me that I know of an
empty wren's nest near the edge of the wood. You might sleep there
to-night, and go on to the barn in the morning. I will come with you
and show it to you."
Fuzz and Buzz, whose mother had taught them very nice manners,
thanked him again, and the three went down the stream together, and
the rat talked away so fast that none of them saw that it was
growing darker and darker. But soon the low hooting of an owl broke
the silence that had fallen over the wood, and Fuzz and Buzz looked
at one another in a great fright.
"Let's get into the wood and hide,--quick, quick!" said Buzz.
But the rat, who did not seem to be in the least afraid, laughed at
her.
"Look how high the banks are," he said. "Long before we could get to
the top of them the owl would swoop down on us. But a little farther
on there are some thick bushes, and if we can get under them before
he sees us, we shall be quite safe."
But it was doubtful whether they would be able to reach the bushes
in time, for when the owl hooted again, they could hear that he was
very much nearer to them than before.
"Don't be afraid," said the rat, who now seemed to be quite enjoying
the adventure. But Fuzz and Buzz, who could neither swim nor dive
like the water-rat, were not able to help being afraid.
Again and again the owl hooted, and each time the cry sounded
nearer.
"Never you mind," said the rat, as he dived right underneath their
raft and came up on the other side, "he sha'n't catch you."
But Fuzz and Buzz did mind, and they thought as they crept close to
each other in a great fright, that it would be sad indeed if the owl
had them for his supper that night.
"He wouldn't look at you if he thought there was a chance of his
getting me," said the rat. "You see, I am so much bigger that I
would do for his breakfast next morning as well. Hullo! There he is,
right overhead. Now, you watch, and you will see some fun."
And the rat suddenly swam about two or three yards in front of the
raft, and made such a loud splashing with his paws and his tail that
the owl could not help seeing him. In a moment he swooped down upon
the water, and Buzz and Fuzz squeaked with terror. For they thought
that their friend must have been caught. But not a bit of it. Just
as the owl made that quick swoop the rat dived beneath the water,
and the owl rose again without having caught him.
[Illustration]
But the owl had heard their squeak, and he said to himself, that if
he could not get a rat for his supper a mouse would do just as well.
So down he flew again, and Fuzz and Buzz thought that their last
moment had come. But when the owl was so close to them that they
could see his sharp beak and his cruel claws quite plainly, their
tails, which were floating in the water, were suddenly pulled, and
they tumbled backwards head over heels into the stream.
Down, down they sank, so deep that the idea came into their heads,
that if they were not going to be eaten they were going to be
drowned. But just as they were gasping and choking for air they rose
to the top of the water again, and then they saw that they were
under some thick bushes, and that the rat, with the end of their
tails in his mouth, was swimming towards the bank.
"Climb on to my back," said the rat, and though his fur was very wet
and slippery, they did as they were told, and clung tightly round
his neck.
"Wasn't that fun, eh?" said the rat with a laugh. "I am sure the owl
is as mad as he can be. To lose his supper twice in one night is
enough to make the old bird very angry. It's fine sport to play
hide-and-seek with an owl, although it _is_ rather dangerous. Well,
here's the nest that I told you about. And now I must be going home,
or my wife will wonder where I am. Good-bye! I hope you will have a
safe journey, and that you will get as much corn as you want.
Perhaps I may see you on your way back."
Hidden among the thick prickly branches of a hawthorn hedge not far
from the ground, Fuzz and Buzz saw the empty wren's nest, and after
thanking the rat for having saved their lives, they climbed into it
and were soon fast asleep.
Next morning they went down to the stream and looked for their raft.
And as, before he went home, the rat had put it where they could
easily find it, they had not to look very long, and were soon
floating down with the stream again.