One fine spring day Mrs. Dean set out for a walk. She crossed the lawn
at the back of the house, and chose a long path, which had thick shrubs
on each side, and led her to the gate of a field.
At one end of this field there was a small pond of clear water; on its
banks grew long grass and rushes, and the little birds sang their sweet
songs in the lime-trees that hung over the water.
[Illustration: “What a droll thing! I shall like to watch you all the
more now I know something about you.”]
As Mrs. Dean came near to the spot, she saw her little boy there. He sat
quite still on the edge of the pond.
“Frank, my dear,” said she, “why do you sit there? it is too damp a
place.”
“Oh, mamma,” said Frank, “do come and see this droll sight! Look on the
other side; just by that old stump of a tree is a large water-rat. I
have seen him a long time, and I think he wants to dig a hole in the
bank: if I go near to look at him, he jumps into the pond. Is he going
to make a place to live in?”
“Yes, my dear,” said Mrs. Dean, “he will dig a deep place in the earth,
to serve him for a nest; and I dare say he will make two holes to creep
in and out of, one higher than the other, in case the water should rise
above one of them.”
“Does the rat eat the small fishes or worms, mamma?” said Frank.
“No, my dear, it feeds on the soft roots of plants, which it finds in
the water, or in the damp parts of the fields. It is not so fierce as
the landrat, and its fur is more soft and close. When it hears a noise,
it leaps into the water, and dives down in fear; but it cannot stay long
there for want of air, so it rises again, and just puts its nose above
the water, that it may be able to breathe and yet not be seen.”
“What a droll thing!” said Frank: “I shall like to watch you all the
more now I know something about you. Good-bye, little busy rat, for
to-day.”