The First Little Pet Book with Ten Short Stories in Words of Three and Four Letters

THE OLD GRAY RAT and HIS WIFE, AND HIS NINE BOY-RATS

Once on a time an old gray rat did live in a hole in the wall, with his wife and his nine wee rats, all boys. It was a hole by the side of the fire; and as snug and nice and warm as you like.

You may be sure that the pa-pa and mam-ma rats got the wee ones lots to eat, for they were all so fat, and full of fun and play.

But one sad day, all the bits of pie and cake were gone. Not as much as a bit the size of a pin's head was left in the hole.

So the wee rats all got in a row, and held up two paws each, and in a sad tone did cry: "O pa-pa! O mam-ma!

 
"We want some cake,
We want some tea,
We want some pie,
Eee! eee! eee! eee!"
 

Then a tear came out of each eye, and ran down each nose, and made the hole as damp as a bath-tub.

"O my poor dear boys!" said the old rat, "do stop! You will make me cry too;" and he put his paw to his eye. "I will go and see what I can get you for your tea e-e-e-e. Come, give me a hug, and kiss me for good-by, for that big cat I told you of may get hold of me, and bite my head off. If she does so, this is the last you will see of your poor pa-pa."

At this all the nine boy-rats set up a cry, and gave him such hard hugs, that the old rat had to slap one or two to make them stop. Then, with a hop, skip, and jump, he was up at the top of the hole.

"No one here," he said; so he gave one hop more, and was out in the room.

It was a big room, but nice and warm. The sun had set, and it was dark; but the old rat saw by the fire that no one was in it. The cook had gone out in the yard to get more wood to put on the fire, and the cat had gone out in the yard too, to have a talk, on the top of the wall, with the gray cat who came from next door. And now the old rat did hear the two cats say:

 
"M-e-w! m-i-a-u!
M-i-a-u! m-e-w!
Ffts! ffts! ffts!
How are you!"
 

"Bless me!" said the old rat, "why, how they talk! how they snap and spit! Why! the gray cat next door will bite off our cat's nose in no time at all, if they go on this way! I hope he will bite it off, for, you see, if she has no nose she can not find me out."

The old rat gave a wink of his eye, and a slap of his tail, as he said this; and then it was high time to poke his nose in and out of the pots and pans, to see what was in them.

By and by, that nose of his took off the lid of a box. "Now for a peep to see what is in-side," said the old gray rat. "Now let us see what I can put my paw on this time."

My! what eyes he made when he saw ten new laid eggs in the box.

"Why! here is one for each of my nine boys, and one more," he said. "What fun to suck them! But I must get them into my hole as soon as you can say 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, or the cook will come in, and the cat too."

And now he had a hard time; for when the rat did try to take an egg up in one paw, it was so big that, pop! it went with a roll back in the box.

Then he did try to take it in two paws, and hop on his hind legs; but he soon had to stop that. Then he did try to roll it to his hole, but the egg went all to one side, as much as to say: "How dare you try to roll me into your hole? I am not your egg. Let me be, you bad old rat!"

Yes, he was a bad old rat, for he took what was not his. Mind you do not do so, my dear pet. Do not take a pin, or a bit of cake, or pie, but ask your mam-ma if you can have it; then you can eat it with joy.

But the old gray rat did not know it was so bad. You know, but the rat had no one to tell him as you have.

"E-e-e-e!" said the ten wee rats in the hole:

 
"We want our tea,
Eee-ee! ee-ee!"
 

"O dear!" said the old gray rat, "if I had some one to help me! O dear!" He put his paw on the end of his nose, and then all at once gave a jump for joy in the air. "Good! good! good!" he did cry; "I have it! I can get all the eggs in the hole."

"Come here, Bet!" he said to his wife. "Come out, all of you, and help me."

Up they came with a hop, skip, and jump, all ears and eyes, and each tail gave a slap on the side of the wall, it came out with such a jerk.

"Here we are, my dear," said old Bet, the rat's wife. "Come; go to work as fast as you can. I hear the cat."

"Well, you and I must go out to the mill, to get a wisp of hay to tie my legs with."

"Tie your legs!" said his wife, "Why! what do you mean?"

But she was a good wife, and knew how to mind; so she went with the old rat, and they got a fine long wisp of hay, and ran back to the eggs and the nine rat-boys.

And now the old rat-wife and the nine rat-boys soon knew what a dear, good pa-pa they had; for, sure as you live! he made a cart of him-self. Down he went flat on his back with all four paws up in the air.

"Now, my dear," he said to his wife, "lay an egg in-side of my legs, then tie my paws up with the wisp of hay, so the egg can not fall out; then you and all the boys take hold of my tail, and drag me and the egg to the hole."

"Oh! what fun!" said all the nine rats; "let's give the egg a good ride. Now, then,

 
"Oh! pull, boys, pull!
Eee-ee! eee-ee!
We'll get our nine eggs
Home for tea."
 

So each one took a bit of the long tail in his lips, and did try not to bite his pa-pa, and as they sung, "Pull, boys, pull," they drew the egg in high glee to the edge of the hole.

But Nip, the one who was at the end, did try so hard to pull, that, all at once, snap! he had bit off the end of his pa-pa's tail.

"Ki-i! kii!! e-e-e!!!" said the poor old gray rat, "you bad, bad boy, to bite me so! Now you can not have a bit of egg. You must go with-out your tea."

"O pa-pa! I did not mean to! O my!" Nip did say.

"Go down in the hole and stay till we come. You must not help one bit more."

So the wee rat had to go; but, O dear! what will you say, when I tell you that he ate up the end of his pa-pa's tail, and then gave a snap of his lips, as much as to say: "Dear me! that was nice! How I do wish I had some more!"

The rest did pull, till the egg was at the hole. Then old Bet, the wife, went down, and the rest took off the wisp of hay, and gave the egg a push, so that it fell in her fore-paws. Then they all went back for more, till, at last, the nine eggs were safe in the hole.

What fun it was!

Just as the last of the nine rat-boys had gone with a hop, skip, and jump, down the hole, the old cook came back in the room.

"Oh!" she said, "how nice the fire does burn! I will fry some of the eggs the hens have just laid for tea." She went to the box and saw that the lid was off, and all the eggs were gone!!!

She did look in the box, as if the eggs were out for a walk, and were to come back in half an hour, and it was time for them to come now. But no eggs did she see; and the old cook did cry out at last: "Why, who in all the land has been at my eggs? I put them in the box, I am sure."

Then she did look in all the jars and cups; in the big blue bowl, and the four tin pans, and the new red pail; but not an egg did she find.

Down in the hole the rats had a good time, I can tell you! Yes, all of them; for the old gray rat, when he got safe home, laid the end of his tail on a bit of soft wool, so that it did not hurt him much, and then he gave the rat-boy Nip, who had bit it off, a kiss, and said he did not mean to take away his tea now, as he was so sad. Then the rat-boy said: "Oh! I am so glad, I will jump up to the moon for joy." And so they all had a fine time.

The old gray rat made a hole in the big end of an egg, and gave it to his wife to suck. Not a drop came out! "Why, how is this?" she said, "it is as full as it can be!"

"Try a hole here," said the old gray rat, and he took the egg and made one on the top of it. Oh! then it came out as fast as you like, and you may be sure that Bet, the rat-wife, soon ate it all up.

Then the wise old rat made two holes in each egg, and all his nine boys gave him one suck out of each, and ate the rest, and had a real good time.

Now if you have a mind, and your mam-ma will let you, just try to suck an egg with one hole in it: you will find that none will come out; but if you make two, one at each end, you will get it all. A wise man told me this, so it must be true; but I do not like to try it, for raw egg is not good.

The old gray rat was wise too; but as for the poor old cook she does not know, from that day to this, who took all her nice eggs. If I were you, I'd go and tell her it was the old gray rat.

When you go, won't you take me with you, dear pet? We will peep in the hole, and try to see the old rat and his wife and his nine boys.

That is all this time; so, good-by.