Democratic Northwest. [volume] (Napoleon, Ohio) 1869-1894, 1882-12-14
Kllled hI Rat.

thho" haee
The following story / heard related
by gentleman q short time ago:
Together there Wandered through an
ancient church, in one Of the country
villages of England, young officer
and his friend 10 gaze at the monu-
ments. They were always fast friends.
even since the time when they were
together at the village school; and the
schoolmaster had always reason to be
proud OF the two cbums, and always
spoke of them as being excellent lads.
Suddenly the young officer stopped
before a monument and began to read
the Inscription upon its
"Charlie, old boy, " he said, address
ing his friend this IS Mortimer's
monument. You remember when lie
died don't you?'
"Yes, poor fellow" said the chum;
''such nice chap, too, eh, Frank
"Ah, that he was, said Frank.
Thus they passed their time looking
at the Inscriptions, and admiring them
until it began to draw dark; so arm-ln.
arm they walked TO the door; but
what was their surprise to find 1t
locked. Taking his sword from its
place, Frank clashed the door to at
tract attention, butt In vain, for they
could make nosocy hear.
"We shall have to pass the night
here" said Charlie.
They sat down on one of the seats,
and the two were soon fast asleep; but
it was not for long for they were
quickly awakened by hearing, as they
thought, somebody coming down the
stairs. 4 l -
Pit, pat! pit, patl was heard upon
the STAIRS.
"Rats" calculated Charlie. 1--WE
shall have to get out of this Frank"
So the two moved out of the seat,
but in an instant they were surrounded
by a swarm of rats who kept squeak
ing in a most frightful manner. ; y
Hundreds, in fact, almost thousands,
swarmed around them, until they could
hardly move, biting their legs and
causing them extreme pain. The young
officer stumbled and would have fallen
prey to them had it not been for his
companion, who was on the alert, and
picked him up almost as quickly as he
fell.
care you hurt?,,' said Charlie.
| eyes, I have hurt my leg badly"
said Frank. land L. am afraid thai
cannot go much further -
"Try and reach that monument,
said his companion, pointing to large
monument at the end of the church,
sand l will try and.keep the rats away.
With great difficulty they reached the
monument, and Frank having climbed
up to the top handed down his sword
to Charlie, who began slashing right
and left at the rats; for they had come
in such large numbers that they were
actually climbing up his legs. 1t was
pitch dark and Frank, seated on the
monument, could only hear his friend
cutting away at the rats; but they
proved too strong for him, for sudden
ly the young officer heard the rats give
scream OF triumph. A CHASTITY thrill
of horror ran through him, and he
also heard heavy fall.
His agony of mind was terrible. He
could neither move nor sleep, and
when at length morning dawned, Frank
looked down from his position and saw
a most horrible sight. The rats had
eaten every particle Of flesh from off
his friend, and nothing but the bones
remained. By his side lay his sword,
whilst numbers Of dead rats lay scat
tered about the place. 1t was only
when assistance came that the young
officer realized the awful position in
which he had been placed, and of the
noble nature of his friend, who thus
sacrificed his own life to save that of
his companion.