Arizona silver belt., 1893-05-06
TIIERAT'S OWN FAULT
IF HE HAD KEPT HIS HEAD HE WOULDN'T HAVE BEEN KILLED.

The Pretty Girl Would Not Have Been
 Frightened, George's Trousers Would
 stIu Bc Available, and the small Boy
 Would Have Missed Lots of Fun.
 The boy sat on the big box, kicking his beols against the sides. He was short, gtumpy boy, with an abundance of freclles held over from summer. The box was an ordinary packing box It stood on the sidewalk in front of the Walton building in Franklin street, near where the Sixth avenue elevated road crosses. Underneath tho box long, lean. gray bewhiskered rat had taken up temporary quarters.
 The rat was in bad luck. In the first place a sneal1y looking dog, droopy as to tail, n mongrel of the kind termed ''yal- Ter, was lounging about, nosing in the gutter and yearning for an opportunity to display the deyiltry common to his kind. Behind tho rats refuge in q door way pretty young woman was talking to a much infatuated "Georgc' An eld- erly and important looking parsonage, wearing gold mounted eyeglasses and carrying gold headed cane, had just made an imposing descont from the ele- vated station and was promenading lei surely toward the box. 4 cart horse at- tached toa truck stood in front of sa- loon near by waiting for the driver to come out. All was calm and peaceful. Then the rat came on the scene.
 The first to see him was the boy. He jumped off the box, and the rat started out toward the station with the hoy in hot chase. This aroused the dog, who, with howl of anticipated sport, joined in the pursuit. The fugitive made straight for the elderly parsonage. The boy was flirly good second and the dog close third The parsonage, be- coming aware that something was com ing his way. glanced over the top of the gold mounted eyeglasses
 Hi, therer' yelled the boy. He's corlin your way. Head 'im of. Swath CT i'm one with th' stick"
 The old gentleman "swathered" Ho missed the rat and hit the boy on tho shius. The boy gave a slrill whoop, lay down on the walk ord wcpt.
 Did it hurt your inquired the owner of the cane
 That made the boy so angry that he stopped crying
 Did 1t hurt me- Le hovled in rigbt eoCs wrath Did 1t hurt me- You op gold headed snooper How'd you like 1t of ] clubbed yer bloomin o sh.ns with a waggin spoke? Wh2td you gay ee fat headed cove Iii! Hero he comes back! Grab i'm TErn i'm back. lit i'm when he goes by"
 Tho rat had doubled on his track and was flying mp the street again with tho dos several p2ees behind. In between the feel of the parsonage GoiEsd the rat. The dog essayed to follow by the same route and got tangled up with the feet. Down came the parsonage. his gold headed cane flying in onc direction and his gold trimmed spectaeles in mother. Then and there he offered few remarks that wrung from the boy an aduiring tribute. "Gosh, said Ee. you can cuss. In the meantime tho rat was on his way up the street, and tho pretty young woman who with bcr "Gecrge" had emerged from the doorway, was walking down the street engaged in conversation.
 "Ycs, he was just as uice about it IS he could bo; said it wasn't any trouble at all He said Oh, O-w-w-w-wl George! E-e-e-e-e-c-e! It's a rat! Help. | It's coming this way. E-e-e-c-e-ol Help me up on this box. Yes, I'm all right now but Oh, George, do you suppose he can climb 0p here2 E-e-e-e-e-e! Don't let him climb up here or shall d-d-d- die!"
 George let out a terrific kick that landed in the stomach of the pursuing dog. By way of retaliation tho dog 1 tocl. of part of ono leg from Georges 1 trousers, and fed across the street howl | ing disnaHy until it came to tEe cart horse Apparently connecting that ami 1 mad with bis misforhnes, the dog nib- l bled at its hind leg. The horse snorted and ran down the street with the truck 1 clatterirg after The rat, instead of talk | ing this chance cf escape, rushed fran 1 ticailv across the street and back again. ] with the boy. who had come up, followed by the parsonage, hot on inc trail The ] parsonage was regarding with undis- 1 guised admiration the pretty glrl, who, with garments gathered and held up I lightly in enc hand, was standing on tiptoe on the box viewing the chase I George was looking at his trousers. 1 The owner of the truck came ont of the saloon in time to see his property rattling down the street. As he started after it, leaving @ trail of profanity be- hind him, a gaunt cat sapntered out of i the saloon Before the teamster had caught his horse the cat had bounced on the rat and put an end to him. Then the dog avenged his woes by catching her by the back of the neck and shaking the life ont of her. The boy hit the dog with q brick on general principles. Then he returned to the parsonage, the box, George and the pretty young woman, The latter was saying:
 "Oh, dearl l was so scared. l hope l. Oh, George, did hold my dress up so very high? Please say didn't! That horrid old man with the eyeglasses!"
 "Why, of course you didn't" said George promptly. The girl descended and walked away with him, her fears al- leyiated. New York Sun.
 Experiments with Pigeons.
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