Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1895-02-25
TIE WEASEL KILLED THE RAT
A zSovel g:nttle In an Cat Elm In Coun
try Store In Maine.
THE END.

| A 1sovel E.Gttle In Cat Elm In Coun-
| try Store In Maine.
During trip to Maine, SAID =
commercial traveller, u was at the store
of & country merchant one morning try.
ing to sell him bill Of goods. Hap
pening to step into the back room, used
in part as a storehouse for potatoes and
grain. saw slender little white ami
nal running about as if perfectly at
homo which l recognized as o weasel III
his winter coat threw a potato at
him, which of course failed to hit and
did not seem even to alarm the weasel
and coming back into the front store
spoke to the merchant about the wild
beast running at large on his premises
"'Oh, that's all right, he said. I'm
very glad he's taken up his quarters
with me- | wouldn't have him hurt or
| driven away on any account The rats
have been bothering me q good deal,
eating my potatoes and grain, but he ii
make short work of them. They Il never
stay long in any place where a weasel is,
I'VE We're still sitting by the stove
talking when there came a loud squeak
ing from the back room.
:" I'll bet the Weasel's caught q ratl
cried the merchant, and we both ran
back TO the storeroom to see Whit was
doing there.
Surely enough, there was q hot fight
on between a big rat and the weasel
The weasel had the rat cornered in u bin
half filled with oats He had evidently
failed in his first attack, and the second
was about to begin The rat was bleed
ing from two fine punctures III the neck
but he presented determined front, his
teeth swapping savagely at each APP
proach Of the weasel, which ran -ithely
to and fro watching for an opening for
attack Neither animal apparently took
any note of our presence.
1.-The weasel's tactics plainly were to
drive the rat from the corner, and it was
interesting to watch his feints and
rushes. At his close approach the rat
would dart forward to snap at his elu
sive foe and Immediately back into his
corner again. The weasel was every
where at once, feinting to attack him III
front, running around him along the
top and sides of the bin and working to
keep the rat on the move.
SAT last he ran down the side If the
bin behind the rat as if to attack him
in the rear The rat whirled, snapped
viciously at the weasel, which drew
back out Of reach, whereupon the rat,
seeing his enemy upon one side and a
clear space on the other, turned and
bolted from the corner Before he had
half crossed the bin the weasel wasupon 1
him and had seized him by the neck
close to the head, his slender body hug
ging close to the rats, SO that that ami
NAL could not turn his head sufficiently
to bite him That took the fight out of
the rodent which ran about squealing,
the weasel holding fast and sucking his
blood until the rat dropped.
''When quite sure that his victim was
dead, the weasel tried to drag him from
the bin, but was not equal to the task.
It was with some difficulty that we
drove him from his prey, and SO long as
we remained in the storeroom he repeat
eddy tried to seize the rat, which the
merchant took to the front door and
flung far into vacant lot across the
road.
g If | left the rat in the bin, the
weasel would bury it among the oats
after he found he couldn It drag it away
to hide, he said It's only week
that I've seen him around, and I've
taken five rats out of that bin already. =
-1Jew York Sun