The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1903-08-16

for you know the little folk has got out of
Erin. and they'll put the spell on you good
and strong If you do anything against them.
And then l thought that maybe the rat
what eat himself out of my steel trap might
be one Of the little folk. 1t was all up with
me. l could almost hear the banshee wall
II crept softly to the steps and behold!
There was a three-legged rat as big as an
eight-pound terrier going up the steps.
inches long, which the poor duffer was
using as a crutch.
Was L startled? Is a fox frightened
dinnaw; only / did what the fox does; 1
turned tail and made of. And IL took three
Jiggers OF potheeen to get my nerves steady
enough to think.
And SO 1t went on from day to day. I
could hear that rat upstairs all the time
thump-thump-thump, looking around for
something to eat, and I felt so badly about
1t that / used to put cheese and bacon
around for him to feed on.
Mr.. RAT A PRISONER.
'One morning 1 heard a funny noise in
me kitchen and / goes out and behold
There was me three-legged rat in the bot
tom of a butter frkin, caught dead to
rights: he couldn't climb out. nor could
he spring because he couldn't get no pur-
over to get the kettle to scald him to death,
but i couldn't do IL. / was thinking of the
little folk and the banshee, so I let's him
be and goes out to the forge to think
letting him 90 with his homemade crutch.
Then 1 thought OF something else. II he
was one of the little folk ] could square my
self in great shape by making him a wooden
leg. hat was a fine idea, for I knew his
crutch was a handicap to him, and I figured
out in my mind just how to go about max
ing him the leg-but making the leg was
one thing and putting it on was another.
Say, I'd rather put maiden shoes on an OK.
and If any of you FELIX'S ever seen that
done you know what 1 thought OF fitting the
crutch to the captive.
But / had a pair Of smiths leathern
gloves as hard as nails and as pliable as a
hairspring, so l put them on and goes and
gets Mr.. Rat. And maybe / didn't have
meant no harm. He squirmed and he
squealed. and he bit at them gloves like
all possessed. Two or three times / was
i kept thinking of the little folk and the
banshee. and / finally got the proper meas
urements for the wooden leg. Then 1 puts
Mr.. Rat back in the frkn and gives him
food and drink while ] was contriving Of a
wooden leg and a way 10 put IL on.
Say you would have laughed to see how
gentle and tame that rat was the next
morning when l took him out of the nrkin
and fit the wooden leg TO him. The stump
where he had bit his leg off was fully
healed. and l fixes him out in a way 10
Gus. After 1 fixes IL on him ! puts him
down on the floor and he was a caution to
look at. he was that pleased.
BECAME VERY FAMILIAR.
"He played around on the floor a while.
and then he hikes away upstairs. II was
comical to watch him getting upstairs. He
was all right in the nat, as the horse race
people say. but he was some clumsy over
the hurdles. so to speak. But he got up
them stairs all right. all right. and / could
hear him thump-thump-thump around TO
beat the pibroch until / went 10 sleep hat
night.
Say, that rat and myself got so chum-
my thar he would come out 10 the forge
when l was alone. and climb into my tool
chest and examine the tools like he knew
how 10 use them. And a funny thing fol-
lowed. He scared all the other rats away