Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1903-09-30

and offer up prayer and lie down
and sleep the sleep of the just.
At the foot of my bed was a
window just over the sloping roof
of the kitchen. One night a
villainous old bull rat meandered
up the kitchen roof and leapt upon
the window sill. He sat there in
the moonlight combing his whiskers
and winking his fendish little
eyes-at least I have always
imagined he did-and then he leapt
upon the bed and pranced about
over our PROSTATE forms like a
night mare.
I was tender in those days and
he gouged fair sized mess OF
young kid from my bulging brow.
I awoke with a yell that caused
the rat to scamper under the
covers and shin up my grand
mothers pious back between her
and her night shirt. 1 have always
thought that grandmother didn't
like rats in her night clothes for
she shook that one from her
raiment quicker than she had done
anything for sixty years. The
rat went athumpety-thump down
stairs just in time to leap into the
shirt bosom of my aunt's beau who
had opened the door at her re-
quest to see what the row was
about. While grandmother washed
the blood from my face and shook
her shirt some more the young
man below stairs went after the
rat with set teeth and stove
poker. The rat had tasted blood
and put up a terrific fight but
there were two pounds of fricasseed
rat on the ash heap next morning.
I haven't been much of lover of
the rat since then, but now that
he is about TO be swiped into
eternity ] fee like the Irishman at
the funeral who arose when no
one else had a good word for the
deceased and said-''Begorra Molike
wuz a good schmoker."
= After looking up his history I
am convinced that the rat has
more good hard sense than many
a scientist. In intelligence he daily
outwits the dog and cat and is
sagacious enough to leave sink
ing ship or caving mine. His
powers of endurance enable him
to travel ten miles in an hour with
legs only an inch long. In battle
he has vanquished nearly every
thing from man to rattlesnake.
In providing for his larder he will
abstract molasses from a bottle by
means of his tail. Can the wall
eyed scientist beat that? His judg-
ment is good-the only time ever
knew him to make mistake was
in carrying away the hired mans
socks for. limburger cheese. But
the mistake was natural enough.
The rat is a friend to man when
treated right and whole tribes
have been tanned by prisoner s.
Only the other day I heard Of a
prisoner who dearly loved a pet
rat and divided his slender rations
with it. When asked why he did
so he said he loved it because it
bit the warden The rat has been
known to arouse his master from
sleep in burning building and
not long ago an Ohio man shot
! at one and killed his mother-in-law.
He is compassionate for he never
deserts a lame or blind friend.
When not in too close contact with
civilization he is honest. The
mountain rat never takes any
thing from a miners cabin without
leaving something in it's stead and
has been known to steal a candle
and leave twenty dollar nugget.
OF course the rat is a nuisance
in many respects and perhaps this
crusade is right and yet some
times in the silent watches of the
Silly night, when the calm of a
sleeping world is speaking to the
Listening soul, faith hears the
rustic Of a wing, hope sees starr
and deep down in my heart be-
meath the pride and malice and
treasured woes of life believe after
all as the great Confucius hath SO
beautifully said-that the rat with
the shortest tail will get in the
hole the quickest.