Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1910-12-22
Moulton hastened to appease her.

! Afraid" he exclaimed. mot q big
;of It, In fact, rather like them. II
anything. Playful little creatures!"
!! do you like them so we'll that you
would object to killing one?" the girl
asked anxiously
/; And at that moment 1t occurred to
/. Moulton that perhaps there was
method in her madness. He muir
INJURED something unintelligible which
! she evidently took for assent, for she
seemed relieved.
! I'm that case" she said, "Tll ask
;you to come up to the library. It's
unconventional. / know, but as q rat
has had grandma freed on the library
table for two hours, and 1t is long
;past grandma's bed time, 1t doesn't
sseem to me time to stand on cere-
mony."
| She led the way into the house, and
Moulton convinced by her tone that
:her questions were all method and no
madness, followed her, congratulating
himself on his own good fortune.
THE library was on the second floor.
Tits. only unconventional feature was
ian old lady sitting on the library
liable, with her feet drawn up under
1 her On the floor below, fat terrier
gazed f1xedly at some object hidden
by the dropping cover.
At the door the girl paused. Grand
"Moulton," prompted the owner OF
the name.
This is Mr.. Moulton. grandma, and
he is going to be kind enough to kill
the rat for u.s..
II sv{, 81 oy{~ ~ TIT
armchair as she spoke, and stood with
her The old lady on the table
much dignity
Il hope, Ethel" she said plaintively.
"you have explained the situation. In
housekeeping experience extending
over fifty years, Mr.. Moulton, there
has never been rat in my house
until this moment"
Il haven't explained, but will"
said the girl with an air Of not relish
ing the prospect Puck, our dog"
Your doy. my dear" said the old
lady. "And q very worthless animal"
Puck repeated Ethel looking in
the direction of the fat terrier,
Caught rat in the back yard this
evening. called him into the house,
and he rushed by me and brought the
rat upstairs to show 1t to us. He was
so proud OF 1t, poor fellow
Dropped 1t almost at my feet" ex-
claimed the old lady, with shudder
of disgust. THE beasts"
| "And the rat ran under the table, :"
the girl continued. "And when Puck
tried to seize him again, the rat bit
him, and the poor thing cried just
dreadfully'
"The coward!'' observed the old
lady. in q sepulchral voice.
| and that's all" said the girl lex
cept that we didn't dare wake our
cook because she has an aversion to
rats compared with which ours IN
positive affectation, and there Is no
man In the house. So after waiting a
couple OF hours for Puck to finish
him, / appealed to you.'
Up to this time Moulton had done
little OF the talking. Now he took a
hand. He expressed his pleasure In
being able to assist two ladies in
such an emergency, and he spoke with
q fluency and feeling that surprised
/
from little stand near the fireplace
and advanced upon the enemy.
| The poker was uplifted but did not
descend on any scampering rodent.
Moulton's look of ferocity gradually
changed to one of perplexity.
I'm afraid that he's gone" he said
dejectedly.
"Gone!" walled Miss Ethel, in ac-
4 cents Of heartbreak.
| Gone" repeated Ethel's grandma,
with a severity indicating that in
this case Moulton was somehow to
blame.
"He certainly is not under the
table. Moulton replied firmly. 'Tll
( take q look about the room. He may
be hiding in some corner"
! A careful search, however, revealed
no traces of the intruder. "He is not
in this ROOM the older lady said
jtragically. Where is he, then? Am