“Humph!” said Whiskerandos; “I should prefer my wild freedom; but it is different, I suppose, with man. And as for you, Oddity, you were never like other rats; you were always intended for a watch-dog. And you really guard that can and parcel for hours, and resist the temptation to nibble?”
“I am trusted,” was the simple reply.
“Now, Oddity,” said I, “I should much like to see you in your new home, surrounded by all your human companions.”
“Yonder is my master’s house,” answered Oddity, pointing across the field with his nose. “You have but to clamber up to the window in the evening, and peep through the clustering roses, and you will see us all there together.”
“I’ll have a peep,” said Whiskerandos, “and then off to old London again!”
“You must take nothing from my master’s house,” cried Oddity.
“Not a potato paring!” laughed our valiant companion.
“And now I would advise you to be off,” said my brother; “here’s my master coming for his dinner.”
Away we scampered at full speed, my light-footed comrade and I; for well we knew what was certain to be our fate if caught even by the kind-hearted farmer. We were only rats after all.
[6)] In the course of a single year no less than two thousand nine hundred and eighty-one pounds were honestly earned in this manner by 132 boys connected with ragged schools!