Not Quick Enough.
“The young rat was inside. He had eaten the beautiful cheese and wished to stay no longer in the beautiful shiny box. He sprang out when the door was lifted. The four Spekkums sprang after him. They were not quick enough. He slipped through a rat-hole, though Frisky Spekkum was near enough to claw his tail as it went through. He was so frightened he knew not what he was doing and went straight into a bottle, and there was something bad left in the bottle, and he would have died of that if a friendly young frog had not found him. The young frog’s family and the young rat’s family had been friends ever since one of the young frog’s family saved the life of one of the young rat’s family, and that was a long, long time before. It was before the Janjibo.
“But all this belongs to another story and cannot be told now, for there is yet more to tell of the Charcoals and the Spekkums.
“One day their uncle Thomas put on his best clothes and his tall hat and got a sleigh box and two pair of rabbits and invited the Charcoals’ and Spekkums’ mother to go sleighing with him. Their mother smiled and quickly put on her best clothes and her bonnet with flowers and got her best muff.
“The Charcoals and Spekkums all wanted to go, but their uncle Thomas said so many would be too many for the rabbits and that he would take three and take the other three next time.
“They took three of the Spekkums and told Frisky Spekkum to stay and wait with the two Charcoals and go next time. Their uncle Thomas then helped their mother in, and took his seat, and the three Spekkums hopped in behind and sat looking over the side as happy as they could be. Their mother told them to hold on tight for their uncle Thomas would soon whip up, and they might fall out. Their uncle Thomas whipped up and the rabbits set off upon a gallop.
“Just as they were setting off, Frisky Spekkum ran away from the two Charcoals and climbed up behind the sleigh-box, and held on and tried to get in, but the rabbits went so fast that she fell off and rolled over and over.
“She went back to play with the Charcoals, but she did not behave well. She was too frisky with them. She bit ears, and she almost bit off the two Charcoals’ neck-ribbons and made them bite off her neck ribbon and was so frisky that one of the Charcoals would not play, and went away. Frisky then took the other Charcoal with her into pantries and a hen house and other places where cats ought never to go, and made her eat with her thick cream, and custard pie, and other things which cats ought never to eat. They also clawed a best carpet.
“Their uncle Thomas came home and found them in a cheese and butter closet, and they ran, and he ran and caught them by their tails and punished them severely.