Poor Teenie Weenie was frightened, for she knew that Water Rats sometimes ate mice, especially if they were cross or very hungry, so she begged Nibbles not to go near the shore.
As they sailed away, the Water Rat, I regret to say, danced with rage, making frightful faces at Nibbles and Teenie Weenie, and saying things which were not at all polite.
Day after day they sailed down the winding river, sometimes landing for dinner, and at night always tying their raft to a tree or bush in some sheltered cove, where they could find a comfortable nest to sleep in.
One afternoon they came to a pretty wood, where they decided to spend the night. Near the bank was a dark, gravelly point, which seemed an excellent place to land. Nibbles got out, and was just beginning to pull the raft up high and dry, when suddenly the whole point began to move, and then something struck poor Nibbles, and sent him whizzing far out into the river.
Down down, down he sank, until he felt sure that he was going through to China. His head was buried in the soft sand at the bottom of the river, and he had to struggle hard to free himself. Finally he came up to the surface of the water, and was able to swim to the raft, where little Teenie Weenie still sat, too terrified to move.
