Presently he got so bold that he stayed and ate the crumbs of cheese quite close to Danny—and then sat up and cleaned his whiskers with his little pink hands, and seemed to be combing his fur and brushing his little round ears.
The three boys watched, fascinated. They had never before thought of making friends with a water rat and watching his habits. Their first thought had always been to kill the happy little creature, who was out enjoying the morning sunshine.
Suddenly Nipper could sit still no longer; he stretched his legs, which broke a rotten twig and made such a noise that Danny looked round and saw the three heads watching him through the bracken.
“Hullo!” he said. “Come and see my little camp.” He smiled and looked so friendly that the three boys got up and came half-shyly out into the open space.
CHAPTER VI
THE LAW OF THE WOLF CUB PACK
The mysterious boy of the woods took them into his hut, and showed them how it was built. Then he let them put wood on his fire, and after that he gave them each an apple.
“You pinched those from old Crookedshank’s, I know!” said Bill.
Danny looked surprised. “No,” he said; “I bought them from Mr. Cruikshank.”
“You silly!” said David. “He’s as deaf as a post, and there’s a big hole in his fence just by the apple-tree. Fancy buying apples!”
“Then you would have stolen them from a very poor and deaf old man? What a dirty trick! Besides, stealing is a sin, and no chap with a sense of honour would do it.” He looked very serious, and for the first time in their lives the boys felt really ashamed of themselves and had nothing to say.