y
rotten, and required to be almost entirely renewed. So there was plenty
of work to do, and very diligently the squirrels laboured to complete
it. Not that they worked like slaves, from morning till night. Oh no!
they allowed themselves abundance of time for feasting and fun, for
they were such merry, light-hearted creatures, that they could not live
without a good game of play now and then. They even mixed play with
their work; for when they had to go to a little distance for some
particularly fine soft moss, or other materials for nest-building, they
were sure to have a race, to try which of them could reach the place
first. So the days passed by right merrily.

"It is very odd," said Brush, one evening, just before he rolled
himself up for the night in the warm _blanket_ I have before mentioned;
"It is very odd that we should have lived almost all our lives so near
that family of water-rats, in the bank of the pond, and have known so
little about them. I always thought them a savage, bloodthirsty, set of
fellows, and that they would make no scruple of killing fish, or young
birds, or mice, or any other small animal that they could master. But
what do you think Gotobed told me just now, as I came up the tree? Why,
he says, that it is all a mistake, and that he is certain that these
water-rats are a very decent, quiet sort of people, feeding on
vegetables, like ourselves. He says, that as he was creeping about just
now among the grass, close to the edge of the pond, but a long way from
the water-rats' holes, which are all on the opposite side, he suddenly
found himself quite close to one of these creatures, who was perched up
on a flat stone, and busily gnawing the root of some plant. Our poor
little cousin, you know, has not much presence of mind, so in his
fright, and terrible hurry to escape from the monster, he slipped off
the bank, and rolled into the water. The splash he made frightened the
rat, who plumped into the water too, and so there they were both
swimming close together. Gotobed expected to be eaten up in a minute,
but the rat only said to him, 'Ha! ha! little fellow, is it only you?
Not much used to swimming I see! But come down some fine evening, and
I'll teach you. The water is too cold just now for such as you.'

"Gotobed was too much frightened to say a word, so he scrambled up the
bank, and ran home to his nest as fast as possible. Poor little thing!
he looked so miserable, with his beautiful fur