hay-rick by a farmer!" faltered Bright-eyes. "I saw him seized by the
neck, I heard his despairing cry; I could not stay to see the poor
fellow killed, and I was afraid of sharing his fate, so I made off as
fast as I could."

"Poor Oddity!" sighed I very mournfully, "never was there an uglier nor
a better-hearted rat! Ah! what pleasure I vainly promised to myself in
relating to you all my adventures! I have been across the deep waters,
encountered various perils, now in danger of being cooked in a pie, now
shivering on a barrel in the ocean, and yet here am I safe and sound
after all; while you, remaining quietly in England, have ignominiously
perished in a hay-rick!"

Whiskerandos, who, being a brown rat, could not be expected to feel the
same regret as myself, now turned towards Bright-eyes, and asked him how
far we were from London-- "For I long to be back in my old quarters,"
said he.

"A fortnight's journey for a rat, should he travel by land," replied
Bright-eyes: "we came down very comfortably in a river boat, which
carried us to within five miles of this spot."

"I have had enough of water for some time," said Whiskerandos; "and now
that the fields are full of ripe corn, and the gardens of fruit, nothing
so pleasant as a journey by land! What say you, friend Ratto?"
inquired he.

"I have no mind for a long journey either by land or by sea," replied I
in a melancholy tone; "I'll keep company with you for a day or two,
Whiskerandos, but I would rather not return now to London. I will settle
quietly for a time in the country near the spot where poor Oddity died!"

"And you?" said Whiskerandos, turning to Bright-eyes.

The lively rat shook his ears with all his natural vivacity. "Pardon
me," he cried, "but I'm of Oddity's opinion,-- heroes like Sir
Whiskerandos are the very worst travelling companions in the world! How
Ratto has escaped with his life I cannot imagine, but I shall certainly
not try the experiment of following your fortunes for an hour! I've no
fancy to be baked in a pie, or starved on a barrel, crushed by a drosky,
or worried by a dog, drowned in a sack, or suspended by my tail! No, no,
valiant Whiskerandos, I'm quite content to admire your courage at a
distance, but I don't want to share your exploits, and would rather have
my ears than your fame!"

And off skipped the merry little rat, before we could say a word to stay
him.

Whiskerandos and I, being weary enough with the adventures th