ld comrade. It
was still too hot to think of staying indoors, so he lay on some cool
dock-leaves, and thought over the past day and its doings, and how
very good they all had been.

The Rat's light footfall was presently heard approaching over the
parched grass. "O, the blessed coolness!" he said, and sat down,
gazing thoughtfully into the river, silent and pre-occupied.

"You stayed to supper, of course?" said the Mole presently.

"Simply had to," said the Rat. "They wouldn't hear of my going before.
You know how kind they always are. And they made things as jolly for
me as ever they could, right up to the moment I left. But I felt a
brute all the time, as it was clear to me they were very unhappy,
though they tried to hide it. Mole, I'm afraid they're in trouble.
Little Portly is missing again; and you know what a lot his father
thinks of him, though he never says much about it."

"What, that child?" said the Mole lightly. "Well, suppose he is; why
worry about it? He's always straying off and getting lost, and turning
up again; he's so adventurous. But no harm ever happens to him.
Everybody hereabouts knows him and likes him, just as they do old
Otter, and you may be sure some animal or other will come across him
and bring him back again all right. Why, we've found him ourselves,
miles from home, and quite self-possessed and cheerful!"

"Yes; but this time it's more serious," said the Rat gravely. "He's
been missing for some days now, and the Otters have hunted everywhere,
high and low, without finding the slightest trace. And they've asked
every animal, too, for miles around, and no one knows anything about
him. Otter's evidently more anxious than he'll admit. I got out of him
that young Portly hasn't learnt to swim very well yet, and I can see
he's thinking of the weir. There's a lot of water coming down still,
considering the time of the year, and the place always had a
fascination for the child. And then there are--well, traps and
things--_you_ know. Otter's not the fellow to be nervous about any
son of his before it's time. And now he _is_ nervous. When I left, he
came out with me--said he wanted some air, and talked about stretching
his legs. But I could see it wasn't that, so I drew him out and pumped
him, and got it all from him at last. He was going to spend the night
watching by the ford. You know the place where the old ford used to
be, in by-gone days before they built the bridge?"

"I know it well,