“ Be quiet! What on earth did Mr. French give you the confounded thing for?”
“ I dunno. I s’pect he jus’ wanted to.”
“ He seems to have taken quite a fancy to William,” said Mrs. Brown.
Ethel blushed faintly.
“ He seems to have taken a spite against me,” said Mr. Brown bitterly. “How many of the wretched pests have you got?”
“ They’re rats,” corrected William, “White ’uns. I’ve only got two.”
“ Good Heavens! He’s got two . Where’s the other?”
“ In the shed.”
“ Well, keep it there, do you hear? And this savage brute as well. Good Lord! My toe’s nearly eaten off. They ought to wear muzzles; they’ve got rabies. Where’s Jumble? He in the shed, too?” hopefully.
“ No. He dun’t like ’em. But I’m tryin’ to teach him to like ’em. I let ’e
