As Mrs. Dean came near to the spot, she saw her little boy there. He sat quite still on the edge of the pond. “Frank, my dear,” said she, “why do you sit there? it is too damp a place.” “Oh, mamma,” said Frank, “do come and see this droll sight! Look on the other side; just by that old stump of a tree is a large water-rat. I have seen him a long time, and I think he wants to dig a hole in the bank: if I go near to look at him, he jumps into the pond. Is he going to make a place to live in?” “Yes, my dear,” said Mrs. Dean, “he will dig a deep place in the earth, to serve him for a nest; and I dare say he will make two holes to creep in and out of, one higher than the other, in case the water should rise above one of them.” “Does the rat eat the small fishes or worms, mamma?” said Frank. “No, my dear, it feeds on the soft roots of plants, which it finds in the water, or in the damp parts of the fields. It is not so fierce as the landrat, and its fur is more soft and close. When it hears a noise, it leaps into the water, and dives down in fear; but it cannot stay long there for want of air, so it rises again, and just puts its nose above the water, that it may be able to breathe and yet not be seen.” “What a droll thing!” said Frank: “I shall like to watch you all the more now I know something about you. Good-bye, little busy rat, for to-day.” FRANK AND A FIELD-MOUSE. A few days after Frank had seen the rat at work on the bank of the pond, he was at play in the fields with his pet dog. He saw Dash scratch up the ground and smell about. “Here, Dash! Dash!” said Frank; “what are you doing?” [Illustration: “Frank was a kind boy, and would not let Dash run after it.”] Just then a small brown mouse came out of his hole, and ran away very fast. Frank was a kind boy, and would not let Dash run after it and kill it, as he wished. He held his dog tight, and sat down near the spot, to see if the mouse would come back; but as it did not, he ran in-doors to tell his mamma what he had seen. “It was such a nice little mouse, mamma, with a very long tail; and it ran away at a great rate.” “Yes, my dear,” said Mrs. Dean, “the field-mouse is very quick and can leap well. It does much harm in the fields and gardens, and to the ricks of corn, and is often found in farm-yards. Owls, kites, dogs, and cats make war against the poor field-mouse, and I fear that men do so too.” “Poor thing!” said Frank; “I am sure I would not kill one, for I like to see them run in and out of their holes.” “In its nest in the ground,” said Mrs. Dean, “or under a bunch of moss, it hoards up its store of food before the cold days come: sometimes it finds out the holes which the mole has left, and lives in them.” “How sly,” said Frank, “not to make a place of his own! Thank you, dear mamma, for this tale about him.”