E-text prepared by Louise Hope Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this file which includes the original illustrations. See 29863-h.htm or 29863-h.zip: (https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/29863/pg29863-images.html) or (https://www.gutenberg.org/files/29863/29863-h.zip) Transcriber's note: At the time this book was written, rats were classified as _Mus rattus_ and _Mus norvegicus_. The genus _Rattus_ did not become standardized until the 20th century. Notes on the animals in Chapter VII are at the end of the e-text, along with the Errata. THE RAMBLES OF A RAT. [Illustration: POORER THAN RATS. "The old blind rat had a bit of stick in its mouth, and the pretty black rat took the other end in his teeth." --Page 25.] THE RAMBLES OF A RAT. by A. L. O. E. [Illustration: A NEW KIND OF WATCHDOG. "Whiskerandos looked surprised at the unexpected defiance; but my feelings of amazement can scarcely be conceived when I recognised the dumpy form, blunt head, and piebald skin, of my lost brother Oddity." --Page 150.] T. Nelson and Sons, London, Edinburgh, and New York. THE RAMBLES OF A RAT by A. L. O. E., Author of "The Giant-killer," "Pride and his Prisoners," &c. &c. [Decoration] London: T. Nelson and Sons, Paternoster Row; Edinburgh; and New York. 1864. PREFACE Let not my readers suppose that in writing THE RAMBLES OF A RAT I have simply been blowing bubbles of fancy for their amusement, to divert them during an idle hour. Like the hollow glass balls which children delight in, my bubbles of fancy have something solid within them,-- facts are enclosed in my fiction. I have indeed made rats talk, feel, and reflect, as those little creatures certainly never did; but the courage, presence of mind, fidelity, and kindness, which I have attributed to my heroes, have been shown by real rats. Such adventures as I have described have actually happened to them, unless they be those recorded in the 19th chapter, for which I have no authority. For my anecdotes of this much-despised race I am principally indebted to an interesting article on the subject which appeared in the "Quarterly Review." I would suggest to my readers how wide and delightful a field of knowledge natural history must open to all, when there is so much to interest and admire even in those animals which we usually regard with contempt and disgust. The examination of the wondrous works of nature is a study elevating as well as delightful; for the more deeply we search into the wonders around us, the more clearly we discover the wisdom which is displayed even in the lowest forms of creation! A. L. O. E. [Decoration] CONTENTS Chap. Page.