unning up the leg of my trousers and
inside!

A feeling of horror ran through my veins; but I was now warmed to the
encounter; and, throwing aside the buskins, which were no longer of
service, I grasped the body of the rat, just as it had reached the
height of my knee. I was able to hold it there, although it struggled
with a strength that quite astonished me, and its loud squealing was
terrible to hear.

I still held on, pressing the body with all my might, and quite
insensible to the pain in my thumb. The cloth of my trousers protected
my fingers from being bitten, but I did not come off unscathed, for the
spiteful creature buried its teeth in my flesh, and kept them there as
long as it was able to move. It was only after I had got my thumb round
its throat, and fairly _choked it to death_, that the teeth relaxed
their grasp, and I perceived that I had succeeded in putting a period to
its existence.

Having released the body from my hold, I shook it out of my trousers
quite lifeless and limp; and then, removing my jacket from the aperture,
I flung the dead rat out in the direction whence it had come.

I felt greatly relieved; and, confident that I should no longer be
troubled by Monsieur Rat, I betook myself to sleep, determined to make
up for what I had lost during the night.

CHAPTER THIRTY NINE.

A SWARM OF INTRUDERS.

My feeling of security proved to be a false one. I could not have been
asleep more than a quarter of an hour, when I was suddenly awakened by
something running over my breast. Was it another rat? If not, it
certainly was some creature that behaved exactly like one.

I lay for some moments without stirring, and listened attentively; but I
could hear nothing. Had I only dreamt that something ran over me? Not
so; for just then I thought I could hear the pattering of little feet
over the loose cloth. Right; I did hear the sound, and the moment after
felt the same feet upon my thigh.

Starting upward, and bringing my hand down upon the spot, I was again
horrified by feeling a large rat, that, as soon as I touched it, sprang
away, and I could hear it rattling off through the crevice between the
casks.

Surely it could not be the same I had just despatched? No, cats _do_
come to life again after being supposed to be dead (sometimes after
being buried!) but I never heard of rats possessing this extraordinary
power of vitality. I felt satisfied that I had quite killed the rat--in