left to decay.

7. They are great pests in the house, running about in the walls,
gnawing through the ceilings, and destroying food and clothing.

8. When rats get into a barn, they are very destructive. They eat up
grain, and kill young chickens; and they often come in droves, when
the pigs are fed, to share the food.

9. Rats increase very fast. Each mother rat produces fifty young ones
in a year; and if we did not take great pains to destroy them, they
would drive us out of our homes.

LESSON XXXIII.

_STORIES ABOUT THE RAT._

[Illustration]

1. Rats are very fond of eggs; but they do not like to be disturbed
while eating, and so they contrive to carry the eggs to their nests,
where they can enjoy their feast in safety.

2. In carrying off eggs, several rats will often go together. A rat
will curl his tail around an egg, and roll it along. Coming to a
staircase, they will hand the egg one to another so carefully as not
to break it.

3. A lady once watched the rats, which were at work at her egg-basket.
One rat lay down on his back, and took an egg in his arms. The other
rats then seized him by the head, and dragged him off, egg and all.

4. Rats can easily be tamed, and even a dog can scarcely love its
master better than a rat does when it is treated kindly. Mr. Wood
tells this story of some tame rats:

5. "Some young friends of mine have a couple of rats which they have
tamed. One, quite white, with pink eyes, is called 'Snow,' and the
other, which is white, with a brown head and breast, is named
'Brownie.'

6. "The rats know their names as well as any dog could do, and answer
to them quite as readily.

7. "They are not kept shut up in a cage, but are as free to run about
the house as if they were dogs or cats.

8. "They have been taught a great number of pretty tricks. They play
with their young master and mistress, and run about with them in the
garden.

9. "They sit on the table at meal-times, and take anything that is
offered to them, holding the food in their fore paws and nibbling it;
but never stealing from the plates.

10. "They are very fond of butter, and they will allow themselves to
be hung up by the hind feet and lick a piece of butter from a plate,
or a finger.

11. "Sometimes these rats play a funny game. They are placed on the
hat-stand in the hall, or put into a hat and left there until their
owners go up-stairs.

12. "They wait until they are called, when they scr