Mole had slipped off somewhere by himself, without telling
any one where he was going to. The Badger sat in the arm-chair, reading
the paper, and not concerning himself in the slightest about what was
going to happen that very evening. The Rat, on the other hand, was
running round the room busily, with his arms full of weapons of every
kind, distributing them in four little heaps on the floor, and saying
excitedly under his breath, as he ran, 'Here's-a-sword-for-the-Rat,
here's-a-sword-for-the Mole, here's-a-sword-for-the-Toad,
here's-a-sword-for-the-Badger! Here's-a-pistol-for-the-Rat,
here's-a-pistol-for-the-Mole, here's-a-pistol-for-the-Toad,
here's-a-pistol-for-the-Badger!' And so on, in a regular, rhythmical
way, while the four little heaps gradually grew and grew.

'That's all very well, Rat,' said the Badger presently, looking at the
busy little animal over the edge of his newspaper; 'I'm not blaming you.
But just let us once get past the stoats, with those detestable guns of
theirs, and I assure you we shan't want any swords or pistols. We four,
with our sticks, once we're inside the dining-hall, why, we shall clear
the floor of all the lot of them in five minutes. I'd have done the
whole thing by myself, only I didn't want to deprive you fellows of the
fun!'

'It's as well to be on the safe side,' said the Rat reflectively,
polishing a pistol-barrel on his sleeve and looking along it.

The Toad, having finished his breakfast, picked up a stout stick and
swung it vigorously, belabouring imaginary animals. 'I'll learn 'em to
steal my house!' he cried. 'I'll learn 'em, I'll learn 'em!'

'Don't say "learn 'em," Toad,' said the Rat, greatly shocked. 'It's not
good English.'

'What are you always nagging at Toad for?' inquired the Badger, rather
peevishly. 'What's the matter with his English? It's the same what I use
myself, and if it's good enough for me, it ought to be good enough for
you!'

'I'm very sorry,' said the Rat humbly. 'Only I THINK it ought to be
"teach 'em," not "learn 'em."'

'But we don't WANT to teach 'em,' replied the Badger. 'We want to LEARN
'em--learn 'em, learn 'em! And what's more, we're going to DO it, too!'

'Oh, very well, have it your own way,' said the Rat. He was getting
rather muddled about it himself, and presently he retired into a corner,
where he could be heard muttering, 'Learn 'em, teach 'em, teach 'em,
learn 'em!' till the Badger told him rather sharply to leave off.