them, gave them 'Good-day,'
or stopped to say nice things about their beautiful cart; and rabbits,
sitting at their front doors in the hedgerows, held up their fore-paws,
and said, 'O my! O my! O my!'

Late in the evening, tired and happy and miles from home, they drew
up on a remote common far from habitations, turned the horse loose to
graze, and ate their simple supper sitting on the grass by the side of
the cart. Toad talked big about all he was going to do in the days to
come, while stars grew fuller and larger all around them, and a yellow
moon, appearing suddenly and silently from nowhere in particular, came
to keep them company and listen to their talk. At last they turned in to
their little bunks in the cart; and Toad, kicking out his legs, sleepily
said, 'Well, good night, you fellows! This is the real life for a
gentleman! Talk about your old river!'

'I DON'T talk about my river,' replied the patient Rat. 'You KNOW I
don't, Toad. But I THINK about it,' he added pathetically, in a lower
tone: 'I think about it--all the time!'

The Mole reached out from under his blanket, felt for the Rat's paw in
the darkness, and gave it a squeeze. 'I'll do whatever you like, Ratty,'
he whispered. 'Shall we run away to-morrow morning, quite early--VERY
early--and go back to our dear old hole on the river?'

'No, no, we'll see it out,' whispered back the Rat. 'Thanks awfully, but
I ought to stick by Toad till this trip is ended. It wouldn't be safe
for him to be left to himself. It won't take very long. His fads never
do. Good night!'

The end was indeed nearer than even the Rat suspected.

After so much open air and excitement the Toad slept very soundly, and
no amount of shaking could rouse him out of bed next morning. So the
Mole and Rat turned to, quietly and manfully, and while the Rat saw to
the horse, and lit a fire, and cleaned last night's cups and platters,
and got things ready for breakfast, the Mole trudged off to the nearest
village, a long way off, for milk and eggs and various necessaries the
Toad had, of course, forgotten to provide. The hard work had all been
done, and the two animals were resting, thoroughly exhausted, by
the time Toad appeared on the scene, fresh and gay, remarking what a
pleasant easy life it was they were all leading now, after the cares and
worries and fatigues of housekeeping at home.

They had a pleasant ramble that day over grassy downs and along narrow
by-lanes, and camped a