u see what it MEANS, you--you dull-witted animal?' cried
the Rat impatiently.

'Of course I see what it means,' replied the Mole. 'It simply means that
some VERY careless and forgetful person has left his door-scraper lying
about in the middle of the Wild Wood, JUST where it's SURE to trip
EVERYBODY up. Very thoughtless of him, I call it. When I get home
I shall go and complain about it to--to somebody or other, see if I
don't!'

'O, dear! O, dear!' cried the Rat, in despair at his obtuseness. 'Here,
stop arguing and come and scrape!' And he set to work again and made the
snow fly in all directions around him.

After some further toil his efforts were rewarded, and a very shabby
door-mat lay exposed to view.

'There, what did I tell you?' exclaimed the Rat in great triumph.

'Absolutely nothing whatever,' replied the Mole, with perfect
truthfulness. 'Well now,' he went on, 'you seem to have found another
piece of domestic litter, done for and thrown away, and I suppose you're
perfectly happy. Better go ahead and dance your jig round that if you've
got to, and get it over, and then perhaps we can go on and not waste
any more time over rubbish-heaps. Can we EAT a doormat? or sleep under a
door-mat? Or sit on a door-mat and sledge home over the snow on it, you
exasperating rodent?'

'Do--you--mean--to--say,' cried the excited Rat, 'that this door-mat
doesn't TELL you anything?'

'Really, Rat,' said the Mole, quite pettishly, 'I think we'd had enough
of this folly. Who ever heard of a door-mat TELLING anyone anything?
They simply don't do it. They are not that sort at all. Door-mats know
their place.'

'Now look here, you--you thick-headed beast,' replied the Rat, really
angry, 'this must stop. Not another word, but scrape--scrape and scratch
and dig and hunt round, especially on the sides of the hummocks, if you
want to sleep dry and warm to-night, for it's our last chance!'

The Rat attacked a snow-bank beside them with ardour, probing with
his cudgel everywhere and then digging with fury; and the Mole scraped
busily too, more to oblige the Rat than for any other reason, for his
opinion was that his friend was getting light-headed.

Some ten minutes' hard work, and the point of the Rat's cudgel struck
something that sounded hollow. He worked till he could get a paw through
and feel; then called the Mole to come and help him. Hard at it went the
two animals, till at last the result of their labours stood full i