tendrils
towards the heavens. Its flowers were vivid yellow splashes, distinctly
visible as separate specks this mile away. A great green cable had
writhed across the big wire inclosures of the giant hens' run, and flung
twining leaf stems about two outstanding pines. Fully half as tall as
these was the grove of nettles running round behind the cart-shed. The
whole prospect, as they drew nearer, became more and more suggestive of
a raid of pigmies upon a dolls' house that has been left in a neglected
corner of some great garden.

There was a busy coming and going from the wasps' nest, they saw. A
swarm of black shapes interlaced in the air, above the rusty hill-front
beyond the pine cluster, and ever and again one of these would dart up
into the sky with incredible swiftness and soar off upon some distant
quest. Their humming became audible at more than half a mile's distance
from the Experimental Farm. Once a yellow-striped monster dropped
towards them and hung for a space watching them with its great compound
eyes, but at an ineffectual shot from Cossar it darted off again. Down
in a corner of the field, away to the right, several were crawling about
over some ragged bones that were probably the remains of the lamb the
rats had brought from Huxter's Farm. The horses became very restless as
they drew near these creatures. None of the party was an expert driver,
and they had to put a man to lead each horse and encourage it with the
voice.

They could see nothing of the rats as they came up to the house, and
everything seemed perfectly still except for the rising and falling
"whoozzzzzzZZZ, whoooo-zoo-oo" of the wasps' nest.

They led the horses into the yard, and one of Cossar's men, seeing the
door open--the whole of the middle portion of the door had been gnawed
out--walked into the house. Nobody missed him for the time, the rest
being occupied with the barrels of paraffin, and the first intimation
they had of his separation from them was the report of his gun and the
whizz of his bullet. "Bang, bang," both barrels, and his first bullet it
seems went through the cask of sulphur, smashed out a stave from the
further side, and filled the air with yellow dust. Redwood had kept his
gun in hand and let fly at something grey that leapt past him. He had a
vision of the broad hind-quarters, the long scaly tail and long soles of
the hind-feet of a rat, and fired his second barrel. He saw Bensington
drop as the beast vanish