leep when he was roused by feeling something
warm and rough in his bed. He took the thing for a kitten, drove it
away, and went on sleeping. In the morning he was sorry to have
frightened the poor animal, for he was fond of cats, and in the solitude
any companion would have been agreeable. He sought in all corners, but
could not find anything alive. At noon, he was just beginning to eat his
frugal meal, when he perceived an animal sitting on his hind legs and
looking steadfastly at him; he thought at first that it was a very small
monkey, and rose to have a nearer view of it, for the room was none of
the lightest. He held a bit of meat in his hand, and the creature came
to meet him; but what was his surprise when he saw that he had to deal
with a remarkably large and well-fed rat! Now, rats were detested by
him; he could not even bear the sight of them. He would almost have
preferred to see a rattlesnake in his room, and he uttered a cry of
horror on making the discovery.

The visitor disappeared immediately, but in his place came the jailor,
who had been attracted by the exclamation. He laughed at the prisoner,
and told him that his predecessor in the cell had tamed the rat when it
was young, and that the two fellow-lodgers had become so intimate as to
eat continually together. 'I was so interested,' he continued, 'that
when the man obtained his liberty, I tried to win the affections of the
animal, and you shall see how far I have succeeded.' With these words he
seized something on the table and called out, 'Raton! Raton! Come here,
my little friend.' Immediately Raton's head was protruded, and as soon
as he saw his well-known benefactor, he did not hesitate for a moment to
jump upon his hand and to eat what had been offered to him. From this
moment Raton was restored to all his former rights and privileges; and
Crebillon related afterwards to his friends, that he had tried to obtain
the creature from the jailor, and that the latter's refusal had actually
cost him tears at his release from prison.

THE SOLDIER OF ANTIGONUS.

A soldier of Antigonus was once ill with a terrible disease, the pain of
which robbed him of all joy in life. He had ever been foremost in the
fray and the bravest of the brave, for he strove by reckless daring to
dull his pain, thinking that he had nothing to fear and nothing to lose.

Antigonus admired this ardour shown in his service, and at last sent for
a doctor, whose skill found m