8-Hour Sleep Story: The Complete Wind In The Willows

Fall asleep to the gentle adventures of Mole, Ratty, Toad, and Badger. In this beautifully written and beloved classic by Kenneth Grahame, the story may be about animals, but it is also about us. It is about nature, and our relationship to it. It is about our feelings for home; our response to adversity; our temptations; our ego; our sense of the divine, and our attitude towards adventure versus security.

For further 8-hour sleep tracks narrated by me, please listen to Ted the Shed, the Phoenix and the Carpet and Other Stories, and A Night of Enchantment: Select Fairy Tales.

Piano music by Inung Shin

Transcript

Hello there,

It's Mandy here.

Thanks so much for joining me tonight.

And we're going to be starting a new book,

The Wind in the Willows,

By Kenneth Graham.

Interestingly,

Although The Wind in the Willows is one of the most famous English children's books,

It was never really intended to be a children's book,

And neither the author nor the original publishers ever suggested that it was a children's book.

And in a way,

It isn't really an animal story either.

The characters are,

As one of the original reviewers,

The novelist Arnold Bennett observed,

Meant to be nothing but human beings.

But anyway,

I really hope that you're going to enjoy listening.

And if you're ready,

I shall begin with chapter one,

The Riverbank.

The mole had been working very hard all the morning,

Spring cleaning his little home.

First with brooms,

Then with dusters,

Then on ladders and steps and chairs,

With a brush and a pail of whitewash,

Till he had dust in his throat and eyes,

And splashes of whitewash all over his black fur and an aching back and weary arms.

Spring was moving in the air above and in the earth below and around him,

Penetrating even his dark and lowly little house with its spirit of divine discontent and longing.

It was small wonder then that he suddenly flung down his brush on the floor,

Said,

Bother and oh blow and also hang spring cleaning and bolted out of the house without even waiting to put on his coat.

Something up above was calling him imperiously and he made for the steep little tunnel which answered in his case to the graveled carriage drive owned by animals whose residences are nearer to the sun and air.

So he scraped and scratched and scrabbled and scrooged and then he scrooged again and scrabbled and scratched and scraped,

Working busily with his little paws and muttering to himself,

Off we go,

Up we go,

Till at last pop his snout came out into the sunlight and he found himself rolling in the warm grass of a great meadow.

This is fine,

He said to himself,

This is better than whitewashing.

The sunshine struck hot on his fur,

Soft breezes caressed his heated brow and after the seclusion of the cellarage he had lived in so long,

The carol of happy birds fell on his dull hearing almost like a shout.

Jumping off all his four legs at once in the joy of living and the delight of spring without its cleaning,

He pursued his way across the meadow till he reached the hedge on the further side.

Hold up,

Said an elderly rabbit at the gap,

Sixpence for the privilege of passing by the private road.

He was bowled over in an instant by the impatient and contemptuous mole who trotted along the side of the hedge,

Chuffing the other rabbits as they peeped hurriedly from their holes to see what the row was about.

Onion sauce,

Onion sauce,

He remarked jeeringly and was gone before they could think of a thoroughly satisfactory reply.

Then they all started grumbling at each other.

How stupid you are,

Why didn't you tell him?

Well,

Why didn't you say?

You might have reminded him and so on in the usual way,

But of course it was by then much too late as is always the case.

It all seemed too good to be true.

Hither and thither through the meadows he rambled busily along the hedgerows,

Across the copses,

Finding everywhere birds building,

Flowers budding,

Leaves thrusting,

Everything happy and progressive and occupied.

And instead of having an uneasy conscience pricking him and whispering whitewash,

He somehow could only feel how jolly it was to be the only idle dog among all these busy citizens.

After all,

The best part of a holiday is perhaps not so much to be resting yourself,

But to see all the other fellows busy working.

He thought his happiness was complete when,

As he meandered aimlessly along,

Suddenly he stood by the edge of a full-fed river.

Never in his life had he seen a river before.

This sleek,

Sinuous,

Full-bodied animal,

Chasing and chuckling,

Gripping things with a gurgle and leaving them with a laugh to fling itself on fresh playmates that shook themselves free and were caught and held again.

All was a shake and a shiver,

Glints and gleams and sparkles,

Rustle and swirl,

Chatter and bubble.

The mole was bewitched,

Entranced,

Fascinated.

By the side of the river he trotted,

As one trots,

When very small,

By the side of a man who holds one spellbound by exciting stories.

And when,

Tired at last,

He sat on the bank,

While the river still chattered on to him,

A babbling procession of the best stories in the world,

Sent from the heart of the earth to be told at last to the insatiable sea.

As he sat on the grass and looked across the river,

A dark hole in the bank opposite,

Just above the water's edge,

Caught his eye.

And dreamily he fell to considering what a nice snug dwelling place it would make for an animal with few wants and fond of a bijou riverside residence above flood level and remote from noise and dust.

As he gazed,

Something bright and small seemed to twinkle down in the heart of it,

Vanished,

Then twinkled once more like a tiny star.

But it could hardly be a star in such an unlikely situation,

And it was too glittering and small for a glowworm.

Then,

As he looked,

It winked at him,

And so declared itself to be an eye,

And a small face began gradually to grow up around it,

Like a frame around a picture.

A little brown face with whiskers,

A grave round face with the same twinkle in its eye that had first attracted his notice,

Small neat ears and thick silky hair.

It was the water rat.

The two animals stood and regarded each other cautiously.

Hello,

Mole,

Said the water rat.

Hello,

Rat,

Said the mole.

Would you like to come over,

Inquired the rat.

Oh,

It's all very well to talk,

Said the mole,

Rather pettishly,

He being new to the river and the riverside life and its ways.

The rat said nothing,

But stooped and unfastened a rope and hauled on it,

Then lightly stepped into a little boat,

Which the mole had not observed.

It was painted blue outside and white within,

And was just the size for two animals.

And the mole's whole heart went out to it at once,

Even though he didn't yet fully understand its uses.

The rat sculled smartly across and made fast.

Then he held up his forepaw as the mole stepped gingerly down.

Lean on that,

He said.

Now then,

Step lively.

And the mole,

To his surprise and rapture,

Found himself actually seated in the stern of a real boat.

This has been a wonderful day,

Said he,

As the rat shoved off and took to the sculls again.

Do you know I've never been in a boat before in all my life?

What,

Cried the rat,

Open mouthed.

Never been in a.

.

.

You never.

.

.

Well,

I.

.

.

What have you been doing then?

Is it so nice as all that,

Asked the mole shyly,

Though he was quite prepared to believe it,

As he leant back in his seat and surveyed the cushions,

The oars,

The row locks,

And all the fascinating fittings,

And felt the boat sway lightly under him.

Nice?

It's the only thing,

Said the water rat solemnly,

As he leant forward for his stroke.

Believe me,

My young friend,

There is nothing,

Absolutely nothing,

Half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats.

Simply messing,

He went on dreamily,

Messing about in boats.

Messing about.

Look ahead,

Rat,

Cried the mole suddenly.

It was too late.

The boat struck the bank,

Full tilt.

The dreamer,

The joyous oarsman,

Lay on his back at the bottom of the boat,

His heels in the air.

Messing about in boats,

Or with boats,

The rat went on composedly,

Picking himself up with a pleasant laugh.

In or out of them,

It doesn't matter.

Nothing seems really to matter.

That's the charm of it.

Whether you get away,

Or whether you don't,

Whether you arrive at your destination,

Or whether you reach somewhere else,

Or whether you never get anywhere at all.

You're always busy,

And you never do anything in particular.

And when you've done it,

There's always something else to do.

And you can do it if you like,

But you'd much better not.

Look here,

If you've really nothing else on hand this morning,

Supposing we drop down the river together and have a long day of it?

The mole waggled his toes from sheer happiness,

Spread his chest with a sigh of full contentment,

And leaned back blissfully into the soft cushions.

What a day I'm having,

He said.

Let us start at once.

Hold hard a minute then,

Said the rat.

He looped the painter through a ring in his landing stage,

Climbed up into his hole above,

And after a short interval,

Reappeared staggering under a fat wicker luncheon basket.

Shove that under your feet,

He observed to the mole as he passed it down into the boat.

Then he untied the painter and took the skulls again.

What's inside it?

Asked the mole,

Wriggling with curiosity.

There's cold chicken inside it,

Replied the rat briefly.

Cold tongue,

Cold ham,

Cold beef,

Pickled gherkins,

Salad,

French rolls,

Cress sandwiches,

Potted meat,

Ginger beer,

Lemonade,

Soda water.

Oh,

Stop,

Stop,

Cried the mole in ecstasies.

This is too much.

Do you really think so?

Inquired the rat seriously.

It's only what I always take on these little excursions,

And the other animals are always telling me that I'm a mean beast and cut it very fine.

The mole never heard a word he was saying.

Absorbed in the new life he was entering upon,

Intoxicated with the sparkle,

The ripple,

The scents and the sounds and the sunlight,

He trailed a paw in the water and dreamed long waking dreams.

The water rat,

Like the good little fellow he was,

Sculled steadily on and forbore to disturb him.

I like your clothes awfully,

Old chap,

He remarked,

After some half an hour or so had passed.

I'm going to get a black velvet smoking suit myself someday,

As soon as I can afford it.

I beg your pardon,

Said the mole,

Pulling himself together with an effort.

You must think me very rude,

But all this is so new to me.

So this is a river.

The river,

Corrected the rat,

And you really live by the river.

What a jolly life.

By it,

And with it,

And on it,

And in it,

Said the rat.

It's brother and sister to me,

And aunts,

And company,

And food and drink,

And,

Naturally,

Washing.

It's my world,

And I don't want any other.

What it hasn't got is not worth having,

And what it doesn't know is not worth knowing.

Lord,

The times we've had together,

Whether in winter or summer,

Spring or autumn,

It's always got its fun and its excitements.

When the floods are on in February,

And my cellars and basement are brimming with drink that's no good to me,

And the brown water runs by my best bedroom window,

Or again,

When it all drops away and shows patches of mud that smell like plum cake,

And the rushes and weed clog the channels,

And I can potter about dry shod over most of the bed of it,

And find fresh food to eat,

And things careless people have dropped out of boats.

Isn't it a bit dull at times,

The mole ventured to ask,

Just you and the river,

And no one else to pass a word with.

No one else to.

.

.

Well,

I mustn't be hard on you,

Said the rat,

With forbearance.

You're new to it,

And,

Of course,

You don't know.

The bank is so crowded nowadays that many people are moving away altogether.

Oh no,

It isn't what it used to be at all.

Otters,

Kingfishers,

Dab chicks,

Moorhens,

All of them about all day long,

And always wanting you to do something,

As if a fellow had no business of his own to attend to.

What lies over there?

Asked the mole,

Waving a paw towards a background of woodland that darkly framed the water meadows on one side of the river.

That?

Oh,

That's just the wildwood,

Said the rat shortly.

We don't go there very much,

We river bankers.

Aren't there very nice people in there,

Said the mole,

A trifle nervously.

Well,

Replied the rat,

Let me see,

The squirrels are all right,

And the rabbits,

Some of them,

But rabbits are a mixed lot.

And then there's Badger,

Of course.

He lives right in the heart of it,

Wouldn't live anywhere else either,

If you paid him to do it.

Dear old Badger,

Nobody interferes with him.

They'd better not,

He added significantly.

Why?

Who should interfere with him?

Asked the mole.

Well,

Of course,

There are others,

Explained the rat,

In a hesitating sort of way,

Weasels,

And stoats,

And foxes,

And so on.

They're all right in a way.

I'm very good friends with them.

Pass the time of day when we meet and all that,

But they break out sometimes.

There's no denying it.

And then,

Well,

You can't really trust them.

And that's a fact.

The mole knew well that it is quite against animal etiquette to dwell on possible trouble ahead,

Or even to allude to it.

So he dropped the subject.

And beyond the wildwood again,

He asked,

Where it's all blue and dim,

And one sees what may be hills,

Or perhaps they might,

And something like the smoke of towns,

Or is it only cloud drift?

Beyond the wildwood comes the wide world,

Said the rat,

And that's something that doesn't matter either to you or me.

I've never been there,

And I'm never going,

Nor you either,

If you've got any sense at all.

Don't ever refer to it again,

Please.

Now then,

Here's our backwater at last,

Where we're going to lunch.

Leaving the mainstream,

They now passed into what seemed at first sight like a little landlocked lake.

Green turf sloped down to either edge.

Brown snaky tree roots gleamed below the surface of the quiet water,

While ahead of them the silvery shoulder and foamy tumble of a weir,

Arm in arm with a restless dripping mill wheel that held up in its turn a grey-gabled millhouse,

Filled the air with a soothing murmur of sound,

Dull and smothery,

Yet with little clear voices speaking up cheerfully out of it at intervals.

It was so very beautiful that the could only hold up both forepaws and gasp.

Oh my,

Oh my,

Oh my.

The rat brought the boat alongside the bank,

Made her fast,

Helped the still awkward mole safely ashore,

And swung out the luncheon basket.

The mole begged as a favour to be allowed to unpack it all by himself,

And the rat was very pleased to indulge him and to sprawl at full length on the grass and rest,

While his excited friend shook out the tablecloth and spread it,

Took out all the mysterious packets one by one,

And arranged their contents in due order,

Still gasping,

Oh my,

Oh my,

At each fresh revelation.

When all was ready,

The rat said,

Now pitch in,

Old fellow,

And the mole was indeed very glad to obey,

For he had started his spring cleaning at a very early hour that morning,

As people will do,

And had not paused for bite nor sup,

And he had been through a very great deal since that distant time,

Which now seemed so many days ago.

What are you looking at,

Said the rat,

Presently,

When the edge of their hunger was somewhat dulled,

And the mole's eyes were able to wander off the tablecloth a little.

I am looking,

Said the mole,

At a streak of bubbles that I see travelling along the surface of the water.

That is a thing that strikes me as funny.

Bubbles?

Ho ho,

Said the rat,

And chirruped cheerily in an inviting sort of way.

A broad glistening muzzle showed itself above the edge of the bank,

And the otter hauled himself out and shook the water from his coat.

Greedy beggars,

He observed,

Making for the provender.

Why didn't you invite me,

Ratty?

This was an impromptu affair,

Explained the rat.

By the way,

My friend,

Mr.

Mole.

Proud,

I'm sure,

Said the otter,

And the two animals were friends forthwith.

Such a rumpus everywhere,

Said the otter.

All the world seems out on the river today.

I come up this backwater to try and get a moment's peace,

And then stumble upon you,

Fellows.

At least,

I beg pardon,

I don't exactly mean that,

You know.

There was a rustle behind them,

Proceeding from a hedge,

Wherein last year's leaves still clung thick,

And a stripy head,

With high shoulders behind it,

Peered forth on them.

Come on,

Old badger,

Shouted the rat.

The badger trotted forward a pace or two,

Then grunted,

Hmm,

Company,

And turned his back and disappeared from view.

That's just the sort of fellow he is,

Observed the disappointed rat.

Simply hates society.

Now,

We shan't see any more of him today.

Well,

Tell us who's out on the river.

Toads out for one,

Replied the otter,

In his brand new wager boat.

New togs,

New everything.

The two animals looked at each other and laughed.

Once,

It was nothing but sailing,

Said the rat.

Then he tired of that,

And took to punting.

Nothing would please him,

But to punt all day,

And every day,

And a nice mess he made of it.

Last year,

It was houseboating,

And we all had to go and stay with him in his houseboat,

And pretend we liked it.

He was going to spend the rest of his life in a houseboat.

It's all the same.

Whatever he takes up,

He gets tired of it,

And starts on something fresh.

Such a good fellow,

Too,

Remarked the otter,

Reflectively,

But no stability,

Especially in a boat.

From where they sat,

They could get a glimpse of the main stream across the island that separated them.

And,

Just then,

A wager boat flashed into view.

The rower,

A short stout figure,

Splashing badly and rolling a good deal,

But working his hardest.

The rat stood up and hailed him,

But Toad,

For it was he,

Shook his head and settled sternly to his work.

He'll be out of that boat in a minute if he rolls like that,

Said the rat,

Sitting down again.

Of course he will,

Chuckled the otter.

Did I ever tell you that story about Toad and the lock keeper?

It happened this way.

Toad,

An errant mayfly,

Swerved unsteadily athwart the current,

In the intoxicated fashion affected by young bloods of mayflies seeing life.

A swirl of water and a ploop,

And the mayfly was visible no more.

Neither was the otter.

The mole looked down.

The voice was still in his ears,

But the turf whereon he had sprawled was clearly vacant.

Not an otter to be seen as far as the distant horizon,

But again there was a streak of bubbles on the surface of the river.

The rat hummed a tune and the mole recollected that animal etiquette forbade any sort of comment on the sudden disappearance of one's friends at any moment,

For any reason or no reason whatsoever.

Well,

Well,

Said the rat,

I suppose we ought to be moving.

I wonder which of us had better pack the luncheon basket.

He did not speak as if he was frightfully eager for that treat.

Oh,

Please let me,

Said the mole.

So,

Of course,

The rat let him.

Packing the basket was not quite such pleasant work as unpacking the basket.

It never is,

But the mole was bent on enjoying everything,

And although just when he had got the basket packed and strapped up tightly,

He saw a plate staring up at him from the grass,

And when the job had been done again,

The rat pointed out a fork,

Which anybody ought to have seen,

And last of all,

Behold,

The mustard pot,

Which he had been sitting on without knowing it.

Still,

Somehow,

The thing did get finished at last without much loss of temper.

The afternoon sun was getting low as the rat sculled gently homewards in a dreamy mood,

Murmuring poetry things over to himself,

And not paying much attention to mole,

But the mole was very full of lunch and self-satisfaction and pride,

And already quite at home in a boat,

So he thought,

And was getting a bit restless besides,

And presently he said,

Ratty,

Please,

I want to row now.

The rat shook his head with a smile.

Not yet,

My young friend,

He said.

Wait till you've had a few lessons.

It's not so easy as it looks.

The mole was quiet for a minute or two,

But he began to feel more and more jealous of rat sculling so strongly and so easily along,

And his pride began to whisper that he could do it every bit as well.

He jumped up and seized the skulls,

So suddenly that the rat,

Who was gazing out over the water and saying more poetry things to himself,

Was taken by surprise and fell backwards off his seat with his legs in the air for the second time,

While the triumphant mole took his place and grabbed the skulls with entire confidence.

Stop it,

You silly ass,

Cried the rat from the bottom of the boat.

You can't do it.

You'll have us over.

The mole flung his skulls back with a flourish and made a great dig at the water.

He missed the surface altogether.

His legs flew up above his head,

And he found himself lying on the top of the prostrate rat.

Greatly alarmed,

He made a grab at the side of the boat,

And the next moment,

Sploosh,

Over went the boat,

And he found himself struggling in the river.

Oh my,

How cold the water was,

And how very wet it felt.

How it sang in his ears as he went down,

Down,

Down.

How bright and welcome the sun looked as he rose to the surface,

Coughing and spluttering.

How black was his despair when he felt himself sinking again.

Then a firm paw gripped him by the back of his neck.

It was the rat,

And he was evidently laughing.

The mole could feel him laughing,

Right down his arm and through his paw,

And so into his,

The mole's,

Neck.

The rat got hold of a skull and shoved it under the mole's arm.

Then he did the same by the other side of him,

And swimming behind,

Propelled the helpless animal to shore,

Hauled him out,

And set him down on the bank.

A squashy,

Pulpy lump of misery.

When the rat had rubbed him down a bit,

And wrung some of the wet out of him,

He said,

Now then old fella,

Trot up and down the towing path as hard as you can,

Till you're warm and dry again,

While I dive for the luncheon basket.

So the dismal mole,

Wet without,

And ashamed within,

Trotted about till he was fairly dry,

While the rat plunged into the water again,

Recovered the boat,

Righted her,

And made her fast,

Fetched his floating property to shore by degrees,

And finally dived successfully for the luncheon basket,

And struggled to land with it.

When all was ready for a start once more,

The mole,

Limp and dejected,

Took his seat in the stern of the boat,

And as they set off,

He said in a low voice,

Broken with emotion,

Ratty,

My generous friend,

I am very sorry indeed for my foolish and ungrateful conduct.

My heart quite fails me when I think how I might have lost that beautiful luncheon basket.

Indeed,

I have been a complete ass,

And I know it.

Will you overlook it this once,

And forgive me,

And let things go on as before?

That's all right,

Bless you,

Responded the rat,

Cheerily.

What's a little wet to a water rat?

I'm more in the water than out of it most days.

Don't you think any more about it?

And look here,

I really think you had better come and stop with me for a little time.

It's very plain and rough,

You know,

Not like Toad's house at all,

But you haven't seen that yet.

Still,

I can make you comfortable,

And I'll teach you how to row and to swim,

And you'll soon be as handy on the water as any of us.

The mole was so touched by his kind manner of speaking that he could find no voice to answer with,

And he had to brush away a tear or two with the back of his paw.

But the rat kindly looked in the other direction,

And presently the mole's spirits revived again,

And he was even able to give some straight back talk to a couple of more hens who were sniggering to each other about his bedraggled appearance.

When they got home,

The rat made a bright fire in the parlour and planted the mole in an armchair in front of it,

Having fetched down a dressing gown and slippers for him,

And told him river stories till supper time.

Very thrilling stories they were too,

To an earth-dwelling animal like mole.

Stories about weirs,

And sudden floods,

And leaping pike,

And steamers that flung hard bottles.

At least,

Bottles were certainly flung and from steamers,

So presumably by them.

And about herons,

And how particular they were,

Who they spoke to.

And about adventures down drains,

And night fishings with otter,

And excursions far afield with badger.

Supper was a most cheerful meal,

But very shortly afterwards a terribly sleepy mole had to be escorted upstairs by his considerate host to the best bedroom,

Where he soon laid his head on his in great peace and contentment,

Knowing that his newfound friend the river was lapping the sill of his window.

This day was only the first of many similar ones for the emancipated mole,

Each of them longer and fuller of interest as the ripening summer moved onward.

He learnt to swim and to row,

And entered into the joy of running water,

And with his ear to the reed stems he caught at intervals something of what the wind went whispering so constantly among them.

In writing The Wind in the Willows,

Graham borrowed from and played with the major popular genres of his day,

The river book,

The caravanning book,

The motoring thriller,

The rural idyll,

And of course the boys adventure story.

But we've reached chapter two,

The Open Road,

So if you're ready then I shall begin.

The Open Road.

Ratty said the mole suddenly one bright summer morning,

If you please I want to ask you a favour.

The rat was sitting on the riverbank singing a little song,

He had just composed it himself,

So he was very taken up with it and would not pay proper attention to mole or anything else.

Since early morning he had been swimming in the river in company with his friends the ducks,

And when the ducks stood on their heads suddenly,

As ducks will,

He would dive down and tickle their necks just under where their chins would be,

If ducks had chins,

Till they were forced to come to the surface again in a hurry,

Spluttering and angry and shaking their feathers at him,

For it is impossible to say quite all you feel when your head is underwater.

At last they implored him to go away and attend to his own affairs and leave them to theirs.

So the rat went away and sat on the riverbank in the sun and made up a song about them which he called Ducks Ditty.

All along the backwater,

Through the rushes tall,

Ducks are a dabbling,

Up tails all,

Ducks tails,

Drakes tails,

Yellow feet a quiver,

Yellow bills all out of sight,

Busy in the river,

Slushy green undergrowth where the roach swim,

Here we keep our larder,

Cool and full and dim,

Everyone for what he likes,

We like to be,

Heads down tails up,

Dabbling free,

High in the blue above,

Swift swirl and call,

We are down a dabbling,

Up tails all.

I don't know that I think so very much of that little song rat,

Observed the mole cautiously.

He was no poet himself and didn't care who knew it and he had a candid nature.

Nor don't the ducks neither,

Replied the rat cheerfully.

They say why can't fellows be allowed to do what they like,

When they like and as they like,

Instead of other fellows sitting on banks and watching them all the time and making remarks and poetry and things about them.

What nonsense it all is,

That's what the ducks say.

So it is,

So it is,

Said the mole with great heartiness.

No it isn't,

Cried the rat indignantly.

Well then it isn't,

It isn't,

Replied the mole soothingly.

But what I wanted to ask you was,

Won't you take me to call on Mr Toad?

I've heard so much about him and I do so want to make his acquaintance.

Why certainly,

Said the good-natured rat,

Jumping to his feet and dismissing poetry from his mind for the day.

Get the boat out and we'll paddle up there at once.

It's never the wrong time to call on Toad.

Early or late he's always the same fellow.

Always good-tempered,

Always glad to see you,

Always sorry when you go.

He must be a very nice animal,

Observed the mole as he got into the boat and took the skulls,

While the rat settled himself comfortably in the stern.

He is indeed the best of animals,

Replied rat.

So simple,

So good-natured and so affectionate.

Perhaps he's not very clever,

We can't all be geniuses,

And it may be that he is both boastful and conceited,

But he has got some great qualities,

Has Toadie.

Rounding a bend in the river they came in sight of a handsome,

Dignified old house of mellowed red brick,

With well-kept lawns reaching down to the water's edge.

There's Toad Hall,

Said the rat,

And that creek on the left where the notice board says private,

No landing allowed,

Leads to his boathouse where we'll leave the boat.

The stables are over there to the right.

That's the banqueting hall you're looking at now.

Very old that is.

Toad is rather rich you know,

And this is really one of the nicest houses in these parts,

Though we never admit as much to Toad.

They glided up the creek and the mole shipped his skulls as they passed into the shadow of a large boathouse.

Here they saw many handsome boats slung from the crossbeams or hauled up on a slip,

But none in the water,

And the place had an unused and deserted air.

The rat looked around him.

I understand,

Said he.

Boating is played out.

He's tired of it and done with it.

I wonder what new fad he has taken up now.

Come along and let's look him up.

We shall hear all about it quite soon enough.

They disembarked and strolled across the gay flower deck lawns in search of Toad,

Whom they presently happened upon,

Resting in a wicker garden chair with a preoccupied expression of face and a large map spread out on his knees.

Hooray,

He cried,

Jumping up on seeing them.

This is splendid.

He shook the paws of both of them warmly,

Never waiting for an introduction to the mole.

How kind of you,

He went on,

Dancing around them.

I was just going to send a boat down the river for you,

Ratty,

With strict orders that you were to be fetched up here at once,

Whatever you were doing.

I want you badly,

Both of you.

Now,

What will you take?

Come inside and have something.

You don't know how lucky it is you're turning up just now.

Let's sit quiet a bit,

Toady,

Said the rat,

Throwing himself into an easy chair,

While the took another by the side of him and made some civil remark about Toad's delightful residence.

Finest house on the whole river,

Cried Toad boisterously,

Or anywhere else for that matter,

He couldn't help adding.

Here the rat nudged the mole.

Unfortunately,

The Toad saw him do it and turned very red.

There was a moment's painful silence.

Then Toad burst out laughing.

All right,

Ratty,

He said.

It's only my way,

You know,

And it's not such a very bad house,

Is it?

You know you rather like it yourself.

Now,

Look here.

Let's be sensible.

You are the very animals I wanted.

You've got to help me.

It's most important.

It's about your rowing,

I suppose,

Said the rat,

With an innocent air.

You're getting on fairly well,

Though you splash a good bit still.

With a great deal of patience and any quantity of coaching,

You may,

Oh poo,

Boating,

Interrupted the Toad in great disgust.

Silly boyish amusement.

I've given that up long ago.

Sheer waste of time.

That's what that is.

It makes me downright sorry to see you fellows who want to know better,

Spending all your energies in that aimless manner.

No,

I've discovered the real thing.

The only genuine occupation for a lifetime.

I propose to devote the remainder of mine to it and can only regret the wasted years that lie behind me,

Squandered in trivialities.

Come with me,

Dear Ratty,

And your amiable friend also,

If you will be so very good,

Just as far as the stable yard and you shall see what you shall see.

He led the way to the stable yard accordingly,

The rat following with a most mistrustful expression.

And there,

Drawn out of the coach house into the open,

They saw a gypsy caravan,

Shining with newness,

Painted a canary yellow,

Picked out with green,

Its wheels red.

There you are,

Cried the toad,

Straddling and expanding himself.

There's real life for you embodied in that little cart.

The open road,

The dusty highway,

The heath,

The common,

The hedgerows,

The rolling downs,

Camps,

Villages,

Towns,

Cities.

Here today,

Up and off to somewhere else tomorrow.

Travel,

Change,

Interest,

Excitement,

The whole world before you and a horizon that's always changing.

And mind,

This is the very finest cart of its sort that was ever built without any exception.

Come inside and look at the arrangements.

Planned them all myself,

I did.

The mole was tremendously interested and excited and followed him eagerly up the steps and into the interior of the caravan.

The rat only snorted and thrust his hands deep into his pockets,

Remaining where he was.

It was indeed very compact and comfortable.

Little sleeping bunks,

A little table that folded up against a wall,

A cooking stove,

Lockers,

Bookshelves,

A birdcage with a bird in it,

And pots,

Pans,

Jugs and kettles of every size and variety.

All complete,

Said the toad triumphantly,

Pulling open a locker.

You see,

Biscuits,

Potted lobster,

Sardines,

Everything you can possibly want.

Soda water here,

Backy there,

Letter paper,

Bacon,

Jam,

Cards,

Dominoes.

You'll find,

He continued as they descended the steps again,

You'll find that nothing whatever has been forgotten when we make our start this afternoon.

I beg your pardon,

Said the rat slowly as he chewed a straw,

But did I overhear you say something about we and start and this afternoon?

Now,

You dear good old ratty,

Said toad imploringly,

Don't begin talking in that stiff and sniffy sort of way,

Because you know you've got to come.

I can't possibly manage without you,

So please consider it settled and don't argue.

It's the one thing I can't stand.

You surely don't mean to stick to your dull,

Fusty old river all your life and just live in a hole in a bank and boat.

I want to show you the world.

I'm going to make an animal of you,

My boy.

I don't care,

Said the rat doggedly.

I'm not coming and that's flat and I am going to stick to my old river and live in a hole and boat as I've always done.

And what's more,

Mole is going to stick to me and do as I do,

Aren't you mole?

Of course I am,

Said the mole loyally.

I'll always stick to you,

Rat,

And what you say is to be has got to be.

All the same,

It sounds as if it might have been,

Well,

Rather fun,

You know,

He added wistfully.

Poor mole,

The life adventurous was so new a thing to him and so thrilling and this fresh aspect of it was so tempting and he had fallen in love at first sight with the canary coloured cart and all its little fitments.

The rat saw what was passing in the mole's mind and he wavered.

He hated disappointing people and he was fond of the mole and would do almost anything to oblige him.

Toad was watching both of them closely.

Come along in and have some lunch,

He said diplomatically,

And we'll talk it over.

We needn't decide anything in a hurry.

Of course,

I don't really care.

I only want to give pleasure to you fellows.

Live for others,

That's my motto in life.

During luncheon,

Which was excellent,

Of course,

As everything at Toad Hall always was,

The toad simply let himself go.

Disregarding the rat,

He proceeded to play upon the inexperienced mole as on a harp.

Naturally a voluble animal and always mastered by his imagination,

He painted the prospects of the trip and the joys of the open life and the roadside in such glowing colours that the mole could hardly sit in his chair for excitement.

Somehow it soon seemed,

Taken for granted by all three of them,

That the trip was a settled thing and the rat,

Although still unconvinced in his mind,

Allowed his good nature to override his personal objections.

He couldn't bear to disappoint his two friends,

Who were already deep in schemes and anticipations,

Planning out each day's separate occupation for several weeks ahead.

When they were quite ready,

The now triumphant toad led his companions to the paddock and set them to capture the old grey horse,

Who,

Without having been consulted and to his own extreme annoyance,

Had been told off by the toad for the dustiest job in this dusty expedition.

He frankly preferred the paddock and took a deal of catching.

Meanwhile toad packed the lockers still tighter with necessities and hung nose bags,

Nets of onions,

Bundles of hay and baskets from the bottom of the cart.

At last the horse was caught and harnessed and they set off,

All talking at once,

Each animal either trudging by the side of the cart or sitting on the shaft as the humour took him.

It was a golden afternoon.

The smell of the dust they kicked up was rich and satisfying.

Out of thick orchards on either side of the road,

Birds called and whistled to them cheerily.

Good-natured wayfarers passing 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 forepaws and said,

Oh my,

Oh my,

Oh 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 into 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 tomorrow 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 the next morning.

So the mole and the 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 that 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 as before on a common,

Only this time the two guests took care that toad should do his fair share of work.

In consequence,

When the time came for starting the next morning,

Toad was by no means so rapturous about the simplicity of the primitive life and indeed attempted to resume his place in his bunk whence he was hauled by force.

Their way lay as before across country by narrow lanes and it was not till the afternoon that they came out on the high road,

Their first high road,

And their disaster fleet and unforeseen sprang out on them.

Disaster momentous indeed to their expedition but simply overwhelming in its effect on the after career of toad.

They were strolling along the high road easily,

The mole by the horse's head talking to him,

Since the horse had complained that he was being frightfully left out of it and nobody considered him in the least.

The toad and the water rat walking behind the cart talking together,

At least toad was talking and rat was saying at intervals,

Yes precisely and what did you say to him?

And thinking all the time of something very different,

When far behind them they heard a faint warning hum like the drone of a distant bee.

Glancing back they saw a small cloud of dust with a dark centre of energy advancing on them at incredible speed while from out of the dust a faint boop boop wailed like an uneasy animal in pain.

Hardly regarding it they turned to resume their conversation when in an instant as it seemed the peaceful scene was changed and with a blast of wind and a whirl of sound that made them jump for the nearest ditch it was on them.

The boop boop rang with a brazen shout in their ears,

They had a moment's glimpse of an interior of glittering plate glass and rich Morocco and the magnificent motor car,

Immense,

Breath-snatching,

Passionate,

With its pilot tense and hugging his wheel,

Possessed all earth and air for the fraction of a second,

Flung an enveloping cloud of dust that blinded and enwrapped them utterly and then dwindled to a speck in the far distance,

Changed back into a droning bee once more.

The old grey horse dreaming as he plodded along of his quiet paddock in a new raw situation such as this simply abandoned himself to his natural emotions.

Rearing,

Plunging,

Backing steadily in spite of all the mole's efforts at his head and all the mole's lively language directed at his better feelings,

He drove the cart backwards towards the deep ditch at the side of the road.

It wavered an instant and then there was a heart-rending crash and the canary-coloured cart,

Their pride and their joy,

Lay on its side in the ditch,

An irredeemable wreck.

The rat danced up and down in the road,

Simply transported with passion.

You villains,

He shouted,

Shaking both fists,

You scoundrels,

You highway men,

You,

You road hogs,

I'll have the law on you,

I'll report you,

I'll take you through all the courts.

His homesickness had quite slipped away from him and for the moment he was the skipper of the canary-coloured vessel,

Driven on a shoal by the reckless jockeying of rival mariners and he was trying to recollect all the fine and biting things he used to say to masters of steam launches when their wash,

As they drove to near the bank,

Used to flood his parlour carpet at home.

Toad sat straight down in the middle of the dusty road,

His legs stretched out before him and stared fixedly in the direction of the disappearing motor car.

He breathed short,

His face wore a placid,

Satisfied expression and at intervals he faintly murmured,

Poop,

Poop.

The mole was busy trying to quiet the horse,

Which he succeeded in doing after a time.

Then he went to look at the cart on its side in the ditch.

It was indeed a sorry sight.

Panels and windows smashed,

Axles hopelessly bent,

One wheel off,

Sardine tins scattered over the wide world and the bird in the birdcage sobbing pitifully and calling to be let out.

The rat came to help him but their united efforts were not sufficient to right the cart.

Hi Toad,

They cried,

Come and bear a hand,

Can't you?

The toad never answered a word nor budged from his seat in the road,

So they went to see what was the matter with him.

They found him in a sort of trance,

A happy smile on his face,

His eyes still fixed on the dusty wake of their destroyer.

At intervals he was still heard to murmur,

Poop,

Poop.

The rat shook him by the shoulder.

Are you coming to help us,

Toad?

He demanded sternly.

Glorious stirring sight,

Murmured Toad,

Never offering to move.

The poetry of motion,

The real way to travel,

The only way to travel.

Here today,

In next week,

Tomorrow.

Villages skipped,

Towns and cities jumped,

Always somebody else's horizon.

Oh bliss,

Oh poop,

Poop,

Oh my,

Oh my.

Oh stop being an ass,

Toad,

Cried the mole despairingly.

And to think I never knew,

Went on the toad in a dreamy monotone.

All those wasted years that lie behind me,

I never knew,

I never even dreamt.

But now,

But now that I know,

Now that I fully realise,

Oh what a flowery track lies spread before me henceforth.

What dust cloud shall spring up behind me as I speed on my reckless way?

What carts I shall fling carelessly into the ditch in the wake of my magnificent onset?

Horrid little carts,

Common carts,

Canary-coloured carts.

What are we to do with him?

Asked the mole of the water rat.

Nothing at all,

Replied the rat firmly,

Because there is really nothing to be done.

You see,

I know him of old.

He is now possessed.

He has got a new craze.

It always takes him that way in its first stage.

He'll continue like that for days now,

Like an animal walking in a happy dream.

Quite useless for all practical purposes.

Never mind him.

Let's go and see what there is to be done about the cart.

But a careful inspection showed them that even if they succeeded in riding it by themselves,

The cart would travel no longer.

The axles were in a hopeless state,

And the missing wheel was shattered into pieces.

The rat knotted the horse's reins over his back and took him by the head,

Carrying the birdcage and its hysterical occupant in the other hand.

Come on,

He said grimly to the mole.

It's five or six miles to the nearest town,

And we shall just have to walk it.

The sooner we make a start,

The better.

But what about Toad?

Asked the mole anxiously as they set off together.

We can't leave him here,

Sitting in the middle of the road by himself in the distracted state he's in.

It's not safe.

Supposing another thing were to come along?

Oh,

Bother Toad,

Said the rat savagely.

I've done with him.

They had not proceeded very far on their way,

However,

When there was a pattering of feet behind them,

And Toad caught them up and thrust a paw inside the elbow of each of them,

Still breathing short and staring into vacancy.

Now look here Toad,

Said the rat.

As soon as we get to the town,

You'll have to go straight to the police station and see if they know anything about that motor car and who it belongs to,

And we'll lodge a complaint against it.

And then you'll have to go to a blacksmith's or a wheelwright's and arrange for the cart to be fetched and mended and put to rights.

It'll take time,

But it's not quite a hopeless smash.

Meanwhile,

The mole and I will go to find an inn and find comfortable rooms where we can stay till the cart's ready,

Until your nerves have recovered from their shock.

Police station?

Complaint?

Murmured Toad dreamily.

Me complain of that beautiful,

Heavenly vision that has been vouchsafed to me?

Mend the cart?

I've done with carts forever.

I never want to see the cart or hear of it again.

Oh Ratty,

You can't think how obliged I am to you for consenting to come on this trip.

I wouldn't have gone without you,

And then I might never have seen that,

That swarm,

That sunbeam,

That thunderbolt.

I might never have heard that entrancing sound or smelt that bewitching smell.

I owe it all to you,

My best of friends.

The rat turned from him in despair.

You see what it is,

He said to the mole,

Addressing him across Toad's head.

He's quite hopeless.

I give it up.

When we get to the town,

We'll go to the railway station,

And with luck,

We may pick up a train that'll get us back to Riverbank tonight.

And if ever you catch me going a-pleasuring with this provoking animal again,

He snorted,

And during the rest of that weary trudge,

Addressed his remarks exclusively to Mole.

On reaching the town,

They went straight to the station and deposited Toad in the second-class waiting room,

Giving a porter tuppence to keep a strict eye on him.

They then left the horse at an inn stable and gave what directions they could about the cart and its contents.

Eventually,

A slow train,

Having landed them at a station not very far from Toad Hall,

They escorted the spellbound,

Sleepwalking Toad to his door,

Put him inside it,

And instructed his housekeeper to feed him,

Undress him,

And put him to bed.

Then,

They got out their boat from the boathouse,

Sculled down the river home,

And at a very late hour,

Sat down to supper in their own cosy riverside parlour,

To the rat's great joy and contentment.

The following evening,

The mole,

Who had risen late and taken things very easy all day,

Was sitting on the bank fishing when the rat,

Who had been looking up his friends and gossiping,

Came strolling along to find him.

Heard the news,

He said,

There is nothing else being talked about all along the riverbank.

Toad went up to town by an early train this morning,

And he has ordered a large and very expensive motor car.

Kenneth Graham's masterpiece can be read in many languages.

It can be read in Afrikaans,

In Italian,

In Finnish,

In Portuguese,

And others.

It's also available in over 50 editions in English.

There are versions in verse,

Graded readers for learning English as a foreign language,

Audio and video adaptations,

And plays,

Notably by A.

A.

Milne and Alan Bennett.

There are also films and picture books,

Pop-up books,

Knitting patterns,

Graphic novels,

And scholarly annotated editions.

There are sequels,

Gospel meditations,

A cookery book,

And Robert de Boord's Counselling for Toads,

An introduction to psychotherapy.

So,

If you're ready,

Then I shall begin.

Chapter Three.

The Wild Wood.

The Mole had long wanted to make the acquaintance of the Badger.

He seemed,

By all accounts,

To be such an important personage,

And,

Though rarely visible,

To make his unseen influence felt by everybody about the place.

But whenever the Mole mentioned his wish to the Water Rat,

He always found himself put off.

It's all right,

The Rat would say.

Badger'll turn up someday or another.

He's always turning up.

And then I'll introduce you.

The best of fellows.

But you must not only take him as you find him,

But when you find him.

Couldn't you ask him here,

Dinner or something?

Said the Mole.

He wouldn't come,

Replied the Rat,

Simply.

Badger hates society,

And invitations,

And dinner,

And all that sort of thing.

Well,

Supposing we go and call on him,

Suggested the Mole.

Oh,

I'm sure he wouldn't like that at all,

Said the Rat,

Quite alarmed.

He's so very shy.

He'd be sure to be offended.

I've never even ventured to call on him at his own home myself,

Although I know him so well.

Besides,

We can't.

It's quite out of the question,

Because he lives in the very middle of the Wildwood.

Well,

Supposing he does,

Said the Mole.

You told me the Wildwood was all right,

You know.

Oh,

I know,

I know.

So it is,

Replied the Rat,

Evasively.

But I think we won't go there just now.

Not just yet.

It's a long way,

And he wouldn't be at home at this time of year anyhow,

And he'll be coming along someday,

If you'll wait quietly.

The Mole had to be content with this.

But the Badger never came along,

And every day brought its amusements,

And it was not till summer was long over,

And cold,

And frost,

And miry ways kept them much indoors,

And the swollen river raced past outside their windows,

With a speed that mocked at boating of any sort or kind,

That he found his thoughts dwelling again with much persistence on the solitary grey Badger,

Who lived his own life by himself,

In his hole in the middle of the Wildwood.

In the wintertime,

The Rat slept a great deal,

Retiring early and rising late.

During his short day,

He sometimes scribbled poetry,

Or did other small domestic jobs about the house.

And of course,

There were always animals dropping in for a chat,

And consequently,

There was a good deal of storytelling,

And comparing notes on the past summer,

And all its doings.

Such a rich chapter it had been,

When one came to look back on it all,

With illustrations so numerous,

And so very highly coloured.

The pageant of the riverbank had marched steadily along,

Unfolding itself in scene pictures,

That succeeded each other in stately procession.

Purple loose strife arrived early,

Shaking luxuriant tangled locks,

Along the edge of the mirror,

Whence its own face laughed back at it.

Willow herb,

Tender and wistful,

Like a pink sunset cloud,

Was not slow to follow.

Comfrey,

The purple hand in hand with the white,

Crept forth to take its place in the line,

And at last one morning,

The diffident and delaying Dog Rose stepped delicately onto the stage,

And one knew,

As if string music had announced it in stately chords,

That strayed into a gavotte,

That June at last was here.

One member of the company was still awaited,

The shepherd boy for the nymphs to woo,

The knight for whom the ladies waited at the window,

The prince that was to kiss the sleeping summer back to life and love.

But when Meadowsweet,

Debonair and odorous in amber jerkin,

Moved graciously to his place in the group,

Then the play was ready to begin.

And what a play it had been!

Drowsy animals,

Snug in their holes,

While wind and rain were battering at their doors,

Recalled still keen mornings,

An hour before sunrise,

When the white mist,

As yet undispersed,

Clung closely along the surface of the water.

Then the shock of the early plunge,

The scamper along the bank,

And the radiant transformation of earth,

Air and water,

When suddenly the sun was with them again,

And grey was gold,

And colour was born,

And sprang out of the earth once more.

They recalled the languorous siesta of hot midday,

Deep in green undergrowth,

The sun striking through in tiny golden shafts and spots,

The boating and bathing of the afternoon,

The rambles along dusty lanes and through yellow cornfields,

And the long cool evening at last,

When so many threads were gathered up,

So many friendships rounded,

And so many adventures planned for the morrow.

There was plenty to talk about on those short winter days,

When the animals found themselves round the fire.

Still,

The mole had a good deal of spare time on his hands,

And so one afternoon,

When the rat in his armchair before the blaze was alternately dozing and trying over rhymes that wouldn't fit,

He formed the resolution to go out by himself and explore the wild wood,

And perhaps strike up an acquaintance with Mr Badger.

It was a cold still afternoon,

With a hard steely sky overhead,

When he slipped out of the warm parlour into the open air.

The country lay bare and entirely leafless around him,

And he thought he'd never seen so far,

And so intimately into the insides of things as on that winter day,

When nature was deep in her annual slumber,

And seemed to have kicked the clothes off.

Copses,

Dells,

Quarries,

And all hidden places which had been mysterious mines for exploration in leafy summer,

Now exposed themselves and their secrets pathetically,

And seemed to ask him to overlook their shabby poverty for a while,

Till they could riot in rich masquerade as before,

And trick and entice him with the old deceptions.

It was pitiful in a way,

And yet cheering,

Even exhilarating.

He was glad that he liked the country,

Undecorated,

Hard,

And stripped of its finery.

He had got down to the bare bones of it,

And they were fine,

And strong,

And simple.

He did not want the warm clover,

And the play of seeding grasses,

The screens of quickset,

The billowy drapery of beech and elm,

Seemed best away,

And with great cheerfulness of spirit,

He pushed on towards the wildwood,

Which lay before him,

Low and threatening,

Like a black reef in some still southern sea.

There was nothing to alarm him at first entry.

Twigs crackled under his feet,

Logs tripped him,

Funguses on stumps resembled caricatures,

And startled him for the moment by their likeness to something familiar and far away,

But that was all fun and exciting.

It led him on,

And he penetrated to where the light was less,

And trees crouched nearer and nearer,

And holes made ugly mouths at him on either side.

Everything was very still now.

The dusk advanced on him steadily,

Rapidly,

Gathering in behind and before,

And the light seemed to be draining away like floodwater.

Then the faces began.

It was over his shoulder,

And indistinctly,

That he first thought he saw a face,

A little evil wedge-shaped face,

Looking out at him from a hole.

When he turned and confronted it,

The thing had vanished.

He quickened his pace,

Telling himself cheerfully not to begin imagining things,

Or there would be simply no end to it.

He passed another hole,

And another,

And another,

And then,

Yes,

No,

Yes,

Certainly a little narrow face with hard eyes had flashed up for an instant from a hole,

And was gone.

He hesitated,

Braced himself up for an effort,

And strode on.

Then,

Suddenly,

And as if it had been so all the time,

Every hole,

Far and near,

And there were hundreds of them,

Seemed to possess its face,

Coming and going rapidly,

All fixing on him glances of malice and hatred,

All hard-eyed and evil,

And sharp.

If he could only get away from the holes in the banks,

He thought,

There would be no more faces.

He swung off the path,

And plunged into the untrodden places of the wood.

Then the whistling began.

Very faint and shrill it was,

And far behind him,

When first he heard it,

But somehow it made him hurry forward.

Then,

Still very faint and shrill,

It sounded far ahead of him,

And made him hesitate and want to go back.

As he halted in indecision,

It broke out on either side,

And seemed to be caught up and passed on throughout the whole length of the wood,

To its furthest limit.

They were up and alert and ready,

Evidently,

Whoever they were.

And he,

He was alone,

And unarmed,

And far from help,

And the night was closing in.

Then the patchering began.

He thought it was only falling leaves at first,

So slight and delicate was the sound of it.

Then,

As it grew,

It took a regular rhythm,

And he knew it for nothing else but the pat pat pat of little feet,

Still a very long way off.

Was it in front or behind?

It seemed to be first one,

Then the other,

Then both.

It grew,

And it multiplied,

Till from every quarter as he listened anxiously,

Leaning this way and that,

It seemed to be closing in on him.

As he stood still to hearken,

A rabbit came running hard towards him through the trees.

He waited,

Expecting him to slacken pace,

Or to swerve from him into a different course.

Instead,

The animal almost brushed him as he dashed past,

His face set and hard,

His eyes staring.

Get out of this,

You fool,

Get out!

The mole heard him mutter as he swung round a stump and disappeared down a friendly burrow.

The pattering increased,

Till it sounded like sudden hail on the dry leaf carpet spread around him.

The whole wood seemed running now,

Running hard,

Hunting,

Chasing,

Closing in around something or somebody.

In panic he began to run too,

Aimlessly he knew not whither.

He ran up against things,

He fell over things and into things,

He darted under things and dodged round things.

At last he took refuge in the deep dark hollow of an old beech tree which offered shelter,

Concealment,

Perhaps even safety,

But who could tell.

Anyhow,

He was too tired to run any further and could only snuggle down into the dry leaves which had drifted into the hollow and hope he was safe for the time.

And as he lay there,

Panting and trembling,

And listened to the whistlings and the patterings outside,

He knew it at last,

In all its fullness,

That dread thing which other little dwellers in Field and Hedgerow had encountered here and known as their darkest moment,

The thing which the rat had vainly tried to shield him from,

The terror of the wild wood.

Meantime the rat,

Warm and comfortable,

Dozed by his fireside.

His paper of half-finished verses slipped from his knee,

His head fell back,

His mouth opened,

And he wandered by the verdant banks of dream rivers.

Then a coal slipped,

The fire crackled,

And sent up a spurt of flame,

And he woke with a start.

Remembering what he'd been engaged upon,

He reached down to the floor for his verses,

Pored over them for a minute,

And then looked round for the mole to ask him if he knew a good rhyme for something.

But the mole was not there.

He listened for a time,

Then he called,

Moly,

Several times,

And receiving no answer,

Got up and went out into the hall.

The mole's cap was missing from its accustomed peg.

His galoshes,

Which always lay by the umbrella stand,

Were also gone.

The rat left the house and carefully examined the muddy surface of the ground outside,

Hoping to find the mole's tracks.

There they were,

Sure enough.

The galoshes were new,

Just bought for the winter,

And the pimples on their soles were fresh and sharp.

He could see the imprints of them in the mud,

Running along straight and purposeful,

Leading direct to the wildwood.

The rat looked very grave and stood in deep thought for a minute or two.

Then he re-entered the house,

Strapped a belt around his waist,

Shoved a brace of pistols into it,

Took up a stout cudgel that stood in a corner of the hall and set off for the wildwood at a smart pace.

It was already getting towards dusk when he reached the first fringe of trees and plunged without hesitation into the wood,

Looking anxiously on either side for any sign of his friend.

Here and there,

Wicked little faces popped out of holes,

But vanished immediately at sight of the valorous animal,

His pistols and the great ugly cudgel in his grasp.

And the whistling and pattering,

Which he had heard quite plainly on his first entry,

Died away and ceased,

And all was very still.

He made his way manfully through the length of the wood to its furthest edge.

Then,

Forsaking all paths,

He set himself to traverse it,

Laboriously working over the whole ground,

And all the time calling out cheerfully,

MOLLY!

MOLLY!

MOLLY!

Where are you?

It's me!

It's old Rat!

He had patiently hunted through the wood for an hour or more,

When at last,

To his joy,

He heard a little answering cry.

Guiding himself by the sound,

He made his way through the gathering darkness to the foot of an old beech tree with a hole in it,

And from out of the hole came a feeble voice saying,

RATTY!

Is that really you?

The rat crept into the hollow,

And there he found the mole,

Exhausted and still trembling.

Oh,

RAT!

He cried.

I've been so frightened,

You can't think.

Oh,

I quite understand,

Said the rat soothingly.

You shouldn't really have gone and done it,

Mole.

I did my best to keep you from it.

We river bankers,

We hardly ever come here by ourselves.

If we have to come,

We come in couples at least,

Then we're generally all right.

Besides,

There are a hundred things one has to know,

Which we understand all about,

And you don't as yet.

I mean passwords,

And signs,

And sayings which have power and effect,

And plants you carry in your pocket,

And verses you repeat,

And dodges and tricks you practice.

All simple enough when you know them,

But they've got to be known if you're small,

Or you'll find yourself in trouble.

Of course,

If you were badger or otter,

It would be quite another matter.

Surely the brave Mr Toad wouldn't mind coming here by himself,

Would he?

Inquired the mole.

Old Toad,

Said the rat laughing heartily,

He wouldn't show his face here alone,

Not for a whole hatful of gold guineas.

The mole was greatly cheered by the sound of the rat's careless laughter,

As well as by the sight of his stick and his gleaming pistols,

And he stopped shivering and began to feel bolder.

Now then,

Said the rat presently,

We really must pull ourselves together and make a start for home while there's still a little light left.

It will never do to spend the night here,

You understand.

Too cold for one thing.

Dear Ratty,

Said the poor mole,

I'm dreadfully sorry,

But I'm simply dead beat,

And that's a solid fact.

You must let me rest here a while longer and get my strength back if I'm to get home at all.

Oh,

All right,

Said the good-natured rat,

Rest away.

It's pretty nearly pitch dark now anyhow,

And there ought to be a bit of a moon later.

So the mole got well into the dry leaves and stretched himself out,

And presently dropped off into sleep,

Though of a broken and troubled sort,

While the rat covered himself up too,

As best he might,

For warmth,

And lay patiently waiting with a pistol in his paw.

When at last the mole woke up,

Much refreshed and in his usual spirits,

The rat said,

Now then,

I'll just take a look outside and see if everything's quiet,

And then we really must be off.

He went to the entrance of their retreat and put his head out,

Then the mole heard him saying quietly to himself,

Hello,

Hello.

What's up Ratty?

Asked the mole.

Snow is up,

Replied the rat briefly,

Or rather down,

It's snowing hard.

The mole came and crouched beside him,

And looking out saw the wood that had been so dreadful to him in quite a changed aspect.

Holes,

Hollows,

Pools,

Pitfalls,

And other black menaces to the wayfarer were vanishing fast,

And a gleaming carpet of fairy was springing up everywhere that looked too delicate to be trodden upon by rough feet.

A fine powder filled the air and caressed the cheek with a tingle in its touch,

And the black bowls of the trees showed up in a light that seemed to come from below.

Well,

Well,

It can't be helped,

Said the rat after pondering.

We must make a start and take our chance,

I suppose.

The worst of it is,

I don't exactly know where we are,

And now this snow makes everything look so very different.

It did indeed.

The mole would not have known that it was the same wood.

However,

They set out bravely and took the line that seemed most promising,

Holding on to each other and pretending,

With invincible cheerfulness,

That they recognised an old friend in every fresh tree that grimly and silently greeted them,

Or saw openings,

Gaps,

Or paths with a familiar turn in them,

In the monotony of white space and black tree trunks that refused to vary.

An hour or two later,

They had lost all count of time.

They pulled up,

Dispirited,

Weary,

And hopelessly at sea,

And sat down on a fallen tree trunk to recover their breath and consider what was to be done.

They were aching with fatigue and bruised with tumbles.

They had fallen into several holes and got wet through.

The snow was getting so deep they could hardly drag their little legs through it,

And the trees were thicker and more like each other than ever.

There seemed to be no end to this wood,

And no beginning,

And no difference in it,

And worst of all,

No way out.

We can't sit here very long,

Said the rat.

We shall have to make another push for it,

And do something or other.

The cold is too awful for anything,

And the snow will soon be too deep for us to wade through.

He peered about him and considered.

Look here,

He went on,

This is what occurs to me.

There's a sort of dell down there in front of us where the ground seems all hilly and humpy and hummocky.

We'll make our way down into that and try and find some sort of shelter,

A cave or hole with a dry floor to it,

Out of the snow and the wind,

And there we'll have a good rest before we try again,

For we're both of us pretty dead beat.

Besides,

The snow may leave off,

Or something may turn up.

So once more they got on their feet and struggled down into the dell where they hunted about for a cave or some corner that was dry under protection from the keen wind and the whirling snow.

They were investigating one of the hummocky bits the rat had spoken of,

When suddenly the mole tripped up and fell forward on his face with a squeal.

Oh my leg!

He cried.

Oh my poor shin!

And he sat up on the snow and nursed his leg in both his front paws.

Poor old mole,

Said the rat kindly.

You don't seem to be having much luck today,

Do you?

Let's have a look at the leg.

Yes,

He went on,

Going down on his knees to look.

You've cut your shin,

Sure enough.

Wait till I get up my handkerchief and I'll tie it up for you.

I must have tripped over a hidden branch or a stump,

Said the mole miserably.

Oh my,

Oh my.

It's a very clean cut,

Said the rat,

Examining it again attentively.

That was never done by a branch or a stump.

Looks as if it was made by a sharp edge of something in metal.

Funny.

He pondered a while and examined the humps and slopes that surrounded them.

Well,

Never mind what done it,

Said the mole,

Forgetting his grammar in his pain.

It hurts just the same,

Whatever done it.

But the rat,

After carefully tying up the leg with his handkerchief,

Had left him and was busy scraping in the snow.

He scratched and shoveled and explored,

All four legs working busily,

While the mole waited impatiently,

Remarking at intervals,

Oh come on rat.

Suddenly the rat cried,

Hooray,

And then hooray,

Hooray,

Hooray,

And fell to executing a feeble jig in the snow.

What have you found,

Ratty,

Asked the mole,

Still nursing his leg.

Come and see,

Said the delighted rat,

As he jigged on.

The mole hobbled up to the spot and had a good look.

Well,

He said at last,

Slowly,

I see it,

Right enough.

Seen the same sort of thing before,

Lots of times.

Familiar object,

I call it,

A door scraper.

Well,

What of it?

Why dance jigs around a door scraper?

But don't you see what it means,

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 wildwood,

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 somebody or other,

See if I don't.

Oh dear,

Cried the rat,

In despair.

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 doormat 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 around that if you've got to and get it over with 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 doormat or sit on a doormat and sledge home over the snow on it,

You exasperating rodent?

Do you mean to say,

Cried the excited rat,

That this doormat doesn't tell you anything?

Really rat,

Said the mole quite pettishly,

I think we've had enough of this folly.

Whoever heard of a doormat telling anyone anything?

They simply don't do it.

They are not that sort at all.

Doormats know their place.

Now look here,

You thick-headed beast,

Replied the rat,

Really angry now.

This must stop.

Not another word but scrape.

Scrape and scratch and dig and hunt around especially on the sides of the hummocks if you want to sleep dry and warm tonight for this is our last chance.

The rat attacked a snowbank 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 but his opinion was that his friend was getting light-headed.

Some 10 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 in view of the astonished and hitherto incredulous mole.

In the side of what had seemed to be a snowbank stood a solid looking little door painted a dark green,

An iron bell pull hung by the side and below it on a small brass plate neatly engraved in square capital letters they could read by the aid of moonlight,

Mr Badger.

The mole fell backwards on the snow from sheer surprise and delight.

Rat,

He cried in penitence,

You're a wonder,

A real wonder that's what you are,

I see it all now.

You argued it out step by step in that wise head of yours from the very moment that I fell and cut my shin and you looked at the cut and at once your majestic mind said to itself door scraper and then you turned to and found the very door scraper that done it.

Did you stop there?

No.

Some people would have been quite satisfied but not you.

Your intellect went on working.

Let me only just find a doormat says you to yourself and my theory is proved and of course you found your doormat.

You're so clever,

I believe you could find anything you liked.

Now,

Says you,

That door exists as plain as if I saw it.

There's nothing else remains to be done but to find it.

Well,

I've read about that sort of thing in books but I've never come across it before in real life.

You ought to go where you'll be properly appreciated.

You're simply wasted here among us fellows if I only had your head ratty.

But as you haven't interrupted the rat rather unkindly,

I suppose you're going to sit on the snow all night and talk.

Get up at once and hang on to that bell pull you see there and ring hard as hard as you can while I hammer.

While the rat attacked the door with his stick the mole sprang up at the bell pull clutched it and swung there both feet well off the ground and from quite a long way off they could faintly hear a deep-toned bell respond.

We've reached chapter four,

Mr Badger.

It's interesting that the Edwardian period which is when this book was written has been portrayed as peaceful.

In fact,

Rumours of war especially with Germany were common and the Boer Wars had shaken Britain's faith in its army.

No wonder in the story that Ratty is not a fan of the wide world.

Mr Badger.

They waited patiently for what seemed a very long time stamping in the snow to keep their feet warm.

At last they heard the sound of slow shuffling footsteps approaching the door from the inside.

It seemed as the mole remarked to the rat like someone walking in carpet slippers that were too large for him and down its heel which was intelligent of mole because that was exactly what it was.

There was the noise of a bolt shot back and the door opened a few inches enough to show a long snout and a pair of sleepy blinking eyes.

Now the very next time this happens said a gruff and suspicious voice,

I shall be exceedingly angry.

Who is it this time disturbing people on such a night?

Speak up.

Oh Badger cried the rat.

Let us in please.

It's me Rat and my friend Mole and we've lost our way in the snow.

What Ratty my dear little man exclaimed the badger in quite a different voice.

Come along in both of you at once.

Why you must be perished.

Well I never lost in the snow and in the wildwood too and at this time of night but come in with you.

The two animals tumbled over each other in their eagerness to get inside and heard the door shut behind them with great joy and relief.

The badger who wore a long dressing gown and whose slippers were indeed very down a teal carried a flat candlestick in his paw and had probably been on his way to bed when their summons sounded.

He looked kindly down on them and patted both their heads.

This is not the sort of night for small animals to be out he said paternally.

I'm afraid you've been up to some of your pranks again Ratty but come along come into the kitchen.

There's a first-rate fire there and supper and everything.

He shuffled on in front of carrying the light and they followed him nudging each other in an anticipating sort of way down a long gloomy and to tell the truth decidedly shabby passage into a sort of central hall out of which they could dimly see other long tunnel-like passages branching passages mysterious and without apparent end.

But there were doors in the hall as well stout open comfortable looking doors.

One of these the badger flung open and at once they found themselves in all the glow and warmth of a large fire lit kitchen.

The floor was well worn red brick and on the wide half burnt a fire of logs between two attractive chimney corners tucked away in the wall well out of any suspicion of draft.

A couple of high-backed settles facing each other on either side of the fire gave further sitting accommodation for the sociably disposed.

In the middle of the room stood a long table of plain boards placed on trestles with benches down each side.

At one end of it where an armchair stood pushed back was spread the remains of badgers plain but ample supper.

Rows of spotless plates winked from the shelves of the dresser at the far end of the room and from the rafters overhead hung hams,

Bundles of dried herbs,

Nets of onions and baskets of eggs.

It seemed a place where heroes could fitly feast after victory where weary harvesters could line up in scores along the table and keep their harvest home with mirth and song or where two or three friends of simple tastes could sit about as they pleased and eat and smoke and talk in comfort and contentment.

The ruddy brick floor smiled up at the smoky ceiling.

The oaken settles,

Shiny with long wear,

Exchanged cheerful glances with each other.

Plates on the dresser grinned at pots on the shelf and the merry firelight flickered and played over everything without distinction.

The kindly badger thrust them down on a settle to toast themselves at the fire and bade them remove their wet coats and boots.

Then he fetched them dressing gowns and slippers and himself bathed the mole's shin with warm water and mended the cut with sticking plaster till the whole thing was just as good as new if not better.

In the embracing light and warmth warm and dry at last with weary legs propped up in front of them and a suggestive clink of plates being arranged on the table behind,

It seemed to the storm-driven animals now in safe anchorage that the cold and trackless wildwood just left outside was miles and miles away and all that they had suffered in it a half-forgotten dream.

When at last they were thoroughly toasted the badger summoned them to the table where he had been busy laying a repast.

They had felt pretty hungry before but when they actually saw at last the supper that was spread for them really it seemed only a question of what they should attack first where all was so attractive and whether the other things would obligingly wait for them till they had time to give them attention.

Conversation was impossible for a long time and when it was slowly resumed it was that regrettable sort of conversation that results from talking with your mouth full.

The badger didn't mind that sort of thing at all nor did he take any notice of elbows on the table or everybody speaking at once.

As he didn't go into society himself he had got an idea that these things belonged to the things that didn't really matter.

We know of course that he was wrong and took too narrow a view because they do matter very much though it would take too long to explain why.

He sat in his armchair at the head of the table and nodded gravely at intervals as the animals told their story and he didn't seem surprised or shocked at anything and he never said I told you so or just what I always said or remarked that they ought to have done such and such or ought not to have done something else.

The mole began to feel very friendly towards him.

When supper was really finished at last and each animal felt that his skin was now as tight as was decently safe and that by this time he didn't care a hang for anybody or anything they gathered around the glowing embers of the great wood fire and thought how jolly it was to be sitting up so late and so independent and so full and after they had chatted for a time about things in general the badger said heartily tell us the news from your part of the world how's old toad going on oh from bad to worse said the rat gravely while the mole cocked up on the saddle and basking in the firelight his heels higher than his head tried to look properly mournful another smash-up only last week and a bad one you see he will insist on driving himself and he's hopelessly incapable if he'd only employ a decent steady well-trained animal pay him good wages and leave everything to him he'd get on all right but no he's convinced he's a heaven-born driver and nobody can teach him anything and all the rest follows how many has he had inquired the badger gloomily smashes or machines asked the rat oh well after all it's the same thing with toad this is the seventh as for the others you know that coach house of his well it's piled up literally piled up to the roof with fragments of motor cars that accounts for the other six so far as they can be accounted for he's been in three times put in the mole and as for the fines he's had to pay it's simply awful to think of yes and that's part of the trouble continued the rat toads rich we all know but he's not a millionaire and he's a hopelessly bad driver and quite regardless of law and order killed or ruined it's got to be one of the two things sooner or later badger we're his friends wouldn't we to do something the badger went through a bit of hard thinking now look here he said at last rather severely of course you know i can't do anything now his two friends are centered quite understanding his point no animal according to the rules of animal etiquette is ever expected to do anything strenuous or heroic or even moderately active during the off season of winter all are sleepy some actually asleep all are weatherbound more or less and all are resting from arduous days and nights during which every muscle in them has been severely tested and every energy kept at full stretch very well then continued the badger but when once the year has really turned and the nights are shorter and halfway through them one rouses and feels fidgety and wanting to be up and doing by sunrise if not before you know both animals nodded gravely they knew well then went on the badger we that is you and me and our friend the mole here will take toads seriously in hand we'll stand no nonsense whatsoever we'll bring him back to reason by force if needs be we'll make him be a sensible toad well you're asleep rat not me said the rat waking up with a jerk he's been asleep two or three times since supper said the mole laughing he himself was feeling quite wakeful and even lively though he didn't know why the reason was of course that he being naturally an underground animal by birth and breeding the situation of badgers house exactly suited him and made him feel at home while the rat who slept every night in a bedroom the windows of which opened on a breezy river naturally felt the atmosphere still and oppressive well it's time we were all in bed said the badger getting up and fetching flat candlesticks come along you two and i'll show you to your quarters and take your time tomorrow morning breakfast at any hour you please he conducted the two animals to a long room that seemed half bed chamber and half loft the badgers winter stalls which indeed were visible everywhere took up half the room piles of apples turnips and potatoes baskets full of nuts and jars of honey but the two little white beds on the remainder of the floor looked soft and inviting and the linen on them though coarse was clean and smelt beautifully of lavender and the mole and the water rat shaking off their garments in some 30 seconds tumbled in between the sheets in great joy and contentment in accordance with the kindly badgers injunctions the two tired animals came down to breakfast very late next morning and found a bright fire burning in the kitchen and two young hedgehogs sitting on a bench at the table eating oatmeal porridge out of wooden bowls the hedgehogs dropped their spoons rose to their feet and ducked their heads respectfully as the two entered there sit down sit down said the rat pleasantly and go on with your porridge where have you youngsters come from lost your way in the snow i suppose yes please sir said the elder of the two hedgehogs respectfully me and little billy here we was trying to find our way to school mother would have us go was the weather ever so and of course we lost ourselves sir and billy he got frightened and took and cried being young and faint-hearted and at last we happened up against mr badger's back door and made so bold as to knock sir for mr badger he's a kind-hearted gentleman as everyone knows i understand said the rat cutting himself some rashes from a side of bacon while the mole dropped some eggs into a saucepan and what's the weather like outside you needn't serve me quite so much he added oh terrible bad sir terrible deep the snow is said the hedgehog no getting out for the likes of you gentlemen today where's mr badger inquired the mole as he warmed the coffee pot before the fire the master's gone into his study sir replied the hedgehog and he said as how he was going to be particular busy this morning and on no account was he to be disturbed this explanation of course was thoroughly understood by everyone present the fact is as already set forth when you live a life of intense activity for six months in the year and of comparative or actual somnolence for the other six during the latter period you cannot be continually pleading sleepiness when there are people about or things to be done the excuse gets monotonous the animals well knew that badger having eaten a hearty breakfast had retired to his study settled himself in an armchair with his legs up on another and a red cotton handkerchief over his face and was being busy in the usual way at this time of year the front doorbell clanged loudly and the rat who was very greasy with buttered toast sent billy the smaller hedgehog to see who it might be there was a sound of much stamping in the hall and presently billy returned in front of the otter who threw himself on the rat with an embrace and a shout of affectionate greeting get off spluttered the rat with his mouth full thought i should find you here all right said the otter cheerfully they were all in a great state of alarm along riverbank when i arrived this morning rat never been home all night nor mole either something dreadful must have happened they said and the snow had covered up all your tracks of course but i knew that when people were in any fix they mostly went to badger or else badger got to know of it somehow so i came straight off here through the wildwood and the snow my it was fine coming through the snow as the red sun was rising and showing against the black tree trunks as you went along in the stillness every now and then masses of snow slid off the branches suddenly with a flop making you jump and run for cover snow castles and snow caverns had sprung up out of nowhere in the night and snow bridges terraces ramparts i could have stayed and played with them for hours here and there great branches all the way by the sheer weight of the snow and robins perched and hopped on them in their perky conceited way just as if they had done it themselves a ragged string of wild geese passed overhead high in the gray sky and a few rooks whirled over the trees inspected and flapped off homewards but i met no sensible being to ask the news of about halfway across i came on a rabbit cleaning his silly face with his paws he was a pretty scared animal when i crept up behind him and placed a heavy forepaw on his shoulder i had to cuff his head once or twice to get any sense out of it at all at last i managed to extract from him that mole had been seen in the wildwood last night by one of them it was the talk of the burrows he said how mole mr rat's particular friend was in a bad fix and they were up and out hunting and were chivvying him round and round then why didn't any of you do something i asked you might be blessed with brains but there are hundreds and hundreds of you big stout fellows fat as butter and your burrows running in all directions and you could have taken him in and made him safe and comfortable or tried to at all events what us he merely said do something us rabbits so i cuffed him again and left him there was nothing else to be done at any rate i had learnt something and if i'd had the luck to meet any of them i'd have learnt something more or they would weren't you at all uh nervous asked the mole some of yesterday's terror coming back to him at the mention of the wildwood nervous the otter showed a gleaming set of strong white teeth as he laughed i'd give em nerves if any of them tried anything on with me here mole fry me some slices of ham like the good little chap you are i'm frightfully hungry and i've got any amount to say to ratty here haven't seen him for an age so the good-natured mole having cut some slices of ham set the hedgehogs to fry it and returned to his own breakfast while the otter and the rat their heads together eagerly talked river shop which is long shop talk that is endless running on like the babbling river itself a plate of fried ham had just been cleared and sent back for more when the badger entered yawning and rubbing his eyes and greeted them all in his quiet simple way with kind inquiries for everyone it must be getting on for lunch and time he remarked to the otter better stop and have it with us you must be hungry this cold morning rather replied the otter winking at the mole the sight of these greedy young hedgehogs stuffing themselves with fried ham makes me feel positively famished the hedgehogs who were just beginning to feel hungry again after their porridge and after working so hard at their frying looked timidly up at mr badger but were too shy to say anything here you two youngsters be off home to your mother said the badger kindly i'll send someone with you to show you the way you won't want any dinner today i'll be bound he gave them sixpence apiece and a pat on the head and they went off with much respectful swinging of caps and touching of forelocks presently they all sat down to luncheon together the mole found himself placed next to mr badger and as the other two were still deep in river gossip from which nothing could divert them he took the opportunity to tell badger how comfortable and home-like it all felt to him once well underground he said you know exactly where you are nothing can happen to you and nothing can get at you you're entirely your own master and you don't have to consult anybody or mind what they say things go on all the same overhead and you let them and don't bother about them when you want to up you go and there the things are waiting for you the badger simply beamed on him that's exactly what i say he replied there's no security or peace and tranquility except underground and then if your ideas get larger and you want to expand why a dig and a scrape and there you are if you feel your house is a bit too big you stop up a hole or two and there you are again no builders no tradesmen no remarks passed on you by fellows looking over your wall and above all no weather look at rat now a couple of feet of flood water and he's got to move into hired lodgings uncomfortable inconveniently situated and horribly expensive take toad i say nothing against toad hall quite the best house in these parts as a house but supposing a fire breaks out where's toad supposing tiles are blown off or walls sink or crack or windows get broken where's toad supposing the rooms are drafty i hate to draft myself where's toad no up and out of doors is good enough to roam about and get ones living in but underground to come to at last that's my idea of home the mole assented heartily and the badger in consequence got very friendly with him when lunch is over he said i'll take you all around this little place of mine i can see you'll appreciate it you understand what domestic architecture ought to be you do after luncheon accordingly when the other two had settled themselves into the chimney corner and had started a heated argument on the subject of eels the badger lighted a lantern and bad the mole follow him crossing the hall they passed down one of the principal tunnels and the wavering light of the lantern gave glimpses on either side of rooms both large and small some mere cupboards others nearly as broad and imposing as toad's dining hall a narrow passage at right angles led them into another corridor and here the same thing was repeated the mole was staggered at the size the extent at the length of the dim passages the solid vaultings of the crammed store chambers the masonry everywhere the pillars the arches the pavements how on earth badger he said at last did you ever find time and strength to do all this it's astonishing indeed said the badger simply if i had done it but as a matter of fact i did none of it only cleaned out the passages and chambers as far as i had need of them there's lots more of it all round about i see you don't understand and i must explain it to you well very long ago on the spot where the wildwood is now there was a city a city of people you know here they lived and walked and talked and slept and carried on their business here they stabled their horses and feasted from here they rode out to fight or drove out to trade they built to last but what has become of them all asked the mole who can tell said the badger people come they stay for a while and they go it's their way there were badgers here i've been told long before that same city ever came to be and now there are badgers here again we are an enduring lot and we may move out for a time but we wait and are patient and back we come and so it will ever be well and when they went at last those people said the mole when they went continued the badger the strong winds and persistent rains took the matter in hand patiently ceaselessly year after year perhaps we badgers too in our small way helped a little who knows it was all down down down gradually ruin and leveling and disappearance then it was all up up up gradually as seeds grew to saplings and saplings to forage trees and bramble and fern came creeping in to help leaf mold rose and obliterated streams in their winter freshets brought sand and soil to clog and to cover and in course of time our home was ready for us again and we moved in up above us on the surface the same thing happened animals arrived like the look of the place took up their quarters settled down spread and flourished they didn't bother themselves about the past they never do they're too busy the place was a bit humpy and hillocky naturally and full of holes but that was rather an advantage and they don't bother about the future either the future when perhaps the people will move in again for a time as may very well be the wildwood is pretty well populated by now with all the usual lot good bad and indifferent i name no names it takes all sorts to make a world but i fancy you know something about them yourself by this time i do indeed said the mole with a slight shiver very well said the badger patting him on the shoulder it was your first experience of them you see they're not so bad really and we must all live and let live but i'll pass the word round tomorrow and i think you'll have no further trouble any friend of mine walks where he likes in this country or i'll know the reason why when they got back to the kitchen again they found the rat walking up and down very restless the underground atmosphere was oppressing him and getting on his nerves and he seemed really to be afraid that the river would run away if he wasn't there to look after it so he had his overcoat on and his pistols come along mole he said anxiously as soon as he caught sight of them we must get off while it's daylight don't want to spend another night in the wildwood again it'll be all right my fine fellow said the otter i'm coming along with you and i know every path blindfold and if there's a head that needs to be punched you can confidently rely upon me to punch it you really needn't fret ratty added the badger placidly my passages run further than you think and i've bolt holes to the edge of the wood in several directions though i don't care for everybody to know about them when you really have to go you shall leave by one of my shortcuts meantime make yourself easy and sit down again the rat was nevertheless still anxious to be off and attend to his river so the badger taking off his lantern again led the way along a damp and airless tunnel that wound and dipped part vaulted part hewn through solid rock for a weary distance that seemed to be miles at last daylight began to show itself confusedly through tangled growth overhanging the mouth of the passage and the badger bidding them hasty goodbye pushed them hurriedly through the opening made everything look as natural as possible again with creepers brushwood and dead leaves and retreated they found themselves standing on the very edge of the wildwood rocks and brambles and tree roots behind them confusedly heaped and tangled in front a great space of quiet fields hemmed by lines of hedges black on the snow and far ahead a glint of the familiar old river while the wintry sun hung red and low on the horizon the otter as knowing all the paths took charge of the party and they trailed out on a beeline for a distant style pausing there a moment and looking back they saw the whole mass of the wildwood dense menacing compact grimly set in vast white surroundings they turned and made swiftly for home for firelight and the familiar things it played on for the voice sounding cheerily outside their window of the river that they knew and trusted in all its moods that never made them afraid with any amazement as he hurried along eagerly anticipating the moment when he would be at home again among the things he knew and liked the mole saw clearly that he was an animal of tilled field and hedgerow linked to the plowed furrow the frequented pasture the lane of evening lingerings the cultivated garden plot for others the asperities the stubborn endurance or the clash of actual conflict that went with nature in the rough he must be wise must keep to the pleasant places in which his lines were laid and which held adventure enough in their way to last for a lifetime a note about the author kenneth graham he was actually scottish by birth but spent most of his childhood with his grandmother in england following the death of his mother and his father's inability to look after the children he went to school in oxford when he wasn't able to attend university he joined the bank of england where he had a very successful career he stayed with them for 30 years and his work there didn't get in the way of his literary endeavors chapter five dulce domum the sheep ran huddling together against the hurdles blowing out thin nostrils and stamping with delicate forefeet their heads thrown back and a light steam rising from the crowded sheep pen into the frosty air as the two animals hastened by in high spirits with much chatter and laughter they were returning across country after a long day's outing with otter hunting and exploring on the wide uplands where certain streams tributary to their own river had their first small beginnings and the shades of the short winter day were closing in on them and they still had some distance to go plodding at random across the plow they had heard the sheep and had made for them and now leading from the sheep pen they found a beaten track that made walking a lighter business and responded moreover to that small inquiring something which all animals carry inside them saying unmistakably yes quite right this leads home it looks as if we were coming to a village said the mole somewhat dubiously slackening his pace as the track that had in time become a path and then had developed into a lane now handed them over to the charge of a well-metalled road the animals did not hold with villages and their own highways thickly frequented as they were took an independent course regardless of church post office or public house oh never mind said the rat at this season of the year they're all safe indoors by this time sitting around the fire men women and children dogs and cats and all we shall slip through the night without any bother or unpleasantness and we can have a look at them through their windows if you like and see what they're doing the rapid nightfall of mid-december had quite beset the little village as they approached it on soft feet over a first thin fall of powdery snow little was visible but squares of a dusky orange red on either side of the street where the firelight or lamplight of each cottage overflowed through the casements into the dark world without most of the low latticed windows were innocent of blinds and to the lookers in from outside the inmates gathered around the tea table absorbed in handiwork or talking with laughter and gesture had each that happy grace which is the last thing the skilled actor shall capture the natural grace which goes with perfect unconsciousness of observation moving at will from one theatre to another the two spectators so far from home themselves had something of wistfulness in their eyes as they watched a cat being stroked a sleepy child picked up and huddled off to bed or a tired man stretch and knock out his pipe on the end of a smouldering log but it was from one little window with its blind drawn down a mere blank transparency on the night that the sense of home and the little curtained world within walls the larger stressful world of outside nature shut out and forgotten most pulsated close against the white blind hung a bird cage clearly silhouetted every wire perch and a pertinence distinct and recognizable even to yesterday's dull edged lump of sugar on the middle perch the fluffy occupant head tucked well into feathers seemed so near to them as to be easily stroked had they tried even the delicate tips of his plumped out plumage penciled plainly on the illuminated screen as they looked the sleepy little fellow stirred uneasily woke shook himself and raised his head they could see the gape of his tiny beak as he yawned in a bored sort of way looked round and then settled his head into his back again while the ruffled feathers gradually subsided into perfect stillness then a gust of bitter wind took them in the back of the neck a small sting of frozen sleet on the skin woke them as from a dream and they knew their toes to be cold and their legs tired and their own home distant a weary way once beyond the village where the cottages ceased abruptly on either side of the road they could smell through the darkness the friendly fields again and they braced themselves for the last long stretch the home stretch the stretch that we know is bound to end sometime in the rattle of the door latch the sudden firelight and the sight of familiar things greeting us as long absent travellers from far over sea they plodded along steadily and silently each of them thinking his own thoughts the moles ran a good deal on supper as it was pitch dark and it was all a strange country to him as far as he knew and he was following obediently in the wake of the rat leaving the guidance entirely to him as for the rat he was walking a little way ahead as his habit was his shoulders humped his eyes fixed on the straight grey road in front of him so he didn't notice poor mole when suddenly the summons reached him and took him like an electric shock we others who have long lost the more subtle of the physical senses have not even proper terms to express an animal's intercommunications with his surroundings living or otherwise and have only the word smell for instance to include the whole range of delicate thrills which murmur in the nose of the animal night and day summoning warning inciting repelling it was one of these mysterious fairy calls from out of the void that suddenly reached mole in the darkness making him tingle through and through with its very familiar appeal even while as yet he could not clearly remember what it was he stopped dead in his tracks his nose searching hither and thither in its efforts to recapture the fine filament the telegraphic current that had so strongly moved him a moment and he had caught it again and with it this time came recollection in fullest flood home that was what they meant those caressing appeals those soft touches wafted through the air those invisible little hands pulling and tugging all one way why it must be quite close by him at that moment his old home that he had hurriedly forsaken and never sought again that day when he first found the river and now it was sending out its scouts and its messengers to capture him and bring him in since his escape on that bright morning he had hardly given it a thought so absorbed had he been in his new life in all its pleasures its surprises its fresh and captivating experiences now with a rush of old memories how clearly it stood up before him in the darkness shabby indeed and small and poorly furnished and yet his the home he had made for himself the home he had been so happy to get back to after his day's work and the home had been happy with him too evidently and was missing him and wanted him back and was telling him so through his nose sorrowfully reproachfully but with no bitterness or anger only with plaintive reminder that it was there and wanted him the call was clear the summons was plain he must obey it instantly and go ratty he called full of joyful excitement hold on come back i want you quick oh come along mole do replied the rat cheerfully still plodding along please stop ratty pleaded the poor mole in anguish of heart you don't understand it's my home my old home i've just come across the smell of it and it's close by here really quite close and i must go to it i must i must come back ratty please please come back the rat was by this time very far ahead too far to hear clearly what the mole was calling too far to catch the sharp note of painful appeal in his voice and he was much taken up with the weather but he too could smell something something suspiciously like approaching snow mole we mustn't stop now really he called back we'll come for it tomorrow whatever it is you've found but i daren't stop now it's late and the snow's coming on again and i'm not sure of the way and i want your nose mole so come on quick there's a good fellow and the rat pressed forward on his way without waiting for an answer poor mole stood alone in the road his heart torn asunder and a big sob gathering gathering somewhere low down inside him to leap up to the surface presently he knew impassionate escape but even under such a test as this his loyalty to his friend stood firm never for a moment did he dream of abandoning him meanwhile the wafts from his old home pleaded whispered conjured and finally claimed him imperiously he dared not tarry longer within their magic circle with a wrench that tore his very heartstrings he set his face down the road and followed submissively in the track of the rat while faint thin little smells still dogging his retreating nose reproached him for his new friendship and his callous forgetfulness with an effort he caught up the unsuspecting rat who began chattering cheerfully about what they would do when they got back and how jolly a fire of logs in the parlor would be and what a supper he meant to eat never noticing his companion's silence and distressful state of mind at last however when they had gone some considerable way further and were passing some tree stumps at the edge of a cop supported the road he stopped and said kindly look here mole old chap you seem dead tired no talk left in you and your feet dragging like lead we'll sit down here for a minute and rest the snow has held off so far and the best part of our journey is over the mole subsided forlornly on a tree stump and tried to control himself for he felt it surely coming the sob he had fought with so long refused to be beaten up and up it forced its way to the air and then another and another and others thickened fast till poor mole at last gave up the struggle and cried freely and helplessly and openly now that he knew it was all over and he had lost what he could hardly be said to have found the rat astonished and dismayed at the violence of moles paroxysm of grief did not dare to speak for a while at last he said very quietly and sympathetically what is it old fellow whatever can be the matter tell us your trouble and let me see what i can do poor mole found it difficult to get any words out between the upheavals of his chest that followed one upon another so quickly and held back speech and choked it as it came i know it's a shabby dingy little place he sobbed forth at last brokenly not like your cozy quarters or toad's beautiful hall or badger's great house but it was my own little home and i was fond of it and i went away and forgot all about it and then i smelt it suddenly on the road when i called and you wouldn't listen rat and everything came back to me with a rush and i wanted it oh dear oh dear and when you wouldn't turn back ratty and i had to leave it though i was smelling it all the time i thought my heart would break we might have just gone and had one look at it ratty only one look it was close by but you wouldn't turn back ratty you wouldn't turn back oh dear oh dear recollection brought fresh waves of sorrow and sobs again took full charge of him preventing further speech the rat stared straight in front of him saying nothing only patting mole gently on the shoulder after a time he muttered gloomily i see it all now what a pig i have been a pig that's me just a pig a plain pig he waited until mole's sobs became gradually less stormy and more rhythmical he waited till at last sniffs were frequent and sobs only intermittent then he rose from his seat and remarking carelessly well now we'd really better be getting on old chap set off up the road again over the toilsome way they had come wherever are you going to ratty cried the tearful mole looking up in alarm we're going to find that home of yours old fellow replied the rat pleasantly so you had better come along for it will take some finding and we shall want your nose oh come back ratty do cried the mole getting up and hurrying after him it's no good i tell you it's too late and too dark and the place is too far off and the snow's coming and i never meant to let you know i was feeling that way about it it was all an accident and a mistake and think of the riverbank and your supper hang riverbank and supper too said the rat heartily i tell you i'm going to find this place now if i stay out all night so cheer up old chap and take my arm and we'll very soon be back there again still snuffling pleading and reluctant mole suffered himself to be dragged back along the road by his imperious companion who by a flow of cheerful talk and anecdote endeavored to beguile his spirits back and make the weary way seem shorter when at last it seemed to the rat that they must be nearing that part of the road where the mole had been held up he said now no more talking business use your nose and give your mind to it they moved on in silence for some little way when suddenly the rat was conscious through his arm that was linked in moles of a faint sort of electric thrill that was passing down that animal's body instantly he disengaged himself fell back a pace and waited all attention the signals were coming through mole stood a moment rigid while his uplifted nose quivering slightly felt the air then a short quick run forward a fault a check a try back and then a slow steady confident advance the rat much excited kept close to his heels as the mole with something of the air of a sleepwalker crossed a dry ditch scrambled through a hedge and nosed his way over a field open and trackless and bare in the faint starlight suddenly without giving warning he dived but the rat was on the alert and promptly followed him down the tunnel to which his unerring nose had faithfully led him it was close and airless and the earthy smell was strong and it seemed a long time to rat air the passage ended and he could stand erect and stretch and shake himself the mole struck a match and by its light the rat saw that they were standing in an open space neatly swept and sanded underfoot and directly facing them was mole's little front door with mole end painted in gothic lettering over the bell pull at the side mole reached down a lantern from a nail on the wall and lit it and the rat looking around him saw that they were in a sort of forecourt a garden seat stood on one side of the door and on the other a roller for the mole who was a tidy animal when at home could not stand having his ground kicked up by other animals into little runs that ended in earth heaps on the walls hung wire baskets with ferns in them alternating with brackets carrying plaster statuary garibaldi and the infant samuel and queen victoria and other heroes of modern italy down one side of the forecourt ran a skittle alley with benches along it and little wooden tables marked with rings that hinted at beer mugs in the middle was a small round pond containing goldfish and surrounded by a cockle shell border mole's face beamed at the sight of all these objects so dear to him and he hurried rat through the door lit a lamp in the hall and took one glance around his old home he saw the dust lying thick on everything saw the cheerless deserted look of the long neglected house and its narrow meager dimensions its worn and shabby contents and collapsed again on a hall chair his nose in his paws oh ratty he cried dismally why ever did i do it why did i bring you to this poor cold little place on a night like this when you might have been at riverbank by this time toasting your toes before a blazing fire with all your own nice things about you the rat paid no heed to his doleful self-reproaches he was running here and there opening doors inspecting rooms and cupboards lighting lamps and candles and sticking them up everywhere what a capital little house this is he called out cheerily so compact so well planned everything here and everything in its place we'll make a jolly night of it the first thing we want is a good fire i'll see to that i always know where to find things so this is the parlor splendid your own idea those little sleeping bunks in the wall capital now i'll fetch the wood and the coals and you get a duster mole you'll find one in the drawer of the kitchen table and try and smarten things up a bit bustle about old chap encouraged by his inspiriting companion the mole roused himself and dusted and polished with energy and heartiness while the rat running to and fro with armfuls of fuel soon had a cheerful blaze roaring up the chimney he hailed the mole to come and warm himself but mole promptly had another fit of the blues dropping down on a couch in dark despair and burying his face in his duster rat he moaned how about your supper you poor cold hungry weary animal i've nothing to give you nothing not a crumb what a fellow you are for giving in said the rat reproachfully why only just now i saw a sardine opener on the kitchen dresser quite distinctly and everybody knows that means there are sardines about somewhere in the neighborhood rouse yourself pull yourself together and come with me and forage they went and foraged accordingly hunting through every cupboard and turning out every draw the result was not so very depressing after all though of course it might have been better a tin of sardines a box of captain's biscuits nearly full and a german sausage encased in silver paper there's a banquet for you observed the rat as he arranged the table i know some animals who would give their ears to be sitting down to supper with us tonight no bread groaned the mole dolorously no butter no no pate de foie gras no champagne continued the rat grinning and that reminds me what's that little door at the end of your passage your cellar of course every luxury in this house just you wait a minute he made for the cellar door and presently reappeared somewhat dusty with a bottle of beer in each paw and another under each arm self-indulgent beggar you seem to be mole he observed deny yourself nothing this is really the jolliest little place i ever was in now wherever did you pick up those prints makes the place look so home like they do no wonder you're so fond of it mole tell us all about it and how you came to make it what it is then while the rat busied himself fetching plates and knives and forks and mustard which he mixed in an egg cup the mole his bosom still heaving with the stress of his recent emotion related somewhat shyly at first but with more freedom as he warmed to his subject how this was planned and how that was thought out and how this was got through a windfall from an aunt and that was a wonderful find and a bargain and this other thing was bought out of laborious savings and a certain amount of going without his spirits finally quite restored he must needs go and caress his possessions and take a lamp and show off their points to his visitor and expatiate on them quite forgetful of the supper they both so much needed rat who was desperately hungry but strove to conceal it nodded seriously examining with a puckered brow and saying wonderful and most remarkable at intervals when the chance for an observation was given him at last the rat succeeded in decoying him to the table and had just got seriously to work with the sardine opener when sounds were heard from the forecourt without sounds like the scuffling of small feet in the gravel and a confused murmur of tiny voices while broken sentences reached them now all in a line hold the lantern up a bit tommy clear your throats first no coughing where's young bill here come on we're all awaiting what's up inquired the rat pausing in his labors i think it must be the field mice replied the mole with a touch of pride in his manner they go around carol singing regularly at this time of year they're quite an institution in these parts and they never pass me over they come to mole end last of all and i used to give them hot drinks and supper too sometimes when i could afford it it will be like old times to hear them again let's have a look at them cried the rat jumping up and running to the door it was a pretty sight and a seasonable one that met their eyes when they flung the door open in the forecourt lit by the dim rays of a horn lantern some eight or ten little field mice stood in a semi-circle red worsted comforters round their throats their forepaws thrust deep into their pockets their feet jigging for warmth with bright beady eyes they glance shyly at each other sniggering a little sniffing and applying coat sleeves a good deal as the door opened one of the elder ones that carried the lantern was just saying now then one two three and forthwith their shrill little voices up rose on the air singing one of the old-time carols that their forefathers composed in fields that were fallow and held by frost or when snowbound in chimney corners and handed down to be sung in the miry street to lamplit windows at yule time carol villages all this frosty tide let your doors swing open wide the wind may follow and snow beside yet draw us in by your fire to bide joy shall be yours in the morning here we stand in the cold and the sleet blowing fingers and stamping feet come from far away you to greet you by the fire and we in the street bidding you joy in the morning for air one half of the night was gone sudden a star has led us on raining bliss and benison bliss tomorrow and more and on joy for every morning good man joseph toiled through the snow saw the star or a stable low mary she might not further go welcome thatch and litter below joy was hers in the morning and when they heard the angels tell who were the first to cry noel animals all as it befell in the stable where they did dwell joy shall be theirs in the morning the voices ceased the singers bashful but smiling exchanged sidelong glances and silence succeeded but for a moment only then from up above and far away down the tunnel they had so lately traveled was born to their ears in a faint musical hum the sound of distant bells ringing a joyful and clangorous peel very well sung boys cried the rat heartily and now come along in all of you and warm yourselves by the fire and have something hot yes come field mice cried the mole eagerly this is quite like old times shut the door after you pull up that settle to the fire now you just wait a minute while we oh ratty he cried in despair plumping down on a seat with tears impending whatever are we doing we've nothing to give them you leave all that to me said the masterful rat here you with the lantern come over this way i want to talk to you now tell me are there any shops open at this hour of the night why certainly sir replied the field mouse respectfully at this time of the year our shops keep open to all sorts of hours then look here said the rat you go off at once you and your lantern and you get me here much muttered conversation ensued and the mole only heard bits of it such as fresh mind no a pound of that will do see you get buggins is for i won't have any other no only the best if you can't get it there try somewhere else yes of course homemade no tin stuff well then do the best you can finally there was a chink of coin passing from paw to paw the field mouse was provided with an ample basket for his purchases and off he hurried he and his lantern the rest of the field mice perched in a row on the saddle their small legs swinging gave themselves up to enjoyment of the fire and toasted their chilblains till they tingled while the mole failing to draw them into easy conversation plunged into family history and made each of them recite the names of his numerous brothers who were too young it appeared to be allowed to go out to caroling this year but looked forward very shortly to winning the parental consent the rat meanwhile was busy examining the label on one of the beer bottles i perceive this to be old burton he remarked approvingly sensible mole the very thing now we shall be able to mold some ale get the things ready mole while i draw the corks it didn't take long to prepare the brew and thrust the tin heater well into the red heart of the fire and soon every field mouse was sipping and coughing and choking for a little mold ale goes a long way and wiping his eyes and laughing and forgetting he had ever been cold in all his life they act plays to these fellows the mole explained to the rat make them up all by themselves and at them afterwards and very well they do it too they gave us a capital one last year about a field mouse who was captured at sea by a barbary corsair and made to row in a galley and when he escaped and got home again his lady love had gone into a convent here you you were in it i remember get up and recite a bit the field mouse addressed got up on his legs giggled shyly looked around the room and remained absolutely tongue-tied his comrades cheered him on mole coaxed and encouraged him and the rat went so far as to take him by the shoulders and shake him but nothing could overcome his stage fright they were all busily engaged on him like watermen applying the royal humane society's regulations to a case of long submersion when the latch clicked the door opened and the field mouse with the lantern reappeared staggering under the weight of his basket there was no more talk of play acting once the very real and solid contents of the basket had been tumbled out onto the table under the general ship of rat everybody was set to do something or to fetch something in a very few minutes supper was ready and mole as he took the head of the table in a sort of dream saw a lately baron bored set thick with savory comforts saw his little friend's faces brighten and beam as they fell to without delay and then let himself loose for he was famished indeed on the provender so magically provided thinking what a happy homecoming this had turned out after all as they ate they talked of old times and the field mice gave him the local gossip up to date and answered as well as they could the hundred questions he had to ask them the rat said little or nothing only taking care that each guest had what he wanted and plenty of it and that mole had no trouble or anxiety about anything they clattered off at last very grateful and showering wishes of the season with their jacket pockets stuffed with remembrances for the small brothers and sisters at home when the door had closed on the last of them and the chink of the lanterns died away mole and rat kicked the fire up drew their chairs in brewed themselves a last night cap of mulled ale and discussed the events of the long day at last the rat with a tremendous yawn said mole old chap i'm ready to drop sleepy is simply not the word that's your own bunk over on that side very well then i'll take this what a ripping little house this is everything so handy he clambered into his bunk and rolled himself well up in the blankets and slumber gathered him forthwith as a swath of barley is folded into the arms of the reaping machine the weary mole also was glad to turn in without delay and soon had his head on his pillow in great joy and contentment but there he closed his eyes he let them wander around his old room mellow in the glow of the firelight that played or rested on familiar and friendly things which had long been unconsciously a part of him and now smilingly received him back without rancor he was now in just the frame of mind that the tactful rat had quietly worked to bring about in him he saw clearly how plain and simple how narrow even it all was but clearly too how much it all meant to him and the special value of some such anchorage in one's existence he did not at all want to abandon the new life and its splendid spaces to turn his back on sun and air and all they offered him and creep home and stay there the upper world was all too strong it called to him still even down there and he knew he must return to the larger stage but it was good to think he had this to come back to this place which was all his own these things which was so glad to see him again and could always be counted upon for the same simple welcome we've reached chapter six which is called Mr Toad but a few words about Kenneth Graham himself as i mentioned before he worked at a bank and this left him time to pursue his literary interests he had in fact been jotting down his thoughts in prose and poetry in a bank ledger and in 1887 he started to submit stories and essays to periodicals his first published piece appeared in Saint James's Gazette in December 1888 he was then invited to become a regular contributor to the National Observer by its editor who tried to persuade him to give up his position with the bank and become a full-time writer chapter six Mr Toad it was a bright morning in the early part of summer the river had resumed its wanted banks and its accustomed pace and a hot sun seemed to be pulling everything green and bushy and spiky up out of the earth towards it as if by strings the mole and the water rat had been up since dawn very busy on matters connected with boats and the opening of the boating season painting and varnishing mending paddles repairing cushions hunting for missing boat hooks and so on and were finishing breakfast in their little parlor and eagerly discussing their plans for the day when a heavy knock sounded at the door bother said the rat all over egg see who it is mole like a good chap since you've finished the mole went to attend the summons and the rat heard him utter a cry of surprise then he flung the parlor door open and announced with much importance mr badger this was a wonderful thing indeed that the badger should pay a formal call on them or indeed on anybody he generally had to be caught if you wanted him badly as he slipped quietly along a hedgerow of an early morning or a late evening or else hunted up in his own house in the middle of the wood which was a serious undertaking he strode heavily into the room and stood looking at the two animals with an expression full of seriousness the rat let his egg spoon fall on the tablecloth and sat open mouthed the hour has come said the badger at last with great solemnity what hour asked the rat uneasily glancing at the clock on the mantelpiece whose hour you should rather say replied the badger why toad's hour the hour of toad i said i would take him in hand as soon as the winter was well over and i'm going to take him in hand today toad's hour of course cried the mole delightedly hooray i remember now we'll teach him to be a sensible toad this very morning continued the badger taking an armchair as i learned last night from a trustworthy source another new and exceptionally powerful motor car will arrive at toad hall on approval or return at this very moment perhaps toad is busily arraying himself in those singularly hideous habiliments so dear to him which transform him from a comparatively good-looking toad into an object which throws any decent-minded animal that comes across it into a violent fit we must be up and doing error it is too late you two animals will accompany me instantly to toad hall and the work of rescue shall be accomplished right you are cried the rat starting up we'll rescue the poor unhappy animal we'll convert him he'll be the most converted toad that ever was before we've done with him they set off up the road on their mission of mercy badger leading the way animals when in company walk walk in a proper and sensible manner in single file instead of sprawling all across the road and being of no use or support to each other in case of sudden trouble or danger they reached the carriage drive of toad hall to find as the badger had anticipated a shiny new motor car of great size painted a bright red toad's favorite color standing in front of the house as they neared the door it was flung open and mr toad arrayed in goggles cap gaiters and an enormous overcoat came swaggering down the steps drawing on his gauntleted gloves hello come on you fellows he cried cheerfully on catching sight of them you're just in time to come with me for a jolly to come with me for a jolly a jolly his hearty accents faltered and fell away as he noticed the stern unbending look on the countenances of his silent friends and his invitation remained unfinished the badger strode up the steps take him inside he said sternly to his companions then as toad was hustled through the door struggling and protesting he turned to the chauffeur in charge of the new motor car i'm afraid you won't be wanted today he said mr toad has changed his mind he will not require the car please understand that this is final you needn't wait then he followed the others inside and shut the door now then he said to the toad when the four of them stood together in the hall first of all take those ridiculous things off shan't replied toad with great spirit what is the meaning of this gross outrage i demand an instant explanation take them off him then you two ordered the badger briefly they had to lay toad out on the floor kicking and calling all sorts of names before they could get to work properly then the rat sat on him and the mole got his motor clothes off him bit by bit and they stood him up on his legs again a good deal of his blustering spirit seemed to have evaporated with the removal of his fine panoply now he was merely toad and no longer the terror of the highway he giggled feebly and looked from one to the other appealingly seeming quite to understand the situation you knew it must come to this sooner or later toad the badger explained severely you've disregarded all the warnings we've given you you've gone on squandering the money your father left you and you're getting us animals a bad name in the district by your furious driving and your smashes and your rows with the police independence is all very well but we animals never allow our friends to make fools of themselves beyond a certain limit and that limit you've reached now you're a good fellow in many respects and i don't want to be too hard on you i'll make one more effort to bring you to reason you will come with me into the smoking room and there you will hear some facts about yourself and we'll see whether you come out of that room the same toad that you went in he took toad firmly by the arm led him into the smoking room and closed the door behind them that's no good said the rat contemptuously talking to toad will never cure him he'll say anything they made themselves comfortable in armchairs and waited patiently through the closed door they could just hear the long continuous drone of the badger's voice rising and falling in waves of oratory and presently they noticed that the sermon began to be punctuated at intervals by long drawn sobs evidently proceeding from the bosom of toad who was a soft-hearted and affectionate fellow very easily converted for the time being to any point of view after some three quarters of an hour the door opened and badger reappeared solemnly leading by the poor a very limp and dejected toad his skin hung baggily about him his legs wobbled and his cheeks were furrowed by the tears so plentifully called forth by the moving discourse sit down here toad said the badger kindly pointing to a chair my friends he went on i am pleased to inform you that toad has at last seen the error of his ways he is truly sorry for his misguided conduct in the past and he has undertaken to give up motor cars entirely and forever i have his solemn promise to that effect that is very good news said the mole very good news indeed observed the rat dubiously if only he was looking very hard at toad as he said this and couldn't help thinking he perceived something vaguely resembling a twinkle in that animal's still sorrowful eye there's only one thing more to be done continued the gratified badger toad i want you solemnly to repeat before your friends here what you fully admitted to me in the smoking room just now first you are sorry for what you've done and you see the folly of it all there was a long long pause toad looked desperately this way and that while the other animals waited in grave silence at last he spoke no he said a little sullenly but stoutly i'm not sorry and it wasn't folly at all it was simply glorious what cried the badger greatly scandalized you backsliding animal didn't you tell me just now in there oh yes yes in there said toad impatiently i'd have said anything in there you're so eloquent dear badger and so moving and so convincing and put all your points so frightfully well you can do what you like with me in there and you know it but i've been searching my mind since and going over things in it and i find that i'm not a bit sorry or repentant really so it's no earthly good saying i am now is it then you don't promise said the badger never to touch a motor car again certainly not replied toad on the contrary i faithfully promise that the very first motor car i see boop boop off i go in it told you so didn't i observed the rat to the mole very well then said the badger firmly rising to his feet since you won't yield to persuasion we'll try what force can do i feared it would come to this all along you've often asked us three to come and stay with you toad in this handsome house of yours well now we're going to when we've converted you to a proper point of view we may quit but not before take him upstairs you two and lock him up in his bedroom while we arrange matters between ourselves it's for your own good toady you know said the rat kindly as toad kicking and struggling was hauled up the stairs by his two faithful friends think what fun we shall all have together just as we used to when you've quite got over this this painful attack of yours we'll take great care of everything for you till you're well toad said the mole and we'll see your money isn't wasted as it has been no more of those regrettable incidents with the police toad said the rat as they thrust him into his bedroom and no more weeks in hospital being ordered about by nurses toad added the mole turning the key on him they descended the stair toad shouting abuse at them through the keyhole and the three friends then met in conference on the situation it's going to be a tedious business said the badger sighing i've never seen toad so determined however we will see it out he must never be left one instant unguarded we shall have to take it in to be with him till the poison has worked itself out of his system they arranged watches accordingly each animal took it in turns to sleep in toad's room at night and they divided the day up between them at first toad was undoubtedly very trying to his careful guardians when his violent paroxysms possessed him he would arrange bedroom chairs in rude resemblance of a motor car and would crouch on the foremost of them bent forward and staring fixedly ahead making uncouth and ghastly noises till the climax was reached when turning a complete somersault he would lie prostrate amid the ruins of the chairs apparently completely satisfied for the moment as time passed however these painful seizures grew gradually less frequent and his friends strove to divert his mind into fresh channels but his interest in other matters did not seem to revive and he grew apparently languid and depressed one fine morning the rat whose turn it was to go on duty went upstairs to relieve badger who he found fidgeting to be off and stretch his legs in a long ramble around his wood and down his earths and burrows toad's still in bed he told the rat outside the door can't get much out of him except oh leave him alone he wants nothing perhaps he'll be better presently it may pass off in time don't be unduly anxious and so on now you look out rat when toad's quiet and submissive and playing at being the hero of a sunday school prize then he's at his most artful there's sure to be something up i know him well now i must be off how are you today old chap inquired the rat cheerfully as he approached toad's bedside he had to wait some minutes for an answer at last a feeble voice replied thank you so much dear ratty so good of you to inquire but first tell me how you are yourself and the excellent mole oh we're all right replied the rat mole he added in cautiously is going out for a run around with badger they'll be out till luncheon time so you and i will spend a pleasant morning together and i'll do my best to amuse you now jump up there's a good fellow and don't lie moping there on a fine morning like this dear kind rat murmured toad how little you realize my condition and how very far i am from jumping up now if ever but do not trouble about me i hate being a burden to my friends and i do not expect to be one much longer indeed i almost hope not well i hope not too said the rat heartily you've been a fine bother to us all this time and i'm glad to hear it's going to stop and in weather like this and the boating season just beginning it's too bad of you toad it isn't the trouble we mind but you're making us miss such an awful lot i'm afraid it is the trouble you mind though replied the toad languidly i can quite understand it it's natural enough you're tired of bothering about me i mustn't ask you to do anything further i'm a nuisance i know you are indeed said the rat but i tell you i'd take any trouble on earth for you if only you'd be a sensible animal if i thought that ratty murmured toad more feebly than ever then i would beg you for the last time probably to step round to the village as quickly as possible even now it may be too late and fetch the doctor but don't you bother it's only a trouble and perhaps we may as well let things take their course why what do you want a doctor for inquired the rat coming closer and examining him he certainly lay very still and flat and his voice was weaker and his manner much changed surely you've noticed of late murmured toad but no why should you noticing things is only a trouble tomorrow indeed you may be saying to yourself oh if only i had noticed sooner if only i had done something but no it's a trouble never mind forget that i asked look here old man said the rat beginning to get rather alarmed of course i'll fetch a doctor to you if you really think you want him but you can hardly be bad enough for that yet let's talk about something else i fear dear friend said toad with a sad smile that talk can do little in a case like this or doctors either for that matter still one must grasp at the slightest straw and by the way while you are about it i hate to give you additional trouble but i happen to remember that you will pass the door would you mind at the same time asking the lawyer to step up it would be a convenience to me and there are moments perhaps i should say there is a moment when one must face disagreeable tasks at whatever cost a lawyer oh he must be really bad the affrighted rat said to himself as he hurried from the room not forgetting however to lock the door carefully behind him outside he stopped to consider the other two were far away and he had no one to consult it's best to be on the safe side he said on reflection i've known toad fancy himself frightfully bad before without the slightest reason but i've never heard him ask for a lawyer if there's nothing really the matter the doctor will tell him he's an old ass and cheer him up and that will be something gained i'd better humor him and go it won't take very long so he ran off to the village on his errand of mercy the toad who had hopped lightly out of bed as soon as he heard the key turned in the lock watched him eagerly from the window till he disappeared down the carriage drive then laughing heartily he dressed as quickly as possible in the smartest suit he could lay hands on at the moment filled his pockets with cash which he took from a small drawer in the dressing table and next knotting the sheets from his bed together and tying one end of the improvised rope around the central mullion of the handsome tudor window which formed such a feature of his bedroom he scrambled out slid lightly to the ground and taking the opposite direction to the rat marched off light-heartedly whistling a merry tune it was a gloomy luncheon for rat when the badger and the mole at length returned and he had to face them at table with his pitiful and unconvincing story the badger's caustic not to say brutal remarks may be imagined and therefore passed over but it was quite painful to the rat that even the mole though he took his friend's side as far as possible could not help saying you've been a bit of a duffer this time ratty toad too of all animals he did it awfully well said the crestfallen rat he did you awfully well rejoined the badger however talking won't mend matters he's got clear away for the time that's certain and the worst of it is he'll be so conceited with what he'll think is his cleverness that he may commit any folly one comfort is we're free now and needn't waste any more of our precious time during sentry duty but we'd better continue to sleep at toad hall for a while longer toad may be brought back at any moment on a stretcher or between two policemen so spoke the badger not knowing what the future held in store or how much water and of how turbid a character was to run under bridges before toad should sit at ease again in his ancestral hall meanwhile toad gay and irresponsible was walking briskly along the high road some miles from home at first he had taken bypaths and crossed many fields and changed his course several times in case of pursuit but now feeling by this time safe from recapture and the sun smiling brightly on him and all nature joining in a chorus of approval to the song of self-praise that his own heart was singing to him he almost danced along the road in his satisfaction and conceit smart piece of work that he remarked to himself chuckling brain against brute force and brain came out on the top as it's bound to do poor old ratty my won't he catch it when the badger gets back a worthy fellow ratty with many good qualities but very little intelligence and absolutely no education i must take him in hand someday see if i can make something of him filled full of conceited thoughts such as these he strode along his head in the air until he reached a little town where the sign of the red lion swinging across the road halfway down the main street reminded him that he had not breakfasted that day and that he was exceedingly hungry after his long walk he marched into the inn ordered the best luncheon that could be provided at so short a notice and sat down to eat it in the coffee room he was about halfway through his meal when an only too familiar sound approaching down the street made him start and fall a trembling the boop boop drew nearer and nearer the car could be heard to turn into the inn yard and come to a stop and toad had to hold on to the leg of the table to conceal his over mastering emotion presently the party entered the coffee room hungry talkative and gay voluble on their experiences of the morning and the merits of the chariot that had brought them along so well toad listened eagerly all ears for a time at last he could stand it no longer he slipped out of the room quietly paid his bill at the bar and as soon as he got outside sauntered around quietly to the inn yard there cannot be any harm he said to himself in my only just looking at it the car stood in the middle of the yard quite unattended the stable helps and other hangers on being all at their dinner toad walked slowly around it inspecting criticizing musing deeply i wonder he said to himself presently i wonder if this sort of car starts easily next moment hardly knowing how it came about he found he had hold of the handle and was turning it as the familiar sound broke forth the old affliction seized on toad and completely mastered him body and soul as if in a dream he found himself somehow seated in the driver's seat as if in a dream he pulled the lever and swung the car around the yard and out through the archway and as if in a dream all sense of right and wrong all fear of obvious consequences seemed temporarily suspended he increased his pace and as the car devoured the street and leapt forth on the high road through the open country he was only conscious that he was toad once more toad at his best and highest toad the terror the traffic queller the lord of the lone trail before whom all must give way or be smitten into nothingness and everlasting night he chanted as he flew and the car responded with sonorous drone the miles were eaten up under him as he sped he knew not wither fulfilling his instincts living his hour reckless of what might come to him to my mind observe the chairman of the bench of magistrates cheerfully the only difficulty that presents itself in this otherwise very clear case is how we can possibly make it sufficiently hot for the incorrigible rogue and hardened ruffian whom we see cowering in the dock before us let me see he has been found guilty on the clearest evidence first of stealing a valuable motor car secondly of driving to the public danger and thirdly of gross impertinence to the rural police mr clark will you tell us please what is the very stiffest penalty we can impose for each of these offenses without of course giving the prisoner the benefit of any doubt because there isn't any the clerk scratched his nose with his pen some people would consider he observed that stealing the motor car was the worst and so it is but cheeking the police undoubtedly carries the severest penalty and so it ought supposing you were to say 12 months for the theft which is mild and three years for the furious driving which is lenient and 15 years for the cheek which was pretty bad sort of cheek judging by what we've heard from the witness box even if you only believe one tenth part of what you heard and i never believed more myself those figures if added together correctly taut up to 19 years first rate said the chairman so you'd better make it around 20 years and be on the safe side concluded the clerk an excellent suggestion said the chairman approvingly prisoner pull yourself together and try and stand up straight it's going to be 20 years for you this time and mind if you appear before us again upon any charge whatever we shall have to deal with you very seriously then the brutal minions of the law fell upon the hapless toad loaded him with chains and dragged him from the courthouse shrieking praying protesting across the marketplace where the playful populace always as severe upon detected crime as they are sympathetic and helpful when one is merely wanted assailed him with jeers carrots and popular catchwords past hooting school children their innocent faces lit up with the pleasure they ever derive from the sight of a gentleman in difficulties across the hollow sounding drawbridge below the spiky portcullis under the frowning archway of the grim old castle whose ancient towers soared high overhead past guard rooms full of grinning soldiery off duty past centuries who coughed in a horrid sarcastic way because that is as much as a century at his post dare do to show his content and abhorrence of crime up time worn winding stairs past men at arms in casket and corselet of steel darting threatening looks through their visards across courtyards where mastiffs strained at their leash and poured the air to get at him past ancient warders their whole birds lent against the wall dozing over a pasty and a flagon of brown ale on and on past the rack chamber and the thumbscrew room past the turning that led to the private scaffold till they reached the door of the grimmest dungeon that lay in the heart of the innermost keep there at last they paused where an ancient jailer sat fingering a bunch of mighty keys odds bodykins said the sergeant of police taking off his helmet and wiping his forehead rouse thee old loon and take over from us this vile toad a criminal of deepest guilt and matchless artfulness and resource watch and ward him with all thy skill and mark thee well gray beard should ought untoward before thy old head shall answer for his and a murron on both of them the jailer nodded grimly laying his withered hand on the shoulder of the miserable toad the rusty key creaked in the lock the great door clang behind them and toad was a helpless prisoner in the remotest dungeon of the best guarded keep of the stoutest castle in all the length and breadth of merry england we've reached chapter seven the piper at the gates of dawn just to tell you a little bit more about kenneth graham the golden age published in 1895 was a collection of stories about four children being brought up by aunts and uncles who were referred to as the olympians this was the book that made graham famous and established him as a leading authority on childhood so if you're ready then i shall begin the piper at the gates of dawn the willow wren was twittering his thin little song hidden himself in the dark salvage of the riverbank though it was past ten o'clock at night the sky still clung to and retained some lingering skirts of light from the departed day and the sullen heats of the torrid afternoon broke up and rolled away at the dispersing touch of the cool fingers of the short midsummer night mole lay stretched on the bank still panting from the stress of the fierce day that had been cloudless from dawn to late sunset and waited for his friend to return he had been on the river with some companions leaving the water at free to keep an engagement of long standing with otter and he had come back to find the house dark and deserted and no sign of rat who was doubtless keeping it up late with his old friend it was still too hot to think of staying indoors so he lay on some cool dock leaves and thought over the past day and its doings and how very good they had all been the rat's light footfall was presently heard approaching over the parched grass oh the blessed coolness he said and sat down gazing thoughtfully into the river silent and preoccupied you stayed to supper of course said the mole presently simply had to said the rat they wouldn't hear of my going before you know how kind they always are and they made things as jolly for me as ever they could right up to the moment i left but i felt a brute all the time as it was clear to me they were very unhappy though they tried to hide it mole i'm afraid they're in trouble little portly is missing again and you know what a lot his father thinks of him though he never says much about it what that child said the mole lightly well suppose he is why worry about it he's always straying off and getting lost and then turning up again he's so adventurous but no harm ever happens to him everybody here about knows him and likes him just as they do old otter and you may be sure some animal or other will come across him and bring him back again all right why we found him ourselves miles from home and quite possessed and cheerful yes but this time it's more serious said the rat gravely he's been missing for some days now and the otters have hunted everywhere high and low without finding the slightest trace and they've asked every animal too for miles around and no one knows anything about him otters evidently more anxious than he'll admit i got out of him that young portly hasn't learned to swim very well yet and i can see he's thinking of the weir there's a lot of water coming down still considering the time of year and the place always had a fascination for the child and then there are well traps and things you know otters not the fellow to be nervous about any son of his before it's time and now he is nervous when i left he came out with me said he wanted some air and talked about stretching his legs but i could see it wasn't that so i drew him out and pumped him and i got it all out of him at last he was going to spend the night watching by the ford you know the place where the old ford in bygone days before they built the bridge i know it well said the mole but why should otter choose to watch there well it seems it was there that he gave portly his first swimming lesson continued the rat from that shallow gravelly spit near the bank and it was there he used to teach him fishing and there young portly caught his first fish of which he was so very proud the child loved the spot and otter thinks that if he came wandering back from wherever he is if he is anywhere by this time poor little chap he might make for the ford he was so fond of or if he came across it he'd remember it well and stop there and play perhaps so otter goes there every night and watches on the chance you know just on the chance they were silent for some time both thinking of the same thing the lonely heart sore animal crouched by the ford watching and waiting the long night through just on the chance well well said the rat presently i suppose we ought to be thinking about turning in but he never offered to move rat said the mole i simply can't go and turn in and go to sleep and do nothing even though there doesn't seem to be anything to be done we'll get the boat out and paddle upstream the moon will be up in an hour or so and then we will search as well as we can anyhow it will be better than going to bed and doing nothing just what i was thinking myself said the rat it's not the sort of night for bed anyhow and daybreak is not so very far off and then we may pick up some news of him from early risers as we go along they got the boat out and the rat took the skulls paddling with caution out in midstream there was a clear narrow track that faintly reflected the sky but wherever shadows fell on the water from bank bush or tree they were as solid to all appearance as the banks themselves and the mole had to steer with judgment accordingly dark and deserted as it was the night was full of small noises song and chatter and rustling telling of the busy little population who were up and about plying their trades and vocations through the night till sunshine should fall on them at last and send them off to their well-earned repose the water's own noises too were more apparent than by day its gurglings and gloops more unexpected and near at hand and constantly they started at what seemed a sudden clear call from an actual articulate voice the line of the horizon was clear and hard against the sky and in one particular quarter it showed black against the silvery climbing phosphorescence that grew and grew at last over the rim of the waiting earth the moon lifted with slow majesty till it swung clear of the horizon and rode off free of moorings and once more they began to see surfaces meadows widespread and quiet gardens and the river itself from bank to bank all softly disclosed all washed clean of mystery and terror all radiant again as by day but with a difference that was tremendous their old haunts greeted them again in other raiment as if they had slipped away and put on this pure new apparel and come quietly back smiling as they shyly waited to see if they would be recognized again under it fastening their boat to a willow the friends landed in this silent silver kingdom and patiently explored the hedges the hollow trees the runnels and their little culverts the ditches and dry waterways embarking again and crossing over they worked their way up the stream in this manner while the moon serene and detached in a cloudless sky did what she could though so far off to help them in their quest till her hour came and she sank earthwards reluctantly and left them and mystery once more held field and river then a change began slowly to declare itself the horizon became clearer field and tree came more into sight and somehow with a different look the mystery began to drop away from them a bird piped suddenly and was still and a light breeze sprang up and set the reeds and bulrushes rustling rat who was in the stern of the boat while mole sculled sat up suddenly and listened with a passionate intentness mole who with gentle strokes was just keeping the boat moving while he scanned the banks with care looked at him in curiosity it's gone sighed the rat sinking back in his seat again so beautiful and strange and new since it was to end so soon i almost wish i had never heard it for it has roused a longing in me that is pain and nothing seems worthwhile but just to hear that sound once more and go on listening to it forever no there it is again he cried alert once more entranced he was silent for a long space spellbound now it passes on and i begin to lose it he said presently oh mole the beauty of it the merry bubble and joy the thin clear happy call of the distant piping such music i never dreamed of and the call in it is stronger even than the music is sweet row on mole row for the music and the call must be for us the mole greatly wandering obeyed i hear nothing myself he said but the wind playing in the reeds and rushes and oziers the rat never answered if indeed he heard rapt transported trembling he was possessed in all his senses by this new divine thing that caught up his helpless soul and swung and dandled it a powerless but happy infant in a strong sustaining grasp in silence mole rode steadily and soon they came to a point where the river divided a long backwater branching off to one side with a slight movement of his head rat who had long dropped the rudder lines directed the rower to take the backwater the creeping tide of light gained and gained and now they could see the color of the flowers that gemmed the water's edge clearer and nearer still cried the rat joyously now you must surely hear it ah at last i see you do breathless and transfixed the mole stopped rowing as the liquid run of that glad piping broke on him like a wave caught him up and possessed him utterly he saw the tears on his comrades cheeks and bowed his head and understood for a space they hung there brushed by the purple loose strife that fringed the bank then the clear imperious summons that marched hand in hand with the intoxicating melody imposed its will on mole and mechanically he bent to his awls again and the light grew steadily stronger but no birds sang as they were wont to do at the approach of dawn and but for the heavenly music all was marvelously still on either side of them as they glided onwards the rich meadow grass seemed that morning of a freshness and a greenness unsurpassable never had they noticed the roses so vivid the willow herb so riotous the meadow sweet so odorous and pervading then the murmur of the approaching weir began to hold the air and they felt a consciousness that they were nearing the end whatever it might be that surely awaited their expedition a wide half circle of foam and linting lights and shining shoulders of green water the great weir closed the backwater from bank to bank troubled all the quiet surface with twirling eddies and floating foam streaks and deadened all other sounds with its solemn and soothing rumble in mid most of the stream embraced in the weirs shimmering arm spread a small island lay anchored fringed close with willow and silver birch and older reserved shy but full of significance it hid whatever it might hold behind a veil keeping it till the hour should come and with the hour those who were called and chosen slowly but with no doubt or hesitation whatsoever and in something of a solemn expectancy the two animals passed through the broken tumultuous water and moored their boat at the flowery margin of the island in silence they landed and pushed through the blossom and scented herbage and undergrowth that led up to the level ground till they stood on a little lawn of a marvelous green set round with nature's own orchard trees crabapple wild cherry and slow this is the place of my song dream the place the music played to me whispered the rat as if in a trance here in this holy place here if anywhere surely we shall find him then suddenly the mole fell to great awe fall upon him an awe that turned his muscles to water bowed his head and rooted his feet to the ground it was no panic terror indeed he felt wonderfully at peace and happy but it was an awe that smote and held him and without seeing he knew it could only mean that some august presence was very very near with difficulty he turned to look for his friend and saw him at his side cowed stricken trembling violently and still there was utter silence in the populous bird-haunted branches around them and still the light grew and grew perhaps he would never have dared to raise his eyes but that though the piping was now hushed the call and the summons seemed still dominant and imperious he might not refuse would death himself waiting to strike him instantly once he had looked with mortal eye on things rightly kept hidden so trembling he obeyed and raised his humble head and then in that utter clearness of the imminent dawn while nature flushed with fullness of incredible color seemed to hold her breath for the event he looked in the very eyes of the friend and helper he saw the backward sweep of the curved horns gleaming in the growing daylight he saw the stern hooked nose between the kindly eyes that were looking down on them humorously while the bearded mouth broke into a half smile at the corners he saw the rippling muscles on the arm that lay across the broad chest the long supple hand still holding the panpipes only just fallen away from the parted lips he saw the splendid curves of the shaggy limbs disposed in majestic ease on the sword saw last of all nestling between his very hooves sleeping soundly in entire peace and contentment the little round podgy childish form of the baby otter all this he saw for one moment breathless and intense vivid on the morning sky and still as he looked he lived and still as he lived he wondered rat he found breath to whisper shaking are you afraid afraid murmured the rat his eyes shining with unutterable love afraid of him oh never never and yet and yet oh mole i am afraid then the two animals crouching to the earth bowed their heads and did worship sudden and magnificent the sun's broad golden disc showed itself over the horizon facing them and the first rays shooting across the level water meadows took the animals full in the eyes and dazzled them when they were able to look once more the vision had vanished and the air was full of the carol of birds the tale the dawn as they stared blankly in dumb misery deepening as they slowly realized all they had seen and all they had lost a capricious little breeze dancing up from the surface of the water tossed the aspens shook the dewy roses and blew lightly and caressingly in their faces and with its soft touch came instant oblivion for this is the last best gift that the kindly demi-god is careful to bestow on those to whom he has revealed himself in their helping the gift of forgetfulness lest the awful remembrance should remain and grow and overshadow mirth and pleasure and the great haunting memory should spoil all the afterlives of little animals helped out of difficulties in order that they should be happy and light-hearted as before mole rubbed his eyes and stared at rat who was looking about him in a puzzled sort of way i beg your pardon what did you say rat he asked i think i was only remarking said rat slowly that this was the right sort of place and that here if anywhere we should find him and look why there he is the little fellow and with a cry of delight he ran towards the slumbering portly but mole stood still a moment held in thought as one wakened suddenly from a beautiful dream who struggles to recall it and can recapture nothing but a dim sense of the beauty of it the beauty till that too fades away in its turn and the dreamer bitterly accepts the hard cold waking and all its penalties so mole after struggling with his memory for a brief space shook his head sadly and followed the rat portly woke up with a joyous squeak and wriggled with pleasure at the sight of his father's friends who had played with him so often in past days in a moment however his face grew blank and he fell to hunting round in the circle with pleading wine as a child that has fallen happily asleep in its nurse's arms and wakes to find itself alone and laid in a strange place and searches corners and cupboards and runs from room to room despair growing silently in its heart even so portly searched the island and searched dogged and unwearying till at last the black moment came for giving it up and sitting down and crying bitterly the mole ran quickly to comfort the little animal but rat lingering looked long and doubtfully at certain hoof marks deep in the sword some great animal has been here he murmured slowly and thoughtfully and stood musing musing his mind strangely stirred come along rat called the mole think of poor otter waiting up there by the ford portly had soon been comforted by the promise of a treat a jaunt on the river in mr rat's real boat and the two animals conducted him to the water's side placed him securely between them in the bottom of the boat and paddled off down the backwater the sun was fully up by now and hot on them birds sang lustily and without restraint and flowers smiled and nodded from either bank but somehow so thought the animals with less of richness and blaze of color than they seemed to remember seeing quite recently somewhere they wondered where the main river reached again they turned the boat's head upstream towards the point where they knew their friend was keeping his lonely vigil as they drew near the familiar ford the mole took the boat into the bank and they lifted portly out and set him on his legs on the toe path gave him his marching orders and a friendly farewell pat on the back and shoved out into midstream they watched the little animal as he waddled along the path contentedly and with importance watched him till they saw his muzzle suddenly lift and his waddle break into a clumsy amble as he quickened his pace with shrill whines and wriggles of recognition looking up the river they could see otter start up tense and rigid from out of the shallows where he crouched in dumb patience and could hear his amazed and joyous bark as he bounded up through the oziers onto the path then the mole with a strong pull on one oar swung the boat round and let the full stream bear them down again whither it would their quest now happily ended i feel strangely tired rat said the mole leaning wearily over his oars as the boat drifted it's being up all night you'll say perhaps but that's nothing we do as much half the nights of the week at this time of the year no i feel as though i had been through something very exciting and rather terrible and it was just over and yet nothing in particular has happened or something very surprising and splendid and beautiful murmured the rat leaning back and closing his eyes i feel just as you do mole simply dead tired though not body tired it's lucky we've got the stream with us to take us home isn't it jolly to feel the sun again soaking into one's bones and hark to the wind playing in the reeds it's like music far away music said the mole nodding drowsily so i was thinking murmured the rat dreamful and languid dance music the lilting sort that runs on without a stop but with words in it too it passes into words and then out of them again i catch them at intervals then it's dance music once more and then nothing you hear better than i said the mole sadly i can't catch the words let me try and give you them said the rat softly his eyes still closed now it is turning into words again faint but clear lest the oar should dwell and turn your frolic to fret you shall look on my power at the helping hour but then you shall forget now the reeds take it up forget forget they sigh and it dies away in a rustle and a whisper then the voice returns lest limbs be reddened and rent i spring the trap that is set as i loose the snare you may glimpse me there for surely you shall forget row nearer mole nearer to the reeds it is hard to catch and grows each minute fainter helper and healer i cheer small waifs in the woodland wet strays i find in it wounds i bind in it bidding them all forget nearer mole nearer no it is no good the song has died away into reed talk but what do the words mean asked the wandering mole that i do not know said the rat simply i passed them on to you as they reached me ah now they return again and this time full and clear this time at last it is the real the unmistakable thing simple passionate perfect well let's have it then said the mole after he had waited patiently for a few minutes half dozing in the hot sun but no answer came he looked and understood the silence with a smile of much happiness on his face and something of a listening look still lingering there the weary rat was fast asleep we've reached chapter eight toad's adventures and i'm hoping we're going to find out what's happened to toad plunged into that terrible dungeon but just to tell you something more about kenneth graham in 1897 he met elspeth elsie thompson elsie had written a novel as well as plays and poems having lost both her parents she was living with her stepfather but graham and elsie got married on the 22nd of july 1899 in cornwall so if you're ready then i'll begin toad's adventures when toad found himself immured in a dank and noisome dungeon and knew that all the grim darkness of a medieval fortress lay between him and the outer world of sunshine and well-metalled high roads where he had lately been so happy disporting himself as if he'd brought up every road in england he flung himself at full length on the floor and shed bitter tears and abandoned himself to dark despair this is the end of everything he said at least it is the end of the career of toad which is the same thing the popular and handsome toad the rich and hospitable toad the toad so free and careless and debonair how can i hope to be ever set at large again he said who have been imprisoned so justly for stealing so handsome a motor car in such an audacious manner and for such lurid and imaginative cheek bestowed upon such a number of fat red-faced policemen here his sobs choked him stupid animal that i was he said now i must languish in this dungeon till people who were proud to say they knew me have forgotten the very name of toad oh wise old badger he said oh clever intelligent rat and sensible mole what sound judgments what a knowledge of men and matters you possess oh unhappy and forsaken toad with lamentations such as these he passed his days and nights for several weeks refusing his meals or intermediate light refreshments though the grim and ancient jailer knowing that toad's pockets were well lined frequently pointed out that many comforts and indeed luxuries could by arrangement be sent in at a price from outside now the jailer had a daughter a pleasant wench and good-hearted who assisted her father in the lighter duties of his post she was particularly fond of animals and besides her canary whose cage hung on a nail in the massive wall of the keep by day to the great annoyance of prisoners who relished an after dinner nap and was shrouded in an antimacassar on the parlor table at night she kept several piebald mice and a restless revolving squirrel this kind-hearted girl pitying the misery of toad said to her father one day father i can't bear to see that poor beast so unhappy and getting so thin you let me have the managing of him you know how fond of animals i am i'll make him eat from my hand and sit up and do all sorts of things her father replied that she could do what she liked with him he was tired of toad and his sulks and his airs and his meanness so that day she went on her errand of mercy and knocked at the door of toad's cell now cheer up toad she said coaxingly on entering and sit up and dry your eyes and be a sensible animal and do try and eat a bit of dinner see i've bought you some of mine hot from the oven it was bubble and squeak between two plates and its fragrance filled the narrow cell the penetrating smell of cabbage reached the nose of toad as he lay prostrate in his misery on the floor and gave him the idea for a moment that perhaps life was not such a blank and desperate thing as he had imagined but still he wailed and kicked with his legs and refused to be comforted so the wise girl retired for the time but of course a good deal of the smell of hot cabbage remained behind as it will do and toad between his sobs sniffed and reflected and gradually began to think new and inspiring thoughts of chivalry and poetry and deeds still to be done of broad meadows and cattle browsing in them raked by sun and wind of kitchen gardens and straight herb borders and warm snapdragon beset by bees and of the comforting clink of dishes set down on the table at toad hall and the scrape of chair legs on the floor as everyone pulled himself close up to his work the air of the narrow cell took on a rosy tinge he began to think of his friends and how they would surely be able to do something of lawyers and how they would have enjoyed his case and what an ass he had been not to get in a few and lastly he thought of his own great cleverness and resource and all that he was capable of if only he gave his great mind to it and the cure was almost complete when the girl returned some hours later she carried a tray with a cup of fragrant tea steaming on it and a plate piled up with very hot buttered toast cut thick very brown on both sides with the butter running through the holes in it in great golden drops like honey from the honeycomb the smell of that buttered toast simply talked to toad and with no uncertain voice it talked of warm kitchens of breakfasts on bright frosty mornings of cozy parlor firesides on winter evenings when one's ramble was over and slippered feet were propped on the fender of the purring of contented cats and the twitter of sleepy canaries toad sat up on end once more dried his eyes sipped his tea and munched his toast and soon began talking freely about himself and the house he lived in and his doings there and how important he was and what a lot his friends thought of him the jailer's daughter saw that the topic was doing him as much good as the tea as indeed it was so she encouraged him to go on tell me about toad hall said she it sounds beautiful toad hall said the toad proudly is an eligible self-contained gentleman's residence very unique dating in part from the 14th century but replete with every modern convenience up-to-date sanitation five minutes from the church the post office and the golf links suitable for bless the animal said the girl laughing i don't want to take it tell me something real about it but first wait till i fetch you some more tea and toast she tripped away and presently returned with a fresh tray full and toad pitching into the toast with avidity his spirits quite restored to their usual level told her about the boat house and the fish pond and the old walled kitchen garden and about the pigsty's and the stables and the pigeon house and the hen house and about the dairy and the wash house and the china cupboards and the linen presses she liked that bit especially and about the banqueting hall and the fun they had there when the other animals were gathered around the table and toad was at his best singing songs telling stories carrying on generally then she wanted to know about his animal friends and was very interested in all he had to tell her about them and how they lived and what they did to pass their time of course she didn't say she was fond of animals as pets because she had the sense to see that toad would be extremely offended when she said good night having filled his water jug and shaken up his straw for him toad was very much the same sanguine self-satisfied animal that he had been of old he sang a little song or two of the sort he used to sing at his dinner parties curled himself up in the straw and had an excellent night's rest and the pleasantest of dreams they had many interesting talks together after that as the dreary days went on and the jailer's daughter grew very sorry for toad and thought it a great shame that a poor little animal should be locked up in prison for what seemed to her a very trivial offense toad of course in his vanity thought that her interest in him proceeded from a growing tenderness and he could not help half regretting that the social gulf between them was so very wide for she was a comely lass and evidently admired him very much one morning the girl was very thoughtful and answered at random and didn't seem to toad to be paying proper attention to his witty sayings and sparkling comments toad she said presently just listen please i have an aunt who is a washerwoman there there said toad graciously and affably never mind think no more about it i have several aunts who ought to be washerwomen do you be quiet a minute toad said the girl you talk too much that's your chief fault and i'm trying to think and you hurt my head as i said i have an aunt who is a washerwoman she does the washing for all the prisoners in the castle we try to keep any paying business of that sort in the family you understand she takes out the washing on monday brings it in on friday evening this is a thursday now this is what occurs to me you're very rich at least you're always telling me so and she's very poor a few pounds wouldn't make any difference to you and it would mean a lot to her now i think if she were properly approached squared i believe is the word you animals use you could come to some arrangement by which she would let you have her dress and bonnet and so on and you could escape from the castle as the official washerwoman you're very alike in many respects particularly about the figure we're not said the toad in a half i have a very elegant figure for what i am so has my aunt replied the girl for what she is but have it your own way you horrid proud ungrateful animal when i'm sorry for you and trying to help you yes yes that's all right thank you very much indeed said the toad hurriedly but look here you wouldn't surely have mr toad of toad hall going about the country disguised as a washerwoman then you can stop here as a toad replied the girl with much spirit i suppose you want to go off in a coach and four honest toad was always ready to admit himself in the wrong you were a good kind clever girl he said and i am indeed a proud and stupid toad introduce me to your worthy aunt if you'll be so kind and i have no doubt that the excellent lady and i will be able to arrange terms satisfactory to both parties next evening the girl ushered her aunt into toad's cell bearing his week's washing pinned up in a towel the old lady had been prepared beforehand for the interview and the sight of certain gold sovereigns that toad had thoughtfully placed on the table in full view practically completed the matter and left little further to discuss in return for his cash toad received a cotton print gown an apron a shawl and a rusty black bonnet the only stipulation the old lady made being that she should be gagged and bound and dumped down in a corner by this not very convincing artifice she explained aided by picturesque fiction which she could supply herself she hoped to retain her situation in spite of the suspicious appearance of things toad was delighted with the suggestion it would enable him to leave the prison in some style and with his reputation for being a desperate and dangerous fellow untarnished and he readily helped the jailer's daughter to make her aunt appear as much as possible the victim of circumstances over which she had no control now it's your turn toad said the girl take off that coat and waistcoat of yours you're fat enough as it is shaking with laughter she proceeded to hook an eye hem into the cotton print gown arranged the shawl with a professional fold and tied the strings of the rusty bonnet under his chin you're the very image of her she giggled only i'm sure you've never looked half so respectable in all your life before now goodbye toad and good luck go straight down the way you came up and if anyone says anything to you as they probably will being but men you can chaff back a bit of course but remember you're a widow woman quite alone in the world with a character to lose with a quaking heart but as firm a footstep as he could command toad set forth cautiously on what seemed to be a most harebrained and hazardous undertaking but he was soon agreeably surprised to find how easy everything was made for him and a little humbled at the thought that both his popularity and the sex that seemed to inspire it were really another's the washer woman's squat figure in its familiar cotton print seemed a for every barred door and grim gateway even when he hesitated uncertain as to the right turning to take he found himself helped out of his difficulty by the warder at the next gate anxious to be off to his tea summoning him to come along sharp and not keep him waiting there all night the chaff and the humorous sallies to which he was subjected and to which of course he had to provide prompt and effective reply formed indeed his chief danger for toad was an animal with a strong sense of his own dignity and the chaff was mostly he thought poor and clumsy and the humor of the sallies entirely lacking however he kept his temper though with great difficulty suited his retorts to his company and his supposed character and did his best not to overstep the limits of good taste it seemed hours before he crossed the last courtyard rejected the pressing invitations from the last guard room and dodged the outspread arms of the last warder pleading with simulated passion for just one farewell embrace but at last he heard the wicket gate in the great outer door click behind him felt the fresh air of the outer world upon his anxious brow and knew that he was free dizzy with the easy success of his daring exploit he walked quickly towards the lights of the town not knowing in the least what he should do next only quite certain of one thing that he must remove himself as quickly as possible from a neighborhood where the lady he was forced to was so well known and so popular a character as he walked along considering his attention was caught by some red and green lights a little way off to one side of the town and the sound of the puffing and snorting of engines and the banging of shunted trucks fell on his ear ah he thought this is a piece of luck a railway station is the thing i want most in the whole world at this moment and what's more i needn't go through the town to get it and shan't have to support this humiliating character by repartees which though thoroughly effective do not assist one's sense of self-respect he made his way to the station accordingly consulted a timetable and found that a train bound more or less in the direction of his home was due to start in half an hour more luck said toad his spirits rising rapidly and went off to the booking office to buy his ticket he gave the name of the station that he knew to be nearest to the village of which toad hall was the principal feature and mechanically put his fingers in search of the necessary money where his waistcoat pocket should have been but here the cotton gown which had nobly stood by him so far and which he had basically forgotten intervened and frustrated his efforts in a sort of nightmare he struggled with the strange uncanny thing that seemed to hold his hands turn all muscular strivings to water and laugh at him all the time while other travelers forming up in a line behind waited with impatience making suggestions of more or less value and comments of more or less stringency and point at last however he never rightly understood how he burst the barriers attained the goal arrived at where all waistcoat pockets are eternally situated and found not only no money but no pocket to hold it and no waistcoat to hold the pocket to his horror he recollected that he had left both coat and waistcoat behind him in his cell and with them his pocketbook money keys watch matches pencil case all that makes life worth living all that distinguishes the many pocketed animal the lord of creation from the inferior one pocketed or no pocketed productions that hop or trip about permissively unequipped for the real contest in his misery he made one desperate effort to carry the thing off and with the return to his fine old manner a blend of the squire and the college don he said look here i find i've left my purse behind just give me that ticket will you and i'll send the money on tomorrow i'm well known in these parts the clerk stared at him and the rusty black bonnet a moment and then laughed i should think you were pretty well known in these parts he said if you've tried this game on often here stand away from the window please madam you're obstructing the other passengers an old gentleman who had been prodding him in the back for some moments here thrust him away and what was worse addressed him as his good woman which angered toad more than anything that had occurred that evening baffled and full of despair he wandered blindly down the platform where the train was standing and tears trickled down each side of his nose it was hard he thought to be within sight of safety and almost of home and to be balked by the want of a few wretched shillings and by the petty fogging mistrustfulness of paid officials very soon his escape would be discovered the hunt would be up he would be caught reviled loaded with chains dragged back again to prison and bread and water and straw his guards and penalties would be doubled i know what sarcastic remarks the girl would make what was to be done he was not swift of foot his figure was unfortunately recognizable could he not squeeze under the seat of a carriage he had seen this method adopted by school boys when the journey money provided by thoughtful parents had been diverted to other and better ends as he pondered he found himself opposite the engine which was being oiled wiped and generally caressed by its affectionate driver a barely man with an oil can in one hand and a lump of cotton waste in the other hello mother said the engine driver what's the trouble you don't look particularly cheerful oh sir said toad crying afresh i am a poor unhappy washerwoman and i've lost all my money and can't pay for a ticket and i must get home tonight somehow and whatever i am to do i don't know oh dear oh dear that's a bad business indeed said the engine driver reflectively lost your money and can't get home and got some kids too waiting for you i dare say any amount of them sobbed toad and they'll be hungry and playing with matches and upsetting lamps the little innocence and quarreling and going on generally oh dear oh dear well i'll tell you what i'll do said the good engine driver you're a washerwoman to your trade says you very well that's that and i am an engine driver as you may well see and there's no denying it's terribly dirty work uses up a power of shirts it does till my missus is fair tired of washing of them if you'll wash a few shirts for me when you get home and send them along i'll give you a ride on my engine it's against the company's regulations but we're not so very particular in these out of the way parts the toad's misery turned into rapture as he eagerly scrambled up into the cab of the engine of course he had never washed a shirt in his life and couldn't if he tried and anyhow he wasn't going to begin but he thought when i get safely home to toad hall and have money again and pockets to put it in i will send the engine driver enough to pay for quite a quantity of washing and that will be the same thing or better the guard waved his welcome flag the engine driver whistled in cheerful response and the train moved out of the station as the speed increased and the toad could see on either side of him real fields and trees and hedges and cows and horses all flying past him and as he thought how every minute was bringing him nearer to toad hall and sympathetic friends and money to chink in his pocket and a soft bed to sleep in and good things to eat and praise and admiration at the recital of his adventures and his surpassing cleverness he began to skip up and down and shout and sing snatches of song to the great astonishment of the engine driver who had come across washer women before at long intervals but never one at all like this they had covered many and many a mile and toad was already considering what he would have for supper as soon as he got home when he noticed that the engine driver with a puzzled expression on his face was leaning over the side of the engine and listening hard then he saw him climb onto the coals and gaze out over the top of the train then he returned and said to toad it's very strange we're the last train running in this direction tonight yet i could be sworn that i heard another following us toad ceased his frivolous at once he became grave and depressed and a dull pain in the lower part of his spine communicating itself to his legs made him want to sit down and try desperately not to think of all the possibilities by this time the moon was shining brightly and the engine driver steadying himself on the coal could command a few of the line behind them for a long distance presently he called out i can see it clearly now it is an engine on our rails coming along at a great pace it looks as if we're being pursued the miserable toad crouching in the coal dust tried hard to think of something to do with dismal want of success they are gaining on us fast cried the engine driver and the engine is crowded with the queerest lot of people men like ancient warders waving whole birds policemen in their helmets waving truncheons and shabbily dressed men in pot hats obvious and unmistakable playing close detectives even at this distance waving revolvers and walking sticks all waving and all shouting the same thing stop stop stop toad fell on his knees among the coals and raising his class paws in supplication cried save me only save me dear kind mr engine driver and i will confess everything i am not the simple washer woman i seem to be i have no children waiting for me innocent or otherwise i am a toad the well-known and popular mr toad a landed proprietor i have just escaped by my great daring and cleverness from a loathsome dungeon into which my enemies had flung me and if those fellows on that engine recapture me it will be chains and bread and water and straw and misery once more for poor unhappy innocent toad the engine driver looked down upon him very sternly and said now tell the truth what were you put in prison for it was nothing very much said poor toad coloring deeply i only borrowed a motor car while the owners were at lunch they had no need of it at the time i didn't mean to steal it really but people especially magistrates take such harsh views of thoughtless and high-spirited actions the engine driver looked very grave and said i fear that you have been indeed a wicked toad and by rights i ought to give you up to offended justice but you're evidently in sore trouble and distress so i will not desert you i don't hold with motor cars for one thing and i don't hold with being ordered about by policemen when i'm on my own engine for another and the sight of an animal in tears always makes me feel queer and soft-hearted so cheer up toad i'll do my best and we may beat them yet they piled on more coals shoveling furiously the furnace roared the sparks flew the engine leapt and swung but still their pursuers slowly gained the engine driver with a sigh wiped his brow with a handful of cotton waste and said i'm afraid it's no good toad you see they're running light and they have the better engine there's just one thing left for us to do and it's your only chance so attend very carefully to what i tell you a short way ahead of us is a long tunnel and on the other side of that the line passes through a thick wood now i will put on all the speed i can while we are running through the tunnel but the other fellas will slow down a bit naturally for fear of an accident when we are through i will shut off steam and put on brakes as hard as i can and the moment it's safe to do so you must jump and hide in the wood before they get through the tunnel and see you then i will go full speed ahead again and they can chase me if they like for as long as they like and as far as they like now mind and be ready to jump when i tell you they piled on more coals and the train shot into the tunnel and the engine rushed and roared and rattled till at last they shot out at the other end into fresh air and the peaceful moonlight and saw the wood lying dark and helpful upon either side of the line the driver shut off the steam and put on the brakes and toad got down on the step and as the train slowed almost to a walking pace he heard the driver call out now jump toad jumped rolled down a short embankment picked himself up unhurt scrambled into the wood and hid peeping out he saw his train get up speed again and disappear at a great pace then out of the tunnel burst the pursuing engine roaring and whistling her motley crew waving their various weapons and shouting stop stop stop when they were passed the toad had a hearty laugh for the first time since he was thrown into prison but he soon stopped laughing when he came to consider that it was now very late and dark and cold and he was in an unknown wood with no money and no chance of supper and still far from friends and home and the dead silence of everything after the roar and rattle of the train was something of a shock he dared not leave the shelter of the trees so he struck into the wood with the idea of leaving the railway as far as possible behind him after so many weeks within walls he found the wood strange and unfriendly and inclined he thought to make fun of him night jars sounding their mechanical rattle made him think that the wood was full of searching waters closing in on him an owl swooping noiselessly towards him brushed his shoulder with its wing making him jump with the horrid certainty that it was a hand then flitted off moth-like laughing it's low ho ho which toad thought in very poor taste once he met a fox who stopped looked him up and down in a sarcastic sort of way and said hello washerwoman half a pair of socks and a pillowcase short this week mind it doesn't occur again and swaggered off sniggering toad looked about for a stone to throw at him but couldn't succeed in finding one which vexed him more than anything at last cold hungry and tired out he sought the shelter of a hollow tree where with branches and dead leaves he made himself as comfortable a bed as he could and slept soundly till the morning we've reached chapter nine which is called wayfarers all i mentioned when we listened to chapter eight that graham had got married but graham's sister helen disapproved of the marriage thinking that the couple were temperamentally unsuited to each other and rather sadly the brother and sister became estranged the married couple set up home in kensington and their only child alistair was born in 1900 so if you're ready then i shall begin the water rat was restless and he didn't exactly know why to all appearances the summer's pomp was still at fullest height and although in the tilled acres green had given way to gold although the rowans were reddening and the woods were dashed here and there with a tawny fierceness yet light and warmth and color were still present in undiminished measure clean of any chilly premonitions of the passing year but the constant chorus of the orchards and hedges had shrunk to a casual even song from a few yet unwearied performers the robin was beginning to assert himself once more and there was a feeling in the air of change and departure the cuckoo of course had long been silent but many another feathered friend for months a part of the familiar landscape and its small society was missing too and it seemed that the ranks thinned steadily day by day rat ever observant of all winged movement saw that it was taking daily a southing tendency and even as he lay in bed at night he thought he could make out passing in the darkness overhead the beat and quiver of impatient pinions obedient to the preemptory call nature's grand hotel has its seasons like the others as the guests one by one pack pay and depart and the seats at the table de haute shrink pitifully at each succeeding meal as suites of rooms are closed carpets taken up and waiters sent away those borders who are staying on pension until the next year's full reopening cannot help being somewhat affected by all these flittings and farewells this eager discussion of plans roots and fresh quarters this daily shrinkage in the stream of comradeship one gets unsettled depressed and inclined to be querulous why this craving for change why not stay on quietly here like us and be jolly you don't know this hotel out of season and what fun we have among ourselves we fellows who remain and see the whole interesting year out all very true no doubt the others always reply we quite envy you and some other year perhaps but just now we have engagements and there's the bus at the door our time is up so they depart with a smile and a nod and we miss them and feel resentful the rat was a self-sufficing sort of animal rooted to the land and whoever went he stayed still he could not help noticing what was in the air and feeling some of its influence in his bones it was difficult to settle down to anything seriously with all this flitting going on leaving the water side where rushes stood thick and tall in a stream that was becoming sluggish and low he wandered countrywards crossed a field or two of pasture ridge already looking dusty and parched and thrust into the great realm of wheat yellow wavy and murmurous full of quiet motion and small whisperings here he often loved to wander through the forest of stiff strong stalks that carried their own golden sky away over his head a sky that was always dancing shimmering softly talking or swaying strongly to the passing wind and recovering itself with a toss and a merry laugh here too he had many small friends a society complete in itself leading full and busy lives but always with a spare moment to gossip and exchange news with the visitor today however although they were civil enough the field mice and harvest mice seemed preoccupied many were digging and tunneling busily others gathered together in small groups examined plans and drawings of small flats stated to be desirable and compact and situated conveniently near the stores some were hauling out dusty trunks and dress baskets others were already elbow deep packing their belongings while everywhere piles and bundles of wheat oats barley beach mast and nuts lay about ready for transport here's old ratty they cried as soon as they saw him come and bear a hand rat and don't stand about idle what sort of games are you up to said the water rat severely you know it isn't time to be thinking of winter quarters yet by a long way oh yes we know that explained a field mouse rather shamefacedly but it's always as well to be in good time isn't it we really must get all the furniture and baggage and stores moved out of this before those horrid machines begin clicking around the fields and then you know the best flats get picked up so quickly nowadays and if you're late you have to put up with anything and they want such a lot of doing up too before they're fit to move into of course we're early we know that but we're only just making a start oh bother starts said the rat it's a splendid day come for a row or a stroll along the hedges or a picnic in the woods or something well i think not today thank you replied the field mouse hurriedly perhaps some other day when we've more time the rat with a snort of contempt swung around to go chipped over a hat box and fell and made some undignified remarks if people would be more careful said a field mouse rather stiffly and look where they're going people wouldn't hurt themselves mind that hold all right you'd better sit down somewhere in an hour or two we may be more free to attend to you you won't be free as you call it much this side of christmas i can see that retorted the rat grumpily as he picked his way out of the field he returned somewhat despondently to his river again his faithful steady going old river which never packed up flitted or went into winter quarters in the oziers which fringed the bank he spied a swallow sitting presently it was joined by another and then by a third and the birds fidgeting restlessly on their bow talked together earnestly and low what already said the rat strolling up to them what's the hurry i call it simply ridiculous oh we're not off yet if that's what you mean replied the first swallow we're only making plans and arranging things talking it over you know what route we're taking this year and where we'll stop and so on that's half the fun fun said the rat now that's just what i don't understand if you've got to leave this pleasant place and your friends who will miss you and your snug homes that you've just settled into why when the hour strikes i've no doubt you'll go bravely and face all the trouble and discomfort and change and newness and make believe that you're not very unhappy but to want to talk about it or even think about it till you really need to no you don't understand naturally said the second swallow first we feel it stirring within us a sweet unrest then back come the recollections one by one by combing pigeons they flutter through our dreams at night they fly with us in our wheelings and circlings by day we hunger to inquire of each other to compare notes and assure ourselves that it was all really true as one by one the scents and sounds and names of long forgotten places come gradually back and beckon to us couldn't you stop on for just this year suggested the water act wistfully we'll all do our best to make you feel at home you've no idea what good times we have here while you are far away i tried stopping on one year said the third swallow i had grown so fond of the place that when the time came i hung back and let the others go on without me for a few weeks it was well enough but afterwards oh the weary length of the nights the shivering sunless days the air so clammy and chill and not an insect in an acre of it no it was no good my courage broke down and one cold stormy night i took wing flying well inland on account of the strong easterly gales it was snowing hard as i beat through the passes of the great mountains and i had a stiff fight to win through but never shall i forget the blissful feeling of the hot sun again on my back as i sped down to the lakes that lay so blue and placid below me and the taste of my first fat insect the past was like a bad dream the future was all happy holiday as i moved southwards week by week easily lazily lingering as long as i dared but always heeding the call no i'd had my warning never again did i think of disobedience ah yes the call of the south twittered the other two dreamily it's songs it's hues it's radiant air oh do you remember and forgetting the rat they slid into passionate reminiscence while he listened fascinated and his heart burned within him in himself too he knew that it was vibrating at last that chord hitherto dormant and unsuspected the mere chatter of these southern bound birds their pale and second-hand reports had yet power to awaken this wild new sensation and thrill him through and through with it what would one moment of the real thing work in him one passionate touch of the real southern sun one waft of the authentic odor with closed eyes he dared to dream a moment in full abandonment and when he looked again the river seemed steely and chill the green fields gray and lightless then his loyal heart seemed to cry out at his weaker self for its treachery why do you ever come back at all then he demanded of the swallows jealously what do you find to attract you in this poor drab little country and do you think said the first swallow that the other call is not for us too in its due season the call of lush meadow grass wet orchards warm insect haunted ponds of browsing cattle of haymaking and all the farm buildings clustering around the house of the perfect eves do you suppose asked the second one that you are the only living thing that craves with a hungry longing to hear the cuckoo's note again in due time said the third we should be homesick once more for quiet water lilies swaying on the surface of an english stream but today all that seems pale and thin and very far away just now our blood dances to other music they fell a twittering among themselves once more and this time their intoxicating babble was of violet seas tawny sands and lizard haunted walls restlessly the rat wandered off once more climbed the slope that rose gently from the north bank of the river and lay looking out towards the great ring of downs that barred his vision further southwards his simple horizon hitherto his mountains of the moon his limit behind which lay nothing he had cared to see or to know today to him gazing south with a newborn need staring in his heart the clear sky over their long low outline seemed to pulsate with promise today the unseen was everything the unknown the only real fact of life on this side of the hills was now the real blank on the other lay the crowded and colored panorama that his inner eye was seeing so clearly what seas lay beyond green leaping and crested what sunbathed coasts along which the white villas glittered against the olive woods what quiet harbors thronged with gallant shipping bound for purple islands of wine and spice islands set low in languorous waters he rose and descended riverwards once more then changed his mind and sought the side of the dusty lane there lying half buried in the thick cool under hedge tangle that bordered it he could muse on the metalled road and all the wondrous world that it led to on all the wayfarers too that might have trodden it and the fortune and adventures they had gone to seek or found unseeking out there beyond beyond footsteps fell on his ear and the figure of one that walked somewhat wearily came into view and he saw that it was a rat and a very dusty one the wayfarer as he reached him saluted with a gesture of courtesy that had something foreign about it hesitated a moment then with a pleasant smile turned from the track and sat down by his side in the cool herbage he seemed tired and the rat let him rest unquestioned understanding something of what was in his thoughts knowing too the value all animals attach at times to mere silent companionship when the weary muscles slacken and the mind marks time the wayfarer was lean and keen featured and somewhat bowed at the shoulders his paws were thin and long his eyes much wrinkled at the corners and he wore small gold earrings in his neatly set well-shaped ears his knitted jersey was of a faded blue his breeches patched and stained were based on a blue foundation and his small belongings that he carried were tied up in a blue cotton handkerchief when he had rested a while the stranger sighed snuffed the air and looked about him that was clover that warm whiff on the breeze he remarked and those are cows we hear cropping the grass behind us and blowing softly between mouthfuls there is a sound of distant reapers and yonder rises a blue line of cottage smoke against the woodland the river runs somewhere close by for i hear the call of a moorhen and i see by your build that you're a freshwater mariner everything seems asleep and yet going on all the time it is a goodly life that you lead friend no doubt the best in the world if only you were strong enough to lead it yes it's the life the only life to live responded the water rat dreamily and without his usual wholehearted conviction i did not say exactly that replied the stranger cautiously but no doubt it is the best i've tried it and i know and because i've just tried it six months of it and know it's the best here am i foot sore and hungry tramping away from it tramping southward following the old call back to the old life the life which is mine and which will not let me go is this then yet another of them mused the rat and where have you just come from he asked he hardly dared to ask where he was bound for he seemed to know the answer only too well nice little farm replied the wayfarer briefly up along in that direction he nodded northwards never mind about that i had everything i could want everything i had any right to expect of life and more and here i am so many miles further on the road so many hours nearer to my heart's desire his shining eyes held fast to the horizon and he seemed to be listening for some sound that was wanting from that inland acreage vocal as it was with the cheerful music of pasturage and farmyard you are not one of us said the water rat nor yet a farmer nor even i should judge of this country right replied the stranger i'm a seafaring rat i am and the port i originally hail from is constantinople though i'm a sort of foreigner there too in a manner of speaking you will have heard of constantinople friend a fair city and an ancient and glorious one and you may have heard too of sigurd king of norway and how he sailed thither with 60 ships and how he and his men rode up through streets all canopied in their honor with purple and gold and how the emperor and empress came down and banqueted with him on board his ship when sigurd returned home many of his north men remained behind and entered the emperor's body and my ancestor a norwegian born stayed behind too with the ships that sigurd gave the emperor seafarers we have ever been and no wonder as for me the city of my birth is no more my home than any pleasant port between there and the london river i know them all and they know me set me down on any of their quays or foreshores and i'm home again i suppose you go great voyages said the water rat with growing interest months and months out of sight of land and provisions running short and allowance thus to water and your mind communing with the mighty ocean and all that sort of thing by no means said the sea rat frankly such a life as you describe would not suit me at all i'm in the coasting trade and rarely out of sight of land it's the jolly times on shore that appeal to me as much as any seafaring oh those southern seaports the smell of them the riding lights at night the glamour well perhaps you have chosen the better way said the water rat rather doubtfully tell me something of your coasting then if you have a mind to and what sort of harvest an animal of spirit might hope to bring home from it to warm his latter days with gallant memories by the fireside for my life i confess to you feels to me today somewhat narrow and circumscribed my last voyage began the sea rat that landed me eventually in this country bound with high hopes for my inland farm will serve as a good example of any of them and indeed as an epitome of my highly colored life family troubles as usual began it the domestic storm cone was hoisted and i shipped myself on board a small trading vessel bound from constantinople by classic seas whose every wave throbs with a deathless memory to the grecian islands and the levant those were golden days and balmy nights in and out of harbour all the time old friends everywhere sleeping in some cool temple or ruined cistern during the heat of the day feasting and song after sundown under great stars set in a velvet sky thence we turned and coasted up the adriatic its shores swimming in an atmosphere of amber rose and aquamarine we lay in wide landlocked harbours we roamed through ancient and noble cities until at last one morning as the sun rose royally behind us we rode into venice down a path of gold oh venice is a fine city wherein a rat can wander at his ease and take his pleasure or when weary of wandering can sit at the edge of the grand canal at night feasting with his friends when the air is full of music and the sky full of stars and the lights flash and shimmer on the polished steel prows of the swaying gondolas packed so that you could walk across the canal on them from side to side and then the food do you like shellfish well we won't linger over that now he was silent for a time and the water rat silent too and enthralled floated on dream canals and heard a phantom song peeling high between vaporous gray wavelapped walls southwards we sailed again at last continued the sea rat coasting down the italian shore till finally we made palermo and there i quitted for a long happy spell on shore i never stick too long to one ship one gets narrow-minded and prejudiced besides sicily is one of my happy hunting grounds i know everybody there and their ways just suit me i spent many jolly weeks in the island staying with friends up country when i grew restless again i took advantage of a ship that was trading to sardinia and corsica and very glad i was to feel the fresh breeze and the sea spray in my face once more but isn't it very hot and stuffy down in the hold i think you call it asked the water rat the seafarer looked at him with the suspicion of a wink i'm an old hand he remarked with much simplicity the captain's cabin's good enough for me it's a hard life though by all accounts murmured the rat sunk deep in thought for the crew it is replied the seafarer gravely again with the ghost of a wink from corsica he went on i made use of a ship that was taking wine to the mainland we made alassio in the evening lay two hauled up our wine casks and hove them overboard tied one to the other by a long line then the crew took to the boats and rode shorewards singing as they went and drawing after them the long bobbing procession of casks like a mile of porpoises on the sands they had horses waiting which dragged the casks up the steep street of the little town with a fine rush and clatter and scramble when the last cask was in we went and refreshed and rested and sat late into the night drinking with our friends and next morning i was off to the great olive woods for a spell and a rest for now i had done with islands for the time and ports and shipping were plentiful so i led a lazy life among the peasants lying and watching them work or stretched high on the hillside with the blue mediterranean far below me and so at length by easy stages and partly on foot partly by sea to marseilles and the meeting of old shipmates and the visiting of great ocean band vessels and feasting once more talk of shellfish why sometimes i dream of the shellfish of marseilles and wake up crying which reminds me said the polite water rat you happen to mention you were hungry and i ought to have spoken earlier of course you will stop and take your midday meal with me my hole is close by it is some time past noon and you are very welcome to whatever there is now i call that kind and brotherly of you said the sea rat i was indeed hungry when i sat down and ever since i inadvertently happened to mention shellfish my pangs have been extreme but couldn't you fetch it along out here i am none too fond of going under hatches unless i'm obliged to and then while we eat i could tell you more concerning my voyages and the pleasant life i lead at least it is very pleasant to me and by your attention i judge it commends itself to you whereas if we go indoors it is a hundred to one that i shall presently fall asleep that is indeed an excellent suggestion said the water rat and hurried off home there he got out the luncheon basket and packed a simple meal in which remembering the stranger's origin and preferences he took care to include a yard of long french bread a sausage out of which the garlic sang some cheese which lay down and cried and a long necked straw covered flask containing bottled sunshine shed and garnered on far southern slopes thus laden he returned with all speed and blushed for pleasure at the old seaman's commendations of his taste and judgment as together they unpacked the basket and laid out the contents on the grass by the roadside the sea rat as soon as his hunger was somewhat assuaged continued the history of his latest voyage conducting his simple hero from port to port of spain landing him at lisbon oporto and bordeaux introducing him to the pleasant harbors of cornwall and devon and so up the channel to that final quayside where landing after winds long contrary storm driven and weather beaten he had caught the first magical hints and heraldings of another spring and fired by these had sped on a long tramp inland hungry for the experiment of life on some quiet farmstead very far from the beating of any sea spellbound and quivering with excitement the water rat followed the adventurer league by league over stormy bays through crowded roadsteads across harbour bars on a racing tide up winding rivers that hid their busy little towns around a sudden turn and left him with a regretful sigh planted at his dull inland farm about which he desired to hear nothing by this time their meal was over and the seafarer refreshed and strengthened his voice more vibrant his eye lit with a brightness that seemed caught from some faraway sea beacon filled his glass with the red and glowing vintage of the south and leaning towards the water rat compelled his gaze and held him body and soul while he talked those eyes were of the changing foam street gray green of leaping northern seas in the glass shone a hot ruby that seemed the very heart of the south beating for him who had courage to respond to its pulsation the twin lights the shifting gray and the steadfast red mastered the water rat and held him bound fascinated powerless the quiet world outside their rays receded far away and ceased to be and the talk the wonderful talk flowed on or was it speech entirely or did it pass at times into song chants of the sailors weighing the dripping anchor sonorous hum of the shrouds in a tearing northeaster ballad of the fisherman hauling his nets at sundown against an apricot sky chords of guitar and mandolin from gondola or kike did it change into the cry of the wind plaintive at first angrily shrill as it freshened rising to a tearing whistle sinking to a musical trickle of air from the leech of the bellying sail all these sounds a spellbound listener seemed to hear and with them the hungry complaint of the gulls and the sea muse the soft thunder of the breaking wave the cry of the protesting shingle back into speech again it passed and with beating heart he was following the adventures of a dozen seaports the fights the escapes the rallies the comrade ships the gallant undertakings or he searched islands for treasure fished in still lagoons and dozed day long on warm white sand of deep sea fishings he heard tell and mighty silver gatherings of the mile-long net of sudden perils noise of breakers on a moonless night or the tall bows of the great liner taking shape overhead through the fog of the merry homecoming the headland rounded the harbour lights opened out the groups seen dimly on the quay the cheery hail the splash of the hauser the trudge up the steep little street towards the comforting glow of red curtained windows lastly in his waking dream it seemed to him that the adventurer had risen to his feet but was still speaking still holding him fast with his sea grey eyes and now he was softly saying i take to the road again holding on south westwards for many a long and dusty day till at last i reach the little grey sea town i know so well that clings along one steep side of the harbour there through dark doorways you look down flights of stone steps overhung by great pink tufts of valerian and ending in a patch of sparkling blue water the little boats that lie tethered to the rings and stanchions of the old sea wall are gaily painted as those i clambered in and out of in my own childhood the salmon leap on the flood tide schools of mackerel flash and play past quaysides and foreshores and by the windows the great vessels glide night and day up to their moorings or forth to the open sea there sooner or later the ships of all seafaring nations arrive and there at its destined hour the ship of my choice will let go its anchor i shall take my time i shall tarry and bide till at last the right one lies waiting for me warped out into midstream loaded low her bowsprit pointing down harbour i shall slip on board by boat or a long horse and then one morning i shall wake to the song and tramp of the sailors the clink of the capstan and the rattle of the anchor chain coming merrily in we shall break out the jib and the foresail the white houses on the harbour side will glide slowly past us as she gathers steering way and the voyage will have begun as she forges towards the headland she will clothe herself with canvas and then once outside the sounding slap of great green seas as she heels to the wind pointing south and you you will come too young brother for the days pass and never return and the south still waits for you take the adventure heed the call now ere the irrevocable moment passes tis but a banging of the door behind you a blithesome step forward and you are out of the old life and into the new then someday someday long hence jog home here if you will when the cup has been drained and the play has been played and sit down by your quiet river with a stall of goodly memories for company you can easily overtake me on the road for you are young and i'm aging and go softly i will linger and look back and at last i will surely see you coming eager and light-hearted with all the south in your face the voice died away and ceased as an insect's tiny trumpet dwindled swiftly into silence and the water rat paralysed and staring saw at last but a distant speck on the white surface of the road mechanically he rose and proceeded to repack the luncheon basket carefully and without haste mechanically he returned home gathered together a few small necessaries and special treasures he was fond of and put them in a satchel acting with slow deliberation moving about the room like a sleepwalker listening ever with parted lips he swung the satchel over his shoulder carefully selected a stout stick for his wayfaring and with no haste but with no hesitation at all he stepped across the threshold just as the mole appeared at the door why where are you off to ratty asked the mole in great surprise grasping him by the arm going south with the rest of them murmured the rat in a dreamy monotone never looking at him seawards first and then on shipboard and so to the shores that are calling me he pressed resolutely forward still without haste but with dogged fixity of purpose but the mole now thoroughly alarmed placed himself in front of him and looking into his eyes saw that they were glazed and set and turned a streaked and shifting gray not his friend's eyes but the eyes of some other animal grappling with him strongly he dragged him inside threw him down and held him the rat struggled desperately for a few moments and then his strength seemed suddenly to leave him and he lay still and exhausted with closed eyes trembling presently the mole assisted him to rise and placed him in a chair where he sat collapsed and shrunken into himself his body shaken by a violent shivering passing in time into a hysterical fit of dry sobbing mole made the door fast threw the satchel into a drawer and locked it and sat down quietly on the table by his friend waiting for the strange seizure to pass gradually the rat sank into a troubled doze broken by starts and confused murmurings of things strange and wild and foreign to the unenlightened mole and from that he passed into a deep slumber very anxious in mind the mole left him for a time and busied himself with household matters and it was getting dark when he returned to the parlor and found the rat where he had left him wide awake indeed but listless silent and dejected he took one hasty glance at his eyes found them to his great gratification clear and dark and brown again as before and then sat down and tried to cheer him up and help him to relate what had happened to him poor ratty did his best by degrees to explain things but how could he put into cold words what had mostly been suggestion how recall for another's benefit the haunting sea voices that had sung to him how reproduce at second hand the magic of the seafarer's hundred reminiscences even to himself now the spell was broken and the glamour gone he found it difficult to account for what had seemed some hours ago the inevitable and only thing it's not surprising then that he failed to convey to the mole any clear idea of what he'd been through that day to the mole this much was plain the fit or attack had passed away and had left him sane again though shaken and cast down by the reaction but he seemed to have lost all interest for the time in the things that went to make up his daily life as well as in all pleasant forecastings of the altered days and doings that the changing season was surely bringing casually then and with seeming indifference the mole turned his talk to the harvest that was being gathered in the towering wagons and their straining teams the glowing ricks and the large moon rising over bare acres dotted with sheaves he talked of the reddening apples around of the browning nuts of jams and preserves and the distilling of cordials till by easy stages such as these he reached midwinter its hearty joys and its snug home life and then he became simply lyrical by degrees the rat began to sit up and to join in his dull eyes brightened and he lost some of his listless air presently the tactful mole slipped away and returned with a pencil and a few half sheets of paper which he placed on the table at his friend's elbow it's quite a long time since you did any poetry he remarked you might have a try at it this evening instead of well brooding over things so much i have an idea that you'll feel a lot better when you've got something jotted down if it's only just the rhymes the rat pushed the paper away from him wearily but the discreet mole took occasion to leave the room and when he peeped in again sometime later the rat was absorbed and deaf to the world alternately scribbling and sucking the top of his pencil it is true that he sucked a good deal more than he scribbled but it was joy to the mole to know that the cure had at least begun as i mentioned at the beginning of chapter nine kenneth graham's only child was called alistair and graham told his son bedtime stories about a mole a beaver and a water rat and the letters he wrote when alistair was holidaying with his nanny in little hampton in 1907 included stories about a toad these stories about animals have been seen as the source for the wind in the willows we've reached chapter 10 the further adventures of toad so if you're ready then i'll begin the front door of the hollow tree faced eastwards so toad was called at an early hour partly by the bright sunlight streaming in on him partly by the exceeding coldness of his toes which made him dream that he was at home in bed in his own handsome room with the tudor window on a cold winter's night and his bed clothes had got up grumbling and protesting that they couldn't stand the cold any longer and had run downstairs to the kitchen fire to warm themselves and he had followed on bare feet along miles and miles of icy stone paved passages arguing and beseeching them to be reasonable he would probably have been aroused much earlier had he not slept for some weeks on straw over stone flags and almost forgotten the friendly feeling of thick blankets pulled well up around the chin sitting up he rubbed his eyes first and his complaining toes next wondered for a moment where he was looking around for familiar stone wall and little barred window and then with a leap of the heart remembered everything his escape his flight his pursuit remembered first and best thing of all that he was free free the word and the thought alone were worth 50 blankets he was warm from end to end as he thought of the jolly world outside waiting eagerly for him to make his triumphal entrance ready to serve him and play up to him anxious to help him and to keep him company as it always had been in days of old before misfortune fell upon him he shook himself and combed the dry leaves out of his hair with his fingers and his toilet complete marched forth into the comfortable morning sun cold but confident hungry but hopeful all nervous terrors of yesterday dispelled by rest and sleep and frank and heartening sunshine he had the world all to himself that early summer morning the dewy woodland as he threaded it was solitary and still the green fields that succeeded the trees were his own to do as he liked with the road itself when he reached it in that loneliness that was everywhere seemed like a stray dog to be looking anxiously for company toad however was looking for something that could talk and tell him clearly which way he ought to go it is all very well when you have a light heart and a clear conscience and money in your pocket and nobody scouring the country for you to drag you off to prison again to follow where the road beckons and points not caring with the practical toad cared very much indeed and he could have kicked the road for its helpless silence when every minute was of importance to him the reserved rustic road was presently joined by a shy little brother in the shape of a canal which took its hand and ambled along by its side in perfect confidence but with the same tongue-tied uncommunicative attitude towards strangers bother them said toad to himself but anyhow one thing's clear they must both be coming from somewhere and going to somewhere you can't get over that so he marched on patiently by the water's edge round a bend in the canal came plodding a solitary horse stooping forward as if in anxious thought from rope traces attached to his collar stretched a long line taut but dipping with his stride the further part of it dripping pearly drops toad let the horse pass and stood waiting for what the fates were sending him with a pleasant swirl of quiet water at its blunt bow the barge slid up alongside of him its gaily painted gunwale level with the towing path its sole occupant a big stout woman wearing a linen sun bonnet one brawny arm laid along the a nice morning mum she remarked to toad as she drew up level with him i dare say it is mum responded toad politely as he walked along the tow path abreast of her i dare say it is a nice morning to them that's not in sore trouble like what i am here's my married daughter she sends off to me post haste to come to her at once so off i comes not knowing what may be happening or going to happen but fearing the worst as you will understand ma'am if you're a mother too and i've left my business to look after itself i'm in the washing and laundering line you must know ma'am and i've left my young children to look after themselves and a more mischievous and troublesome set of young imps doesn't exist ma'am and i've lost all my money and lost my way and as for what may be happening to my married daughter why i don't like to think of it ma'am where might your married daughter be living ma'am asked the barge woman she lives near to the river ma'am replied toad close to a fine house called toad hall that somewhere's hereabouts in these parts perhaps you may have heard of it toad hall why i'm going that way myself replied the barge woman this canal joins the river some miles further on a little above toad hall and then it's an easy walk you come along in the barge with me and i'll give you a lift she steered the barge close to the bank and toad with many humble and grateful acknowledgements stepped lightly on board and sat down with great satisfaction toad's luck again thought he i always come out on top so you're in the washing business ma'am said the barge woman politely as they glided along and a very good business you've got too i dare say if i'm not making too free in saying so finest business in the whole country said toad airily all the gentry come to me wouldn't go to anyone else if they were paid they know me so well you see i understand my work thoroughly and attend to it all myself washing ironing clear starching making up gent's fine shirts for evening wear everything's done under my own eye but surely you don't do all that work yourself ma'am asked the barge woman respectfully oh i have girls said toad lightly 20 girls or thereabouts always at work but you know what girls are ma'am nasty little hussies that's what i call so do i too said the barge woman with great heartiness but i dare say you set yours to rights the idle trollops and are you very fond of washing i love it said toad i simply dote on it never so happy as when i've got both arms in the wash tub but then it comes so easy to me no trouble at all a real pleasure i assure you mom what a bit of luck meeting you observed the barge woman thoughtfully a regular piece of good fortune for both of us why what do you mean asked toad nervously look at me now replied the barge woman i like washing too just the same as you do and for that matter whether i like it or not i've got to do all my own naturally moving about as i do now my husband he's such a fellow for shirking his work and leaving the barge to me that never a moment do i get for seeing to my own affairs by rights he ought to be here now either steering or attending to the horse though luckily the horse has sense enough to attend to himself instead of which he's gone off with the dog to see if they can't pick up a rabbit for dinner somewhere says he'll catch me up at the next lock well that's as may be i don't trust him once he gets off with that dog who's worse than he is but meantime how am i to get on with my washing oh never mind about the washing said toad not liking the subject try and fix your mind on that rabbit a nice fat young rabbit i'll be bound got any onions i can't fix my mind on anything but my washing said the barge woman and i wonder you can be talking of rabbits with such a joyful prospect before you there's a heap of things of mine that you'll find in the corner of the cabin if you'll just take one or two of the most necessary sort i won't venture to describe them to a lady like you but you'll recognize them at a glance and put them through the wash tub as we go along why it'll be a pleasure to you as you rightly say and a real help to me you'll find a tub handy and soap and a kettle on the stove and a bucket to hold up water from the canal with then i shall know you're enjoying yourself instead of sitting here idle looking at the scenery and yawning your head off here you let me steer said toad now thoroughly frightened and then you can get on with your washing your own way i might spoil your things or not do them as you like i'm more used to gentlemen's things myself it's my special line let you steer replied the barge woman laughing it takes some practice to steer a barge properly besides it's dull work and i want you to be happy no you shall do the washing you are so fond of and i'll stick to the steering that i understand don't try and deprive me of the pleasure of giving you a treat toad was fairly concerned he looked for escape this way and that saw that he was too far from the bank for a flying leap and sullenly resigned himself to his fate if it comes to that he thought in desperation i suppose any fool can wash he fetched tub soap and other necessaries from the cabin selected a few garments at random tried to recollect what he had seen in casual glances through laundry windows and set to a long half hour passed and every minute of it saw toad getting crosser and crosser nothing that he could do to the things seemed to please them or do them good he tried coaxing he tried slapping he tried punching they smiled back at him out of the tub unconverted happy in their original sin once or twice he looked nervously over his shoulder at the barge woman but she appeared to be gazing out in front of her absorbed in her steering his back ached badly and he noticed with dismay that his paws were beginning to get all crinkly now toad was very proud of his paws he muttered under his breath words that should never pass the lips of either washer women or toads and he lost the soap for the 50th time a burst of laughter made him straighten himself and look round the barge woman was leaning back and laughing unrestrainedly till the tears ran down her cheeks i've been watching you all the time she gasped i thought you must be a humbug all along from the conceited way you talked pretty washer woman you are never washed so much as a dishclout in your life olly toad's temper which had been simmering viciously for some time now fairly boiled over and he lost all control of himself you common low fat barge woman he shouted don't you dare talk to your betters like that washer woman indeed i would have you know that i am a toad a very well-known respected distinguished toad i may be under a bit of a cloud at present but i will not be laughed at by a barge woman the woman moved nearer to him and peered under his bonnet keenly and closely why so you are she cried well i never a horrid nasty crawly toad and in my nice clean barge too now that is a thing i will not have she relinquished the tiller for a moment one big mottled arm shot out and caught toad by a foreleg while the other gripped him fast by a hind leg then the world turned suddenly upside down the barge seemed to flit lightly across the sky the wind whistled in his ears and toad found himself flying through the air revolving rapidly as he went the water when he eventually reached it with a loud splash proved quite cold enough for his taste though its chill was not sufficient to quell his proud spirit or slake the heat of his furious temper he rose to the surface spluttering and when he had wiped the duckweed out of his eyes the first thing he saw was the barge woman looking back at him over the stern of the retreating barge and laughing and he vowed as he coughed and choked to get even with her he struck for the shore but the cotton gown greatly impeded his efforts and when at length he touched land he found it hard to climb up the steep bank unassisted he had to take a minute or two's rest to recover his breath and then gathering his wet skirts well over his arms he started to run after the barge as fast as his legs would carry him wild with indignation thirsting for revenge the barge woman was still laughing when he drew up level with her put yourself through your mangle washer woman she called out an eye on your face and crimp it and you'll pass for quite a decent looking toad toad never paused to reply solid revenge was what he wanted not cheap windy verbal triumphs though he had a thing or two in his mind that he would have liked to say he saw what he wanted ahead of him running swiftly on he overtook the horse unfastened the tow rope and cast off jumped lightly on the horse's back and urged it to a gallop by kicking it vigorously in the sides he steered for the open country abandoning the towpath and swinging his steed down a rutty lane once he looked back and saw that the barge had run aground on the other side of the canal and the barge woman was gesticulating wildly and shouting stop stop stop i've heard that song before said toad laughing as he continued to spur his steed onward in its wild career the barge horse was not capable of any very sustained effort and its gallop soon subsided into a trot and its trot into an easy walk but toad was quite contented with this knowing that he at any rate was moving and the barge was not he had quite recovered his temper now that he had done something he thought really clever and he was satisfied to jog along quietly in the sun taking advantage of any byways and bridle paths and trying to forget how very long it was since he had had a square meal till the canal had been left very far behind him he had traveled some miles his horse and he and he was feeling drowsy in the hot sunshine when the horse stopped lowered his head and began to nibble the grass and toad waking up just saved himself from falling off he looked about him and found he was on a wide common dotted with patches of gorse and bramble as far as he could see near him stood a dingy caravan and beside it a man was sitting on a bucket turned upside down very busy smoking and staring into the wide world a fire of sticks was burning nearby and over the fire hung an iron pot and out of the pot came forth bubblings and gurglings and a vague suggestive steaminess also smells warm rich and varied smells that twined and twisted and wreathed themselves at last into one complete voluptuous perfect smell that seemed like the very soul of nature taking form and appearing to her children a true goddess a mother of solace and comfort toad now knew well that he had not really been hungry before what he had felt earlier in the day had been a mere trifling qualm this was the real thing at last and no mistake and it would have to be dealt with speedily too or there would be trouble for somebody or something he looked the man over carefully wondering vaguely whether it would be easier to fight him or cajole him so there he sat and sniffed and sniffed and looked at the man and the man sat and smoked and looked at him presently the man took his pipe out of his mouth and remarked in a careless way want to sell that there horse of yours toad was completely taken aback he didn't know that travelers were very fond of horse dealing and never missed an opportunity and he had not reflected that caravans were always on the move and took a deal of drawing it had not occurred to him to turn the horse into cash but the man's suggestion seemed to smooth the way towards the two things he wanted so badly ready money and a solid breakfast what he said me sell this beautiful young horse of mine oh no it's out of the question who's going to take the washing home to my customers every week besides i'm too fond of him and he simply dotes on me try and love a donkey suggested the man some people do you don't seem to see continued toad that this fine horse of mine is a cut above you altogether he's a blood horse he is partly not the part you see of course another part and he's been a prize hackney too in his time that was the time before you knew him but you can still tell it on him at a glance if you understand anything about horses no it's not to be thought of for a moment all the same how much might you be disposed to offer me for this beautiful young horse of mine the man looked the horse over and then he looked toad over with equal care and looked at the horse again shilling a leg he said and turned away continuing to smoke and try to stare the wide world out of countenance a shilling a leg cried toad if you please i must take a little time to work that out and see just what it comes to he climbed down off his horse and left it to graze and sat down by the man and did sums on his fingers and at last he said a shilling a leg why that comes to exactly four shillings and no more oh no i could not think of accepting four shillings for this beautiful young horse of mine well said the man i'll tell you what i'll do i'll make it five shillings and that's three and six pence more than the animal's worth and that's my last word then toad sat and pondered long and deeply for he was hungry and quite penniless and still some way he knew not how far from home and enemies might still be looking for him to one in such a situation five shillings may very well appear a large sum of money on the other hand it didn't seem very much to get for a horse but then again the horse hadn't cost him anything so whatever he got was all clear profit at last he said firmly look here i tell you what we will do and this is my last word you shall hand me over six shillings and six pence cash down and further in addition there too you shall give me as much breakfast as i can possibly eat at one sitting of course out of that iron pot of yours that keeps sending forth such delicious and exciting smells in return i will make over to you my spirited young horse with all the beautiful harness and trappings that are on him freely thrown in if that's not good enough for you say so and i'll be getting on i know a man near here who's wanted this horse of mine for years the traveler grumbled frightfully and declared if he did a few more deals of that sort he'd be ruined but in the end he lugged a dirty canvas bag out of the depths of his trouser pocket and counted out six shillings and six pence into toad's paw then he disappeared into the caravan for an instant and returned with a large iron plate and a knife fork and spoon he tilted up the pot and a glorious stream of hot rich stew gurgled into the plate it was indeed the most beautiful stew in the world being made of partridges and pheasants and chickens and hares and rabbits and peahens and guinea fowls and one or two other things toad took the plate on his lap almost crying and stuffed and stuffed and stuffed and kept asking for more and the man never grudged at him he thought he had never eaten so good a breakfast in all his life when toad had taken as much stew on board as he thought he could possibly hold he got up and said goodbye to the traveler and took an affectionate farewell of the and the traveler who knew the riverside well gave him directions which way to go and he set forth on his travels again in the best possible spirits he was indeed a very different toad from the animal of an hour ago the sun was shining brightly his wet clothes were quite dry again he had money in his pocket once more he was nearing home and friends and safety and most and best of all he had had a substantial meal hot and nourishing and felt big and strong and careless and self-confident as he jumped along gaily he thought of his adventures and escapes and how when things seemed at their worst he had always managed to find a way out and his pride and conceit began to swell within him ho ho he said to himself as he marched along with his chin in the air what a clever toad i am there was surely no animal equal to me for cleverness in the whole world my enemies shut me up in prison encircled by sentries watch night and day by warders i walk out through them all by sheer ability coupled with courage they pursue me with engines and policemen and revolvers i snap my fingers at them and vanish laughing into space i am unfortunately thrown into a canal by a woman fat of body and very evil-minded what of it i swim ashore i seize her horse i ride off in triumph and i sell the horse for a whole pocket full of money and an excellent breakfast ho ho i am the toad the handsome the popular the successful toad he got so puffed up with conceit that he made up a song as he walked in praise of himself and sang it at the top of his voice though there was no one to hear it but him it was perhaps the most conceited song that any animal ever composed the world has held great heroes as history books have showed but never a name to go down to fame compared with that of toad the clever men at oxford know all that there is to be knowed but they none of them know one half as much as intelligent mr toad the animals sat in the ark and cried their tears in torrents flowed who was it said there's land ahead encouraging mr toad the army all saluted as they marched along the road was it the king or kitchener no it was mr toad the queen and her ladies in waiting sat at the window and sewed she cried look who's that handsome man they answered mr toad there was a great deal more of the same sort but too dreadfully conceited to be written down these are some of the milder verses he sang as he walked and he walked as he sang and got more inflated every minute but his pride was shortly to have a severe fall after some miles of country lanes he reached the high road and as he turned into it and glanced along its white length he saw approaching him a speck that turned into a dot and then into a blob and then into something very familiar and a double note of warning only too well known fell on his delighted ear this is something like said the excited toad this is real life again this is once more the great world from which i have been missed so long i will hail them my brothers of the wheel and pitch them a yarn of the sort that has been so successful hitherto and they will give me a lift of course and then i will talk to them some more and perhaps with luck it may even end in my driving up to toad hall in a motor car that will be one in the eye for badger he stepped confidently out into the road to hail the motor car which came along at an easy pace slowing down as it neared the lane when suddenly he became very pale his heart turned to water his knees shook and yielded under him and he doubled up and collapsed with a sickening pain in his interior and well he might the unhappy animal for the approaching car was the very one he had stolen out of the yard of the red lion hotel on that fatal day when all his troubles began and the people in it were the very same people he had sat and watched at luncheon in the coffee room he sank down in a shabby miserable heap in the road murmuring to himself in his despair it's all up it's all over now chains and policemen again prison again dry bread and water again oh what a fool i have been what did i want to go strutting about the country for singing conceited songs and hailing people in broad day on the high road instead of hiding till nightfall and slipping home quietly by back ways oh hapless toad oh ill-fated animal the terrible motor car drew slowly nearer and nearer till at last he heard it stop just short of him two gentlemen got out and walked around the trembling heap of crumpled misery lying in the road and one of them said oh dear this is very sad here is a poor old thing a washerwoman apparently who has fainted in the road perhaps she's overcome by the heat poor creature or possibly she's not had any food today let us lift her into the car and take her to the nearest village where doubtless she has friends they tenderly lifted toad into the motor car and propped him up with soft cushions and proceeded on their way when toad heard them talk in so kind and sympathetic a manner he knew he was not recognized his courage began to revive and he cautiously opened first one eye and then the other look said one of the gentlemen she is better already the fresh air is doing her good how do you feel now ma'am thank you kindly sir said toad in a feeble voice i'm feeling a great deal better that's right said the gentleman now keep quite still and above all don't try to talk i won't said toad i was only thinking if i might sit on the front seat there beside the driver where i could get the fresh air full in my face i should soon be all right again what a very sensible woman said the gentleman of course you shall so they carefully helped toad into the front seat beside the driver and on they went once more toad was almost himself again by now he sat up looked about him and tried to beat down the tremors the yearnings the old cravings that rose up and beset him and took possession of him entirely it is fate he said to himself why strive why struggle and he turned to the driver at his side please sir he said i wish you would kindly let me try and drive the car for a little i've been watching you carefully and it looks so easy and so interesting and i should like to be able to tell my friends that once i had driven a motor car the driver laughed at the proposal so heartily that the gentleman inquired what the matter was when he heard he said to toad's delight bravo ma'am i like your spirit let her have a try and look after her she won't do any harm toad eagerly scrambled into the seat vacated by the driver took the steering wheel in his hands listened with affected humility to the instructions given him and set the car in motion but very slowly and carefully at first for he was determined to be prudent the gentleman behind clapped their hands and applauded and toad heard them saying how well she does it fancy a washerwoman driving a car as well as that the first time toad went a little faster then faster still and faster he heard the gentleman call out warningly be careful washerwoman and this annoyed him and he began to lose his head the driver tried to interfere but he pinned him down in his seat with one elbow and put on full speed the rush of air in his face the hum of the engine and the light jump of the car beneath him intoxicated his weak brain washerwoman indeed he shouted recklessly ho ho i am the toad the motor car snatcher the prison breaker the toad who always escapes sit still and you shall know what driving really is for you are in the hands of the famous the skillful the entirely fearless toad with a cry of horror the whole party rose seize him they cried seize the toad the wicked animal who stole our motor car bind him chain him drag him to the nearest police station down with the desperate and dangerous toad alas they should have thought they ought to have been more prudent they should have remembered to stop the motor car somehow before playing any pranks of that sort with a half turn of the wheel the toad sent the car crashing through the low hedge that ran along the roadside one mighty bound a violent shock and the wheels of the car were churning up the thick mud of a horse pond toad found himself flying through the air with the strong upward rush and delicate curve of a swallow he liked the motion and was just beginning to wonder whether it would go on until he developed wings and turned into a toad bird when he landed on his back with a thump in the soft rich grass of a meadow sitting up he could just see the motor car in the pond nearly submerged the gentleman and the driver encumbered by their long coats floundering helplessly in the water he picked himself up rapidly and set off running across country as hard as he could scrambling through hedges jumping ditches pounding across fields until he was breathless and weary and had to settle down into an easy walk when he had recovered his breath somewhat and was able to think calmly he began to giggle and from giggling he took to laughing and he laughed until he had to sit down under a hedge ho ho he cried in ecstasy of self-admiration toad again toad as usual comes out on top who was it got them to give him a lift who managed to get on the front seat for the sake of fresh air who persuaded them into letting him see if he could drive who landed them all in a horse pond who escaped flying gaily and unscathed through the air leaving the narrow-minded grudging timid excursionists in the mud where they should rightly be why toad of course clever toad great toad good toad and then he burst into song again and chanted with uplifted voice the motor car went poop poop poop as it raced along the road who was it steered it into a pond ingenious mr toad oh how clever i am how clever how clever how very clever a slight noise at a distance behind him made him turn his head and look oh horror oh misery oh despair about two fields off a chauffeur in his leather gaiters and two large rural policemen were visible running towards him as hard as they could go poor toad sprang to his feet and pelted away again his heart in his mouth oh my he gasped as he panted along what an ass i am what a conceited and heedless ass swaggering again shouting and singing songs again sitting still and gassing again oh my oh my oh my he glanced back and saw to his dismay that they were gaining on him on he ran desperately but kept looking back and saw they were still gaining steadily he did his best but he was a fat animal and his legs were short and still they gained he could hear them close behind him now ceasing to heed where he was going he struggled on blindly and wildly looking back over his shoulder at the now triumphant enemy when suddenly the earth failed under his feet he grasped at the air and splash he found himself head over heels in deep water rapid water water that bore him along with a force he could not contend with and he knew that in his blind panic he had run straight into the river he rose to the surface and tried to grasp the reeds and the that grew along the water's edge close under the bank but the stream was so strong it tore them out of his hands oh my gasped poor toad if ever i steal a motor car again if ever i sing another conceited song then down he went and came up breathless and spluttering presently he saw that he was approaching a big dark hole in the bank just above his head and as the stream bore him past he reached up with a paw and caught hold of the edge and held on then slowly and with difficulty he drew himself up out of the water till at last he was able to rest his elbows on the edge of the hole there he remained for some minutes puffing and panting he was quite exhausted as he sighed and blew and stared before him into the dark hole some bright small thing shone and twinkled in its depths moving towards him as it approached a face grew up gradually around it and it was a familiar face brown and small with whiskers grave and round with neat ears and silky hair it was the water rat graham retired from the bank that he worked at in 1908 when he was 49 the wind in the willows was published that same year four months after the author's resignation rejected at first by graham's usual publishers the book was eventually published in the uk by methuen and an american edition was released by scribner reviews were generally unfavorable but the book sold well and continued to sell well so if you're ready then i'll begin chapter 11 like summer tempests came his tears the rat put out a neat little brown paw gripped toad firmly by the scruff of the neck and gave a great hoist and a pull and the waterlogged toad came up slowly but surely over the edge of the hole till at last he stood safe and sound in the hall streaked with mud and weed to be sure and with the water streaming off him but happy and high-spirited as of old now that he found himself once more in the house of a friend and dodgings and evasions were over and he could lay aside a disguise that was unworthy of his position and wanted such a lot of living up to oh ratty he cried i've been through such times since i saw you last you can't think such trials such sufferings and also nobly born then such escapes such disguises such subterfuges and also cleverly planned and carried out been in prison got out of it of course been thrown into a canal swam ashore stole a horse sold him for a large sum of money humbugged everybody made them all do exactly what i wanted oh i am a smart toad and no mistake what do you think my last exploit was just hold on till i tell you toad said the water rat gravely and firmly you go off upstairs at once and take off that old cotton rag that looks as if it might formerly have belonged to some washerwoman and clean yourself thoroughly put on some of my clothes and try and come down looking like a gentleman if you can for a more shabby bedraggled disreputable looking object than you are i never set eyes on in my whole life now stop swaggering and arguing and be off i'll have something to say to you later toad was at first inclined to stop and do some talking back at him he'd had enough of being ordered about when he was in prison and here was the thing being begun all over again apparently and by a rat too however he caught sight of himself in the looking glass over the hat stand with the rusty black bonnet perched rakishly over one eye and he changed his mind and went very quickly and humbly upstairs to the rat's dressing room there he had a thorough wash and brush up changed his clothes and stood for a long time before the glass contemplating himself with pride and pleasure and thinking what utter idiots all the people must have been to have ever mistaken him for one moment as a washerwoman by the time he came down again luncheon was on the table and very glad toad was to see it for he had been through some trying experiences and had taken much hard exercise since the excellent breakfast provided for him by the traveler while they ate toad told the rat all his adventures dwelling chiefly on his own cleverness and presence of mind in emergencies and cunning in tight places and rather making out that he'd been having a gay and highly colored experience but the more he talked and boasted the more grave and silent the rat became when at last toad had talked himself to a standstill there was silence for a while and then the rat said now toady i don't want to give you pain after all you've been through already but seriously don't you see what an awful ass you've been making of yourself on your own admission you have been handcuffed imprisoned starved chased terrified out of your life insulted jeered at and ignominiously flung into the water by a woman too where's the amusement in that where does the fun come in and all because you must needs go and steal a motor car you know that you've never had anything but trouble from motor cars from the moment you first set eyes on one but if you will be mixed up with them as you generally are five minutes after you've started why steal them be an invalid if you think it's exciting be a bankrupt for a change if you've set your mind on it but why choose to be a convict when are you going to be sensible and think of your friends and try and be a credit to them do you suppose it's any pleasure to me for instance to hear animals saying as i go about that i'm the chap that keeps company with jail birds now it was a very comforting point in toad's character that he was a thoroughly good-hearted animal and he never minded being jawed by those who are his real friends and even when most sat upon the thing he was always able to see the other side of the question so although while the rat was talking so seriously he kept saying to himself mutinously but it was fun though awful fun and making strange suppressed noises inside himself like poop and other sounds resembling stifled snorts or the opening of soda water bottles yet when the rat had quite finished he heaved a deep sigh and said very nicely and humbly quite right ratty how sound you always are yes i've been a conceited old ass i can quite see that but now i'm going to be a good toad and not do it anymore as for motor cars i've not been at all so keen about them since my last ducking in that river of yours the fact is while i was hanging onto the edge of your hole and getting my breath i had a sudden idea a really brilliant idea connected with motor boats there there don't take on so old chap and stamp and upset things it was only an idea and we won't talk any more about it now we'll have our coffee and a smoke and a quiet chat and then i'm going to stroll gently down to toad hall and get into clothes of my own and set things going again on the old lines i've had enough adventures i shall lead a quiet steady respectable life pottering about my property improving it and doing a little landscape gardening at times there will always be a bit of dinner for my friends when they come to see me and i shall keep a pony chaise to jog about the country in just as i used to in the good old days before i got restless and wanted to do things stroll gently down to toad hall cried the rat greatly excited what are you talking about do you mean to say you haven't heard heard what said toad turning rather pale go on ratty quick don't spare me what haven't i heard do you mean to tell me shouted the rat thumping with his little fist upon the table that you've heard nothing about the stoats and weasels what the wild wooders cried toad trembling in every limb no not a word what have they been doing and how they've been and taken toad hall continued the rat toad leaned his elbows on the table and his chin on his paws and a large tear welled up in each of his eyes overflowed and splashed on the table plop plop go on ratty he murmured presently tell me at all the worst is over i am an animal again i can bear it when you got into that trouble of yours said the rat slowly and impressively i mean when you disappeared from society for a time over that misunderstanding about a machine you know toad merely nodded well it was a good deal talked about down here naturally said the rat not only along the riverside but even in the wild wood animals took sides as always happens the river bankers stuck up for you and said you'd been infamously treated and there was no justice to be had in the land nowadays but the wild wood animals said hard things and served you right and it was time this sort of thing was stopped and they got very cocky and went about saying you were done for this time you would never come back again never never toad nodded once more keeping silence that's the sort of little beasts they are the rat went on but mole and badger they stuck out through thick and thin that you would come back again soon somehow they didn't know exactly how but somehow toad began to sit up in his chair again and to smirk a little they argued from history continued the rat they said that no criminal laws had ever been known to prevail against cheek and plausibility such as yours combined with the power of a long purse so they arranged to move their things into toad hall and sleep there and keep it aired and have it all ready for you when you turned up they didn't guess what was going to happen of course still they had their suspicions of the wild wood animals now i come to the most painful and tragic part of my story one dark night it was a very dark night and blowing hard too and raining simply cats and dogs a band of weasels armed to the teeth crept silently up the carriage drive to the front entrance simultaneously a body of desperate ferrets advancing through the kitchen garden possessed themselves of the backyard and offices while a company of skirmishing stoats who stuck at nothing occupied the conservatory and the billiard room and held the french windows opening onto the lawn the mole and the badger were sitting by the fire in the smoking room telling stories and suspecting nothing for it wasn't a night for any animals to be out in when those bloodthirsty villains broke down the doors and rushed in on them from every side they made the best fight they could but what was the good they were unarmed and taken by surprise and what can two animals do against hundreds they took and beat them severely with sticks those two poor faithful creatures and turned them out into the cold and the wet with many insulting and uncalled for remarks here the unfeeling toad broke into a snigger and then pulled himself together and tried to look particularly solemn and the wildwooders have been living in toad hall ever since continued the rat and going on simply anyhow lying in bed half the day and breakfast at all hours and the place in such a mess i'm told it's not fit to be seen eating your grub drinking your drink making bad jokes about you singing vulgar songs about well about prisons and magistrates and policemen horrid personal songs with no humor in them and they're telling the trades people and everybody that they've come to stay for good oh have they said toad getting up and seizing a stick i'll jolly soon see about that it's no good toad called the rat after him you'd better come back and sit down you'll only get into trouble but toad was off and there was no holding him he marched rapidly down the road his stick over his shoulder fuming and muttering to himself in his anger till he got near the front gate when suddenly there popped up from behind the palings a long yellow ferret with a gun who comes there said the ferret sharply stuff and nonsense said toad very angrily what do you mean talking to me like that come out of it at once or i'll the ferret never said a word but he brought his gun up to his shoulder toad prudently dropped flat in the road and bang a bullet whistled over his head the startled toad scrambled to his feet and scampered off down the road as hard as he could and as he ran he heard the ferret laughing and other horrid thin little laughs taking it up and carrying on the sound he went back very crestfallen and told the water rat what did i tell you said the rat it's no good they've got sentries posted and they're all armed you must just wait still toad was not inclined to give in all at once so he got out the boat and set off rowing up the river to where the garden front of toad hall came down to the water side arriving within sight of his old home he rested on his oars and surveyed the land cautiously all seemed very peaceful and deserted and quiet he could see the whole front of toad hall glowing in the evening sunshine the pigeons settling by twos and threes along the straight line of the roof the garden a blaze of flowers the creek that led up to the boathouse the little wooden bridge that crossed it all tranquil uninhabited apparently waiting for his return he would try the boathouse first he thought very warily he paddled up to the mouth of the creek and was just passing under the bridge when crash a great stone dropped from above smashed through the bottom of the boat it filled and sank and toad found himself struggling in deep water looking up he saw two stoats leaning over the parapet of the bridge and watching him with great glee it will be your head next time toady they called out to him the indignant toad swam to shore while the stoats laughed and laughed supporting each other and laughed again till they nearly had two fits that is one fit each of course the toad retraced his weary way on foot and related his disappointing experiences to the water rat once more well what did i tell you said the rat very crossly and now look here see what you've been and done lost me my boat that i was so fond of that's what you've done and simply ruined that nice suit of clothes i lent you really toad of all the trying animals i wonder you managed to keep any friends at all the toad saw at once how wrongly and foolishly he had acted he admitted his errors and wrongheadedness and made a full apology to rat for losing his boat and spoiling his clothes and he wound up saying with that frank self-surrender which always disarmed his friend's criticism and won them back to his side ratty i see that i have been a headstrong and willful toad henceforth believe me i will be humble and submissive and will take no action without your kind advice and full approval if that is really so said the good-natured rat already appeased then my advice to you is considering the lateness of the hour to sit down and have your supper which will be on the table in a minute and be very patient for i am convinced we can do nothing until we've seen the mole and the badger and heard their latest news and held conference and taken their advice in this difficult matter oh ah yes of course the mole and the badger said toad lightly what's become of them the dear fellows i'd forgotten all about them well may you ask said the rat reproachfully while you were riding about the country in expensive motor cars and galloping proudly on blood horses and breakfasting on the fat of the land those two poor devoted animals have been camping out in the open in every sort of weather living very rough by day and lying very hard by night watching over your house patrolling your boundaries keeping a constant eye on the stoats and the weasels scheming and planning and contriving how to get your property back for you you don't deserve to have such true and loyal friends toad you don't really someday when it's too late you'll be sorry you didn't value them more while you have them i'm an ungrateful beast i know sobbed toad shedding bitter tears let me go out and find them out into the cold dark night and share their hardships and try and prove by hold on a bit surely i heard the chink of dishes on a tray supper's here at last hooray come on ratty the rat remembered that poor toad had been on prison fare for a considerable time and that large allowances had therefore to be made he followed him to the table accordingly and hospitably encouraged him in his gallant efforts to make up for past privations they had just finished their meal and resumed their armchairs when there came a heavy knock at the door toad was nervous but the rat nodding mysteriously at him went straight to the door and opened it and in walked mr badger he had all the appearance of one who for some nights had been kept away from home and all its little comforts and conveniences his shoes were covered with mud and he was looking very rough and tousled but then he had never been a very smart man the badger at the best of times he came solemnly up to toad shook him by the paw and said welcome home toad alas what am i saying home indeed this is a poor homecoming unhappy toad then he turned his back on him sat down to the table drew his chair up and helped himself to a large slice of cold pie toad was quite alarmed at this very serious and portentous style of greeting but the rat whispered to him never mind don't take any notice don't say anything to him just yet he's always rather low and despondent when he's wanting his vittles in half an hour's time he'll be quite a different animal so they waited in silence and presently there came another lighter knock the rat with a nod to toad went to the door and ushered in the mole very shabby and unwashed with bits of hay and straw sticking in his fur hooray here's old toad cried the mole his face beaming fancy having you back again and he began to dance around him we never dreamt you would turn up so soon why you must have managed to escape you clever ingenious intelligent toad the rat alarmed pulled him by the elbow but it was too late toad was puffing and swelling already clever oh no he said i'm not really clever according to my friends i've only broken out of the strongest prison in england that's all and captured a railway train and escaped on it that's all and disguised myself and gone about the country humbugging everybody that's all oh no i'm a stupid ass i am i'll tell you one or two of my little adventures mole and you shall judge for yourself well well said the mole moving towards the supper table supposing you talk while i eat not a bite since breakfast oh my oh my and he sat down and helped himself liberally to cold beef and pickles toad straddled on the hearth rug thrust his paw into his trouser pocket and pulled out a handful of silver look at that he cried displaying it that's not so bad is it for a few minutes work and how do you think i'd done it mole horse stealing that's how i done it go on toad said the mole immensely interested toad do be quiet please said the rat and don't you egg him on mole when you know what he is but please tell us as soon as possible what the position is the position's about as bad as it can be replied the mole grumpily and as for what's to be done why blessed if i know the badger and i have been round and round the place by night and by day always the same thing centuries posted everywhere guns poked out at us stones thrown at us always an animal on the lookout and when they see us my how they do laugh that's what annoys me most it's a very difficult situation said the rat reflecting deeply but i think i see now in the depths of my mind what toad really ought to do i will tell you he ought to no he oughtn't shouted the mole with his mouth full nothing of the sort you don't understand what he ought to do is he ought to well i shan't do it anyway cried toad getting excited i'm not going to be ordered about by you fellows it's my house we're talking about and i know exactly what to do and i'll tell you i'm going to by this time they were all three talking at once at the tops of their voices and the noise was simply deafening when a thin dry voice made itself heard saying be quiet at once all of you and instantly everyone was silent it was the badger who having finished his pie had turned round in his chair and was looking at them severely when he saw that he had secured their attention and they were evidently waiting for him to address them he turned back to the table again and reached out for the cheese and so great was the respect commanded by the solid qualities of that admirable animal that not another word was uttered until he had quite finished his repast and brushed the crumbs from his knees the toad fidgeted a good deal but the rat held him down when the badger had quite done he got up from his seat and stood before the fireplace at last he spoke toad he said severely you bad troublesome little animal aren't you ashamed of yourself what do you think your father my old friend would have said if he had been here tonight and had known of all your goings on toad who was on the sofa by this time with his legs up rolled over on his face shaken by sobs of contrition there there went on the badger more kindly never mind stop crying we're going to let bygones be bygones and try and turn over a new leaf but what the mole says is quite true the stoats are on guard at every point and they make the best sentinels in the world it's quite useless to think of attacking the place they're too strong for us then it's all over sobbed the toad crying into the sofa cushions i shall go and enlist for a soldier and never see my dear toad hall anymore come cheer up toady said the badger there are more ways of getting back a place than taking it by storm i haven't said my last word yet now i'm going to tell you a great secret toad sat up slowly and dried his eyes secrets had an immense attraction for him because he could never keep one and he enjoyed the sort of unhallowed thrill he experienced when he went and told another animal after having faithfully promised not to there is an underground passage said the badger impressively that leads from the riverbank quite near here right up into the middle of toad hall oh nonsense badger said toad rather airily you've been listening to some of the yarns they spin in the public houses about here i know every inch of toad hall inside and out nothing of the sort i do assure you my young friend said the badger with great severity your father who was a worthy animal a lot worthier than some others i know was a particular friend of mine he told me a great deal he wouldn't have dreamt of telling you he discovered that passage he didn't make it of course that was done hundreds of years before he ever came to live there but he repaired it and cleaned it out because he thought it might come in useful someday in case of trouble or danger and he showed it to me don't let my son know about it he said he's a good boy but very light and volatile in character and simply cannot hold his tongue if he's ever in a real fix and it would be of use to him you may tell him about the secret passage but not before the other animals looked hard at toad to see how he would take it toad was inclined to be sulky but he brightened up immediately like the good fellow he was well well he said perhaps i am a bit of a talker a popular fellow such as i am my friends get round me we chaff we sparkle we tell witty stories and somehow my tongue gets wagging i have the gift of conversation i've been told i ought to have a salon whatever that may be never mind go on badger how's this passage of yours going to help us i found out a thing or two lately continued the badger i got otter to disguise himself as a sweep and call at the back door with brushes over his shoulder asking for a job there's going to be a big banquet tomorrow night it's someone's birthday the chief weasels i believe and all the weasels will be gathered together in the dining hall eating and drinking and laughing and carrying on suspecting nothing no guns no swords no sticks no arms of any sort whatsoever but the sentinels will be posted as usual remark the rat exactly said the badger and that's my point the weasels will trust entirely to their excellent sentinels and that is where the passage comes in that very useful tunnel leads right up under the butler's pantry next to the dining hall oh that squeaky board in the butler's pantry said toad now i understand it we shall creep out quietly into the butler's pantry cried the mole with our pistols and swords and sticks shouted the rat and rush in upon them said the badger and whack them and whack them and whack them cried the toad in an ecstasy running round and round the room and jumping over the chairs very well then said the badger resuming his usual dry manner our plan is settled and there's nothing more for you to argue and squabble about so as it's getting very late all of you go right off to bed at once we'll make all the necessary arrangements in the course of the morning tomorrow toad of course went off to bed dutifully with the rest he knew better than to refuse but he was feeling much too excited to sleep but he had had a long day with many events crowded into it and sheets and blankets were very friendly and comforting things after playing straw not too much of it spread on the stone floor of a draughty cell and his head had not been many seconds on his pillow before he was snoring happily naturally he dreamt a good deal about roads that ran away from him just when he wanted them and canals that chased him and caught him and a barge that sailed into the banqueting hall with his weeks washing just as he was giving a dinner party and he was alone in the secret passage pushing onwards but it twisted and turned round and shook itself and sat up on its end yet somehow at the last he found himself back in toad hall safe and triumphant with all his friends gathered around about him earnestly assuring him that he really was a clever toad he slept till a late hour next morning and by the time he got down he found that the other animals had finished their breakfast sometime before the mole had slipped off somewhere by himself without telling anyone where he was going the badger sat in the armchair 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 around 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 should clear the floor of 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 belaboring imaginary animals i'll learn them to steal my house he cried i'll learn them i'll learn them don't say learn them toad said the rat greatly shocked it's not good english what are you always nagging at toad for inquired the badger 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 them not learn them but we don't want to teach them replied the badger we want to learn them learn them learn them 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 them teach them teach them learn them till the badger told him rather sharply to leave off presently the mole came tumbling into the room evidently very pleased with himself i've been having such fun he began at once i've been getting a rise out of the stoats i hope you've been very careful mole said the rat anxiously i should hope so too said the mole confidently i got the idea when i went into the kitchen to see about toad's breakfast being kept hot for him i found that old washerwoman dress that he came home in yesterday hanging on a towel horse before the fire so i put it on and the bonnet as well and the shawl and off i went to toad hall as bold as you please the sentries were on the lookout of course with their guns and their who goes there and all the rest of their nonsense good morning gentlemen says i very respectful want any washing done today they looked at me very proud and stiff and haughty and said go away washerwoman we don't do any washing on duty or any other time says i ho ho ho wasn't i funny toad poor frivolous animal said toad very loftily the fact is he felt exceedingly jealous of mole for what he had just done it was exactly what he would have liked to have done himself if only he'd thought of it at first and hadn't gone and overslept some of the stoats turned quite pink continued the mole and the sergeant in charge he said to me very short he said now run away my good woman run away don't keep my men idling and talking at their posts run away says i it won't be me that'll be running away in a very short time from now oh moly how could you said the rat dismayed the badger laid down his paper i could see them pricking up their ears and looking at each other went on the mole and the sergeant said to them never mind her she doesn't know what she's talking about oh don't i said i well let me tell you this my daughter she washes for mr badger and that will show you whether i know what i'm talking about and you'll know pretty soon too a hundred bloodthirsty badgers armed with rifles are going to attack toad hall this very night by way of the paddock six boatloads of rats with pistols and cutlasses will come up the river and effect a landing in the garden while a picked body of toads known as the die hard or the death or glory toads will storm the orchard and carry everything before them yelling for vengeance there won't be much left of you to wash by the time they've done with you unless you clear out while you have the chance then i ran away and when i was out of sight i hid and presently i came creeping back along the ditch and took a peep at them through the hedge they were all as nervous and flustered as could be running all ways at once falling over each other and everyone giving orders to everybody else and not listening and the sergeant kept sending off parties of stoats to distant parts of the grounds and then sending other fellows to fraction back again and i heard them saying to each other that's just like the weasels they're to stop comfortably in the banqueting hall and have feasting and toasts and songs and all sorts of fun while we must stay on guard in the cold and dark and in the end be cut to pieces by bloodthirsty badgers oh you silly ass mole cried toad you've and spoiled everything mole said the badger in his dry quiet way i perceive you have more sense in your little finger than some other animals have in the whole of their fat bodies you have managed excellently and i begin to have great hopes of you good mole clever mole the toad was simply wild with jealousy more especially as he couldn't make out for the life of him what the mole had done that was so particularly clever but fortunately for him before he could show temper or expose himself to badgers sarcasm the bell rang for luncheon it was a simple but sustaining meal bacon and broad beans and a macaroni pudding and when they had quite done the badger settled himself into an armchair and said well we've got our work cut out for us tonight and it will probably be pretty late before we're quite through with it so i'm just going to take 40 winks while i can and he drew a handkerchief over his face and was soon snoring the anxious and laborious rat at once resumed his preparations and started running between his four little heaps muttering here's a belt for the rat here's a belt for the mole here's a belt for the toad here's a belt for the badger and so on with every fresh accoutrement he produced to which there really seemed no end so the mole drew his arm through toads let him out into the open air shoved him into a wicker chair and made him tell all his adventures from beginning to end which toad was only too willing to do the mole was a good listener and toad with no one to check his statements or criticize in an unfriendly spirit rather let himself go indeed much that he related belonged more properly to the category of what might have happened had i only thought of it in time instead of 10 minutes afterwards those are always the best and the raciest adventures and why should they not be truly ours as much as the somewhat inadequate things that really come off i can hardly believe it but it's the very last chapter of the wind in the willows by kenneth graham and that's chapter 12 the return of ulysses but before i begin a couple more facts about the author kenneth graham died in 1932 rather sadly he was pre-deceased by his son alistair but his wife elsie survived him by 14 years graham's cousin anthony hope wrote his epitaph to the beautiful memory of kenneth graham husband of elspeth and father of alistair who passed the river on the 6th of july 1932 leaving childhood and literature through him the more blessed for all time so i'd like to thank you if you've been with me all through this journey and to hope that you've enjoyed it as much as i've enjoyed reading this book to you with its amazingly lyrical passages and descriptions of nature so if you're ready then i shall begin chapter 12 the return of ulysses when it began to grow dark the rat with an air of excitement and mystery summoned them back into the parlor stood each of them up alongside his own little heap and proceeded to dress them up for the coming expedition he was very earnest and thoroughgoing about it and the affair took quite a long time first there was a belt to go around each animal and then a sword to be stuck into each belt and then a cutlass on the other side to balance it then a pair of pistols a policeman's truncheon several sets of handcuffs some bandages and sticking plaster and a flask and a sandwich case the badger laughed good humidly and said all right ratty it amuses you and it doesn't hurt me i'm going to do all i've got to do with this here stick but the rat only said please badger you know i shouldn't like you to blame me afterwards and say i had forgotten anything when all was quite ready the badger took a dark lantern in one paw grasped his great stick with the other and said now then follow me mole first because i'm very pleased with him rat next toad last and look here toady don't you chatter as much as usual or you'll be sent back as sure as fate the toad was so anxious not to be left out that he took up the inferior position assigned to him without a murmur and the animals set off the badger led them along by the river for a little way and then suddenly swung himself over the edge into a hole in the river bank a little above the water the mole and the rat followed silently swinging themselves successfully into the hole as they had seen the badger do but when it came to toad's turn of course he managed to slip and fall into the water with a loud splash and a squeal of alarm he was hauled out by his friends rubbed down and wrung out hastily comforted and set on his legs but the badger was seriously angry and told him the very next time he made a fool of himself he would most certainly be left behind so at last they were in the secret passage and the cutting out expedition had really begun it was cold and dark and damp and low and narrow and poor toad began to shiver partly from the dread of what might be before him partly because he was wet through the lantern was far ahead and he couldn't help lagging behind a little in the darkness then he heard the rat call out warningly come on toad and a terror seized him of being left behind alone in the darkness and he came on with such a rush that he upset the rat into the mole and the mole into the badger and for a moment all was confusion the badger thought they were being attacked from behind and as there was no room to use a stick or a cutlass drew a pistol and was on the point of putting a bullet into toad when he found out what had really happened he was very angry indeed and said now this time that tiresome toad shall be left behind but toad whimpered and the other two promised that they would be answerable for his good conduct and at last the badger was pacified and the procession moved on only this time the rat brought up the rear with a firm grip on the shoulder of toad so they groped and shuffled along with their ears pricked up and their paws on their pistols till at last the badger said we ought by now to be pretty nearly under the whore then suddenly they heard far away as it might be and yet apparently nearly over their heads a confused murmur of sound as if people were shouting and cheering and stamping on the floor and hammering on tables the toads nervous terrors all returned but the badger only remarked placidly they are going at it the weasels the passage now began to slope upwards they groped onward a little further and then the noise broke out again quite distinct this time and very close above them hooray hooray hooray hooray they heard and the stamping of little feet on the floor and the clinking of glasses as little fists pounded the table what a time they're having said the badger come on they hurried along the passage till it came to a full stop and they found themselves standing under the truck door that led up into the butler's pantry such a tremendous noise was going on in the banqueting hall that there was little danger of their being overheard the badger said now boys all together and the four of them put their shoulders to the trap door and heaved it back hoisting each other up they found themselves standing in the pantry with only a door between them and the banqueting hall where their unconscious enemies were carousing the noise as they emerged from the passage was simply deafening at last as the cheering and hammering slowly subsided a voice could be made out saying well i do not propose to detain you much longer great applause but before i resume my seat renewed cheering i should like to say one word about our kind host mr toad we all know toad great laughter good toad modest toad honest toad shrieks of merriment only just let me get at him muttered toad grinding his teeth hold hard a minute said the badger restraining him with difficulty get ready all of you let me sing you a little song went on the voice which i have composed on the subject of toad prolonged applause then the chief weasel for it was he began in a high squeaky voice toad he went to pleasuring gaily down the street the badger drew himself up took a firm grip of his stick with both paws glanced around at his comrades and cried the hour is come follow me and he flung the door open wide my what a squealing and a squeaking and a screeching filled the air well might the terrified weasels dive under the tables and spring madly up at the windows well might the ferrets rush wildly for the fireplace and get hopelessly jammed in the chimney well might tables and chairs be upset and glass and china be sent crashing on the floor in the panic of that terrible moment when the four heroes strode roughly into the room the mighty badger his whiskers bristling his great cudgel whistling through the air mole black and grim brandishing his stick and shouting his awful war cry a mole a mole rat desperate and determined his belt bulging with weapons of every age and every variety toad frenzied with excitement and injured pride swollen to twice his ordinary size leaping into the air and emitting toad hoops that chilled them to the marrow toad he went to pleasuring he yelled i'll pleasure them and he went straight for the chief weasel there were but four in all but to the panic-stricken weasels the hall seemed full of monstrous animals gray black brown yellow hooping and flourishing enormous cudgels and they broke and fled with squeals of terror and dismay this way and that through the windows up the chimney anywhere to get out of reach of those terrible sticks the affair was soon over up and down the whole length of the hall strode the four friends whacking with their sticks at every head that showed itself and in five minutes the room was cleared through the broken windows the shrieks of terrified weasels escaping across the lawn were born faintly to their ears on the floor lay prostrate some dozen or so of the enemy on whom the mole was busily engaged in fitting handcuffs the badger resting from his labors lent on his stick and wiped his honest brow mole he said you're the best of fellows just cut along outside and look after those stoked sentries of yours and see what they're doing i have an idea that thanks to you we shan't have much trouble from them tonight the mole vanished promptly through a window and the badger bad the other two set a table on its legs again pick up knives and forks and plates and glasses from the debris on the floor and see if they could find materials for a supper i want some grub i do he said in that rather common way he had of speaking stir your stumps toad and look lively we've got your house back for you and you don't offer us so much as a sandwich toad felt rather hurt that the badger didn't say pleasant things to him as he had to the mole and tell him what a fine fellow he was and how splendidly he had fought for he was rather particularly pleased with himself and the way he had gone for the chief weasel and sent him flying across the table with one blow of his stick but he bustled about and so did the rat and soon they found some guava jelly in a glass dish and a cold chicken a tongue that had hardly been touched some trifle and quite a lot of lobster salad and in the pantry they came upon a basket full of french rolls and any quantity of cheese butter and celery they were just about to sit down when the mole clambered in through the window with an armful of rifles it's all over he reported from what i can make out as soon as the stoats who were very nervous and jumpy already heard the shrieks and the yells and the uproar inside the hall some of them threw down their rifles and fled the others stood fast for a bit but when the weasels came rushing out upon them they thought they were betrayed and the stoats grappled with the weasels and the weasels fought to get away and they wrestled and wriggled and punched each other and rolled over and over till most of them rolled into the river they've all disappeared by now one way or another and i've got their rifles so that's all right excellent and deserving animal said the badger his mouth full of chicken and trifle now there's just one more thing i want you to do mole before you sit down to your supper along with us and i wouldn't trouble you only i know i can trust you to see a thing done and i wish i could say the same of everyone i know i'd send rat if he wasn't a poet i want you to take those fellows on the floor there upstairs with you and have some bedrooms cleaned out and tidied up and made really comfortable see that they sweep under the beds and put clean sheets and pillowcases on and turn down one corner of the bed clothes just as you know it ought to be done and have a can of hot water and clean towels and fresh cakes of soap put in each room and then you can give them a licking apiece if it's any satisfaction to you and put them out by the back door and we shan't see any more of them i fancy and then come along and have some of this cold tongue it's first rate i'm very pleased with you mole the good-natured mole picked up a stick formed his prisoners up in a line on the floor gave them the order quick march and led his squad off to the upper floor after a time he appeared again smiling and said that every room was ready and as clean as a new pin and i didn't have to lick them either he added i thought on the whole they had had licking enough for one night and the weasels when i put the point to them quite agreed with me and said they wouldn't think of troubling me they were very penitent and said they were extremely sorry for what they'd done but it was all the fault of the chief weasel and the stoats and if ever they could do anything for us at any time to make up we had only got to mention it so i gave them a roll apiece and let them out at the back and off they ran as hard as they could then the mole pulled his chair up to the table and pitched into the cold tongue and toad like the gentleman he was put all his jealousy from him and said heartily thank you kindly dear mole for all your pains and trouble tonight and especially for your cleverness this morning the badger was pleased at that and said there spoke my brave toad so they finished their supper in great joy and contentment and presently retired to rest between clean sheets safe in toad's ancestral home one back by matchless valour consummate strategy and a proper handling of sticks the following morning toad who had overslept himself as usual came down to breakfast disgracefully late and found on the table a certain quantity of eggshells some fragments of cold and leathery toast a coffee pot three-fourths empty and really very little else which did not tend to improve his temper considering that after all it was his own house through the french windows of the breakfast room he could see the mole and the water rat sitting in wicker chairs out on the lawn evidently telling each other stories roaring with laughter and kicking their short legs up in the air the badger who was in an armchair and deep in the morning paper merely looked up and nodded when toad entered the room but toad knew his man so he sat down and made the best breakfast he could merely observing to himself that he would get square with the others sooner or later when he had nearly finished the badger looked up and remarked rather shortly i'm sorry toad but i'm afraid there's a heavy morning's work in front of you you see we really ought to have a banquet at once to celebrate this affair it's expected of you in fact it's the rule oh right said the toad readily anything to oblige though why on earth you should want to have a banquet in the morning i cannot understand but you know i do not live to please myself but merely to find out what my friends want and then try and arrange it for them you dear old badger don't pretend to be stupider than you really are replied the badger crossly and don't chuckle and splutter in your coffee while you're talking it's not manners what i mean is the banquet will be at night of course but the invitations will have to be written and got off at once and you've got to write them now sit down at that table there's stacks of letter paper on it with toad hall at the top in blue and gold and write invitations to all our friends and if you stick to it we shall get them out before luncheon and i'll bear a hand too and take my share of the burden i'll order the banquet what cried toad dismayed me stop indoors and write a lot of rotten letters on a jolly morning like this when i want to go around my property and set everything and everybody to rights and swagger about and enjoy myself certainly not i'll be i'll see you stop a minute though why of course dear badger what is my pleasure or convenience compared with that of others you wish it done and it shall be done go badger order the banquet order what you like then join our young friends outside in their innocent mirth oblivious of me and my cares and toils i sacrifice this fair morning on the altar of duty and friendship the badger looked at him very suspiciously but toad's frank open countenance made it difficult to suggest any unworthy motive in this change of attitude he quitted the room accordingly in the direction of the kitchen and as soon as the door had closed behind him toad hurried to the writing table a fine idea had occurred to him while he was talking he would write the invitations and he would take care to mention the leading part that he had taken in the fight and how he had laid the chief weasel flat and he would hint at his adventures and what a career of triumph he had to tell and on the fly leaf he would give a sort of program of entertainment for the evening something like this as he sketched it out in his head speech by toad there will be other speeches by toad during the evening address by toad synopsis our prison system the waterways of old england horse dealing and how to deal property its rights and duties back to the land a typical english squire song by toad composed by himself other compositions by toad these will be sung in the course of the evening by the composer this idea pleased him mightily and he worked very hard and got all the letters finished by noon at which hour it was reported to him that there was a small and rather bedraggled weasel at the door inquiring timidly whether he could be of any service to the gentleman toad swaggered out and found it was one of the prisoners of the previous evening very respectful and anxious to please he patted him on the head shoved the bundle of invitations into his ball and told him to cut along quick and deliver them as fast as he could and if he liked to come back again in the evening perhaps there might be a shilling for him or again perhaps there mightn't and the poor weasel seemed really quite grateful and hurried off eagerly to do his mission when the other animals came back to luncheon very boisterous and breezy after a river the mole whose conscience had been pricking him looked doubtfully at toad expecting to find him sulky or depressed instead he was so uppish and inflated that the mole began to suspect something while the rat and the badger exchanged significant glances as soon as the meal was over toad thrust his paws deep into his trouser pockets and remarked casually well look after yourselves you fellows ask for anything you want and swaggered off in the direction of the garden where he wanted to think out an idea or two for his coming speeches when the rat caught him by the arm toad rather suspected what he was after and did his best to get away but when the badger took him firmly by the other arm he began to see the game was up the two animals conducted him between them into the small smoking room that opened out of the entrance hall shut the door and put him in a chair then they both stood in front of him while toad sat silent and regarded them with much suspicion and ill humor now look here toad said the rat it's about this banquet i'm very sorry i am to have to speak to you like this but we want you to understand clearly once and for all that there are going to be no speeches and no songs try and grasp the fact that on this occasion we're not arguing with you we're just telling you toad saw that he was trapped they understood him they saw through him and they had got ahead of him his pleasant dream was shattered may i sing them just one little song he pleaded piteously no not one little song replied the rat firmly though his heart bled as he noticed the trembling lip of the poor disappointed toad it's no good toady you know well that your songs are all conceit and boasting and vanity and your speeches are all self-praise and well and gross exaggeration and and gas put in the badger in his common way it's for your own good toady went on the rat you know you must turn over a new leaf sooner or later and now seems a splendid time to begin a sort of turning point in your career please don't think that saying all this doesn't hurt me more than it hurts you toad remained a long while plunged in thought at last he raised his head and the traces of strong emotion were visible on his features you have conquered my friends he said in broken accents it was to be sure but a small thing that i asked merely leave to blossom and expand for yet one more evening to let myself go and hear the tumultuous applause that always seems to me somehow to bring out my best qualities however you are right i know and i am wrong henceforth i will be a very different toad my friends you shall never have occasion to blush for me again but oh dear oh dear this is a hard world and pressing his handkerchief to his face he left the room with faltering footsteps badger said the rat i feel like a brute i wonder what you feel like oh i know i know said the badger gloomily but the thing had to be done this good fellow has got to live here and hold his own and be respected would you have him a common laughing stock mocked and jeered at by stoats and weasels of course not said the rat and talking of weasels it's lucky we came upon that little weasel just as he was setting out with toads invitations i suspected something from what you told me and had a look at one or two they were simply disgraceful i confiscated the lot and the good mole is now sitting in the blue boudoir filling up plain simple invitation cards at last the hour for the banquet began to draw near and toad who were leaving the others had retired to his bedroom was still sitting there melancholy and thoughtful his brow resting on his paw he pondered long and deeply gradually his countenance cleared and he began to smile long slow smiles then he took to giggling in a shy self-conscious manner at last he got up locked the door drew the curtains across the windows collected all the chairs in the room and arranged them in a semi-circle and took up his position in front of them swelling visibly then he bowed coughed twice and letting himself go with uplifted voice he sang to the enraptured audience that his imagination so clearly saw toad's last little song the toad came home there was panic in the parlor and howling in the hall there was crying in the cow shed and shrieking in the stall when the toad came home when the toad came home there was smashing in of windows and crashing in of door there was chivvying of weasels that fainted on the floor when the toad came home bang go the drums the trumpeters are tooting and the soldiers are saluting and the cannon they are shooting and the motor cars are hooting as the hero comes shout hooray and let each one of the crowd try and shout it very loud in honour of an animal of whom you're justly proud for it's toad's great day he sang this very loud with great unction and expression and when he had done he sang it all over again then he heaved a deep sigh a long long long sigh he dipped his hairbrush in the water jug parted his hair in the middle and plastered it down very straight and sleek on each side of his face and unlocking the door went quietly down the stairs to greet his guests who he knew must be assembling in the drawing room all the animals cheered when he entered and crowded round to congratulate him and say nice things about his courage and his cleverness and his fighting qualities but toad only smiled faintly and murmured not at all or sometimes for a change on the contrary otter who was standing on the hearth rug describing to an admiring circle of friends exactly how he would have managed things had he been there came forward with a shout threw his arm around toad's neck and tried to take him in triumphal progress but toad in a mild way was rather snubby to him remarking gently as he disengaged himself badgers was the mastermind the mole and the water rat bore the brunt of the fighting i merely served in the ranks and did little or nothing the animals were evidently puzzled and taken aback by this unexpected attitude of his and toad felt as he moved from one guest to the other making his modest responses that he was an object of absorbing interest to everyone the badger had ordered everything of the best and the banquet was a great success there was much talking and laughter and chaff among the animals but through it all toad who of course was in the chair looked down his nose and murmured pleasant nothings to the animals on either side of him at intervals he stole a glance at the badger and the rat and always when he looked they were staring at each other with their mouths open and this gave him the greatest satisfaction some of the younger and livelier animals as the evening wore on got whispering to each other that things were not so amusing as they used to be in the good old days and there were some knockings on the table and cries of toad speech speech from toad song mr toad's song but toad only shook his head gently raised one paw in mild protest and by pressing delicacies on his guests by topical small talk and by earnest inquiries after members of their families not yet old enough to appear at social functions managed to convey to them that this dinner was being run on strictly conventional lines he was indeed an altered toad after this climax the four animals continued to lead their lives so rudely broken in upon by civil war in great joy and contentment undisturbed by further risings or invasions toad after due consultation with his friends selected a handsome gold chain and locket set with pearls which he dispatched to the jailer's daughter with a letter that even the badger admitted to be modest grateful and appreciative and the engine driver in his turn was properly thanked and compensated for all his pains and trouble under severe compulsion from the badger even the barge woman was with some trouble sought out and the value of her horse discreetly made good to her though toad kicked terribly at this holding himself to be an instrument of fate sent to punish women with mottled arms who couldn't tell a real gentleman when they saw one the amount involved it was true was not very burdensome the traveler's valuation being admitted by local assessors to be approximately correct sometimes in the course of long summer evenings the friends would take a stroll together in the wildwood now successfully tamed so far as they were concerned and it was pleasing to see how respectfully they were greeted by the inhabitants and how the mother weasels would bring their young ones to the mouths of their holes and say pointing look baby there goes the great mr toad and that's the gallant water rat a terrible fighter walking along with him and yonder comes the famous mr mole of whom you have so often heard your father tell but when their infants were fractious and quite beyond control they would quiet them by telling how if they didn't hush them and not fret them the terrible grey badger would up and get them this was a base libel on badger who though he cared little about society was rather fond of children but it never failed to have its full effect the end