The Rambles of a Rat Part 11

Whiskerandos, who was of a very bold and independent disposition, cared not to place himself constantly under the guidance of his Russian companion. He made forays by himself into the streets, moon or no moon, it was all one to him. He brought us back accounts of many singular adventures,-- how he had been seen by a dog, chased by a cat, and nearly run over by a drosky, the name given to the vehicles which in St. Petersburg take the place of our London cabs.

"Have a care, brother, have a care! Even the brave may dare too much, and the fortunate venture once too often!" with such exclamations as these our courteous Russian rat would listen to the tales of such hair-breadth escapes.

The effect of his words upon me was to render me cautious,-- timid perhaps you will call it. The only motives which usually roused me to encounter danger, were hunger, or overpowering curiosity. I liked to see all, hear all, and know all, and picked up sc.r.a.ps of general information with the same relish that I would have picked up sc.r.a.ps of cheese.

Once Whiskerandos came home in high spirits. He had made such a discovery, found such treasures,-- been in the very place where of all others a rat might rejoice in boundless content.

Directly behind the Exchange he had found a large open s.p.a.ce, fenced round with iron railing, which, while keeping out man, offered everywhere a door of welcome to rats. Here, protected by nothing but tarpaulin, was collected a quant.i.ty of goods, both those which had been imported into Russia, and those with which she paid back from her own productions the contributions of the world.

"Oh, the mountains of tallow which I saw there!" exclaimed Whiskerandos, executing a somerset in the air, in the excess of his admiration and delight.

"There may well be mountains, brother," observed Wisky, "since, besides the quant.i.ties which she uses herself, Russia is said to export every year about _two hundred and fifty millions of pounds_ of tallow, of which above one half is s.h.i.+pped from St. Petersburg."

"Two hundred and fifty millions!" I exclaimed, almost breathless with amazement, "why, surely that is enough to light up the whole world, and feast every rat that is in it! I would give anything to see the place where such glorious mountains are to be found?"

"Trust yourself with me to-morrow night, and I will guide you to the place," said Whiskerandos.

Now commenced a conflict in my mind, caution pulling me one way, curiosity the other, while a discussion took place between my comrades, Wisky backing caution, Whiskerandos curiosity,-- and the English rat won the day.

So that night off we two scampered together, and without accident or adventure reached the s.p.a.ce at the back of the Exchange. Truly I was in a world of wonders! I actually revelled in everything that can charm the palate or the nose of a rat! Here was the division for Russian imports,-- various and curious were they. There were chests of tea from China, coffee from Arabia, sugar from the West Indies, and English cotton goods, bales on bales piled up to a marvellous height. There was a quant.i.ty of tobacco, heaps of cheese, spices of all sorts and kinds. Now we came upon the odour of cinnamon or cloves; then the strong perfume of musk betrayed an importation from India.

No wonder that the hours pa.s.sed unheeded while we lingered in this wonderful place! We pa.s.sed on to the portion of the area devoted to Russian exports, and here we were, if possible, still more delighted!

All the articles which Bright-eyes had mentioned as coming from Russia were here; we were bewildered amongst heaps of furs, piles of leather, barrels of tallow, and prodigious quant.i.ties of corn! Morn was breaking, indeed, but we could not tear ourselves away, till the sounds of life, and the signs of motion around us, alarmed me with the idea that it was too late to retreat.

"Let's bury ourselves in this corn-sack," cried I, "we can sleep here very well during the day, and recommence our explorations after dark."

Whiskerandos acceded to my proposition. Quiet we kept, very quiet.

Noisier the world seemed to grow, till at length voices were heard so alarmingly near, that I crouched closer to my companion in terror!

Then-- oh! the horrible sensation which I experienced,-- never shall I forget it! I felt that our sack was roughly pushed by some one, then suddenly lifted on high!

"We are lost!" I gasped to Whiskerandos. Then another sort of motion succeeded, accompanied by a heavy rumbling sound, like that of the rolling wheel of a truck. Every hair of mine quivered with fear!

"Whiskerandos! oh, Whiskerandos! if they should be carrying us to a mill!-- if we should be ground into powder between two great stones!"

"Be quiet and never despair," was the answer of the bold-hearted rat.

I believe that that terrible journey did not last long, but to me the time appeared an age! Every turn of the grating wheel beneath me sent a pang of anguish through my frame! At last the truck, if such it were, stopped; in a few minutes the sack was again rudely moved, carried aloft, and then tumbled, with its living contents, down-- down-- we could not tell where!

What a shock it gave me, that tumble! I lay for some seconds quite stunned. My first impulse, when I recovered a little, was bitterly to bewail my condition, and to reproach him who had brought me into it.

"Oh that I had been content with my kwas and my shtshee! Oh that I had never left the kitchen! that I had never ventured forth with a reckless companion, who would, I believe, play at hide and seek with a cat, or nibble at the pocket of a rat-catcher!"

My tone was, I knew, both peevish and provoking; and many a brown rat, in the position of my companion, would have stopped my doleful squeaking at once by giving me something to squeak for. But Whiskerandos, whatever were his faults, was above that mean one of quarrelling with those who found them out, or attempting to screen and defend them.

"Ratto, I am sorry that I have led you into trouble," said he. "I wish that I could suffer alone for my self-will and imprudence. But since no regrets can recall the past, let us not make our miseries greater by reproaches and dissension between those who may soon die, as they have lived, together."

His mildness quite overcame any feeling of bitterness in my heart; and hope revived as some time elapsed without fresh cause for alarm occurring.

"I wonder where we are!" exclaimed I, shaking myself into a more easy position.

"I fancy that I hear the creaking of a windla.s.s!" cried Whiskerandos.

"And the flapping of canva.s.s!" added I. "And I smell tar."

"A strong odour of tar! Depend upon it, we are down in the hold of a s.h.i.+p!"

"Ha! that's the ripple of water! she moves,-- she moves!"

We were again afloat on the waters!

CHAPTER XIX.

A STORM AND ITS CONSEQUENCES.

"Farewell St. Petersburg, stately city! with thy flat green roofs, and star-spangled domes! Farewell merry-hearted, sandy-haired Russians, bearded Tartars, gay Circa.s.sians,-- never may we behold you again!

Farewell kwas and shtshee, and all the luxuries for too brief a time enjoyed! Where are we going now,-- where!"

Such were the complaints which I was wont to pour out during the long tedious voyage which succeeded. Whiskerandos never grumbled, it was not in his nature; he quietly fed on his corn without uttering one melancholy word: but I suspected that he, like myself, a.s.sociated sailors with rat pies; and to hear any one approach the hold, drove me almost wild with terror.

That was a horrible voyage! A fearful tempest came on before the vessel readied the place of her destination, whatever that might be. The winds whistled and raged, and the s.h.i.+p reeled and plunged like a restive horse; and again and again torrents of salt water came sweeping down into the hold! Then, as the furious storm continued, the very seams of the s.h.i.+p seemed to open like pores, to let in the sea, which was knocking and raging without for admittance, till at length the hold became like a ditch, which we rats could not cross but by swimming!

Then the pumps were set to work-- I could hear the men toiling at them day and night; yet the water gained on them notwithstanding their efforts. There were tremendous noises on deck; I fancied once or twice that I could distinguish human cries; and what with the constant splas.h.i.+ng of the water as the vessel rolled heavily from side to side, and the b.u.mping and thumping of some casks that had got loose, and were smas.h.i.+ng against one another, and the shouting, and the roaring of wind and waves, there was enough to stun and terrify any creature, be he quadruped or biped!

Such of the corn as remained in our sack was becoming so soft from salt water that it had acquired the consistence of a pudding. But we had now no heart even to eat!

We had so often heard the captain's voice raised to give loud orders, that we had ceased to pay any particular attention to them, little dreaming that any would concern us further than as they regarded the safety of the vessel. But at length the result of an order to lighten the s.h.i.+p was speedily felt in the hold! Our sack (for we still made it our hiding-place) was suddenly lifted with others; and before we had time even to guess what was intended, splash we went into the sea!

Ugh! how the water bubbled in our ears! What frantic efforts we made to free ourselves from the sack! Nor were those efforts without success, for we had long ago gnawed the string which fastened its mouth: it opened with the motion of the waves, and corn, rats and all, floated upon the surface of the raging billows!

Down in two seconds went the corn, swallowed up by the sea; still we struggled, drowning rats that we were, to save ourselves by desperate swimming. Of course our strength must soon have been exhausted, and the mighty green waves must have swept us to destruction, had not a barrel, thrown out from the s.h.i.+p, been happily floating near us!

Whiskerandos saw this little island of hope. As for me, I was too much frightened and confused to look around me; but I instinctively followed where he led, and soon found myself, s.h.i.+vering, shaking, dripping with wet, and looking as wretched as a rat can look, on the floating barrel beside my friend!

How we shook our glistening sides, and shuddered and gazed disconsolately round us on the wide waste of waters, lashed into long streaks of angry foam! Alas! there was no land in sight; but then the white mist rested on the horizon, which shut out the distant view.

"If we are not drowned we shall be starved!" exclaimed I, very piteously, to Whiskerandos. Alas! our barrel was empty.

Oh! the misery endured that day, and the terrible night which succeeded!

We had no resource but to gnaw at the tasteless wood. We were surrounded with water, yet peris.h.i.+ng with thirst! pinched by hunger, without hope of relief! Better to have been drowned at once; better to have fallen by the paw of a mouser, or to have been caught like my brothers in a trap, than to be dying thus by inches on a barrel, tossed in the midst of the sea!

But with the gray morning hope dawned! We perceived that our little island had drifted near to some sh.o.r.e. The waves were now much more quiet, and leapt on the beach with a pleasant murmur, and strove to roll on, each farther than the other, like children merrily racing together.

"Could we not swim to the sh.o.r.e?" said Whiskerandos.