His terms were, "no cure, no
pay," which impressed one with his confidence in his own remedies; but
these were profound secrets, and I had to be content with the
assurance that he used nothing harmful to man or domestic animals. He
was certainly successful, and effectually cleared the ricks and
buildings at one of my outlying places previously badly infested; no
dead rats were ever found, but all disappeared very soon after I
engaged him.
It is well known that rats will unexpectedly desert quarters which
they have occupied for a long time, and travel in large bodies to a
new locality. An old man told me that, in walking by the brook-side
footpath from Aldington to Badsey, he once encountered one of these
armies; they looked so threatening and were in such numbers, that he
had to turn aside to allow them to pass, as they showed no signs of
giving way for him.
One morning my bailiff came in to say that a bean-rick had suddenly
been taken possession of by an immense number of rats, where shortly
before not one could have been found. A man going to the rick-yard
quite early had seen the roof of the rick black with them; they were
apparently drinking the dew hanging in drops on the straws of the
thatch. They were so close together, "so thick," as he expressed it,
that one was killed by a stone thrown "into the brown" of them.
Pages:
187
188
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198
199
200
201
202
203
204
205
206
207
208
209
210
211