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's going to stick 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 his mind, and 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,

though still unconvinced in his mind, allowed his good-nature to
over-ride his personal objections. He could not 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 Toad for the dustiest job in this
dusty expedition. He frankly preferred the paddock, and took a

deal of catching. Meantime Toad packed the lockers still tighter
with necessaries, and hung nosebags, 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 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 fore-paws, and said, `O my!

O my! O 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 in to 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 to-morrow

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 next
morning. So the Mole and 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 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 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 there 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 the dust a faint `Poop-poop!'

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 `Poop-poop' 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