down one of the principaltunnels, 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, the ramifications of
it all; 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!'

`It WOULD be 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 Wild Wood waves now, before ever it had

planted itself and grown up to what it now is, there was a city--
a city of people, you know. Here, where we are standing, 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 were a
powerful people, and rich, and great builders. They built to

last, for they thought their city would last for ever.'
`But what has become of them all?' asked the Mole.

`Who can tell?' said the Badger. `People come--they stay for
a while, they flourish, they build--and they go. It is their

way. But we remain. 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 levelling and disappearance. Then it was all
up, up, up, gradually, as seeds grew to saplings, and saplings to

forest trees, and bramble and fern came creeping in to help.
Leaf-mould 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, liked
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 Wild Wood 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.
`Well, 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 around to-morrow, 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 thrust into his belt again. `Come along, Mole,' he
said anxiously" target="_blank" title="ad.挂念地；渴望地">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 Wild Wood 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 short cuts. 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 up 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 a hasty good-bye, pushed
them hurriedly" target="_blank" title="ad.仓促地，忙乱地">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 Wild Wood.
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 bee-line for a distant stile.
Pausing there a moment and looking back, they saw the whole mass

of the Wild Wood, dense, menacing, compact, grimly set in vast
white surroundings; simultaneously 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 hedge-
row, linked to the ploughed furrow, the frequented pasture, the

lane of evening lingerings, the cultivated garden-plot. For
others the asperities, the stubbornendurance, 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.

V
DULCE DOMUM

The sheep ran huddling together against the hurdles, blowing out
thin nostrils and stamping with delicate fore-feet, 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 had
still some distance to go. Plodding at random across the plough,