The rambles of a rat by ALOE Author:Charlotte Maria Tucker Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: CHAPTER III. POORER THAN RATS. 'E had not our shed always to ourselves. One cold evening in autumn, when there was a sharp east wind, and a drizzling ... more »rain, two human creatures came into the place and cowered down in a corner of our shed. I call them human creatures, for they certainly were not men ; they were so different from the tall powerful fellows whom I had occasionally seen at their work in the warehouse. These were much smaller, and so thin that their bones seemed almost ready to break through the skin. Their hair hung in long loose masses about their ears. They had nothing on their feet to protect them from the stones, and one of them had a hurt upon his heel, which looked red and inflamed. I found that these were young human beings, neglected and uncared for, as young rats would nothave been. We were at first afraid of them, and only peered out curiously upon them from our holes and hiding-places ; but when, gathering courage, we ventured to come forward, we seemed to frighten them as much as they had frightened us. " Look there—there, Bob !" screamed the younger child, clinging more closely to his brother. " Them bees rats," said the other one, more quietly. His poor thin little face looked as if the life and spirit had been so starved out of it, that he could not be much astonished at anything. "I don't like staying here, Bob, amongst the rats!" cried the terrified little one, attempting to pull his brother towards the entrance by the sleeve of his jacket. The wretched rag gave way even under his weak pull, and another rent was added to the many by which the cold crept in through the poor boy's tattered dress. " I won't stay here ; let us go, let us go ! " "We've nowheres to go to," replied Bob, in the same dull, lifeless tone. " Never you min...« less