the Rat-catcher's efforts commend themselves to such gentlemen, and he
always maintains a respectable appearance, he will obtain some very nice
outings in the country. Oft-times a party of gentlemen have sent for me
in the summer, having arranged with me to bring four or five ferrets and
Ratting appliances, and we have gone 50 miles up the country. They would
bring their terrier dogs, and we would hunt all along the brooks and
rivers, and round the corn and wheat fields, putting the Rats we caught
into the cage, and after lunch, taking the Rats to a meadow and coursing
them with their dogs, which I think it real good sport. We would put up
at the best hotels and repeat the procedure next day, very often taking a
drag or coach, and driving ten or a dozen miles farther up the country.

I can assure my readers that the Rat-catcher is well remunerated for the
trouble he undertakes in these cases, and moreover this is the class of
people he requires to fraternise with. There is always a plentiful
supply of "refreshments" on these outings, and I would therefore advise
the Rat-catcher not to indulge too freely.

The foregoing is, of course, a brief sketch of the pleasantest part of a
Rat-catcher's life, and to complete the picture I may as well describe
some of the other features, and the way he has to rough it sometimes.
Well, Rat-catchers are generally called upon to supply Rats for the Rat
coursings usually held at beerhouses, etc., on Saturday afternoons, which
one often sees advertised. Now, if he binds himself to supply a coursing
at a certain date, the bills announcing the event are printed and posted,
all of which means expense. Then you are bound to secure the live Rats,
whatever be the weather. In doing this I always followed the threshing
machine to the bays and stacks. (Anyone that catches Rats regularly can
tell by looking at the bays or stacks whether there are many Rats in or
not.) I remember many times when the men have started threshing a bay of