again, she had no further chance to prod him in the waistcoat.

Afterward, Solomon heard a bit of gossip that annoyed him. A friend of his
reported that Aunt Polly Woodchuck was going about and telling everybody
how she had saved Solomon’s life.

“Mice!” he exclaimed (he often said that when some would have said
“Rats!”). “There’s not a word of truth in her claim. And if people in this
neighborhood keep on taking her advice and her catnip tea they’re going to
be sorry some day. For they’ll be really ill the first thing they know.
And then what will they do?”





XII
BENJAMIN BAT


Solomon Owl was by no means the only night-prowler in Pleasant Valley. He
had neighbors that chose to sleep in the daytime, so they might roam
through the woods and fields after dark. One of these was Benjamin Bat.
And furthermore, he was the color of night itself.

Now, Benjamin Bat was an odd chap. When he was still he liked to hang by
his feet, upside down. And when he was flying he sailed about in a zigzag,
helter-skelter fashion. He went in so many different directions, turning
this way and that, one could never tell where he was going. One might say
that his life was just one continual dodge—when he wasn’t resting with his