"Thought I should find you here all right," said the Otter cheerfully."They were all in a great state of alarm along River Bank when I arrived this morning. Rat never been home all night--nor Mole either--something dreadful must have happened, they said; and the snow had covered up all your tracks, of course. But I knew that when people were in any fix they mostly went to Badger, or else Badger got to know of it somehow, so I came straight off here, through the Wild Wood and the snow!My!it was fine, coming through the snow as the red sun was rising and showing against the black tree-trunks!As you went along in the stillness,every now and then masses of snow slid off the branches suddenly with a flop!making you jump and run for cover.Snow-castles and snow-caverns had sprung up out of nowhere in the night--and snow bridges, terraces, ramparts--I could have stayed and played with them for hours. Here and there great branches had been torn away by the sheer weight of the snow, and robins perched and hopped on them in their perky conceited way, just as if they had done it themselves. A ragged string of wild geese passed overhead, high on the grey sky, and a few rooks whirled over the trees, inspected, and flapped off homewards with a disgusted expression; but I met no sensible being to ask the news of. About half-way across I came on a rabbit sitting on a stump, cleaning his silly face with his paws. He was a pretty scared animal when I crept up behind him and placed a heavy fore-paw on his shoulder. I had to cuff his head once or twice to get any sense out of it at all. At last I managed to extract from him that Mole had been seen in the Wild Wood last night by one of them. It was the talk of the burrows, he said, how Mole, Mr. Rat's particular friend, was in a bad fix; how he had lost his way, and'They' were up and out hunting, and were chivvying him round and round. 'Then why didn't any of you _do_ something?' I asked. 'You mayn't be blessed with brains,but there are hundreds and hundreds of you, big,stout fellows, as fat as butter,and your burrows running in all directions,and you could have taken him in and made him safe and comfortable,or tried to, at all events.' 'What, _us_?' he merely said: '_do_ something?us rabbits?' So I cuffed him again and left him.There was nothing else to be done. At any rate,I had learnt something;and if I had had the luck to meet any of 'Them' I'd have learnt something more--or _they_ would."
[Illustration: _Through the Wild Wood and the snow_]
"Weren't you at all--er--nervous?" asked the Mole, some of yesterday's terror coming back to him at the mention of the Wild Wood.
"Nervous?" The Otter showed a gleaming set of strong white teeth as he laughed."I'd give 'em nerves if any of them tried anything on with me.Here, Mole, fry me some slices of ham,like the good little chap you are.I'm frightfully hungry,and I've got any amount to say to Ratty here.Haven't seen him for an age."
So the good-natured Mole, having cut some slices of ham,set the hedgehogs to fry it,and returned to his own breakfast,while the Otter and the Rat, their heads together,eagerly talked river-shop,which is long shop and talk that is endless,running on like the babbling river itself.
A plate of fried ham had just been cleared and sent back for more,when the Badger entered, yawning and rubbing his eyes,and greeted them all in his quiet, simple way,with kind inquiries for every one."It must be getting on for luncheon time," he remarked to the Otter."Better stop and have it with us. You must be hungry, this cold morning."
"Rather!" replied the Otter, winking at the Mole."The sight of these greedy young hedgehogs stuffing themselves with fried ham makes me feel positively famished."
The hedgehogs, who were just beginning to feel hungry again after their porridge, and after working so hard at their frying, looked timidly up at Mr. Badger, but were too shy to say anything.
"Here, you two youngsters, be off home to your mother," said the Badger kindly."I'll send some one with you to show you the way.You won't want any dinner to-day, I'll be bound."
He gave them sixpence a-piece and a pat on the head,and they went off with much respectful swinging of caps and touching of forelocks.
Presently they all sat down to luncheon together.The Mole found himself placed next to Mr. Badger, and,as the other two were still deep in river-gossip from which nothing could divert them, he took the opportunity to tell Badger how comfortable and home-like it all felt to him. "Once well underground," he said, "you know exactly where you are. Nothing can happen to you, and nothing can get at you. You're entirely your own master, and you don't have to consult anybody or mind what they say. Things go on all the same overhead, and you let'em, and don't bother about 'em. When you want to, up you go, and there the things are, waiting for you."
The Badger simply beamed on him."That's exactly what I say," he replied."There's no security, or peace and tranquillity,except underground. And then,if your ideas get larger and you want to expand--why,a dig and a scrape, and there you are!If you feel your house is a bit too big,you stop up a hole or two, and there you are again!No builders, no tradesmen,no remarks passed on you by fellows looking over your wall,and, above all, no _weather_. Look at Rat, now.A couple of feet of flood water,and he's got to move into hired lodgings;uncomfortable, inconveniently situated,and horribly expensive. Take Toad.I say nothing against Toad Hall;quite the best house in these parts, _as_ a house.But supposing a fire breaks out--where's Toad?Supposing tiles are blown off, or walls sink or crack,or windows get broken--where's Toad?Supposing the rooms are draughty--I _hate_ a draught myself--where's Toad?No, up and out of doors is good enough to roam about and get one's living in;but underground to come back to at last--that's my idea of _home_!"
The Mole assented heartily;and the Badger in consequence got very friendly with him."When lunch is over," he said,"I'll take you all round this little place of mine.I can see you'll appreciate it.You understand what domestic architecture ought to be, you do."
After luncheon, accordingly,when the other two had settled themselves into the chimney-corner and had started a heated argument on the subject of _eels_, the Badger lighted a lantern and bade the Mole follow him. Crossing the hall, they passed down one of the principal tunnels, 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."