Rensselaer Union and Jasper Republican, Volume 8, Number 32, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 27 April 1876 — Rat in a Trousers’ Leg. [ARTICLE]

Rat in a Trousers’ Leg.

A good manv men have experienced the sensation incident to having bugs in their ears, and mice down their backs, and crawfish in their beds, and snakes in their boots, aad all that sort of thing, but very few know what it is to have a rat up their trousers’ leg. The other day, a number of flthermen, among whom was Hoopey Groves, were engaged in overhauling their crafts, preparatory to inaugurating the piscatorial season. They found them pretty thickly inhabited with rats, and it was the pro. cess of exterminating these that was furnishing any amount of sport for themselves and their dogs. It grew very exciting. They finally chased out one of unusual proportions—a great big Norwegian. It was as large as a—but we won’t tell just how large it was—it might weaken the balance of our story. The rat, on being driven from its winter quarters, found itself cornered. If it ran it would be overtaken by the dogs, and if it jumped into the river it might get drowned, so it took refuge in Hoopey’s trousers’ leg. The pants were cut after the latest fashion-plate—somewhat baggy. If they hadn’t been the rat couldn’t have got in. No sooner was it ensconsed within the folds of the trousers’ leg than it began tiie ascent. When it crawled up to his ankle Hoopey became nervous; when it reached his knee hegrew somewhat excited, and when it began to plant itsclaws in his thigh there was a circus. Hoopey howled and danced around and kicked out wildly, and pawed the air and went on awful. The more fuss he made the harder the rat dug into his flesh, and the harder the rat dug the more it' hurt, ft was a trying situation. The other fishermen were afraid to go near him—in fact they shunned him as they would a pestilence. They were afraid the rat would run down out ot his trouserr.’ leg and up into theirs. After he had nearly kicked his leg off, Hoopey did finally succeed in shaking the varmint out. But he says he would rather beard the chipmunck in his den, or tackle the festive pole cat in his native jungles than to have onfc solitary Norway rat go on a reconnoitering expedition up his trousers’ leg again.— Keokuk