The Wind in the Willows Read online

  II

  THE OPEN ROAD

  "Ratty," said the Mole suddenly, one bright summer morning, "if youplease, I want to ask you a favour."

  The Rat was sitting on the river bank, singing a little song. He hadjust composed it himself, so he was very taken up with it, and wouldnot pay proper attention to Mole or anything else. Since early morninghe had been swimming in the river, in company with his friends, theducks. And when the ducks stood on their heads suddenly, as duckswill, he would dive down and tickle their necks, just under wheretheir chins would be if ducks had chins, till they were forced to cometo the surface again in a hurry, spluttering and angry and shakingtheir feathers at him, for it is impossible to say quite _all_ youfeel when your head is under water. At last they implored him to goaway and attend to his own affairs and leave them to mind theirs. Sothe Rat went away, and sat on the river bank in the sun, and made up asong about them, which he called:

  "DUCKS' DITTY."

  All along the backwater, Through the rushes tall, Ducks are a-dabbling, Up tails all!

  Ducks' tails, drakes' tails, Yellow feet a-quiver, Yellow bills all out of sight Busy in the river!

  Slushy green undergrowth Where the roach swim-- Here we keep our larder, Cool and full and dim.

  Everyone for what he likes! _We_ like to be Heads down, tails up, Dabbling free!

  High in the blue above Swifts whirl and call-- _We_ are down a-dabbling Up tails all!

  "I don't know that I think so _very_ much of that little song, Rat,"observed the Mole cautiously. He was no poet himself and didn't carewho knew it; and he had a candid nature.

  "Nor don't the ducks neither," replied the Rat cheerfully. "They say,'_Why_ can't fellows be allowed to do what they like _when_ they likeand _as_ they like, instead of other fellows sitting on banks andwatching them all the time and making remarks and poetry and thingsabout them? What _nonsense_ it all is!' That's what the ducks say."

  "So it is, so it is," said the Mole, with great heartiness.

  "No, it isn't!" cried the Rat indignantly.

  "Well then, it isn't, it isn't," replied the Mole soothingly. "But whatI wanted to ask you was, won't you take me to call on Mr. Toad? I'veheard so much about him, and I do so want to make his acquaintance."

  "Why, certainly," said the good-natured Rat, jumping to his feet anddismissing poetry from his mind for the day. "Get the boat out, andwe'll paddle up there at once. It's never the wrong time to call onToad. Early or late, he's always the same fellow. Always good-tempered,always glad to see you, always sorry when you go!"

  "He must be a very nice animal," observed the Mole, as he got into theboat and took the sculls, while the Rat settled himself comfortably inthe stern.

  "He is indeed the best of animals," replied Rat. "So simple, sogood-natured, and so affectionate. Perhaps he's not very clever--wecan't all be geniuses; and it may be that he is both boastful andconceited. But he has got some great qualities, has Toady."

  Rounding a bend in the river, they came in sight of a handsome,dignified old house of mellowed red brick, with well-kept lawnsreaching down to the water's edge.

  "There's Toad Hall," said the Rat; "and that creek on the left, wherethe notice-board says, 'Private. No landing allowed,' leads to hisboat-house, where we'll leave the boat. The stables are over there tothe right. That's the banqueting-hall you're looking at now--veryold, that is. Toad is rather rich, you know, and this is really one ofthe nicest houses in these parts, though we never admit as much toToad."

  They glided up the creek, and the Mole shipped his sculls as theypassed into the shadow of a large boat-house. Here they saw manyhandsome boats, slung from the cross-beams or hauled up on a slip, butnone in the water; and the place had an unused and a deserted air.

  The Rat looked around him. "I understand," said he. "Boating is playedout. He's tired of it, and done with it. I wonder what new fad he hastaken up now? Come along and let's look him up. We shall hear allabout it quite soon enough."

  They disembarked, and strolled across the gay flower-decked lawns insearch of Toad, whom they presently happened upon resting in a wickergarden-chair, with a pre-occupied expression of face, and a large mapspread out on his knees.

  "Hooray!" he cried, jumping up on seeing them, "this is splendid!" Heshook the paws of both of them warmly, never waiting for an introductionto the Mole. "How _kind_ of you!" he went on, dancing round them. "I wasjust going to send a boat down the river for you, Ratty, with strictorders that you were to be fetched up here at once, whatever you weredoing. I want you badly--both of you. Now what will you take? Comeinside and have something! You don't know how lucky it is, yourturning up just now!"

  "Let's sit quiet a bit, Toady!" said the Rat, throwing himself into aneasy chair, while the Mole took another by the side of him and madesome civil remark about Toad's "delightful residence."

  "Finest house on the whole river," cried Toad boisterously. "Oranywhere else, for that matter," he could not help adding.

  Here the Rat nudged the Mole. Unfortunately the Toad saw him do it, andturned very red. There was a moment's painful silence. Then Toad burstout laughing. "All right, Ratty," he said. "It's only my way, you know.And it's not such a very bad house, is it? You know, you rather like ityourself. Now, look here. Let's be sensible. You are the very animals Iwanted. You've got to help me. It's most important!"

  "It's about your rowing, I suppose," said the Rat, with an innocentair. "You're getting on fairly well, though you splash a good bitstill. With a great deal of patience and any quantity of coaching, youmay--"

  "O, pooh! boating!" interrupted the Toad, in great disgust. "Sillyboyish amusement. I've given that up _long_ ago. Sheer waste of time,that's what it is. It makes me downright sorry to see you fellows, whoought to know better, spending all your energies in that aimless manner.No, I've discovered the real thing, the only genuine occupation for alifetime. I propose to devote the remainder of mine to it, and can onlyregret the wasted years that lie behind me, squandered in trivialities.Come with me, dear Ratty, and your amiable friend also, if he will be sovery good, just as far as the stable-yard, and you shall see what youshall see!"

  He led the way to the stable-yard accordingly, the Rat following witha most mistrustful expression; and there, drawn out of the coach-houseinto the open, they saw a gipsy caravan, shining with newness, painteda canary-yellow picked out with green, and red wheels.

  "There you are!" cried the Toad, straddling and expanding himself."There's real life for you, embodied in that little cart. The openroad, the dusty highway, the heath, the common, the hedgerows, therolling downs! Camps, villages, towns, cities! Here to-day, up and offto somewhere else to-morrow! Travel, change, interest, excitement! Thewhole world before you, and a horizon that's always changing! Andmind! this is the very finest cart of its sort that was ever built,without any exception. Come inside and look at the arrangements.Planned 'em all myself, I did!"

  The Mole was tremendously interested and excited, and followed himeagerly up the steps and into the interior of the caravan. The Ratonly snorted and thrust his hands deep into his pockets, remainingwhere he was.

  It was indeed very compact and comfortable. Little sleeping bunks--alittle table that folded up against the wall--a cooking-stove,lockers, book-shelves, a bird-cage with a bird in it; and pots, pans,jugs, and kettles of every size and variety.

  "All complete!" said the Toad triumphantly, pulling open a locker."You see--biscuits, potted lobster, sardines--everything you canpossibly want. Soda-water here--baccy there--letter-paper, bacon, jam,cards, and dominoes--you'll find," he continued, as they descended thesteps again, "you'll find that nothing whatever has been forgotten,when we make our start this afternoon."

  "I beg your pardon," said the Rat slowly, as he chewed a straw, "butdid I overhear you say something about '_we_,' and '_start_,' and'_this afternoon_'?"


  "Now, you dear good old Ratty," said Toad imploringly, "don't begintalking in that stiff and sniffy sort of way, because you know you've_got_ to come. I can't possibly manage without you, so please considerit settled, and don't argue--it's the one thing I can't stand. Yousurely don't mean to stick to your dull fusty old river all your life,and just live in a hole in a bank, and _boat_? I want to show you theworld! I'm going to make an _animal_ of you, my boy!"

  "I don't care," said the Rat doggedly. "I'm not coming, and that'sflat. And I _am_ going to stick to my old river, _and_ live in a hole,_and_ boat, as I've always done. And what's more, Mole's going tostick to me and do as I do, aren't you, Mole?"

  "Of course I am," said the Mole, loyally. "I'll always stick to you,Rat, and what you say is to be--has got to be. All the same, it soundsas if it might have been--well, rather fun, you know!" he addedwistfully. Poor Mole! The Life Adventurous was so new a thing to him,and so thrilling; and this fresh aspect of it was so tempting; and hehad fallen in love at first sight with the canary-coloured cart andall its little fitments.

  The Rat saw what was passing in his mind, and wavered. He hateddisappointing people, and he was fond of the Mole, and would doalmost anything to oblige him. Toad was watching both of them closely.

  "Come along in, and have some lunch," he said, diplomatically, "andwe'll talk it over. We needn't decide anything in a hurry. Of course,_I_ don't really care. I only want to give pleasure to you fellows.'Live for others!' That's my motto in life."

  During luncheon--which was excellent, of course, as everything at ToadHall always was--the Toad simply let himself go. Disregarding the Rat,he proceeded to play upon the inexperienced Mole as on a harp.Naturally a voluble animal, and always mastered by his imagination, hepainted the prospects of the trip and the joys of the open life andthe roadside in such glowing colours that the Mole could hardly sit inhis chair for excitement. Somehow, it soon seemed taken for granted byall three of them that the trip was a settled thing; and the Rat,though still unconvinced in his mind, allowed his good-nature toover-ride his personal objections. He could not bear to disappoint histwo friends, who were already deep in schemes and anticipations,planning out each day's separate occupation for several weeks ahead.

  When they were quite ready, the now triumphant Toad led his companionsto the paddock and set them to capture the old grey horse, who,without having been consulted, and to his own extreme annoyance, hadbeen told off by Toad for the dustiest job in this dusty expedition.He frankly preferred the paddock, and took a deal of catching.Meantime Toad packed the lockers still tighter with necessaries, andhung nose-bags, nets of onions, bundles of hay, and baskets from thebottom of the cart. At last the horse was caught and harnessed, andthey set off, all talking at once, each animal either trudging by theside of the cart or sitting on the shaft, as the humour took him. Itwas a golden afternoon. The smell of the dust they kicked up was richand satisfying; out of thick orchards on either side the road, birdscalled and whistled to them cheerily; good-natured wayfarers, passingthem, gave them "Good day," or stopped to say nice things about theirbeautiful cart; and rabbits, sitting at their front doors in thehedgerows, held up their fore-paws, and said, "O my! O my! O my!"

  Late in the evening, tired and happy and miles from home, they drew upon a remote common far from habitations, turned the horse loose tograze, and ate their simple supper sitting on the grass by the side ofthe cart. Toad talked big about all he was going to do in the days tocome, while stars grew fuller and larger all around them, and a yellowmoon, appearing suddenly and silently from nowhere in particular, cameto keep them company and listen to their talk. At last they turned into their little bunks in the cart; and Toad, kicking out his legs,sleepily said, "Well, good night, you fellows! This is the real lifefor a gentleman! Talk about your old river!"

  "I _don't_ talk about my river," replied the patient Rat. "You _know_I don't, Toad. But I _think_ about it," he added pathetically, in alower tone: "I think about it--all the time!"

  The Mole reached out from under his blanket, felt for the Rat's paw inthe darkness, and gave it a squeeze. "I'll do whatever you like,Ratty," he whispered. "Shall we run away to-morrow morning, quiteearly--_very_ early--and go back to our dear old hole on the river?"

  "No, no, we'll see it out," whispered back the Rat. "Thanks awfully,but I ought to stick by Toad till this trip is ended. It wouldn't besafe for him to be left to himself. It won't take very long. His fadsnever do. Good night!"

  The end was indeed nearer than even the Rat suspected.

  After so much open air and excitement the Toad slept very soundly, andno amount of shaking could rouse him out of bed next morning. So theMole and Rat turned to, quietly and manfully, and while the Rat saw tothe horse, and lit a fire, and cleaned last night's cups and platters,and got things ready for breakfast, the Mole trudged off to thenearest village, a long way off, for milk and eggs and variousnecessaries the Toad had, of course, forgotten to provide. The hardwork had all been done, and the two animals were resting, thoroughlyexhausted, by the time Toad appeared on the scene, fresh and gay,remarking what a pleasant, easy life it was they were all leading now,after the cares and worries and fatigues of housekeeping at home.

  They had a pleasant ramble that day over grassy downs and along narrowby-lanes, and camped, as before, on a common, only this time the twoguests took care that Toad should do his fair share of work. Inconsequence, when the time came for starting next morning, Toad was byno means so rapturous about the simplicity of the primitive life, andindeed attempted to resume his place in his bunk, whence he was hauledby force. Their way lay, as before, across country by narrow lanes,and it was not till the afternoon that they came out on the high-road,their first high-road; and there disaster, fleet and unforeseen,sprang out on them--disaster momentous indeed to their expedition, butsimply overwhelming in its effect on the after career of Toad.

  They were strolling along the high-road easily, the Mole by thehorse's head, talking to him, since the horse had complained that hewas being frightfully left out of it, and nobody considered him inthe least; the Toad and the Water Rat walking behind the cart talkingtogether--at least Toad was talking, and Rat was saying at intervals,"Yes, precisely; and what did _you_ say to _him_?"--and thinking allthe time of something very different, when far behind them they hearda faint warning hum, like the drone of a distant bee. Glancing back,they saw a small cloud of dust, with a dark centre of energy,advancing on them at incredible speed, while from out the dust a faint"Poop-poop!" wailed like an uneasy animal in pain. Hardly regardingit, they turned to resume their conversation, when in an instant (asit seemed) the peaceful scene was changed, and with a blast of windand a whirl of sound that made them jump for the nearest ditch. It wason them! The "Poop-poop" rang with a brazen shout in their ears, theyhad a moment's glimpse of an interior of glittering plate-glass andrich morocco, and the magnificent motor-car, immense, breath-snatching,passionate, with its pilot tense and hugging his wheel, possessed allearth and air for the fraction of a second, flung an enveloping cloudof dust that blinded and enwrapped them utterly, and then dwindled toa speck in the far distance, changed back into a droning bee once more.

  The old grey horse, dreaming, as he plodded along, of his quietpaddock, in a new raw situation such as this, simply abandoned himselfto his natural emotions. Rearing, plunging, backing steadily, in spiteof all the Mole's efforts at his head, and all the Mole's livelylanguage directed at his better feelings, he drove the cart backwardtowards the deep ditch at the side of the road. It wavered aninstant--then there was a heart-rending crash--and the canary-colouredcart, their pride and their joy, lay on its side in the ditch, anirredeemable wreck.

  The Rat danced up and down in the road, simply transported with passion."You villains!" he shouted, shaking both fists. "You scoundrels, youhighwaymen, you--you--road-hogs!--I'll have the law of you! I'll reportyou! I'll take you through all the Courts!" His home-sickness had quiteslipped away from him, and for the moment he was the skippe
r of thecanary-coloured vessel driven on a shoal by the reckless jockeying ofrival mariners, and he was trying to recollect all the fine and bitingthings he used to say to masters of steam-launches when their wash, asthey drove too near the bank, used to flood his parlour-carpet at home.

  Toad sat straight down in the middle of the dusty road, his legsstretched out before him, and stared fixedly in the direction of thedisappearing motor-car. He breathed short, his face wore a placid,satisfied expression, and at intervals he faintly murmured "Poop-poop!"

  The Mole was busy trying to quiet the horse, which he succeeded indoing after a time. Then he went to look at the cart, on its side inthe ditch. It was indeed a sorry sight. Panels and windows smashed,axles hopelessly bent, one wheel off, sardine-tins scattered over thewide world, and the bird in the bird-cage sobbing pitifully andcalling to be let out.

  The Rat came to help him, but their united efforts were not sufficientto right the cart. "Hi! Toad!" they cried. "Come and bear a hand,can't you!"

  The Toad never answered a word, or budged from his seat in the road;so they went to see what was the matter with him. They found him in asort of a trance, a happy smile on his face, his eyes still fixed onthe dusty wake of their destroyer. At intervals he was still heard tomurmur "Poop-poop!"

  The Rat shook him by the shoulder. "Are you coming to help us, Toad?"he demanded sternly.

  "Glorious, stirring sight!" murmured Toad, never offering to move."The poetry of motion! The _real_ way to travel! The _only_ way totravel! Here to-day--in next week to-morrow! Villages skipped, townsand cities jumped--always somebody else's horizon! O bliss! Opoop-poop! O my! O my!"

  "O _stop_ being an ass, Toad!" cried the Mole despairingly.

  "And to think I never _knew_!" went on the Toad in a dreamy monotone."All those wasted years that lie behind me, I never knew, never even_dreamt_! But _now_--but now that I know, now that I fully realise! Owhat a flowery track lies spread before me, henceforth! Whatdust-clouds shall spring up behind me as I speed on my reckless way!What carts I shall fling carelessly into the ditch in the wake of mymagnificent onset! Horrid little carts--common carts--canary-colouredcarts!"

  "What are we to do with him?" asked the Mole of the Water Rat.

  "Nothing at all," replied the Rat firmly. "Because there is reallynothing to be done. You see, I know him from of old. He is nowpossessed. He has got a new craze, and it always takes him that way,in its first stage. He'll continue like that for days now, like ananimal walking in a happy dream, quite useless for all practicalpurposes. Never mind him. Let's go and see what there is to be doneabout the cart."

  A careful inspection showed them that, even if they succeeded inrighting it by themselves, the cart would travel no longer. The axleswere in a hopeless state, and the missing wheel was shattered intopieces.

  The Rat knotted the horse's reins over his back and took him by thehead, carrying the bird-cage and its hysterical occupant in the otherhand. "Come on!" he said grimly to the Mole. "It's five or six milesto the nearest town, and we shall just have to walk it. The sooner wemake a start the better."

  "But what about Toad?" asked the Mole anxiously, as they set offtogether. "We can't leave him here, sitting in the middle of the roadby himself, in the distracted state he's in! It's not safe. Supposinganother Thing were to come along?"

  "O, _bother_ Toad," said the Rat savagely; "I've done with him."

  They had not proceeded very far on their way, however, when there wasa pattering of feet behind them, and Toad caught them up and thrust apaw inside the elbow of each of them; still breathing short andstaring into vacancy.

  "Now, look here, Toad!" said the Rat sharply: "as soon as we get tothe town, you'll have to go straight to the police-station and see ifthey know anything about that motor-car and who it belongs to, andlodge a complaint against it. And then you'll have to go to ablacksmith's or a wheelwright's and arrange for the cart to be fetchedand mended and put to rights. It'll take time, but it's not quite ahopeless smash. Meanwhile, the Mole and I will go to an inn and findcomfortable rooms where we can stay till the cart's ready, and tillyour nerves have recovered their shock."

  "Police-station! Complaint!" murmured Toad dreamily. "Me _complain_ ofthat beautiful, that heavenly vision that has been vouchsafed me!_Mend_ the _cart_! I've done with carts for ever. I never want to seethe cart, or to hear of it, again. O Ratty! You can't think howobliged I am to you for consenting to come on this trip! I wouldn'thave gone without you, and then I might never have seen that--thatswan, that sunbeam, that thunderbolt! I might never have heard thatentrancing sound, or smelt that bewitching smell! I owe it all to you,my best of friends!"

  _"Come on!" he said. "We shall just have to walk it"_]

  The Rat turned from him in despair. "You see what it is?" he saidto the Mole, addressing him across Toad's head: "He's quite hopeless.I give it up--when we get to the town we'll go to the railway station,and with luck we may pick up a train there that'll get us back toriver bank to-night. And if ever you catch me going a-pleasuring withthis provoking animal again!"--He snorted, and during the rest of thatweary trudge addressed his remarks exclusively to Mole.

  On reaching the town they went straight to the station and depositedToad in the second-class waiting-room, giving a porter twopence tokeep a strict eye on him. They then left the horse at an inn stable,and gave what directions they could about the cart and its contents.Eventually, a slow train having landed them at a station not very farfrom Toad Hall, they escorted the spellbound, sleep-walking Toad tohis door, put him inside it, and instructed his housekeeper to feedhim, undress him, and put him to bed. Then they got out their boatfrom the boat-house, sculled down the river home, and at a very latehour sat down to supper in their own cosy riverside parlour, to theRat's great joy and contentment.

  The following evening the Mole, who had risen late and taken thingsvery easy all day, was sitting on the bank fishing, when the Rat, whohad been looking up his friends and gossiping, came strolling along tofind him. "Heard the news?" he said. "There's nothing else beingtalked about, all along the river bank. Toad went up to Town by anearly train this morning. And he has ordered a large and veryexpensive motor-car."