Then, being called away to go on an errand into the village, he tied the end of the cord to his bedpost, and left it with a word of advice to do what it could in his absence.
"Well, it did! For a mere bit of string, all by itself, it didn't do badly.

First the old brown rat, with his fierce little eyes and pointed, whiskered nose, came out from under the toolhouse and began exploring the strawberry patch.

He didn't think much of strawberries in themselves, but he was apt to find fat grubs and beetles and sleepy June bugs under the clustering leaves.

He came upon the string, stretched taut.

He was just about to bite it through and try to carry it off to his nest when it occurred to him it might be a trap.