Malcolm looked again at the chair. The enormous rat was no longer there. It had disappeared. Malcolm sat down again at the table and began to study. He worked for about an hour. As usual, the other rats ran round the room over and under the furniture. Malcolm listened to their squeaking and scratching. Then suddenly, the noise stopped. Malcolm listened. The room was silent. The rats had disappeared. But outside, the wind was blowing more and more strongly. The rain was beating against the windows Malcolm looked at the fire. It was nearly out. The room was cold I must put more wood on the fire, he said to himself. He stood up and suddenly he stopped. He had heard a noise in the room. It was a very quiet scratching noise. Malcolm looked round the room. He saw nothing. Then he looked up at the hangman's rope. Malcolm was horrified. In the dim light of the lamp, Malcolm saw the enormous rat. It was holding on to the rope. It was about halfway between the high ceiling and the floor. And it was biting at the rope with its sharp, cruel teeth. It was slowly biting through the rope. Malcolm watched in horror. As he watched, the rat went on biting the rope. Suddenly the bottom half of the rope fell on to the floor. The rat had bitten right through it. Now the rat was holding on to the top end of the rope. Malcolm picked up a book and threw at the rat. book nearly hit the rat. The rat dropped from the rope and landed on the floor. Then it ran away into the darkest corner of the room Malcolm was now terribly afraid If I am in trouble, I will not be able to ring the alarm bell, he thought to himself. If anything happens to me, I will not be able to call for help.