The Tale of Grunty Pig, Page 2

  Grunty had no way of knowing that Henrietta Hen forgot all about himbefore she had crossed the farmyard. She fell into a loud dispute with aneighbor. And she never thought of Grunty again.

  Grunty Pig enjoyed his ramble into the field of waving corn. The cornwas sweet; and the dirt was loose--just the finest sort to root in thata body could possibly want. He had the place all to himself until atlast a black gentleman came flying up in a great hurry and ordered himin a hoarse voice to "get out of the corn--and be quick about it!"

  On him Grunty Pig tried the same trick that he had used on HenriettaHen. He looked up with a stupid stare at the newcomer and said never aword.

  Old Mr. Crow--for it was he that had commanded Grunty to leave--old Mr.Crow abused him roundly. Mr. Crow was not empty-headed, like HenriettaHen. He was not to be deceived so easily.

  "Why don't you answer me?" he bawled. "You make noise enough when you'reat home. I've heard you often, way across the cornfield." Mr. Crowcawed so angrily that a dozen of his cronies flew over from the woods tosee what was going on. And the whole thirteen made such an uproar thatFarmer Green couldn't help noticing them. He and Johnnie were in theorchard, hunting for Grunty Pig.

  "Those crows are up to some mischief," Farmer Green declared. "You don'tsuppose--do you?--that they're teasing that pig?"

  Well, Johnnie Green was willing to go and find out. And sure enough! hefound Grunty in the cornfield.

  Johnnie Green picked him up, tucked him under his arm--plastered withdried mud as he was--and brought him in triumph to the barn.

  Farmer Green laughed when he saw Grunty Pig.

  "He looks as if he had been enjoying himself," he remarked as hedropped Grunty into the pen with the rest of Mrs. Pig's children.

  "Are you going to feed him?" Johnnie Green inquired.

  Again his father laughed.

  "No!" he replied. "That pig has stuffed himself so full he can scarcelywaddle."

  As for Mrs. Pig, she didn't know whether to laugh or to weep. She wasglad to have Grunty safe at home again; but he was a sad sight.

  At first Mrs. Pig thought Farmer Green had made a mistake. She thoughthe had found somebody else's child. For Grunty was so daubed with blackmud that she actually didn't know him until she heard him grunt. "Wherehave you been?" she asked him in her sternest voice.

  "I've been out in the world," he answered. "And I've had a fine time."

  "It's easy to see," said Mrs. Pig, "that you're a born wallower. It's apity that you haven't your brother Blackie's complexion. The dirt doesshow so dreadfully on silver bristles!"

  VII

  THE GRUMBLER

  All the farmyard folk agreed that Farmer Green took the best of care ofeverybody. Mrs. Pig often told her children that they were lucky to haveso good a home. And not having lived anywhere else, they never imaginedthat anything could be finer than their pen.

  After the day when he escaped from the pen, however, Grunty Pig began tocomplain. He wasn't satisfied with the food that Farmer Green gave him,he grumbled because there was no good place to wallow in mud, andespecially did he object because there wasn't a tree to rub against."The orchard," he often said, "is a much pleasanter place than this penis. There are trees enough in the orchard for every member of our familyto rub against--all at the same time."

  Somehow, when Grunty talked in that fashion every one of Mrs. Pig'schildren began to crowd against the sides of the pen. And even Mrs. Pigherself felt an annoying tickling along her back. She did wish thatGrunty wouldn't mention such matters.

  But nothing Mrs. Pig could say seemed to do any good. He was alwaysprattling, anyhow. She could no more stop his flow of grunts and squealsthan she could have kept the water in the brook from babbling down themountainside to Swift River.

  And even more annoying to Mrs. Pig was the way her son Grunty tried torub his back against _her_. She said "Don't!" to him so often that shebecame heartily sick of the word.

  What bothered Mrs. Pig most of all was Grunty's behavior whenever FarmerGreen came to the pen. It was mortifying to her to have her son actuallytry to _scratch his back_ against her in the presence of a visitor.

  "I do hope," said Mrs. Pig to Farmer Green, "I do hope you don't thinkthat I haven't tried to teach this child better manners." And then, whenall the rest of her family began to squirm and fidget against the sidesof the pen she added with a sigh, "Look at them! Anyone would supposethey had had no bringing up at all!"

  Farmer Green smiled as he leaned over the pen and watched the antics ofGrunty Pig and his brothers and sisters.

  "There's something that I can do for your family to make them happier,"he told Mrs. Pig. "To-morrow--if I can spare the time--I'll make achange here. A lady who's raising such a fine family as yours deservesthe best there is. She ought to have a home with every modernimprovement."

  "There!" Mrs. Pig exclaimed to her children as soon as Farmer Green leftthem. "Did you hear what he said? Farmer Green is a kind man. Ishouldn't have blamed him if he had put us into the poorest pen on theplace, after seeing your unmannerly actions. You'll have to behavebetter--especially after we have our new improvements."

  Well, the next day Farmer Green brought a stout post and set it firmlyin the center of Mrs. Pig's pen.

  "That's for you and your family to rub against," he informed Mrs. Pig.

  Really, he needn't have explained what the improvement was for. Nosooner had he climbed out of the pen than Mrs. Pig and her childrenbegan to put the rubbing post to good use. Grunty was the first of allto try it. And to his mother's delight, he stopped grumbling at once.Nor did he ever again disgrace her by scratching his back against her.Instead, he always walked up to the rubbing post like a littlegentleman. At least, that was what Mrs. Pig said.

  The Muley Cow Advises Grunty Pig to Go Home.

  (_Page 34_)]

  VIII

  FEARFUL NEWS

  There came a day at last when Farmer Green gave Mrs. Pig and her familya great treat. He let them out of their pen and turned them loose in alittle yard out of doors. Such gruntings and squealings hadn't beenheard on the farm for a long time. It was just like a picnic. Andeverybody had the finest of times. Still, Grunty Pig wasn't content tostay in the yard with the rest of the family. It wasn't long before hefound a hole in the fence big enough to wriggle through. And off hewent. And he was actually glad, for once, that he was the littlest ofthe family. There wasn't another of Mrs. Pig's children that couldsqueeze through the opening.

  Grunty Pig trotted the whole length of the lane. When he reached thepasture he found himself face to face with the Muley Cow, who acted muchsurprised to see him there.

  "You'd better go back home at once," she advised him. "There are bearson Blue Mountain. Sometimes they come down this way. Only last week Ihad an adventure with one in the back pasture." She did not tell Gruntythat she had run away from Cuffy Bear, down the hillside. "A bear," saidthe Muley Cow, "would be delighted to meet a tender little pig likeyou."

  Grunty Pig did not even thank the Muley Cow for warning him.

  "I'd like to meet a bear," he declared stoutly. "I hope I'll meet oneto-day."

  Leaving the Muley Cow, he zigzagged up the hill through the pasture,stopping now and then to dig up many a juicy root.

  Although Mrs. Pig missed her runaway son after a time, she was notgreatly disturbed.

  "He can't be far off," she thought. "He'll come back before dark." Andwhen Grunty did at last come crawling into the little yard Mrs. Pig wasmerely vexed with him for having gone off without her consent. She wasjust about to give him a well deserved scolding. But before she couldspeak to him, Grunty greeted her with a loud squeal.

  "I saw a bear in the pasture!" he cried.

  Mrs. Pig promptly forgot her displeasure. Although her son was certainlyunharmed, she couldn't help being startled. It gave her what she called"a turn" to learn that Grunty had met a bear.

  "A bear!" Mrs. Pig gasped. "A bear is a terribly dangerous creature.It's a wonder that you ever got home...
. What did you do when you sawhim?" Mrs. Pig demanded.

  "I walked away," said Grunty.

  "He couldn't have noticed you," Mrs. Pig declared. "If you had squealedit would have been the end of you."

  Grunty Pig felt that he was the most important member of the family. Notone of his brothers or sisters had ever seen a bear. At least they hadnever claimed to have enjoyed so fearsome a sight.

  "It was nothing," he boasted. "I'd as soon meet a bear as the MuleyCow."

  His mother, however, was of another mind. She kept looking about in anuneasy fashion.

  "I wish Farmer Green would come and put us into our pen," she murmured."It will soon be dark. And I shouldn't like to spend the night outhere--not with a bear in the neighborhood."

  IX

  A GREAT ADVENTURE

  The next outing that Farmer Green gave Mrs. Pig's family in the littleyard proved to be anything but a picnic--for Mrs. Pig. That poor ladyhad a dreadful time. Grunty ran away again. And he hadn't been gone longbefore his mother heard a loud squealing in the nearest field. The soundrapidly grew louder. And as she stood still and listened, Mrs. Pig knewthat it was Grunty's squeal and that he was drawing nearer every moment.

  "Dear me!" she cried. "He must be in trouble."

  Soon Grunty tumbled through the fence. And scrambling to his feet heran to his mother, crying at the top of his voice, "A bear chased me!"

  "Oh! Oh!" shrieked Mrs. Pig. "It's a mercy he didn't catch you. Oh! Oh!It's lucky you're no fatter, else you couldn't have run so fast." Beingmore than fat, herself, and greatly excited, Mrs. Pig had to stoptalking for a time, because she gurgled and wheezed and panted in a mostalarming fashion.

  At last, when she had somewhat recovered from her flurry, she called toGrunty. And looking at him severely Mrs. Pig said to him, "Let this be alesson to you. Never, never stray away from the farmyard again!"

  "Yes, Mother!" was Grunty's glib reply. Then he sidled away. Somehow hefelt uneasy under his mother's gaze.

  "Perhaps it was a good thing, after all, that the bear chased him,"Mrs. Pig muttered. "Maybe this fright will keep him at home."

  She soon discovered that it would take more than a mere fright--morethan a command--to stop Grunty from running away. For it wasn't longbefore she missed him again.

  If Mrs. Pig hadn't been so upset she might have been vexed--and withgood reason.

  "Oh! that dear little Grunty!" she wailed. "The bear may have caught himalready, in the cabbage patch."

  Then piercing squeals fell once more on Mrs. Pig's ears.

  "Dear! Dear!" she cried. "I ought to have watched him. I ought to havekept an eye on Grunty. After all, he's little more than a baby."

  Again the squeals grew louder. Again Grunty Pig burst through the holein the fence and romped up to his mother.

  "He chased me another time!" he grunted. "The bear chased me almost asfar as the fence."

  "Sakes alive!" his mother shrieked. "Somebody ought to tell FarmerGreen! This farm is not a safe place to live, with a bear prowling aboutit."

  "Do you want me to go and tell Mr. Green?" Grunty inquired.

  "_You?_" his mother exclaimed. "No, indeed! You stay right here with me!Don't you dare stir out of this yard!" And to Grunty's astonishment,Mrs. Pig bowled him right over, to show him that she meant what shesaid.

  He jumped to his feet in a jiffy. And he was all ready to slink awayinto a corner of the yard; but his mother bade him wait.

  "This bear--" she said--"what did he look like?"

  X

  A QUEER BEAR

  Grunty Pig's little eyes fell away from his mother's when she asked himwhat the bear looked like--the bear that had chased him.

  "Er--he was whitish, with brown spots, like Johnnie Green's dog," saidGrunty; "and--er--he had a long tail like the old horse Ebenezer's; andhe had six legs."

  Mrs. Pig suddenly made a most peculiar sound. It couldn't be called asqueal, nor a grunt, nor a gurgle, nor a gasp. It was a little like allfour. And springing clumsily upon her son, Mrs. Pig upset him before hecould dodge her.

  Grunty Pig began to whimper. "What have I done?" he whined.

  "You've deceived me!" his mother cried. "You haven't seen a bear. You'venever seen a bear in all your life."

  "Ouch," Grunty howled, as his mother sent him sprawling once more. "Ididn't mean any harm. I was only having fun with you."

  "Well," said his mother. "Turn about is fair play. I'll have a littlefun with _you_, now."

  Mrs. Pig gave her wayward son such a punishing that he remembered it allthe rest of that day. At least, he stayed at home. And Mrs. Pig daredhope that at last she had cured him of two bad habits--running away andtelling fibs.

  The next day, however, the fields called again to Grunty Pig. Theycalled so plainly that he couldn't resist answering.

  "I'll slip away for just a little while," he said to himself. "If I'mnot gone long no one will miss me." So when his mother was taking a naphe stole through the hole in the fence. "I'll be back before she wakesup," he chuckled.

  In the garden, up the lane, through the pasture he made his way. And heenjoyed his holiday to the full--until he remembered suddenly that hehad been gone a long time--a much longer time than he had planned tospend away from the farmyard.

  "Oh, dear!" he whined. "Mother must be awake now; and she'll punish meif I go back." The more he thought about returning, the less he likedthe idea.

  "I won't go home at all!" he cried at last. "I'll stay in the pasturethe rest of my life. There's plenty to eat here; and plenty of fun,too."

  It was afternoon when Grunty Pig made up his mind that he would nevergo home. When the Muley Cow warned him once more to beware of the bearshe actually jeered at her.

  "There are no bears in Pleasant Valley," he scoffed. "And you needn'ttrouble yourself to mention them again to me. I'm going to live in thispasture and there's no use of your trying to frighten me away."

  The Muley Cow said nothing more to him. She merely looked at him andsmiled wisely.

  "He'll sing a different song," she thought, "when it begins to growdark."

  XI

  LOCKED OUT

  The Muley Cow was right. She had said to herself, with a smile, thatGrunty Pig, the runaway, would be glad enough to go home when nightcame. He had decided to stay right there in the pasture for the rest ofhis life, where there was plenty to eat and plenty to do. He felt surethat he would have a much pleasanter time there than at home. For onething, he knew well enough that there was a punishing waiting for him atthe piggery--if he ever went back to get it.

  Not until Johnnie Green and old dog Spot came to the pasture to drivethe cows down the lane did Grunty Pig begin to feel the least twinge ofhomesickness. And even then he tried to forget it. He hid in a clump ofbrakes near the fence while Johnnie Green and Spot were in the pasture,for he didn't want them to spy him and take him home with them.

  There was a delicious, damp, woodsy smell in the cool shade of hishiding place.

  "How much nicer this is than our stuffy pen!" Grunty exclaimed under hisbreath.

  Now and then he peeped out to watch the procession of cows moving slowlytowards the barn to be milked. And when the last one had entered thelane, hurrying to catch up with the rest--and to avoid Spot's nips ather heels--Grunty crept out into the open.

  Then, strange to say, he hurried towards the lane himself. All at oncethe pasture seemed a great, lonesome place. Who knew when a bear mightrise out of a clump of bushes near him?

  He was careful not to follow too closely after the herd as theymeandered down the lane. At the same time, he was careful not to falltoo far behind. And he took many a quick backward glance, to make sureno bear was creeping up on him.

  Not far from the barn Grunty left the lane and hurried toward the littleyard outside the piggery, where he had run away from his mother and hisbrothers and his sisters.

  When he reached the fence through which he had crept while Mrs. Pig wasenjoying a nap, he met with a great surprise. The h
ole in the fence wasno more! Somebody had mended it. And there he was, outside the yard!

  Grunty Pig squealed for his mother. But no one answered. The fence wastoo high for him to look over it. It was too tight for him to peepthrough.

  "I want to get in!" Grunty cried. "Why doesn't somebody answer?"

  The silence from the other side of the fence was dreadful. Grunty Pigwould have been _glad_ to have his mother scold him then, just for thecomfort of hearing her voice.

  "Oh! Oh!" he wailed. "What shall I do? Whatever shall I do? Farmer Greenmust have put the family back in the pen. And I'll have to spend thenight out here alone!"

  XII

  WOOF!

  Night found Grunty Pig huddled close to the outside of the piggery. Manytimes he had walked around the low building, snuffing at the doors andtrying in vain to find some opening through which he might crawl. To hisdismay, all was snug and tight. There wasn't a hole big enough even forMiss Kitty Cat to creep through.

  Though Grunty had called a good many times, nobody had answered him.Inside the piggery, in their pen, Mrs. Pig and her other children weresound asleep. Now and then Grunty could hear a throaty snore, which heknew to be his mother's.

  "How can she sleep, when I'm missing?" he cried.

  Now, Mrs. Pig had been much upset by Grunty's absence. And when FarmerGreen came to put her family into the piggery for the night she hadtried to explain to him that Grunty had run away. Unfortunately, ithappened that Farmer Green was in a great hurry. He didn't stop to findout what was troubling Mrs. Pig, but hustled her and her children insideand closed all the doors.