SQUINTY GETS HOME AGAIN
"Squinty, I don't believe we're going to find any cocoanut trees in this
woods," said Mappo, the monkey, after he and the little pig had wandered
on for some time.
"It doesn't seem so, does it?" spoke Squinty, looking all around, first
with his wide-open eye, and then with his queer, droopy one.
The monkey ran along, now on the ground, and now and then swinging
himself up in the branches of trees, by his long legs, each one of which
had a sort of hand on the end. Sometimes he hung by his tail, for
monkeys are made to do that.
"My, I wish I could get up in the trees the way you do," said Squinty.
"Do you think I could hang by my tail, Mappo?"
"I don't know," answered the monkey, scratching his head. "Your tail has
a nice little curl in it, almost like mine. Did you ever try to hang by
your tail?"
"No, I never did."
"Well, you don't know what you can do until you try," said Mappo.
The two animal friends soon came to where some of the acorn nuts had
fallen off a tree, and they ate as many as they wanted. Mappo said they
were not as good as cocoanuts, but he liked them pretty well, because he
was hungry. And Squinty thought acorns were just the best things he had
ever tasted, except apples, and potatoes or perhaps sour milk.
By this time it was getting dark, and Squinty said:
"Oh dear, I wonder where we can sleep tonight?"
"Oh, do not let that worry you," said Mappo. "I am used to living in the
woods. When I was little, before I was caught and put in the circus, I
lived in the woods all the while. See, here is a nice hollow stump,
filled with leaves, for you to sleep in, and I will climb a tree, and
sleep in that."
"Couldn't you sleep down in the stump with me?" asked Squinty. "It's
sort of lonesome, all by yourself in the dark."
"Yes, I'll sleep with you," said Mappo. "Now we'll make up a nice bed."
But, just as they were piling some more leaves in the hollow stump, they
heard many voices of men shouting in the woods.
"Here he is! Here is that runaway monkey! I see him! Come and catch
him!" cried the men.
"Oh, they're from the circus! They're after me!" cried Mappo. "I must
run and hide. Good-by, Squinty. I'll see you again sometime, maybe. You
had better run, also, or the circus men may catch you."
Squinty looked through the trees, and saw a number of men coming toward
him and the monkey. Then Mappo climbed up in a tall tree, and Squinty
ran away as fast as his little short legs would take him.
"Never mind the pig! Get the monkey!" Squinty heard one man cry, and
then the comical little pig dodged under a bush, and kept on running.
When Squinty stopped running it was quite dark. He could hardly see, and
he had run into several trees, and bumped his nose a number of times. It
hurt him very much.
"Well, I guess I'm lost again," thought Squinty. "And I am all alone.
Oh, what a lot of things has happened to me since I was in the pen with
my mamma and papa and sisters and brothers! I wish I were back with them
again."
Squinty felt very sad and lonesome. He wondered if the circus men had
caught Mappo. Then he felt that he had better find a place where he
could cover himself up with the dry leaves, and go to sleep.
He walked about in the dark until, all of a sudden, he stumbled into a
hole that was filled with dried grass.
"I guess I had better stay here," thought Squinty. So he pulled some of
the grass over him, and went to sleep.
When he awoke the sun was shining.
"I must get my breakfast," thought Squinty. He hunted about until he had
found some acorns, and then, coming to a little brook of water he took a
long drink. Something about the brook made Squinty look at it carefully.
"Why--why!" he exclaimed to himself: "It seems to me I have been here
before! Yes, I am sure I have. This is the place where I first came to
get a drink, when first I ran away. It is near the pen where I used to
live! Oh, I wonder if I can find that?"
The heart of Squinty was beating fast as he looked around at the scenes
he had seen when he was a very little pig, some weeks before. Yes, it
was the same brook. He was sure of it. And there was the garden of
potatoes, and the cornfield where he had first lost his way.
Hark! What was that?
Off in the rows of corn he heard a dog barking. Somehow he knew that
dog's bark.
"If that could be Don!" thought Squinty, hopefully.
The barking sounded nearer. Squinty turned around, standing on the edge
of the little brook, and waited, his heart beating faster and faster.
All at once there came running through the potato field a black and
white dog. Squinty knew him at once.
It was Don!
"Bow wow! Bow wow!" barked Don. "Well, if there isn't that comical
little pig, Squinty! Where in the world did you come from? You've been
running away, I'll be bound! Now I'm going to take you back to the pen!"
"Oh, Don! I am so glad to see you!" squealed Squinty. "I--I did run
away, but I never will any more. I am lost. Oh, Don, don't take me by
the ear. I'll go with you."
"All right," barked Don, kindly. "Come along. Your pen isn't far off,"
and he ran along beside the little pig, who, after many adventures had
wandered back home. Squinty and Don came to the edge of the potato
field.
"Well, I never!" exclaimed the farmer man, who was there hoeing the
potatoes. "If there isn't that comical little pig I sold to that boy
Bob. I wonder where he came from?"
"Bow wow! Bow wow! I found him," barked Don, but of course the farmer
did not understand.
"Well, I'll put you back in the pen again until that boy sends for you,"
said the farmer, as he lifted Squinty over into the pen where his mamma
and papa and brothers and sisters were.
"Why--why, it's Squinty!" cried Mrs. Pig.
"He's come back!" grunted Mr. Pig.
"Oh, I'm so glad!" said Wuff-Wuff.
"And so am I," added Twisty Tail, as she rubbed her nose against
Squinty's. "Where have you been, and what happened to you?" she asked
her brother.
"Oh, many things," he said. "I have learned some tricks, I have been up
in a balloon, I met Slicko the jumping squirrel, Mappo, the merry
monkey, and I saw Tum-Tum, the jolly circus elephant. Now I am home
again."
"And which did you like best of all?" asked Mrs. Pig, when they had
finished asking him questions.
"Getting back home," answered Squinty, as he took a big drink of sour
milk.
And that is the story of Squinty, the comical pig. The farmer sent word
to the boy that his pet was back in the pen, but the boy said he thought
he did not want a pet pig any more, so Squinty, for the time being,
stayed with his family.
STORIES FOR CHILDREN
FROM 5 TO 10 YEARS OLD
* * * * *
THE KNEETIME ANIMAL STORIES
By Richard Barnum
Large 12mo. Cloth. Illustrated
Price per volume 40 cents Postpaid
In all nursery literature animals have played a conspicuous part; and
the reason is obvious for nothing entertains a child more than the funny
antics of an animal. These stories abound in amusing incidents such as
children adore and the characters are so full of life, so appealing to a
child's imagination that none will be satisfied until they have met all
of their favorites--Squinty, Slicko, Mappo, Tum Tum and Don.
Squinty, the Comical Pig
Slicko, the Jumping Squirrel
Mappo, the Merry Monkey
Tum Tum, the Jolly Elephant
Don, A Runaway Dog.
BOOKS FOR BOYS
* * * * *
THE BOBBY BLAKE SERIES
By Frank A. Warner
Large 12mo. Cloth. Illustrated. Price per volume 50 cents, net.
True stories of life at a modern American boarding school. Bobby
attended this institution of learning with his particular chum and the
boys had no end of good times. The tales of outdoor life, especially the
exciting times they have when engaged in sports against rival schools,
are written in a manner so true, so realistic, that the reader, too, is
sure to share with these boys their thrills and pleasures.
*BOBBY BLAKE AT ROCKLEDGE SCHOOL*
OR WINNING THE MEDAL OF HONOR
*BOBBY BLAKE AT BASS COVE*
OR THE HUNT FOR THE MOTOR BOAT GEM
*BOBBY BLAKE ON A CRUISE*
OR THE CASTAWAYS OF VOLCANO ISLAND
End of Project Gutenberg's Squinty the Comical Pig, by Richard Barnum