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Tale of Grunty Pig

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<h3>VIII</h3><h3>FEARFUL NEWS</h3> There came a day at last when Farmer Green gave Mrs. Pig and her family a great treat. He let them out of their pen and turned them loose in a little yard out of doors. Such gruntings and squealings hadn't been heard on the farm for a long time. It was just like a picnic. And everybody had the finest of times. Still, Grunty Pig wasn't content to stay in the yard with the rest of the family. It wasn't long before he found a hole in the fence big enough to wriggle through. And off he went. And he was actually34 glad, for once, that he was the littlest of the family. There wasn't another of Mrs. Pig's children that could squeeze through the opening. Grunty Pig trotted the whole length of the lane. When he reached the pasture he found himself face to face with the Muley Cow, who acted much surprised to see him there. "You'd better go back home at once," she advised him. "There are bears on Blue Mountain. Sometimes they come down this way. Only last week I had an adventure with one in the back pasture." She did not tell Grunty that she had run away from Cuffy Bear, down the hillside. "A bear," said the Muley Cow, "would be delighted to meet a tender little pig like you." Grunty Pig did not even thank the Muley Cow for warning him. 35 "I'd like to meet a bear," he declared stoutly. "I hope I'll meet one to-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 not greatly disturbed. "He can't be far off," she thought. "He'll come back before dark." And when Grunty did at last come crawling into the little yard Mrs. Pig was merely vexed with him for having gone off without her consent. She was just about to give him a well deserved scolding. But before she could speak 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 certainly unharmed,36 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 saw him?" Mrs. Pig demanded. "I walked away," said Grunty. "He couldn't have noticed you," Mrs. Pig declared. "If you had squealed it would have been the end of you." Grunty Pig felt that he was the most important member of the family. Not one of his brothers or sisters had ever seen a bear. At least they had never claimed to have enjoyed so fearsome a sight. "It was nothing," he boasted. "I'd as soon meet a bear as the Muley Cow." His mother, however, was of another37 mind. She kept looking about in an uneasy 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 out here—not with a bear in the neighborhood." <hr />38 <div style="break-after:column;"></div>

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