IX
A GREAT ADVENTURE
The next outing that Farmer Green gave Mrs. Pig's family in the little yard proved to be anything but a picnic—for Mrs. Pig. That poor lady had a dreadful time. Grunty ran away again. And he hadn't been gone long before his mother heard a loud squealing in the nearest field. The sound rapidly grew louder. And as she stood still and listened, Mrs. Pig knew that 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 he ran 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." Being more than fat, herself, and greatly excited, Mrs. Pig had to stop talking for a time, because she gurgled and wheezed and panted in a most alarming fashion.
At last, when she had somewhat recovered from her flurry, she called to Grunty. And looking at him severely Mrs. Pig said to him, "Let this be a lesson to you. Never, never stray away from the farmyard again!"
"Yes, Mother!" was Grunty's glib reply. Then he sidled away. Somehow he felt uneasy under his mother's gaze.