“Dead dog, Dead!” now called the excited boy, forgetting for the moment that he was not training Wickee, his collie dog.
But Katahdin cared naught for the error of names, and meekly turned over on his back with all four short legs sticking stiffly upward.
A scream of laughter greeted this performance and an apple was fed the eager pig.
“Fiji, see if he can play soldier like Wick does?” now said Bob. So, the stick Fiji held was carefully placed in the crotch of the upright pig’s foreleg. The pig was so tame that it showed absolutely no fear of the children but stood obediently waiting for a command.
Whistling Yankee Doodle again, Fiji shouted “March!”
Katahdin ambled clumsily along carrying the stick for a gun, and the children shouted wildly in their frenzy of delight. They felt that they had saved the seventh wonder of the earth!
“Halt!” called Fiji, and the porcine performer obeyed.
“Present arms!” but the pig must have been accustomed to a different act for it instantly grounded arms.
Uncles, aunts, and other adults were now hailed to come and witness the great surprise. So piggy was once more put through his “steps” to the wonderment of the grown-ups.
“I believe this is a valuable pig, children, and perhaps his master was on the Katahdin also, and now is mourning the loss of his pet,” said Mrs. Remington.