Having finished her duty to the diary, Janet jumped into bed and was soon dreaming of giant pigs that were forever escaping from the pig pen, and flocks of chickens which scratched pits that went down to China.
Before breakfast the next morning, Janet and Natalie replanted the little slips that were dug out by the fowl, and Natalie sighed in relief when she saw the work finished. That morning while breakfasting, Janet plied questions for anyone to answer. It was Rachel who had the knowledge stored away because of past experiences down “Souf’” when she was a girl on a farm.
“How long does it take little pigs to become big hogs?” was Janet’s first query.
“Dat depen’s on how much you feeds ’em. Ef you guvs ’em all day kin eat, den you’ll soon see what grub kin do fer ’em,” was Rachel’s non-committal reply.
“Will three meals a day be enough?” asked Janet.
“What, t’ree! Ha, ha, ha!” laughed Rachel, shaking with amusement at such a silly question. “Pigs eats a meal every time you will guv it to ’em. And ’tween times dey noses and grunts about in the pen rootin’ fer more to eat. It don’t matter how soon after one meal you feeds ’em again—dey is always hungry and ready to eat.”
Mrs. James laughed at Rachel’s graphic explanation but she agreed with her.
“I should think they’d have indigestion,” Natalie ventured.
“Dat’s an ailment dey don’t know nuttin’ of, but little pigs is easy to die. I shoulden’ wonner but what Janet will have one er two of her’n die on her han’s dis summer. But not f’om dyspepsy!”
“Dear me, Rachel,” was Janet’s worried reply. “If pigs die as easy as that, where will the dividends of my investment come from? Think of what they cost to feed? Why, I used two quarts of milk yesterday besides that bag of cornmeal I bought off Tompkins. I figured it would last a week, and they ate all of it at one supper!”