“Wall, I kin tell her what ails ’em, but I jes’ thought I’d let her try to fin’ it out herself. Mebbe she’ll take a little interest in her business if she is left to do the wuk!” declared Rachel.
“What makes them squeal, Rachel? You can tell us, can’t you?” coaxed Natalie.
“Well den, dey ain’t got no beddin’ to sleep on, an’ t’ dish wid water is be’n upsot all evenin’, so dey ain’t got no drinkin’ water. Young pigs drink an orful lot of water an’ dey has to have good beddin’ to sleep on, or dey’ll squeal.”
After this explanation, the other girls were eager to go to the pig-pen and see what Janet was doing for the comfort of her investment. Natalie ran indoors and got an electric flashlight, and they all started for the barnyard, Rachel bringing up the rear.
Poor Janet was ready to scream, when they found her trying to hush the pigs. She would try to catch first one, then another to see if anything had happened to them, but they kept her jumping around the pen without her fingers ever touching their little pink hides.
After Mrs. James explained the cause of their rioting, Janet crawled over the closely-fitted laths that fenced them in; and all the girls started for the barn to find some fresh straw for a bed. Water had been given them, and the avidity with which they drank it showed how thirsty they had been.
When the bed was made up in the little house, the three weary little fellows ran in and were soon curled up to sleep. Then the girls followed Rachel back to the house, Janet listening very humbly to her discourse on “Cruelty to Domestic Animals.”
Early in the morning Norma was up, and without disturbing anyone, slipped down-stairs and started to work on the flower beds. She had listened so earnestly to Mrs. Tompkins’ advice about digging and fertilizing the soil, that she had finished the narrow beds that edged the house before the other girls came down.
“Why, Norma, you certainly are industrious,” said Mrs. James, when she saw all that had been accomplished.
“Isn’t it fun, Mrs. James! I never dreamed how nice it is to be a farmer. But I never want to be anything else, now.”