"Not much," said the girl. "Do you suppose anyone could wean them away from their precious pigs? They were brought up with them. As puppies they lay close to Lady Annabella's warm sides every night."
"And they watch the pigs through the day?"
"Yes, they are both splendid fighters, and no wild beast would dare to go near the Vere de Veres when they are about. Never a fox will take a piggie-wiggie. I can tell you a story about that. Would you like to hear it?"
"Yes, indeed."
"Well, one day this spring Mr. Talker had Lady Annabella up at his house. She had a litter of young, and he wanted to keep her quiet. She was in a small yard and there was a hole in the fence. Mr. Talker was in his barn loft looking out the window. He saw a Mr. Fox come slyly down from the wood, and look through the hole longingly at the pigs. Mr. Talker was going to run down, then he stopped. He has a great admiration for Lady Annabella and he saw that she had got up and her little pig eyes were glued to the hole in the fence.
"Mr. Talker says Foxy, after staring at the piglets, picked up a stick about the length of one of them and jumped through the hole with it in his mouth.
"Mr. Talker says undoubtedly he was measuring the hole. Finally he dropped the stick, went through the hole, seized a piggy and tried to go back through the hole with it. Piggy being no longer than the stick but much fatter, stuck in the hole and then there was Lady Annabella suddenly very much alive and crowding Mr. Fox so hard against the fence that he could scarcely breathe.
"He dropped his squealing burden, and hobbled away, so crushed in body and spirit that he could scarcely crawl back to the woods."
"And what did Mr. Talker do?" asked Dallas breathlessly.