"No, I will wait and let the boy take me away," thought Squinty.
Several times after this the boy and his sisters came to look down into the pig pen. The pigs could tell, by the talk of the children, that they were brother and sisters. And they had come to the farm to spend their summer vacation, when there was no school.
"That's the pig I am going to take home with me," the boy would say to his sisters, pointing to Squinty.
"How can you tell which one is yours?" asked one of the little girls.
"I can tell by his funny squint," the boy would answer. "He always makes me want to laugh."
"Well, I am glad I am of some use in this world," thought Squinty, who could understand nearly all that the boy and his sisters said. "It is something just to be jolly."
"I wouldn't want a pig," said the other girl. "They grunt and squeal and are not clean. I'd rather have a rabbit."
"Pigs are so clean!" cried the boy. "Squinty is as clean as a rabbit!"
Only that day Squinty had rolled over and over in the mud, but he had had a bath from the hose, so he was clean now. And he made up his mind that if the boy took him he would never again get in the mud and become covered with dirt.
"I will keep myself clean and jolly," thought Squinty.