"Squee! Squee!" grunted Squinty. "I can't!" I suppose he meant to say.
"Come on!" cried the boy. "Don't be afraid. You can do it!"
Squinty wanted that potato very much. And the only way to get it was to walk to it on his hind legs. If he let himself down on all four legs he knew the boy would not give him the potato. So Squinty made up his little pig mind that he would do this new trick.
Off he started, walking by himself on his hind legs, just like a trained bear.
"Fine! That's the way to do it! I knew you could!" the boy cried when Squinty reached him, and took the potato out of his hand. "Good little pig!" and he scratched Squinty's back with a stick.
"Uff! Uff!" squealed Squinty, very much pleased.
And from then on the comical little pig learned many tricks.
He could stand up a long time, on his hind legs, with an apple on his nose. And he would not eat it until the boy called:
"Now, Squinty!"
Then Squinty would toss the apple up in the air, off his nose, and catch it as it came down. Oh, how good it tasted!