not they are as full of demons as the Gadarene Swine themselves!"
"What should we do without your help?" said Mademoiselle. "The pigs
cannot be roped!"
"No," said the agent sadly, "they cannot." He considered a moment. Then
he motioned to Pierre and Pierrette, who were standing with Mary and
Martha at a respectful distance. "Come here, all of you," he said,
addressing them from the top of the gang-plank; "pigs must be taken by
strategy. I am an old soldier. I will engineer an encircling movement.
Mademoiselle; will you stand here at the left, and, Madame la Docteur,
will you station yourself at my right? The rest of you arrange
yourselves in a curved line extending westward from Madame. Then I will
release the pigs, and you, watching their movements, will head them off
if they start in the wrong direction. Voila! We will now commence."
He went back into the car, and in another moment the pigs, squealing
vociferously, thundered down the gang-plank, gave one look at the
"encircling movement," and, wheeling about, instantly dashed under the
car and out on the other side into an open field. It was not until they
had made a complete tour of the village, pursued by the entire
personnel of the "encircling movement" that they were at last turned
into the Fontanelle road.
"This isn't--the way--this parade--was advertised!" gasped Kathleen, as
she struggled with her goat in an effort to take her appointed place in
the caravan. "The--cows--were to--go--first!"
"Never mind," answered Louise cheerfully, as she pulled her goat into
the road. "A little informality will be overlooked, I'm sure."
Mother Meraut followed them with the cows, and last of all Mademoiselle
and the Doctor climbed into the truck and brought up the rear of the
procession, with all the roosters crowing at the top of their lungs.
There is not time to tell of all the adventures that befell them on the
eventful journey back to Fontanelle. One can merely guess that it must
have been full of excitement, since the Reception Committee did not
reach the village with their charges until some time after dark. Mother
Meraut was worried because she was not home in time to get a hot supper
for the tired girls, but when they arrived they found that Grand'mere
had stepped into the breach, and had made steaming hot soup for every
one. Grandpere and Father Meraut took charge of the live-stock, and
Mother Corbeille milked the cows.
As they dragged themselves weari
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