74

XVIII THE LUCKIEST OF ALL 79

XIX DOG SPOT'S PLAN 83

XX A NEW KIND OF PIG 88

XXI BEECHNUTS 94

XXII JASPER JAY OBJECTS 98

XXIII MOSES MOUSE'S WAY 104

XXIV A PIG IN THE PARLOR 109

ILLUSTRATIONS

PAGE

GRUNTY PIG IS SCOLDED BY HENRIETTA HEN Frontispiece

THE MULEY COW ADVISES GRUNTY PIG TO GO HOME 32

"ALWAYS MIND YOUR MOTHER," SAID MRS. PIG 64

GRUNTY PIG STUCK FAST IN THE FENCE 80

THE TALE OF GRUNTY PIG

I

THE RUNT

He was the smallest of seven children. At first his mother thought she
would call him "Runty." But she soon changed her mind about that; for
she discovered that even if he was the runt of the family, he had the
loudest grunt of all. So the good lady made haste to slip a G in front
of the name "Runty."

"There!" she exclaimed. "'Grunty' is a name that you ought to be proud
of. It calls attention to your best point. And if you keep on making as
much noise in the world as you do now, maybe people won't notice that
you're a bit undersized. You certainly sound as big as any little shote
I ever saw or heard."

So that was settled--though Grunty Pig didn't care one way or another.
He seemed to be interested in nothing but food. There is no doubt that
he would have been willing to change his name a dozen times a day for
the slight bribe of a drink of warm milk.

His mother sometimes said that he had the biggest appetite--as well as
the loudest grunt--of all her seven children. And she was glad that he
ate well, because food was the very thing that would make him grow.

"You won't always be runty, Grunty, if you eat a plenty," Mrs. Pig often
told him. And then he would grunt, as if to say, "You don't need to
urge me. Just give me a chance!"

Grunty Pig soon learned that being the smallest of the family had one
sad drawback. His brothers and sisters (all bigger than he!) could crowd
him away from the feeding trough. And they not only _could_; but they
often _did_. Unless Grunty reached the trough among the first, there was
never a place left where he could squirm in. If he tried to eat at one
end of the trough he was sure to be shouldered away and go hungry.

So whenever he did succeed in getting the first taste of a meal he took
pains to plant himself in the