of the bears
he actually jeered at her.

"There are no bears in Pleasant Valley," he scoffed. "And you needn't
trouble yourself to mention them again to me. I'm going to live in this
pasture and there's no use of your trying to frighten me away."

The Muley Cow said nothing more to him. She merely looked at him and
smiled wisely.

"He'll sing a different song," she thought, "when it begins to grow
dark."

XI

LOCKED OUT

The Muley Cow was right. She had said to herself, with a smile, that
Grunty Pig, the runaway, would be glad enough to go home when night
came. He had decided to stay right there in the pasture for the rest of
his life, where there was plenty to eat and plenty to do. He felt sure
that he would have a much pleasanter time there than at home. For one
thing, he knew well enough that there was a punishing waiting for him at
the piggery--if he ever went back to get it.

Not until Johnnie Green and old dog Spot came to the pasture to drive
the cows down the lane did Grunty Pig begin to feel the least twinge of
homesickness. And even then he tried to forget it. He hid in a clump of
brakes near the fence while Johnnie Green and Spot were in the pasture,
for he didn't want them to spy him and take him home with them.

There was a delicious, damp, woodsy smell in the cool shade of his
hiding place.

"How much nicer this is than our stuffy pen!" Grunty exclaimed under his
breath.

Now and then he peeped out to watch the procession of cows moving slowly
towards the barn to be milked. And when the last one had entered the
lane, hurrying to catch up with the rest--and to avoid Spot's nips at
her heels--Grunty crept out into the open.

Then, strange to say, he hurried towards the lane himself. All at once
the pasture seemed a great, lonesome place. Who knew when a bear might
rise out of a clump of bushes near him?

He was careful not to follow too closely after the herd as they
meandered down the lane. At the same time, he was careful not to fall
too far behind. And he took many a quick backward glance, to make sure
no bear was creeping up on him.

Not far from the barn Grunty left the lane and hurried toward the little
yard outside the piggery, where he had run away from his mother and his
brothers and his sisters.

When he reached the fence through which he had crept while Mrs. Pig was
enjoying a nap, he met with a great surprise. The hole in the fence was
no more! Somebody had mended it.