e. I'd have shivered my days out in
the barn."

Grunty Pig looked at his caller with growing interest. He would have
said that so tiny a gentleman would be too timid to crowd in where he
wasn't asked.

"Don't wait any longer for an invitation," Moses Mouse urged him. "Go to
the farmhouse and walk right in."

"Oughtn't I to rap?" Grunty inquired.

"Certainly not!" said Moses Mouse. "Make yourself right at home. Act as
if the farmhouse belonged to you. That's the way I do. And nobody ever
bothers me, except Miss Kitty Cat--or Miss Snooper, as we Mice call her.
Even she can't drive me away from the farmhouse. I lived there before
she ever came to Pleasant Valley."

"She certainly couldn't drive me away," Grunty Pig muttered. "Besides,
didn't you say she was away herself?"

"Yes!" said Moses Mouse. "And I hope she has gone for good."

"Then," said Grunty Pig, "it ought to be quite safe for me to go to the
farmhouse. And as soon as I have a chance to get out of this pen I'll do
as you suggest."

"Good!" cried Moses Mouse. And he said that he hoped to have many a chat
with Grunty, at the farmhouse.

"Umph!" said Grunty Pig. And Mr. Mouse was much pleased, for he took
that to mean "Yes!"

XXIV

A PIG IN THE PARLOR

Grunty Pig had got out of his pen and out of the piggery, too. Ever
since his talk with Moses Mouse the day before he had been hoping for a
chance to escape. And shuffling across the farmyard somewhat
heavily--for he was growing longer and taller and fatter every
day--Grunty went straight to the woodshed door. It was open. And he
walked through it. Then he clattered over the woodshed floor and peered
into the kitchen. There was no one there.

For a few moments Grunty stood sniffing in the doorway. A delicious
odor greeted him. He wasn't sure what it was. A pan sat near the edge
of the table. And Grunty Pig had no trouble upsetting it with his nose.

Doughnuts rolled in every direction--crisp, brown, freshly fried
doughnuts. And Grunty Pig showed that he was thoughtful. He went to the
trouble of picking them all up off the floor. But he forgot to drop them
back into the pan. Instead, he put every one of them into his own mouth.

"That Moses Mouse was all wrong," he murmured. "He complained of the
food here. When I see him I'll have to tell him that he was mistaken.
Why, I never ate anything that tasted better than these rings!"

After making sure that there was nothing else for him to dev