CHAPTER VIII

SQUINTY IN THE WOODS

Bob, the boy who had bought Squinty, the comical pig, laughed and clapped his hands.  His two sisters, who were playing with their dolls in the shade of an evergreen tree, heard their brother, and one of them called out: 

“What is it, Bob?  What is it?”

“Oh, come and see my pig do a trick!” answered the boy.  “He is too funny for anything!”

“Can he really do a trick?” asked the smaller sister, whose name was Mollie.

“Indeed he can,” the boy said.  “He can do two tricks—­find hidden acorns, and jump a rope.”

“Oh, no, not really jump a rope!” cried Sallie.

“You just come and see!” the boy called.

All this while Squinty was chewing on the apple which he had picked up from the ground after he had jumped over the rope.  He heard what the boy said, and Squinty made up his mind.

“Well,” said the little pig to himself, “if it is any fun for that boy and his sisters to watch me jump over a rope, and dig up acorns, I don’t mind doing it for them.  They call them tricks, but I call it getting something to eat.”

And they were both right, you see.

Sallie and Mollie, the two sisters, laid down their dolls in the shade, and ran over toward their brother, who still held one end of the rope, that was fast to Squinty’s leg.

“Make him do some tricks for us,” begged Mollie.

“Show us how he jumps the rope,” said Sallie.

“First, I’ll have him dig up the acorns, as that’s easier,” spoke Bob.  “Here, Squinty!” he called.  “Find the acorns!  Find ’em!”

While Squinty had been munching on the apple, the boy had dug a hole, put some sweet acorn nuts into it, and covered them up with dirt.  Squinty had not seen him do this, but Squinty thought he could find the nuts just the same.

There were two ways of doing this.  Squinty had a very sharp-smelling nose.  He could smell things afar off, that neither you nor I could smell even close by.  And Squinty could also tell, by digging in the ground with his queer, rubbery nose, just where the ground was soft and where it was hard.  And he knew it would be soft at the place where the boy had dug a hole in which to hide the acorns.

So, when Bob called for Squinty to come and find the acorn nuts, even though the little pig had not seen just where they were hidden, Squinty felt sure he could dig them up.

“He’ll never find them!” said Sallie.

“Just you watch!” exclaimed the boy.

He pulled on the rope around Squinty’s leg.  At first the little pig was not quite sure what was wanted of him.  He thought perhaps he was to jump over the rope after another apple.  But he saw no fruit waiting for him.  Then he looked carefully about and smelled the air.  The boy was very gentle with him, and waited patiently.