“Let’s go this way,” said the older pig boy, who yet didn’t have any name, and he pointed his leg toward the right-hand path.

“No, I think we will find an adventure on this road,” said his younger brother, and he started off to the left.

“Oh, there you go!” cried the older pig boy.  “You never want to do what I like!”

“Well, I’ve got just as good a right to go this way as you have to go that way,” answered the younger piggie-iggie, and so those two brothers, instead of keeping together and looking for adventures, separated, and one went one way, while the other went the other way.  And now you just wait and see what happens.

All of a sudden, as the older piggie boy was walking along, digging up nice sweet roots with his nose—­for you know that is the way piggies dig—­all of a sudden, I say, there was a growling noise in the bushes, and before the little pig boy could jump out of the way, or even call for his mamma or papa, a big black bear sprang out from inside a hollow stump, and grabbed him.  Right in his paws he grabbed that little pig boy.

“Oh, ho!” growled the big black bear.  “You are just what I’ve been waiting for.  Now for a nice roast pork dinner.  Oh, yum! yum!”

“Oh!” squealed the little pig boy.  “Surely you don’t mean to eat me, Mr. Bear!  Please let me go!”

“Indeed I’ll not!” exclaimed the bear.  “I was hiding here, hoping Sammie Littletail or Uncle Wiggily would come along, so I could have a rabbit dinner, but you will do just as well.  Come along!”

And so the bear carried off the little piggie boy farther into the woods, intending to take him to a den where there was a good hot fire.  And all the while the little piggie tried to get away but he couldn’t because the bear held him so tightly in his paws.

Pretty soon the bear came to his den.  Then he said: 

“Let me see, now.  I must have some apple sauce to go with my roast pork dinner.  I’ll just tie this little pig to the fence while I go off and get some apples to make into sauce.  I can cook the apples and the pig on the same fire.”

Then the bear looked blinkingly at the little pig, and said: 

“Let me see.  How can I tie him to the fence?  Oh, I know, by his tail.  I’ll just fasten him by his tail.”  And that’s what he did, tying the poor little piggie to the fence by his tail, with a piece of wild grape vine for a string.  And the bear wound the grape vine string, that was fast to the little pig’s tail around and around the round rail of the fence.  Then the bear went off after apples for sauce.

Well, of course the poor little pig felt very badly, and he didn’t know what to do.  He even cried a little bit, but I’m sure you won’t blame him for that, will you?  And he said: 

“Oh, I wish my little brother was here.  He might help me!”

And then, all of a sudden, there was a rustling in the bushes, and the little pig, who was tied by his tail to the fence, thought it was the bear coming back.  But it wasn’t, for all at once a voice called out: