“Oh, let’s take a short cut through the corn field,” suggested Curly.  “Maybe then we can get ahead of the others.”

“All right,” said Flop.  “We’ll do it.”  And, though they had never gone through this corn field, because it was owned by a cross old alligator gentleman, they now started to crawl under the fence.  Just as they were inside the field they heard a little voice crying: 

“Oh, dear!  What shall I do.  Oh, my poor tail!”

“What’s that?"’ asked Flop in alarm.

“I don’t know,” answered Curly.  “Maybe it’s the bad old fuzzy wolf.”

“Let’s hide!” exclaimed Flop, and they were looking for a place to hide when they happened to see a poor little girl mouse near a shock of corn, and her tail was held fast by a stone that had fallen on it.

“Was that you crying?” asked Flop.

“It was,” said the mousie girl.  “Oh my poor tail!  How can I ever get loose?”

“We’ll help you,” spoke Curly.  “We’ll root up the stone with our strong noses, and then you’ll be all right.”

“Of course we will,” agreed Flop.  “Oh, how glad we are that you aren’t a wolf,” he added, and then he and Curly, with their noses which were made stretchy like a rubber ball, soon had the stone off the mousie girl’s tail, and she was all right, except that her tail was sore.  But when her mamma could put some salve on it that would be all better, too.

“Oh!  I can’t tell you how thankful I am to you,” said the mousie girl to the piggie boys.  “Some day I will help you.”

“Ha!  Ha!” laughed Flop.  “How can a little mousie girl like you help us two big boys?”

“Hush!” exclaimed Curly.  “It isn’t polite to laugh when any one offers to do you a favor, even if they are little.  Besides, maybe she might be able to help us some day.”

“Of course,” spoke the mousie, and she felt rather badly because Flop Ear had laughed.

“Oh, excuse me!” exclaimed Flop.  “I didn’t mean to.  I’m sure I hope you can help us, little mousie.”

So the two piggie boys went on through the corn field, hoping they wouldn’t meet the cross old alligator man, who owned it, and who didn’t like animal boys.  And the mousie went on her way.

“I think we’ll soon catch up to the others,” said Flop after a bit.

“I guess so,” agreed Curly.  “And when we do—–­”

“Hark!” suddenly exclaimed Floppy.  “Some one is coming!” Curly heard it, too, and he stopped talking.  He looked around the corner of a stone and whispered: 

“It’s the old alligator man himself.  What shall we do?”

“Run!” exclaimed Flop.  “Run as fast as we can.”

So he and Curly started to run but my goodness me sakes alive and a postage stamp!  No sooner had they gone ten steps than the cross old alligator man saw them, and after them he came as fast as he could crawl on his four legs, wiggling his humpy tail.  “Oh, he’ll get us, sure!” wailed Floppy.