The Hog 91 



ran round the pen, snuffing and grunting com- 

 plaints, though they were fed twice a day, not 

 to name the pasture. No hog of any sort ever 

 saw eating going on without wanting a share. 

 What, then, could one expect of suckling 

 mothers ? 



Bold, gluttonous fellows, among the pigs, 

 climbed bodily into the low troughs, and lay 

 there swilling. Joe laughed to see that they 

 chose always to lie in the low ends where the 

 mush and milk was deepest. Often it came 

 half way up their sleek sides. He fancied 

 they lay down over as much of it as possible 

 to keep it from the rest. He had caught his 

 father's knack of picking up a pig by the tail 

 and swinging him gently back and forth to 

 judge his weight and growth. So held, a pig 

 does not squeal, though he opens his mouth, 

 as though he would like to do it. Pig-thieves 

 take advantage of the fact. They shell corn 

 all around their feet, then when the pigs are 

 eating seize upon a fat one, lift him up, and 

 stun him by a fist-blow between the eyes. 



And thus they get safe away. Ear or leg- 

 hold makes a pig squeal loudly, no matter how 

 tame he may be. A curious thing is that 

 sows or hogs of any sort, which pay no atten- 

 tion whatever to the squealing for food, start 

 upon the dead run, bristling, giving out angry 

 guttural roars, and gnashing their tusks until 



