FARM-YARD TALES

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume 76, 17 October 1941, Page 3

FARM-YARD TALES

REFLECTIONS IN THE THOUGH CHAPTER 14 (Original) I “Come on Percy,” Roy urged. "You I haven't spoken about your adventures yet." ! Mike, Tyke and Jock lay down together and listened intently. Walking | over to t Ho three friends and lying down beside them, Percy Pig began. ! “I belong to a big family and we I lived in a big sty. We always had j plenty to eat and lots of clean straw to ' lie on. Once, when 1 was quite small. I decided to explore the food trough at - the end of the sty which my parents | drank from. j "Waiting until everyone was asleep, I 1 got up very quietly and cautiously crept towards the trough. 1 "Pushing my head over, I stared •taver the top. What do you think I saw? ; "My own face! "Walking along a little way, I lookjed into the trough again, fondly’ j imagining that I had left my double ! behind. It was still there! Hardly able, to believe my eyes, 1 waggled my ears. ! They moved too, when 1 stared down, j 1 frowned at the image in the trough j j and it frowned back at me. i "Giving a most fearful squeal, I j I leapt into the trough, landing with a ' terrific splash in tHe whey. I blundered j about, making a terrible noise. Of j j course, everyone woke up, and in no j time were telling me how to get out; ! jail talking at once and all giving] i different advice. i “At last I scrambled out, feeling very - i wet and sorry for myself, i " ‘Well, are you satisfied?’ one of my i I brothers inquired with a grin, i “ ‘Be quiet!’ I snapped, and walking j ! over to a cosy corner, I sank down in j ; the straw and dried myself in the ! warm morning sun.” "It must have been funny,” Mike | chuckled. ! "I wish I’d been there,” Peter grinned. I "Have you had any more adventures, Percy?” Billy asked. | "Yes,” Percy answered, and conj tinned. 1 “One day—this happened only about! J four months after I fell in the trough— i Iwe were lying down on the straw | I when 1 noticed a large hole in the ■ wood, which had been hidden by the \ j straw. j " ‘Why don't you try to get out?’ my brothers asked. | "‘You won’t tell any one?’ I inquired j anxiously. i “ ‘No,’ they answered, j "Luckily my parents were asleep, so. | watched by my brothers and sisters, 1; squeezed through. j " ‘Good luck,’ they whispered. ‘We i ! daren’t go with you, for mother would j wonder where we had all gone.’ j "I nodded. | "As I walked away, I wondered I where to go. I had a certain time in which I could wander about, but when the humans saw me I knew they would drive me back again. "Coming to a gate which was partly open, I pushed it with my nose until it was wide enough for me to get through. Finding myself in the orchard, and seeing the branches hang, j ing low with fruit, I pulled them down I and had a lovely time. When I ha‘d had enough I walked on. “At last I came to another open gate, and smelling some flowers, I stole inside. I had come to the house, and there were flowers and shrubs everywhere. “ ‘Which should I start on first?’ 1 wondered, for they all looked so tempting. Eventually I decided on the shrubs, and began to trim them beauli- j fully. “ 'The humans won’t need to cut! them now for a long time,’ I thought, feeling quite pleased with myself, as I stared at their bedraggled appearance. "Wandering back, I came to a bucketful of potatoes standing on the back lawn. " ‘Perhaps they knew I would like these,’ I thought, feeling very pleased. T suppose they are beginning to realise that we like potatoes in the sty as much as they do.” “Very soon there were not many of them left, and I would have finished them all if a human had not come out of the house and seen me. “ ‘One of the pigs is out,’ he called to someone inside the house, and then ; gave chase. “Squealing with fright, I galloped j away, and went head over heels over i a dish of water which the hens drank I from. "Eventually I reached the sty, where! 1 slipped quickly through the hole!: again.” Percy ended. "Did the humans ever find the hole?” « Peter asked. "No,” Percy answered. "Although j they must have wondered how J got;! back in the sty again. That’s how I | got out to-night. My brothers and I ! go out quite a lot at night when the humans are asleep, and eat the apples , from the orchard. We thoroughly enjoy ourselves, too.” jj "Did your mother and father find j t out?” Roy asked curiously. L "Yes,” Percy replied, "but they didn’t)} mind.” . "What fun it must have been,” Tyke h sighed enviously. L "It must have been most exciting,” r Mike mused. , “Thank you, Percy,” Roy said, as he j 1 was about to trot off home to his ken- \ ncl. “That was very interesting,” and t all the animals agreed. £ —Fay Baynes (13 years) Tahunanui. c - i