OUR BOYS & GIRLS.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 770, 3 December 1886, Page 5

OUR BOYS & GIRLS.

tit for tat.

- By Mahy Kyle Dallas. sMr’T«cker and bis wife stood side by side, -near-the. end -of- the kitchen garden, and Ilooked into thaipig-sty. There was an old pig and (there were several little pigs there, . Jdl eating:. and-grunting at the same time. The old pig lay '■ down in her dinner _and idled -an it. The little pigs climbed all over ! hec. They were all fat and white, except feu the inside of their ears—which were Tosy —and their flexible, pink noses. < shey ha>ve fattened, up, haven t ibe-v msV said MuTucker, as he scratched -the neck of the parent sow with a corn cob. “ And !l- tell 1 you.-v.hat : We 11 have the little one with the black spot on his pose tor dinner ‘Sunday ■ next. There s nothing I thinh more-nice, and tender than sucking pig, with plenty ,o£. apple sauce.’ The aged couple started for the house, but had aot gone?far before ; they came to a sudden halt, .on .finding BiUy, their youngestborn, lying on vthe ground crying as though hi 3 heart would break. , , ‘Billy 1 Billy, dear tare you hurt? roared th AtthifBilly staggered to his feet and, with his face alMushed and Inis breath coming and gbiqg,.gasped out: . ,t j I am’tihurt ! Im.erym because voure goiri’ to Budge ! I—l love Budge < He ,rubs his nose, against my hand and knows ooe-e'!’ .and -Billy ended with a wild shriek of sorrow. „ , ■ ■ , ~ ‘Budge! Who’s Budge? nsked Mr Tnckcr* ‘ He’s the little, jig with: the black spot on his nose,’ said the,toother. ‘The children have got names for all of them.’ ‘Oh!’ said Mr Tucker. ‘Well, Billy, < boy pigs were made to.eat-'jThat’s the plain r will of Providence. .And everybody eats ’em, twhich shows it’s right and natural. Why, you’ll be a farmer some.day,.and have cattle :'and poultry, and all to-sell the butcher, and kou won’t mind it smy -more than I do.’ ' tThen the parents walked on, butsome--thinp made Mr Tucker :feei unconfortable. The °pi" was not pork to ;33i11y. It was 3Bud<se,°an animal who knew him, a thing 2ie;ifi'*ed, that was' about to meet a terrible -• Mr Tucker had little appetite for tea and weutiio bed early. He was very fond of BiSly, and his tear stained faee troubled hinc,,’’ '£Obe moon set at -eleven -o’clock that nigiut (and it was very .dark, when there cameia-knock on the hoeae door that opened on tbeiroad. < Wfiiat.can that be ?’ thought Jlr Tucker, as he ihnrried on his slippers and a long ulster, for a caffidle dr. the darkness. , , . His wSfe ~Bid not wakeo. Nobody else seemed to ibe.aroused by the sound -that had -so startled -ham. As , he griped this way .down staii®{(he had not found (the,candle, iafter all) hewqjadered at this ; as 'he (Opened the door lie wondered still more, for several strange Tittle figures like .children in Jacques stood about the porch. jj e stepped out to see what trick .was feeing played on Ships, and in a moneant more found himself being-driven along—fee hardly knew how—in company with a number .of other men, all scudding in one direction, and uttering sounds .ef distress. Behind them came the queer -little figure3_ he had seen, making a strange sort of noise; and in his terror, Mr Tucker really found it impossible to do anything hx& run on, groaning and lamenting as the .other men who were driven -on with himAt last they were all poked and pushed into a prison of some sort and (there left together. The prison seemed to be divided into little cells, and with him du his were two other men. He found they were his neighbours, Mr Bell and Mr C-awley. Neither of them seemed to know, more about it than he did. He waited until daylight to see where he was, and what was to come of it. At dawn he discovered that he was in a vast shed divided into little compartments. In each were three chairs, a table, and three gentlemen. Through a door be saw a vast yillage of

(houses mot four feet High- -All was; silent at first, -but as the sun grew higher stranger figures appeared at their doors and * seemed to go about doing the ordinary work •of a-country morning. They were pigs walking on their hind legs, with hats and coats •on° with ties-about their necks,, and boots on their feet. 'Soon one after the other came toward the shed and set bowls and dishes of food before the prisoners. The food was good, even 'tempting. Mr Cawley drew hisehair to the table;; Mr Bell did so likewise. In all the shed tne men seemed to be eating heartily. Mr Tncker tasted the coffee before him:; it was delicious. Here were his favorite griddleCB)k6S a ‘ They don’t seem to mean to starve ns,’ he said to Mr Bell. * No, sir; they do not,’ said Mr Bell. ‘Liberty is all I want,’ said Mr Cawley.; * but a man must-eat.’ ... . - 'Yes:; strength must be kept up-to do anything,’ said Mr Tucker. * What s the meaning .of all "this?’ ‘ The pigs ha-ve risen—that s all, said Mr Cawley. * They were grunting in a queer sort of way all last week. Your old sow. and her litter headed the procession last night, I’m told. It's a fearful thing altofinished his bowd of coffee in silence. He was a very miserable man indeed. , . He drew his chair into a corner and sat there, feeling as he did when he had had the chills some years before, and the fever came on. Things were all in a muddle, tne , hours came, and the hours went. Bigs paddled about, andbrought continual relays of eatables to his prison. He noticed that Bell grew very, verv fat, and that Cawley, who'had been thim was getting a double chin The pig ladies, in pink bonnets and blue hats and feathers, or without anything on their heads but a ribbon, but always in fine gowns, came and laughed at them over the low walls, and lifted up their little piggies to see. All went like a dream, but the only comfort he had was a dear little pig, with, a black spot on its nose, -who showed hun great affection. H© did. not simply feed him, but came and grunted softly and rubbed his nose over his hand. After a while he knew enough of pig language to comprehend that he called him Tucker, and said he was the best and nicest of all the men he knew. Desolate as he was, this was much. At last one day, as he was eating some fine cauliflower, there came to the prison a large white sow and a large black pig, and with them his little white piglet with the black spot on his nose. They spoke in pig language. .... * Ma,’ said the black pig, how fat they get, to be sure.’ * Yes, pa, amazing,’ said the white sow. * There’s nothing nicer to my mind for dinner than a nice, fat, little man, with plenty of apple sauce,’ said papa pig, pleasantly. i Well have this short, fat one with the bald spot on the head, for our Sunday dinner—and ask the Wigginses to help to eat Mr Tucker groaned and crowded himself into the corner of his cell; and the little piglet set up the most awful grunting—a lamentation in grunts of the most tragic sort. ‘ What is the matter, Budge ?’ asked papa pig. ‘ What troubles my darling ?’ asked pig mamma. _ , , * I don’t want you to eat my Tucker, said the piglet. . ,; - ; * Dear me, child, it s always done. It s natural and must be right. You won’t mind it when you are my age,’ said papa pig. ■. _ . f . ‘I love him,’ said piglet; ‘he s my Tucker. He pats me on the hesd. 1 won’t have him killed. Oh ! Oh 1 Oh ! my Tucker!’ , ‘ Cook him with a bun in his mouth, ma, said pa pig. ‘ I— ’ . But he said no more ; a voice cried : «Ephriham ! Ephriham ! What’s the matter? Wake up! —quick! Dear, dear, have you got a nightmare V Mr Tucker’s wife was shaking him by the shoulders. He sat up and looked gladly ’ enough upon the walls of his own bedroom. ‘ Thank the Lord it was only a dream,’ he said, ‘ but it was an awful one. Oh ! what a dream !’ ‘Billy, dear,’ said Mrs Tucker at breakfast time, ‘your pa isn’t going to kill any of the pigs. Mter awhile he’ll sell most of ’em, but you are to have Budge for a pet as long as you want him. Thank your pa when he comes down.. Billy rejoiced, and Badge lived probably forever. Big ß who are not made pork of, may, for all I know. But Mr Tncker never (tasted a morsel of that meat detested by the pious Hebrew, after that day.