Curly and Floppy Twistytail | Page 2

boy pig. "Maybe we will have an
adventure, such as Uncle Wiggily Longears used to have," for you see
the pigs knew Uncle Wiggly almost as well as you do.
"All right," said the younger boy pig. "Where shall we go?"
"Off in the woods," spoke his brother. "The woods are full of
adventures."
So they strolled out of their house, and started for the woods. I forgot to
say that the Twistytail family of pigs lived in a regular house--of course
not the kind you boys and girls live in, but still it was a very good
house for pigs. It had tables in it, and chairs and beds and all things like
that. And the reason they were called "Twistytail" was because their
tails did have a sort of twist or turn in them.
Well, the two pig boys wandered on through the woods, and pretty
soon they came to two paths, one leading to left and the other to the
right.
"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:
"Oh, brother! What has happened to you?" And there was the piggie's
little brother looking for him.
"Oh!" cried the pig boy who was tied to the fence by his tail. "A bear
caught me. A big black bear! He is going to eat me as soon as he comes
back with