The Tale of Grunty Pig Slumber-Town Tales   By: Arthur Scott Bailey (1877-1949)

SLUMBER TOWN TALES (Trademark Registered)

BY ARTHUR SCOTT BAILEY

AUTHOR OF

SLEEPY TIME TALES (Trademark Registered)

TUCK ME IN TALES (Trademark Registered)

THE TALE OF THE MULEY COW

THE TALE OF OLD DOG SPOT

THE TALE OF GRUNTY PIG

THE TALE OF HENRIETTA HEN

THE TALE OF TURKEY PROUDFOOT

THE TALE OF PONY TWINKLEHEELS

THE TALE OF MISS KITTY CAT

[Illustration: Grunty Pig is Scolded by Henrietta Hen.

Frontispiece ( Page 17 )]

SLUMBER TOWN TALES (Trademark Registered)

THE TALE OF GRUNTY PIG

BY ARTHUR SCOTT BAILEY

Author of "SLEEPY TIME TALES" (Trademark Registered)

AND

"TUCK ME IN TALES" (Trademark Registered)

ILLUSTRATED BY HARRY L. SMITH

NEW YORK GROSSET & DUNLAP PUBLISHERS

Made in the United States of America

COPYRIGHT, 1921, BY GROSSET & DUNLAP

CONTENTS

CHAPTER PAGE

I THE RUNT 1

II A NEW WAY TO EAT 5

III THE LOOSE BOARD 10

IV THE WIDE, WIDE WORLD 14

V SIXES AND SEVENS 19

VI MR. CROW HELPS 23

VII THE GRUMBLER 28

VIII FEARFUL NEWS 33

IX A GREAT ADVENTURE 38

X A QUEER BEAR 43

XI LOCKED OUT 47

XII WOOF! 51

XIII HOME AT LAST 55

XIV AN ODD THOUGHT 60

XV GRUNTY MEANS MISCHIEF 65

XVI DANGER AHEAD 70

XVII A PUZZLE SOLVED 74

XVIII THE LUCKIEST OF ALL 79

XIX DOG SPOT'S PLAN 83

XX A NEW KIND OF PIG 88

XXI BEECHNUTS 94

XXII JASPER JAY OBJECTS 98

XXIII MOSES MOUSE'S WAY 104

XXIV A PIG IN THE PARLOR 109

ILLUSTRATIONS

PAGE

GRUNTY PIG IS SCOLDED BY HENRIETTA HEN Frontispiece

THE MULEY COW ADVISES GRUNTY PIG TO GO HOME 32

"ALWAYS MIND YOUR MOTHER," SAID MRS. PIG 64

GRUNTY PIG STUCK FAST IN THE FENCE 80

THE TALE OF GRUNTY PIG

I

THE RUNT

He was the smallest of seven children. At first his mother thought she would call him "Runty." But she soon changed her mind about that; for she discovered that even if he was the runt of the family, he had the loudest grunt of all. So the good lady made haste to slip a G in front of the name "Runty."

"There!" she exclaimed. "'Grunty' is a name that you ought to be proud of. It calls attention to your best point. And if you keep on making as much noise in the world as you do now, maybe people won't notice that you're a bit undersized. You certainly sound as big as any little shote I ever saw or heard."

So that was settled though Grunty Pig didn't care one way or another. He seemed to be interested in nothing but food. There is no doubt that he would have been willing to change his name a dozen times a day for the slight bribe of a drink of warm milk.

His mother sometimes said that he had the biggest appetite as well as the loudest grunt of all her seven children. And she was glad that he ate well, because food was the very thing that would make him grow.

"You won't always be runty, Grunty, if you eat a plenty," Mrs. Pig often told him. And then he would grunt, as if to say, "You don't need to urge me. Just give me a chance!"