New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1903-09-27
Hf the .Jign of the found Pig.
FROM "BLACK AND WHITE"

The sign itself was OF red anonymous ~"
oouchaut and at the same time hoFerlhS. aS i'
were over a green ground that suggested Ei''S7'
while little to the left piglet. eXcusabiy re-
,.-,a,t bIinked at the curious perspective. But
the inscription on the ooaIo ''i'
Pig by : Turfy.'
Io-,v Hull smiled upon it, Mrs. Turfy CbeinS
the same as the : Turfy Of the inscription h''u
inst elected him from the taProom, because he
baa had enough to drink for the good Of the
bouse and more than enough for his own. 1t
was the third day Jerry had been of WORK ana
Mrs Turfy was tired of him. To have MN loioP-
ming there all day. smiling to himself ana ue-
Iiberately consuming ale in hall plh'S '"HO"
,,o,oesi,ated constant attendance at an hour
when not another soul was on the premises 10
,,,,e if worth while) was, she declared. ntoler-
able Moreover, she disliked to see a man ASH
lying himself.
1T doan't pay in tn ehd' sne S''''
ingly.
"Ah. so ut be-" said Jerry. complacehI
$50 what be?"
Jerry tried to remember, but could not
.aTermups" he ventured, and guessing from
the lowering Of Mrs, Turfy's brows that ne h'iu
not been quite apropos. An tweather-slhl!
fine sunny weather-sO ut be-" he added craltliS
'Out yew go into it, said Mrs. Turiy' tdhlhS
him by the sleeve.
meath the swinging sign. He was not aware OF
having suffered any indignity. Blandness pos
sessed him His only concern was that he could
not recollect why he was there or what MS
MANS for the afternoon were. But. after all
that rnattered little Nothing mattered at all.
tJie whole face was wreathed in smiles. Merely
as a matter Of curiosity. he thought he should
like TO know if the ground was as firm as IL
looked and he put out one leg glngerIy' Cu'l-
ously enough. it not so firm. IL he'Ned
little. and Jerry's foot had some dithculty In
establishing firm position upon it. Necessity
urged him to put the other foot after it TO OBJ
tain any proper balance whatever.
~ Won Mace one foot in front Of you and fol-
low il I'D with the other. in all probability you
cover a certain amount of space. This naturaI
law presented itself TO Jerry IN the form OF
discovery that he was not underneath the SlSH'
but facing IL. He knew it very Wei by sight,
having seen IL most days Of his lie lot twenty
nine years. But to see it Unexpectedly hke 'hd'
gave it fresh interest and he perused the IN
scriu.ion earnestly-"Shound Pig" he read out
Wonderful thing-the art Of paintlnS-Jerry
Thought. There was something about the SOW
estonishingly Hfelike So there about the
grass on which she couched. He began 10 calcu-
late the amount of hay it was likely 10 yield
but was impeded by the perspective The mead
seemed to stretch indefinitely.
But the young pg-that really looked laugh
ably real He could almost hear 1t grumplnS
What a splendid creature it would grow INTO!
The notion Of the young pig growing up was SO
cornical that somehow Jerry was CONFUSED
oSh-sh-ound Pig" he repeated.
1t was then that quaint thing occurred. Inc
sow rose up shook herself. and with snort OF
disgust descended from the signboard into the
road The pig followed with a toss of its head
and a scream. galloping down through the air so
as not TO be left behind. The whole thing hap
pened in an instant almost before Jerry could
rub his eyes.
When he looked again the board still swung
there the grass Of its pleasant meadow blown
little in the breeze. but the sow and pig were
below in the road. following their noses toward
the open moors.
What was to be done? Jerry's first considera-
ton vas for the landlady of the inn. At no
time is it agreeable 10 lose ones possessions like
that but if Mrs. Turfy's extremely valuable SOW
went astray with that promising pig, what
would she do? So far as Jerry knew. she had no
others And these, living as they did in field
on a signboard were probably unique Of their
kind. Few pigs are accustomed to live on sign
boards IL they were lost on the mCors, they
could hardly be replaced
The inference was-they must not be lost, and
prompt in action, Jerry called out loud. 'Missus
Turfy,'
There was no reply. Jerry sided to the door