Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1906-05-30
A PIG TALE.

-. HA1M1ZT
A PIG TALE.
Five little pigs in wood one day
Just grunted-grunted-
Sweet nuts were about, they'd heard
some one say,
So they hunted-hunted-hu
They wandered in, they wandered
out,
Not suited-suited-su
For never a nut seemed to be about,
Though they NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.
| ed.
At last one Piggy cried to the four.
Come, y-hurry-hurry!
Master Squirrel invites to eat of his
store!"
Such a furry-furry-hurry-
Then after the squirrel to an old oak
| tree
They Observation-Disclosures
| And there was feast where the tree
| seemed to be
Just Observation-Disclosures followed.
They never said THANK you!" But
rushed at the pile,
And sat neutrality-suspicious.
munching.
Poor Frisk had no nuts when they
| left after while,
| Still cruncning-crunchin
ing!
&C. Jessica j. Donnelly in the Phila-
delphia Record.
THE CUNNING OF THE FOX.
Among the many resources at ais
command to outwit his natural enemy
the hound, Reynard- prizes most dear
| ly rail fence, road and the frozen
surface of river, and will rarely fail
to avail himself of one of these means
of safety. The rail raises the line
OF scent too high for the hounds
nose, the frozen river and the well
beaten road, besides the good footing
they afford him, retain not particle
of the tell-tale scent SO dear to the
pursuer.
On two occasions F. and L., as we'll
as my keen scented old hound JEFF,
had found our fox vanish into tain
air at one particular point, and though
the snow lay deep on the ground,
and by it we could see that the fox
| had come Into the road, no amount
of perseverance on our part revealed
to us what had become of him after
| that. In vain we walked up and down
the road in search of the tell-tale
track, not a break in the even surface
of the snow could be found, and we
were obliged to return home and own
ourselves outwitted, while Reynard,
no doubt, sat watching us from some
safe distance, and saying, with Puck,
"What fools these mortals bel"
But every fox, no doubt, as well as
| every dog, must have mis- day, and
the mystery was solved on the next
hunt. Ensconced on high piece Of
ground, and while the hills ecnoed
with the mellow voice of the old dog,
| saw the fox slip into the road, follow
1t for hundred rods, then by one
high leap land on top of rail fence
which ran at right angles with the
highway, ard bounding along the up
| permost rail nimbly, reach piece OF
plowed ground which the wind had
blown bare of snow, run across the
plowed field to within about ninety
yards OF me, when, jumping on rock,
ne curled himself up and deliberately
Law down to watch the effect of his
little game and enjoy the discontinue
of tie hound / dare not move, so op-
ening my breechloader l slipped in a
long range thread wound cartridge.
took careful aim, and sent charge
of double B shot through Reynard's
handsome fur.
But foxes know more mischievouS
tricks than this, and dear to the heart
of every old fox is a scamper down
the smooth surface Of frozen river,
| which, besides Offering an opportunity
Of escape, often permits him to take
dire revenge on his troublesome enc
my the hound For Reynard is versed
in physic and knows full well the diff
ference of weight between himself
and mis- pursuer; instinct teaches him
to a nicely the exact thickness of ice
required to bear his light fur covered
body, and that on such ice his more
ponderous enemy may not venture
safely.
If you doubt all this, stand, as l
often do, so as to look down some
swift stream almost frozen over and
covered with light snow, and note
how the trail of the flying fox grace
fully curves toward every hole, and
invariably skirts the very edge of
every piece of swift open water. Many
good hound has ended his days by
yenturing to follow where his tricky
enemy did lead, and imagine if foxes
ever laugh, and they certainly look
as though they did, Reynard must
laugh as he hears the echo OF the
hounds deep bark suddenly die away,
and knows his game has been success
full. But we did not laugh, f. and L.,
when all at once silence settled over
the hills, but minute before musical
with the CHEEKY notes of old Jeff's
voice, for we knew the dog was in
the treacnerous river, and without los
ing a second F. hurried toward a
piece OF open water not far distant.
On reaching it our fears were at
once realized. Caught in the swift
current. benumbed with the cold and
exhausted by the attempts he had
made to save himself, old JEFF lay
with his head on the ice. his limbs
almost motionless and whining pite-
ously. There was no time to be lost,
and unable to resist the dogs mute
appeal for help, F. stretched himself
J on the treacherous ice, seized the ami
: nal by the neck, pulled him out, and
in minute the dog was rolling joy
: fully at our feet. Though benumbed
with cold and covered with ice he at
.,,,< tro,, IN tho scent with an angry