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He looked and, across the field of corn, he thought he saw an apple tree. He made up his mind to go there. And that is where Squinty made another mistake. He made one when he ran away from the pen, and another one when he started to go through the corn field. Corn, you know, grows quite high, and pigs, even the largest of them, are not very tall. At least not until they stand on their hind legs.
"I want you to learn how to walk on your hind legs, Squinty. It is not going to be easy, either. But I guess you can do it. And I am going to take the rope off your leg, for I do not believe you will run away from me now." So the rope was taken off Squinty's leg.
Of course the milk was sweet, instead of sour, for men do not usually like sour milk. Squinty had a good meal, and then he went to sleep. What happened while Squinty slept, the little pig did not know. But when he woke up it was all dark, and he knew it must be night, so he went to sleep again. And the next time he awakened the sun was shining, so he felt sure it was morning.
"Make him do it again," suggested Mollie, after a bit. "No, I haven't any more apples," the boy answered. "And at first I'll have to make him jump for an apple each time. After a bit I'll not give him an apple until he has done all his tricks. Come on now, Squinty, back to your pen." The boy lifted up his pet, and put him back in the pen that had been especially built for the little pig.
So he stretched out in the shade of a big potato vine, and, curling up in a little pink ball, he closed his eyes, the squinty one as well as the good one. But first Squinty looked all around to make sure Don, the dog, was not in sight. He saw nothing of him. When Squinty awakened he felt hungry, as he always did after a sleep. "Now for some more of those nice potatoes!" he said to himself.
Now, Squinty, you had better keep yourself nice and clean, so as to be ready to go on a journey." "What's a journey?" asked the comical little pig, squinting his eye up at the papa pig. "A journey is going away from home," answered Mr. Pig. "And does it mean having adventures?" asked Squinty, flopping his ears backward and forward. "Yes, you may have some adventures," replied his mother.
But mosey along and I’ll hist yore stuff on this here cayuse while you let them tha’ dogs out of their chicken coop boxes. You can cache your dude duds in the Emporium general store over yonder next to Squinty Quinn’s saloon, an’ then we’re off for the hills. I’ll yarn about this Wild Hunter while we hit the trail.”
I am going to have another apple, just for jumping a rope," thought Squinty, in delight. You see the little pig imagined the trick was done just to get him to eat the apple. He did not count the rope-jumping part of it at all, though that, really, was what the boy wanted. Once more Bob placed the apple on the ground, on the far side of the rope.
"I wonder what tricks are, anyhow? Does it mean I am to have good things to eat? I hope so." You see Squinty, like most little pigs, thought more of something to eat than of anything else. But we must not blame him for that, since he could not help it. Pretty soon the wagon rattled over some stones, and then came to a stop. "Here we are!" called the children's father.
He hunted about until he had found some acorns, and then, coming to a little brook of water he took a long drink. Something about the brook made Squinty look at it carefully. "Why why!" he exclaimed to himself: "It seems to me I have been here before! Yes, I am sure I have. This is the place where I first came to get a drink, when first I ran away. It is near the pen where I used to live!
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