STORY XIII

CURLY AND THE BIG APPLE

One day, oh, I guess it was about a week after Baby Pinky went to
the hospital, something else happened to the two piggie brothers.
And, as most of it happened to Curly, I have named this story for
him, though Flop had a part in it.

When her piggie boys came home from school one afternoon Mrs.
Twistytail said to them:

"I wonder if you don't want to go to the store for me?"

"Of course we do mamma," spoke Curly as quickly as ice cream melts
on a hot day.

"Certainly," added Flop, and the funny part of it was that the two
brothers had just planned to go off in the woods and play soldier
and Indian after school.

But as soon as they heard that their mamma wanted them to go on an
errand for her, they at once made up their minds that they would go
to the store first and play afterward.

"What do you want, mamma?" asked Curly. "Is it a cake of milk
chocolate, because if it is--"

"We'll help eat it," finished Flop quickly with a laugh.

"No, all I need is some cornmeal to make pancakes with in the
morning," spoke the pig lady. "Run along now, but you need not hurry
back, and you may play on the way."

Curly and Flop whistled through their noses at hearing this, for
they knew they could have some fun after all, and away they started
for the store. The old gentleman duck who kept it, and who was a
forty 'leventh cousin to Grandfather Goosey Gander, wrapped the
cornmeal in two separate bags, so that Curly could carry one, and
Flop the other.

"That will make it even," said the store duck, as he gave the piggie
boys each a sweet cracker.

Back home they started, playing tag, and hide the acorn, and all
such games like that, including one called "Please Don't Pull My
Tail and I Won't Pull Yours." That's a very funny game.

Well, all of a sudden, as Curly and Flop were going along, they came
past a field where a kind old rat gentleman was picking his apples
off the trees. There were many of the apples, and they had to be put
in barrels and brought into the cellar.

"Oh, don't those apples smell good," said Flop as he leaned over the
fence and looked at them.

"Indeed they do," agreed Curly. "They remind me of apple pie and
cheese."

Then the rat gentleman looked up, saw the piggie, and said:

"Come in, boys, and you may each have one apple. Help yourselves."

"Thank you, very much," spoke Curly. "Come on!" he cried to his
brother Flop, "we'll each take a big apple, and there will be enough
for a pie when we get home."

"Oh, but we can't carry big apples, with the bags of meal," said
Flop. "I'm going to take a middle-sized apple."

"Well, I'm not. I'm going to take the largest I can find in the
field," declared Curly, and he went hunting for a specially large
one.

Of course, in a way, it was all right to do this, for the rat
gentleman had told them to help themselves, but you just wait and
see what happens.

Curly picked out a very large apple--the very biggest one that grew
on the trees, but Flop was content with a smaller one. Then the
piggie brothers started for home again.

Curly had hard work to carry the big apple and also his bag of corn
meal, and first he would have to put one down to rest his legs, and
then put down the other to rest his paws. But Flop could easily
carry his middle-sized apple and the meal. Finally Curly said:

"Flop, can't you help me?"

"I'm afraid not," answered his brother, "though I would if I could.
But I have all I can do to take care of my apple and the meal. Why
don't you get a smaller apple?"

"Because I want the big one," said Curly quickly.

Well, he was staggering along with the big apple and also his bag of
cornmeal, but his brother was going along much more easily, when,
all of a sudden, out from the bushes sprang the fuzzy fox.

"Ah ha!" he cried. "This time I have good luck! Here are little pigs
to make roast pork, and they have with them the apples for apple
sauce. Oh, joy is me! Now for a fine dinner!"

With that he made a grab for both the piggie brothers, but they
managed to jump away. Off ran Flop with his middle-sized apple and
the cornmeal, and after him came Curly, only he could not go so fast
because his apple was so big.

"Wait! Wait!" begged Curly of his brother.

"I can't!" was the answer. "I'll send a policeman back to help you.
But if you will let go of the big apple you can easily run away from
the fox, for he is old, and not a good runner. Drop the apple."

"No, indeed!" cried Curly. "I want the biggest one I can find!" So
he held tightly to the apple, and also to the cornmeal, and on he
ran, but the fuzzy fox was getting nearer and nearer, and almost had
him.

"I've got you!" suddenly snapped the fox. "I'll have roast pork and
apple sauce tonight all right!" and he was just going to grab Curly
and the apple and bag of meal, when out from the bushes jumped Uncle
Wiggily Longears, the old gentleman rabbit.

"Here!" he cried to the fox. "You stop chasing Curly, and go home to
your den!" and with that Uncle Wiggily stuck out his rheumatism
crutch, and tripped up the fox so that went tumbling head over
heels, and when he got up he was so lame that he could not chase
even a snail for more than a week.

"Run! Run!" called Uncle Wiggily to Curly and the little piggie boy
did run, and, after some trouble, he got safely home with his big
apple and the meal, but Flop was there ahead of him.

"After this," said Uncle Wiggily, when he came up to the piggie
house, "after this, Curly, don't take such a large apple, and you
can run better when a fox chases you."

"I'll be careful after this," promised the piggie boy, and I guess
he was. Anyhow it was a good lesson to him. And that night he and
his brother had cornmeal pancakes with apple sauce on, and Uncle
Wiggily stayed to supper.

Now in case the automobile tire doesn't jump into the frying pan,
and pretend it's a sausage for the lady in the purple dress to eat,
I'll tell you next about the piggie boys and the pumpkin.

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