THE STUBBORN PIG

A sow had a litter of seven nice, clean, white little pigs. Naturally the young of all animals are inclined to keep close to their mothers—a wise provision of nature for their welfare and safety.

But almost as soon as these little pigs were born one of them got it into his head to run off in a certain direction away from his mother. Turn him about as much and as often as you would, he would strike off again in the same direction away from his mother. Small and young as he was, he had the set, stubborn disposition characteristic of his kind, which has given rise to the expression, "As stubborn as a pig on ice.” This little pig illustrates the disposition of some children, who seem determined to act contrary, and go where they should not go.

PIGS ON FIRE

WHEN Samson, the strong man, wished to do the Philistines a lot of damage, he caught three hundred foxes, and, tying them together two and two, tied firebrands to their tails; then, setting the firebrands on fire, sent the foxes running through their wheat-fields.

Not long ago a man in Pennsylvania came

near having a big fire and losing a lot of hogs in a similar manner.

Discovering lice on his hogs, he thought he would exterminate them by applying kerosene.

So one night, taking a torch and a pan of kerosene, he proceeded to give each porker a coating of kerosene. Aside from a few squeals they did not object to having the oil rubbed on their hides. But in the midst of the greasing process the man accidently let his torch fall. There was a flash from the pan of oil, and the next instant a terrified pig, enveloped in flames, darted from the pen.

Then the fire spread.

Soon half a dozen pigs were in flames. They darted from the pen, ran around the yard a couple of times, and returned to the pen, setting it on fire.

One of the pigs got a bright idea and dashed for a pool of mud and water. The others followed, and so further damage was averted.

It is altogether probable that the lice were exterminated.

A REMARKABLE TURTLE AND THE HOME-COMING TOAD

We have all heard of the homing pigeons, and how they can find their way back after they

have been carried long distances away from their homes. We have seen also how dogs, cats, and even donkeys display wonderful powers of finding their way back to familiar places. Homing reptiles, however, are a novelty, and the story of a turtle and a toad that were able to "hit the homeward trail" aright reads like a fairy tale.

Testudo," the name given the turtle in question, lived in the garden of Mr. Wilson Rittenhouse, a mail-carrier, of Milford, New Jersey. This turtle became so fond of the tomatoes in that garden and sampled them so frequently that Mr. Rittenhouse decided that it must go.

Not wishing to harm the turtle, he put it in his mail-wagon one morning, and took it one and a half miles on his route and dropped it by the roadside, never expecting to see it again.

About two weeks later, however, Mrs. Rittenhouse found a turtle at the tomatoes again, and said she believed it to be the same one. Mr. Rittenhouse said that it could not be possible, though it looked like the same one.

He decided to try it again. So, cutting a mark in the bottom shell of the turtle for identification, he took it over the same route, and put it out at the same place. In about two weeks it was back at the tomatoes again. He knew now it was the same turtle by the mark he had put on it.

Then he began to be curious, and took it one and one-half miles in the other direction. By that time it was getting late in the season and he did not see it again that year. But the next year he found it back in the garden at its old jobeating tomatoes. He could hardly believe it possible, but there were the marks.

He put it in a box for a few days until he and Mrs. Rittenhouse were to call on a friend across the Delaware River in Pennsylvania. Taking the turtle with them, they crossed the Delaware River bridge, and after going five miles down the river, just before reaching their friend's house, Mr. Rittenhouse put the turtle out by the roadside, saying, "Now, I guess you won't get back again.” Before starting on this trip, however, he put more marks on the turtle, so as to be sure that he would know it should it ever come back again, although he did not think it would.

Four years passed by, and the turtle had almost been forgotten, when Mrs. Rittenhouse found it in the garden once more. Of course they thought it wonderful, for to return this time it had either to swim across the Delaware River or cross the river bridge, and travel a distance of six miles. The editor of the local town paper, learning of it, published an account of the matter, which was copied by other papers and magazines.

This time Mr. Rittenhouse kept the turtle until he and his wife went to visit his wife's former home six miles away, when he put it in the car, and left it on the farm there. But two years later, on August 20, 1920, the turtle was found eating tomatoes in this same garden once again, just as he had been found doing before. It looked and acted the same, and the editor of the local paper doubtless voiced the sentiments of all lovers of persistence, when he said: Mr. Rittenhouse has not decided what to do with him, but we for one think Mr. Turtle is deserving of considerable consideration, judging from his past record. We should feel inclined to grow him a patch of tomatoes every year and let him have his own good time with them."

As a lesson in persistence, "Testudo's " record stands unique. But a close second is that of the homing hop-toad as told in The American Angler, the toad having been a tenant of Mr. F. W. Sidney's garden at Wakefield, Massachusetts, for ten years previously.

Upon making a visit to Boston and Charlestown, Mr. Sidney took Mr. Toad along and, after tagging it, set it free at the foot-bridge that forms the terminus of Perkins Street and Charlestown.

Mr. Sidney says that was about eleven o'clock