MANNERS

Sun (Auckland), Volume 1, Issue 74, 18 June 1927, Page 27

MANNERS

“■Well, I must really be going,” said Mrs. Pigg, and bid an affectionate farewell to her friend, Mrs. Hamm, at the door of the sty. “I trust the children have behaved themselves,” said Mrs. Hamm, and added hastily, ‘‘But there, of course, your happy little family could rot do otherwise.” Mrs. Pigg smiled with complete good humour. “I am never afraid to leave them,” she said complacently. “They never take advantage of my being away.” But oh, dear me, when she reached home—what a different story! Curly-tail was still whimpering, his round, sleek sides plastered with mud. All the others, too, looked much the worse for the scuffle. “What is the meaning of this?” demanded their mother, her trotters

raised in horror. “It began with a game,” explained Percy. “We are all very much ashamed of ourselves.” Poor Mrs. Pigg began to cry. “My lifetime of teaching has been in vain,” she declared, and her children crowded round in consternation and distress, trying to comfort her. At last she dried her tears, filled the tub with fresh water, and bathed her children before sending them pink and rosy to bed. Mrs. Oswald O. Pigg has a forgiving heart, and Percy, Pink-ears, Curlytail, Saidie and Spot, in spite of the fact that all the neighbourhood knows of their lapse from grace, are still striving to uphold the dignity of the family name. (The End.)