would have been puzzled how to
carry out this order in a field where the grass was only about an inch
long. He would have looked in vain for any shelter behind which even
to hide his boots; he would in fact have been deplorably dense and
literal. The three children did not hesitate for a minute. They
slouched their hats forward over their faces, that being a concealment
behind which it was recognized that no wild boar would be likely to
penetrate; and they bent their knees into a fancied imitation of the
attitude of an Indian on the war-path. This was the established mode
of attacking a herd of wild animals.

"Halt! They have caught sight of us! Make ready your weapons!" cried
Madge in a sort of suppressed shout. "They are preparing to charge!
Look out!"

If the six black Berkshire pigs lying asleep in the sun under the wall
were really preparing to charge they dissembled their purpose
remarkably well. Half opening their tiny eyes they blinked lazily at
their assailants, and it was not until they had received several sharp
pokes from the long sticks that they would move from the spot where
they were lying. Even then they only tottered a few steps farther off,
and sank down again in a great heaving sleepy mass.

"If we threw a few stones at them perhaps they would run?" suggested
John.

"Better not," said Madge; "supposing Barton saw us he would be sure to
say we were hurting them."

"I only meant small ones, of course," answered John; "but I dare say he
would make a fuss and tell Papa some long story, just as he did about
our hunting the cows when we were only trying to catch the calf. He
always thinks things are so much worse than they are really. But how
shall we move the pigs without stones?"

Even Madge could not suggest a remedy for the pigs' excessive
drowsiness. Words, or rather shouts, seemed thrown away upon their
dull ears, and more active interference was impossible with Barton
hovering in the neighbourhood. The chase threatened to come to a
stand-still, when Betty burst into an agitated war-cry.

"The enemy are upon us! No, I forgot! The elephants, I mean! They
are galloping towards us! We shall be overwhelmed!"

She waved her stick defiantly as she screamed, in the spirit of one
prepared to perish sooner than surrender.

This time the alarm had sufficient foundation in fact to be very
exciting. A young heifer, attracted by the noise, and probably
thinking that it had some conn