loosened.
She had nothing to dig with except her hands, but she was not afraid
to dig with them.
She soon felt something that was round and hard.
She dug it up and looked at it.
It was a truffle.
It was black and warty on the outside.
She bit off a piece.
It was white inside.
She tasted it and found that it was good, so she dug another and
ate it.
She wondered how the wild hogs knew that the truffles were there.
Perhaps you can tell.
Perhaps you have heard stories of how hogs dig truffles in France
to-day.

THINGS TO DO

_Collect five or six vegetables or fruits._
_Blindfold some one and let him smell of one of the vegetables and
guess what it is._
_When he guesses right, blindfold some one else._
_When you have a chance, dig a root with your hands, then dig one with
a sharp stick._
_Which way is the easier?_

XI.

THINGS TO THINK ABOUT

Can you think how the wild hogs protected themselves?
Do hogs have tusks now?
Can you think why the wild hogs were not as fat as our hogs?

_How the Wild Hogs Protected their Young_

Sharptooth watched the wild hogs every day.
She learned many things from them.
They were peaceable creatures when not disturbed.
They lived on fruits, wild nuts, and roots.
When they had eaten all they wanted, they went down to the river or
lake.
They hid in the reedy marshes.
They hid in the thorny thickets.
But they always kept together.
Sharptooth watched them from a tree.
There were tiny little pigs with long, light stripes.
They kept close to their mothers.
There were larger pigs that had lost their stripes.
They, too, stayed with their mothers.
There were wild boars about three years old.

[Illustration: "_There were larger pigs that had lost their stripes_"]

They did not go far from their mothers.
They were not strong enough yet to protect themselves.
There were many full-grown hogs.
There were fierce boars with long tusks.
Sharptooth watched them eating acorns.
A pack of hyenas was watching, too.
They were hiding in the underbrush.
They were lying in wait for the smaller pigs.
But the old hogs scented danger.
They gathered the little pigs together.
The stronger ones stood in a circle around them.
Their white tusks glistened in the sunlight.
They were ready to fight for their young.
The hyenas were afraid.
They sneaked away in the underbru