the table: 'I believe in my soul
it's the black pig, who always pursues unto the death what he
considers his!' True enough, there the savage brute was, lashing
everybody's legs, and threatening destruction with his wicked
mouth. No one knew how he got into the dining-room; but where the good
Uncle Sam had anything to eat or give, there he was sure to be,
demanding more than his share. After a hard tussle, Grandpapa and
Uncle Caleb succeeded in driving him out of the room; albeit, it was
only for a time. The unsatisfied animal was always keeping Uncle Sam
in a fuss, and the folks about the White House in an uproar. 'That
critter is always crying 'Me first!' rejoined Uncle Caleb, who, having
lost his white cap in the tussle with the black pig, looked funny
indeed.

"'A Cuba flounder!' exclaims the General, who continued to work
diligently, his face flushed as crimson, but I as yet he had failed to
secure the first slice. It was evident he had made a stroke too bold,
and would now be compelled to draw back a little--perhaps to take a
few more lessons in the diplomacy of carving. And while the General
was trying to get the knife into the neck part, the critter opened its
mouth, and gasping looked as if it thought some of swallowing a whole
cabinet of philibusteroes.

"'The brute ain't cooked yet--if it don't open its mouth!' proclaimed
the General, the hair almost standing on his head, as he reclined back
in fright.

"'The critter's going to be generous, I do believe!' chimed in
Grandpapa, whose white cap, during the moment of excitement, had
fallen over into Mrs. Dobbin's plate; from whence that good-natured
lady, in the moment of anxiety, removed it to her lap, and ere she had
been served found it near her pretty lips, under the mistaken
impression of its being a napkin. Grandpapa, discovering his loss,
politely developed the dear lady's mistake.

"'Tell you what it is General; you'll have to be mighty careful, or
that Cuba flounder will swallow all the shiners in Uncle Sam's brass
box without yielding anything in exchange,' I insinuated.

"'Not a bit on't!' says Uncle Jeff, going off into a state of
excitement: 'Just lend me the carver; I'll put him through;' and
seizing the knife from Mr. Pierce's hand, and the steel from
Grandpapa's, he was just on the point of making a thrust into the
fish, when his mouth again expanded, his fins fluttered, and out came
a long roll of paper. 'What on earth is that?' inquired th