How Polly Had Her Picture Taken

: Happy Days
: Boys And Girls Bookshelf

BY EVERETT WILSON



It was a bright spring morning, and all the animals on the Meadowbrook

Farm had been given their breakfast, and the Piggy-wig family had

settled down to a cozy nap. Suddenly there was heard a great noise and

rushing out in the apple orchard. Old Mother Piggy-wig jumped up on her

hind legs and looked over the fence of her sty to see what it was all

about. The little pig that went to marke
, and the little pig that

stayed at home, also jumped up, quite as excited as their mother. Then

the little pig that had roast beef, and the little pig that had none,

woke up, and they, too, scampered about, wishing to know what was going

on down under the apple-trees. But before old Mother Piggy-wig could

tell them, the little pig, who, one day, could not find his way home,

found a big hole in the lower board of the sty, and at once shouted:



"Oh, I see what it is! It is little Polly going to have her picture

taken."



And, sure enough, there was Polly's brother Ned with his camera; and

after him came Polly, and after Polly came--guess what!



Well, first there came Blackie, the cat, then came Banty, the hen; and

then came Gyp, the dog. And such a mew-mewing, and cluck-clucking, and

bow-wowing you never heard!



Polly had often had her picture taken, but it was always with her papa

or her mamma, and she had never had her picture taken with her pets. So

brother Ned had promised that on her birthday he would take her picture

with all of her pets--if they would only keep still. This day was

Polly's birthday, and, as the weather was fine, her brother had told her

to follow him out to the orchard.



Ned fastened his camera on its three sprawling legs, while Polly tried

to gather her pets around her. But by this time Blackie, the cat, was

chasing a squirrel (though he did not catch him), and Banty, the hen,

was away off scratching for worms; and Gyp, the dog, was barking at a

bossy calf down by the brook, for, of course, Polly's pets did not know

it was her birthday and that they were to have their pictures taken with

her.



Polly called, as loud as she could, "Here, Blackie, Blackie; here,

Banty, Banty; here, Gyp, Gyp," and as quick as a wink the animals came

running up to her.



At first she sat down, but all three of her pets got in her lap until

you could scarcely see Polly behind them. That would not do, of course,

because it was Polly's picture that was the most important.



Finally, she stood up and made her pets stand up, too. Then she had more

trouble, for Gyp wanted to stand next to her, and so did Banty, and so

did Blackie, but she told them if they were not good and did not stand

just where she put them, they could not have their pictures taken at

all. She even said she would get the little pig that could not find his

way home, and would have her picture taken with him. They did not like

that, so they promised to be good. She stood Banty on one side of her,

and Gyp on the other side, and then she put Blackie on one end next to

Banty. But Gyp and Blackie jumped around so lively that Brother Ned ran

into the house and brought out Polly's toy cow, and stood her next to

Blackie, and that kept him quiet, because he was afraid the cow would

hook him with her horns--he did not know it was not a real cow. Then

Ned brought out Polly's toy lion and put him next to Gyp, and that kept

him quiet, because he thought the lion would eat him up,--he did not

know it was not a real lion.



So, after they were all nice and quiet, Ned called out:



"Ready! Look pleasant! One, two, three--all over!"



And here is the way they looked in the picture that Ned took that

morning:



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