Part 13 (1/2)

”I guess no one is at home,” thought the little piggie boy.

”Say, aren't you coming to school?” called back Jackie Bow Wow, for he and Curly were some distance down the street by this time.

”Yes, come on, or you'll surely be late,” said Flop Ear's brother.

”I'm coming!” cried Flop, but he thought he would take just one more look at the sliding door.

”I would like to have just one slide on it,” he said. ”I believe I'll try it.”

He looked ahead to where his brother and Jackie were and decided that if he did take one slide he could run and catch up to them, and not be late.

”Here goes;” said Flop, and he laid his books down on a clean stone.

Then he read the sign once more:

”NO ONE MUST SLIDE DOWN THIS CELLAR DOOR!”

”I guess it's only a joke,” decided Flop. ”Now for one good slide and then I'll go to school.”

So he went around to the side of the door, where there was a stone, and, by stepping on this, and giving a little jump, the piggie boy got to the top part of the sliding door, ready for a coast down.

Of course he had no sled on which to slide, but his trousers were good and thick, and he knew he could not wear a hole in the seat just this once. So he gathered his legs together under him, gave himself a little push and down the slanting door he went as nicely as an icicle in the middle of the Fourth of July.

”Wow! This is great!” cried Flop. ”I guess the other fellows will wish they'd taken a slide. This is nifty!”

I don't know myself what ”nifty” means, but Flop said it, so I have to write it down.

Faster and faster he slid down the cellar door. It was a long one, and now he was half way to the bottom.

”Oh, won't we have fun sliding after school!” the little piggie boy cried. ”I don't see why they looked rather sorrowfully after her brothers and put up that sign not to slide. This is the best cellar door I ever saw.”

Faster and faster he slid, laughing and shouting in glee, and he was almost at the bottom and he was wondering if he would have time for just one more coast before school, when all of a sudden:

”Crack! Slam! Smas.h.!.+ Ker-bunk!”

Right down through the cellar door fell poor Flop, and down the cellar steps into a tub of water. Into that he went ker-splas.h.!.+ For, you see, the cellar door had broken with him and let him right through, almost half way to China, it seemed.

Into the tub of water went Flop, getting wet all over. But he managed to crawl out after a while, and as he stood there, s.h.i.+vering, in the cellar, looking up at the broken door through which he had fallen, a nice little old rat lady came out of the house, and, looking at Flop, said:

”Dear me! What a terrible accident. Too bad! Did you hurt yourself, little piggie?”

”N-no-not much,” answered Flop. ”But I--I'm all wet.”

”So I see,” said the rat lady. ”But I thought there was a sign on the door, telling no one to slide down.”

”So there was,” admitted Flop, ”but I didn't see why it was there, so I slid anyhow.”

”I put the sign there because the door was so rotten that I knew the first one who slid down it would fall through,” said the rat lady.