Written by Ellis Parker Butler. Illustrated by Will Crawford. First edition thus, 1906. (Story originally published in 1905 in American Magazine.) A. L. Burt Company, New York.
Mr. Moorhouse orders two guinea pigs for his son, but when they arrive at the express office, the stationmaster insists he pay the higher livestock vs pet rate. "Pigs is pigs!" Morehouse, outraged, refuses to pay the higher rate and leaves to dash off a series of indignant letters to the express company higher-ups. Over the months and months it takes to determine whether guinea pigs are pigs or pets, two pigs become thousands of pigs and chaos ensues.
"Mr. Moorehouse went home raging. His boy, who had been awaiting the guinea pigs, knew better than to ask him for them. He was a normal boy and therefore always had a guilty conscience when his father was angry. So the boy slipped quietly around the house. There is nothing so soothing to a guilty conscience as to be out of the path of the avenger."
Ellis Parker Butler (1869-1937) was an American author who wrote more than 30 books and 2,000 stories and essays. He was known for his humorous stories, such as "Pigs Is Pigs" and the Philo Gubb series. He worked as a banker and was active in the New York literary scene. He was a founding member of the Authors League of America and the Dutch Treat Club.
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Condition: Good. Lacks dust jacket, as issued. Light green cloth cover boards: Orange and black decoration; soiling from handling front and back; very lightly bumped at corners; light edge wear at head and tail of the spine. Missing front fly leaf; frontispiece is loose; illustrations at pages 11 and 35 are detached; small brownish stain on page 36; library code in pencil partially erased on back paste down. Pages, including illustrations, are otherwise clean and complete.
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