Freddy and Simon the Dictator by Walter R. Brooks Page A

comforts, than most farmers. I think they may put up a fight for him. But suppose now that you’re a pig on any of these other farms around here. You live in a dirty pig pen, and the farmer feeds you plenty, but what kind of food is it? The least you can say is that it’s pretty coarse stuff, and not very daintily served either. And then somebody comes along and says: ‘How’d you like to change places with this farmer, and have him live in the pen and eat out of a trough, and you sit down at the table with a nice white tablecloth with only a few spots on it, and sleep between nice clean sheets—’ Well, what are you going to say to that?”
    â€œI guess you’re going to say: ‘I’m for it,’” Freddy replied.
    â€œGoodness’ sake,” said Mr. Camphor, “it looks as if the animals were going to get the vote whether I run for governor or not.”
    â€œThose who think they’re going to have a vote under an animal dictator are very much mistaken,” said Uncle Solomon. “The country will be run the way Russia is; every animal will be told what to do, and if he knows what is good for him he’ll do it. Animals that try to remain loyal to their human masters will be moved out and replaced by rough characters from the Adirondacks.”
    Freddy said: “Jimson, I think I ought to go back to the farm and have a talk with Mrs. Wiggins and Jinx, and with Mrs. Bean, too. If you’ll come with me, Uncle Solomon, we’ll get that handkerchief and plan where to use it.” He turned to Mr. Camphor and said: “I’m afraid I haven’t been much help, but I’ll come back later if you want me to. Maybe I can think of something.”
    â€œI’ll drive you down,” said Mr. Camphor. “And don’t worry about me. After all, a governor only serves two years.”
    â€œBut maybe they’ll re-elect you for another term.”
    â€œYou leave that to me,” said Mr. Camphor with a grin.
    Freddy got an unironed handkerchief marked W.F.B. from Mrs. Bean and gave it to Uncle Solomon. He and Mr. Camphor had a long talk with Mrs. Bean, and later in the afternoon he quietly notified all the animals whose loyalty he was sure of, and held a meeting in the cowbarn that evening. For the first time, Mrs. Bean was present at one of these meetings. While Freddy told of the danger that hung over the farm, and while they discussed plans for fighting off the revolutionists, she didn’t say anything; but when at the end, all the animals filed past and pledged loyalty to the Bean farm, and swore to fight to the death to defend it, she cried. None of the animals had ever seen her cry before, and they were very much affected. Even Jinx, who was a pretty hard-boiled cat, was so deeply moved that for the first time in his life he made a speech.
    When they had all sworn, he leaped up onto the dashboard of the old phaeton, from which the other animals who had addressed the meeting had spoken, and said: “You animals, tonight you’ve heard a lot of plans discussed. I’ve got nothing against that. You’ve heard a lot of patriotic talk. I’ve got nothing against that either. But talk is easy; talk alone ain’t worth five cents a scuttleful. What we want is action. Are we just going to sit here and let these folks take our homes away from us? Or are we going to go up and take their homes away from them? Oh sure, sure—we’re going to fight to the death to defend this farm. Well, why wait and let them bring the fight to us? Why not let them fight to the death to defend their own homes? How about it, boys; shall we sit here and wait for ’em, or who’ll follow me up to their next meeting at the Grimby house tomorrow night? We’ll clean up that gang, and then we’ll go on up around the lake into the Adirondacks and find the rest of ’em and drive ’em back where they came from. Eh? How about