I saw no one about the old, unpainted house or the long, weathered barn, which with its sheds stood alongside the road.

But as I hurried by I heard some hogs making a great noise--apparently under the barn.

They were grunting, squealing, and "barking" gruffly, as if they were angry.
As I stopped for an instant to listen, I heard a low, faint cry, almost a moan, which seemed to come from under the barn.

It was so unmistakably a cry of distress that, in spite of my haste, I went up to the barn door.

Again I heard above the roars of the hogs that pitiful cry.