THE LANDSWOMAN
B
()wlie
y all th~ rul~s of poultry kteving. ~hr ou~ht
never to h&ve lived mol"(' than n day. She
arr1wd lat<', lon~ after the 1'1''-'t o! th(' bat<.. h. \\ith
the wrong num bcr of tMs and one bhnd eyf": nnd
from the fi~t Bhe wa!'\ hopelessly fet"hle. Somehow
I ne, e r have tho heart to kill the wraklings; ('"\CD
though th<·y do not }Jay for th<' trouble of N'aring,
they at le~t provide n wry human intcre~t. bC'<·n~sc
they neC'd more nursing and per:-onal 1\ttent10n
than thejr ~tronger brothers nnd :;istc~. For thC'
first two months of her cxt!->t<'n<<' she juc;t existed-
nothing more. ShC' nevf'r flourished, und her
perpetual dt'prc·~~ed app<·an.nc< \\ith her droopi?g
ft'athors ea.nwd for her the ni<·knamc of Owh«:~.
A'i time wrnt on, sh£' pid,Nl up :\ bit, and onl'
memorablC' day the report rumo up to the hou"'c
that s he '~as sitting in tlw nest. None of U'4 t..houp:ht
!-!h(' \\r mother in~tinct. }'our Jwn'l \\('re in this
condition, nnrl it wM a. '{Ucstion of choosin~ the
b<•st moth(•r. So they were all four ~hut up in a
small Hcr~tching <;hfd. \\ith a t<'mptmg n£'st in onP
corn<>r, in which ropos<.-d three t~hina cggR.
Th<" one who flettlt'd down th<' lX'st wa~ to hn ve
the chick~ and Owlie surpri
the other thf('O lwns wandered di.!!conr.;olatelv round
the "h~d. So to Owlic w<"re given the ~ix Jittle
<•hick!'\, and ~ho bocam<" immNliRtcly the proud<•Rt,
mo~t beautiful, and most p<•rfect motlwr-m•Hr
nllo\\uch her balm'~. taRting all
the food first, nnd clucking over tht>m with sud1
nn air of i m porta.nc<.', just a.~ though she N'm(' m lx>red
the d11.ys when slu: was a p(·rfect baby hen~clf, nnd
~f'Cn'tly trying hard o.ll the time to forget about the
blind eye and the six toes and the droopin~ wmgs!
\Vhcn, ono evening. wa discovered two rat<; in
hor h ttle run, wr expectrd to find no babies }1.•ft ;
but ~ho stlll has six, and we don't know how she
manages it, but tho rats actunlly play games ·with
thom every ov<'ning.
Of COUNC, a1J her chick5: ba.w names, and one,
moro .l*rky than the rest, who will certainly turn
out to he n. cockerel, is a.lwnys call<>d .Mr. Kimp.d Mr. Ktmpson round and round
the run until sh<' had ~ot him pinned in n. cornt'r
a.nd she then dt'lihNatcly bo:xt"d hi~:~ <>aM 1
'
Wo name nll our at~imals, and ~Cn<"rally n.Itl.'r
our frienrh~ and atqum n tanc£':-~, wInch sonwti tn<·R
lends to awkward con:sequ('nccs. as when one of
the· CO\\-S, who was tlw namesnlw of a highlv -
rcspected unmarried lndy. gavo birth to two h<'auti{uJ
calvr~. It "as n•nlly nn awful momr>nt when th(•
nC\\q waq broken suddenly to our mutual frif·nd~
by the brief announcen1cnt, "H avo you hrnrd-- .
11-fi:-:Q Brown ha~ ~ot twins ! "
Buf the thfficulty of chri~t<>ni n~ chick<'n~ in
thrir babyhood is tlw ~ut•l'ltion of sex. ~on 11 •
yen~ ago, one little clnd, in n ba.tch of fiftv
was a <;ripplr , nnd wh<•n tho rest wen· sold 1 \1
t hC' dn v-olrl :-ta2:c. h<• ,.u1" J <"ft br- hind, and
nun-ed 'bv n ~mall gHI and boy in front of ~ Jw
fire for thr<'r week~. till tho n£'xt lot of babicR
hntl'h<>d out. His littl<' rripplc l<'g~ were' bound up
in match splints, and n•gulnrly rubbed with cam-
phorated oil, ancl hy the time th<' new family
arrned, he wa~ Icrhng quito grown up, and Hpreacl
his wing~ O\Cl' them 1n the mo~t approved mothe1h
fa.-~Juon. I <'n11 him "he,'' because he had lx>ei1
c>hrh~tcn£'d Bmy, •and answcJ'<•d to his 1uimo when-
<"vcr frcdinrr time camt" round. A~ he gr<"w, h(•
tlouri~:dl\d, n.])(l still continued to be the pet of th<>
family nnd to bo called Billy, even when on<>
morning we found she \Hls responsible for h ·o
b<·autiful eggs. She told us about thorn with gren.t
pl'id<', and the t<'lling "as in this wise. She was
nh,a.ys rc•ady to c·hn.t with you whenever you went
do\\ll to the run , and long con versa.tions c:he would
hold ~omt'timt·~. which g<'nerally t>nded in a fri<' ndly
interchange of a choice bit of lettuce or young
cabbag<'.
But on the morning in quef-'tion tlw
grecnstuff was ignored, the chatting still wenl
on p<'I'Sistently, a.nd it "a" ob,ious there wa~ Born<··
thwg the mn;ttcr. So 1 went. into the run, and waR
led across to the far corner by Billy, where she had
made for he:rs<"lf a little nest, in which she had laid
two lovely brown eggs, and not mrtil sh<' had b<>cn
properly congratulated did the chattering cenl'<.'.
After t.hn.t she rear<'d ~<'ve ra.) broods of h<>r own
babies, and always with the same little mothering
<'al'l' w1th whtch sb(• had tench·d th<" newly-hatchNl
chicks-when she herself wa!'l only three weeks old.
Content
COULD not find tho little maid Content,
So out I rushed, and sougbt her far and wid<";
But not where Pleasure each new fancy tried.
Heading the maze of reeling merriment;
Nor whoro, with r<·stless oyes and bow half beat,
LoY<" in a brake of sweet-brier smiled and sighed;
l\or yet wh~re Pamo towered crowned and glorifiNl,
Found I her fnc<", nor whcresoe'er I went.
So homeward back I cra.wl<'d like wounded bird,
Whcnlo I Content sate spinning at my door:
And whe>n I a~kcd her where she wa~ before-
" Here all the time,', she Raid ; " 1 nev<'r stirred.
Too cagcr in your bt'arch, you pasc:ed me o,cr, ..
And, though J call<-d, you noith<>r saw nor hoa•·d.
Ar.FRED AusT•""'·
(" Days o{ tho YNlr.' )
I
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