Dick and His Cat and Other Tales Part 13

3. She was dressed in soft bright down when she first crept out of her egg-sh.e.l.l. She had a sharp beak and bright clever black eyes.

4. One morning, as her mother was strutting about the yard with all her children behind her, crying "cluck, cluck!" as she scratched up bits for them among the straw, Gip, the little pet dog, ran up.

5. He was only a puppy, and he meant nothing but play. Perhaps he mistook the small round chicks for a lot of little b.a.l.l.s rolling about.

At any rate he s.n.a.t.c.hed up Betty, who was the finest of them, in his mouth.

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE FARMYARD.]

6. With a roguish look at their fat old mother, he began to scamper off with her. "Cackle, cackle!" screamed the old hen. "Put the baby down this moment, sir!" And the mother flew at Gip before he had gone six yards.

7. She jumped upon his back, and began to flap his head with her wings as hard as she could, while she made digs at his back with her beak.

8. The pretty dog, finding himself treated in this way, soon dropped the chicken out of his mouth. Little Betty rolled out from between his white teeth and fell flop! to the ground.

9. She was not a bit hurt, for she toddled back to join her brothers and sisters, who were all crying "peep! peep!" in a great fright. They were afraid of seeing her eaten up alive.

10. But though her child was none the worse, the mother-hen began to batter and beat poor Gip as if he had maimed it for life. And she never forgave the little dog after that day.

11. When she saw him coming, even at a distance, she pushed out her head, stuck all her feathers on end, and spread out her tail like a bush.

12. Perhaps it was the dreadful fright which Betty felt while she was in the jaws of Gip, which made her so grave and thoughtful a chicken as she soon became. She walked better than the rest.

13. She held herself upright, and her mother was never heard to say, "heads up!" as she did to the other chickens. Her mistress said one morning that Betty was "the pride of the brood."

14. Her two brothers were very greedy chickens, I am sorry to say. And as they grew older, they began to fight sadly for each worm or grain of corn which they found.

15. Though Betty and the rest of the chickens grew up white as snow, one of these young c.o.c.ks had a speckled breast, and the other had two black feathers in his tail. This spoilt their look.

16. They were both taken away one day by a strange man, in spite of all that their mother could say. She bustled up and tried to rescue her sons. Although they were both in the habit of eating too much, she loved them in spite of all.

_Write:_ A little chick was picked up by a puppy. He did not kill it, but put it down when the hen came after him. The chicken was not hurt.

Questions: 1. How many brothers and sisters had Betty? 2.

What did the puppy do one day? 3. What did the old hen do?

4. What did Betty's mistress call her? 5. What sort of chickens were the two brothers? 6. What became of them?

2. BETTY IS SPOILT.

1. Time pa.s.sed on, and Betty grew fast in size and beauty. Her mistress made up her mind to send her to the Poultry Show at the Crystal Palace.

2. The cook and all who saw her said that Betty ought to go, her beauty was so great. She was quite a perfect pattern of what a white hen of her sort ought to be.

3. She would be certain to win a first prize of the first cla.s.s, they all thought. Poor Betty! From the day that it was settled for her to go to the Poultry Show her troubles began.

4. When first it was made known in the yard she became rather vain, in spite of all that her mother could say. The fact was that the old hen felt proud of it herself, and Betty knew it.

5. She would be always pluming the feathers of her daughter, cackling loudly, and calling to strange chickens to come and admire the lovely back and smooth wings of her child.

[Ill.u.s.tration: c.o.c.k-A-DOODLE-DO!]

6. The young c.o.c.ks from next door sat on the railings to chatter, and even forgot to quarrel. They stared at Miss Betty as she walked with her beak in the air, and they made rude remarks.

7. "Why don't you grow a pair of spurs and learn to crow?" they called out. When Mrs. Dorking, Betty's mother, heard these speeches from the young c.o.c.ks she flew into a great pa.s.sion.

8. "I will set the dog at you, you young scamps, if you do not be off this moment," cried she. So they dropped off one by one, for they did not know that the old hen was not able to carry out her threat.

9. As Betty became vain she became idle too. Instead of making her mother and sisters happy with her pretty playful ways, and making herself useful and pleasant at home, she grew pettish.

10. And instead of working to help earn her own living, by catching flies, scratching up worms, and watching under the old oak tree for c.o.c.k-chafers, she would lose patience, and call loudly to the cook to bring her food.

11. And, strange to say, the cook would come too, and, not content with waiting on Betty, would drive away each fowl and chick that came up to share what she had brought.

12. She let none of them have a bit till Betty had eaten all that she pleased. Was not this enough to spoil any young hen? Betty was fast getting pert. All this was because of her good looks and her five toes.

13. You will see after a while that she would have been more happy if she had been born ugly, or with four toes, like her sisters.

_Write:_ Betty was to go to a show. She grew vain when she heard this.

And as she became vain she grew idle too. She was spoilt.

Questions: 1. Where did Betty's mistress think of sending her? 2. What did they all think that she would get at the show? 3. What made her grow proud? 4. What did she do instead of earning her living? 5. What did the young c.o.c.ks say? 6. What answer did the old hen make to them?

3. SOAP AND WATER.

1. After a little more time had pa.s.sed, Betty was taken out of the yard. They did not let her stay with her sisters and the other fowls any longer, but she was placed in a large room by herself.

2. Here she was fed on all sorts of dainties. She had chestnuts, minced liver, new milk, and fresh lettuce. Life was now a feast to Betty, but she found it rather dull.

3. "I would rather have one worm or a spider," said she, with a sigh.

How she longed for a good scamper with her sisters! "I am sure that we should never squabble now," said the poor, lonely little thing.

4. But this time alone did not last long. One morning a worse thing was done to her. She was taken by the cook and plunged into a warm bath. It was not of the least use for her to kick and scream.

5. The cook did not care. She rubbed Betty gently with a soaped flannel, talking to her in a soothing way all the time, and then set her down before the fire to dry.

6. But Betty's fright was soon over, and she was not at all hurt, of course. Yet she might have caught her death of cold, and all this because of the show! that her feathers might look fine.

[Ill.u.s.tration: A WARM BATH.]

7. If the cook had let Betty alone to clean them, she would have done it better. The soap was bad for them, so was the water.

8. Betty felt very pleased when the cook went to call all the other servants. She wished them to admire the snowy whiteness of her feathers. "If she does not win a first prize I will eat my head!" said the cook.

9. "You will have a fine big meal, then," said the housemaid, "and I should not wonder if you have not spoilt her feathers for ever by washing them. You never ought to have done it, and the poor thing may get ill."