THE OBEDIENT CHICKENS
When I was a little girl, I had a nice great Shanghai hen given to me. She soon laid a nest full of eggs; and then I let her sit on them, till, to my great joy, she brought out a beautiful brood of chickens.
They were big fellows even at first, and had longer legs and fewer feathers than the other little yellow roly-poly broods that lived in our barn-yard. But, although I could see that they were not quite so pretty as the others, I made great pets of them.
They were a lively, stirring family, and used to go roving all over the farm; but never was there a better behaved, or more thoroughly trained set of children. If a hawk, or even a big robin, went sailing over head, how quickly they scampered, and hid themselves at their mother's note of warning! and how meekly they all trotted roost-ward at the first sound of her brooding-call! I wish all little folks were as ready to go to bed at the right time.
One day when the chickens were five or six weeks' old, I saw them all following their mother into an old shed near the house. She led them up into one corner, and then, after talking to them for a few minutes in the hen language, went out and left them all huddled together.
She was gone for nearly an hour; and never once did they stir away from the place where she left them. Then she came back, and said just as plain as your mother could say it, only in another way, "Cluck, cluck, cluck! You've all been good chickens while I was away; have you? Well, now, we'll see what a good dinner we can pick up."
Out they rushed, pell-mell, as glad to be let out of their prison, and as pleased to see their mother again, as so many boys and girls would have been.
Well, day after day, this same thing happened. It came to be a regular morning performance; and we hardly knew what to make of it, until one day we followed old Mother Shanghai, and discovered her secret.
She had begun to lay eggs again, and was afraid some harm would come to her young family if she left them out in the field while she was in the barn on her nest. So she took this way of keeping them out of danger.
Of course, what she said to her brood when she left them must have been, "My dears, my duties now call me away from you for a little while; and you must stay right here, where no harm can come to you, till I come back. Good-by!" And then off she would march as dignified and earnest as you please.
She did this for a number of weeks, until she thought her young folks were old and wise enough to be trusted out alone. Then she let them take care of themselves.
This is a true story.
East Dorset, Vt. M. H. F.
JOHN RAY'S PERFORMING DOGS
There was once a little boy whose name was John Ray, and who lived near a large manufacturing town in England. When only seven years old, he fell from a tree, and was made a cripple for life.
His father, who was a sailor, was lost at sea soon afterwards; and then, John's mother dying, the little boy was left an orphan. He was nine years of age when he went to live with Mrs. Lamson, his aunt,—a poor woman with a large family of young children.
It was a sad thought to John that he could not work so as to help his good aunt. It was his frequent prayer that he might do something so as not to be a burden to her; but for a long time he could not think of any thing to do.
One day a stray dog came to the house; and John gave him a part of his dinner. The dog liked the attention so well, that he staid near the house, and would not be driven off. Every day John gave him what he could spare.
One day, John said to him, "Doggie, what is your name? Is it Fido? Is it Frisk? Is it Nero? Is it Nap? Is it Tiger? Is it Toby? Is it Plato? Is it Pomp?"
When John uttered the word "Pomp," the dog began to bark; and John said, "Well, sir, then your name shall be Pomp." Then John began to play with him, and found that Pomp was not only acquainted with a good many tricks, but was quick to learn new ones.
Pomp would walk on his hind-legs better than any dog that John ever saw. Pomp would let John dress him up in an old coat and a hat; and would sit on a chair, and hold the reins that were put in his paws, just as if he were a coachman.
Pomp learned so well, and afforded such amusement to those who saw his tricks, that the thought occurred to John, "What if I try to earn some money by exhibiting Pomp?"
So John exhibited him in a small way, to some of the neighbors, and with so much success, that he bought another dog and a monkey, and began to teach all three to play tricks together.
A kind lady, who had been informed of his efforts to do something for his aunt, made some nice dresses for the dogs and the monkey. The pictures will show you how the animals looked when dressed up for an exhibition.