1. After a little more time had passed, 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.
[Illustration: 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."
10. But thanks to the care taken of her, Betty did not get ill, though
the nasty soap made her feel sick; and the cook saw that she had made a
mistake in washing Betty.
11. "All creatures can clean themselves," said the housemaid,
"leastways all birds can, at any rate, and we do harm by meddling."
12. "I think we ought to keep her under a wash-tub or in a basket until
the day for the show," said the cook. "She will be sure to get dirty
again in that barn."
13. When a nice new hen-coop was turned over her, Betty began to think
about her mother. "What a horrid time she must have spent when we were
little, and she had to stay in a coop!" said the young hen to herself.
14. "And yet I think that I am even worse off than she was, for I have
to stay here without any little chickens to amuse me, or to run under
my wings."
* * * * *
_Write:_ The young hen was washed. It was bad for her and made her
feathers rough. She grew tired of being shut up though she was well
fed.
Questions: 1. Where was Betty placed alone? 2. What did she
say to herself about her food? 3. What did the cook do to
her? 4. What did the housemaid tell her? 5. Where was Betty
put next? 6. What did she think about in the coop?