"O, mamma, mamma, some little chickens, I do declare! If you stoop down
you can see them running about behind her,--such dear, pretty, soft
little creatures! Do get me one to play with."
"Little chickens!" said mamma; "why, they must have come out of their
shells very late in the year if they are little ones still, and I am
afraid their mother won't let me touch them."
"Do chickens come out of shells?" said Rosy, making very large eyes, and
looking quite puzzled.
"Yes, Rosy, out of just such shells as our eggs had this morning; and if
in the summer we had given this good hen five or six of her own eggs in
this little house of hers, she would have sat upon them, and spread her
wings over them to keep them warm; and there she would have staid so
patiently all day long, and day after day, until the dear little
chickens were ready to come too."
"And wouldn't the hen get tired?" said Rosy. "I shouldn't like to stay
still so long."
"No, I don't think you would," said her mamma, chucking her little girl
under the chin; "but then, you see, you are like the little chickens,
and not like the mamma hen. I think you will find that she has not got
tired even yet, for if you peep down again you will see that she is
keeping two of the little chickens warm under her even now. Little
chickens are like little babies, and they very soon get cold, so they
like keeping very close to their mammas."
"Are the little chickens naughty sometimes?" asked Rosy.
[Illustration: "If you stoop down you will see that she is keeping two
of the little chickens warm under her."]
"Well, I don't know, Rosy; but I know that I have often thought it very
pretty to see how they will all run to their mother when the great hen
clucks for them."
"O, mamma, I should _so_ like to hear her cluck," cried Rosy, clapping
her hands.
"Well, Rosy, you go a little way off, and keep quite quiet; and then I
will see if I can tempt the good lady out of her nest with some of this
nice seed."
So Rosy ran away, and her mamma stepped back a few paces and threw down
some of the seed. The hen saw it directly, and looked for an instant as
if she would like some very much; and she did not wait long, but soon
stepped out of her house, and began picking up the seed.
Just at that moment a cat came creeping along the outside of the paling,
and watching to see if she could pounce on one of the little chickens.
The hen saw the cat, and began to stretch out her neck very fiercely, as
if she meant to fly at its eyes, and then began to cluck for her little
ones, which all came running to her as fast as their legs would carry
them.
Rosy's little eyes sparkled with pleasure, and she went up and put her
hand into her mamma's, and said softly,--
"Wasn't it nice?"
"Yes, Rosy," said her mamma, "and I hope that my little chicken will
always run to my side as quickly as these did to their mother. You see
she knew that they were in danger when they didn't themselves; and so do
I sometimes when my Rosy thinks she is quite safe."
[Illustration]
* * * * *
Transcriber's Notes:
Obvious punctuation errors repaired.