Nobody can tell just how long it was after the Chickens ran away, but
it was certainly some little time, when Older Brother began to have
trouble about breathing. "There seems to be something stuck in my
throat," said he to his mother. "I can't breathe without opening my
mouth a good deal."
"There is something stuck in my throat too," said Younger Brother.
"And in mine," added Little Sister.
The Barred Plymouth Rock Hen looked very sad. "It is just as I
expected," said she.
At that moment another brother ran up. "What's the matter with these
Chickens?" he asked his mother. "They've been running around all
morning with their mouths open, and it makes them look too silly for
anything. I don't want to play with them if they can't keep their
bills shut. I wish you'd tell them to stop."
"They can't stop," said the Barred Plymouth Rock Hen, sadly. "They
have the gapes."
"What is that?" cried all the four Chickens together, while three of
them looked badly scared.
"That is a kind of illness," answered their mother. "I have been
expecting it all along."
"What did you let us be sick for then?" asked Older Brother. "Why
didn't you tell us to eat more gravel or something? I don't think it
is taking very good care of us to let us get sick."
"Now," said the Barred Plymouth Rock Hen, and she spoke very firmly,
"you are not to speak again until you can speak properly. On the day
you ran away you played with Chickens who had the gapes, and you went
with them into a closed hen-yard and ate Angleworms. That is what gave
you the gapes. There were tiny Gapeworms in the Angleworms, and you
swallowed them. Now the Gapeworms are living in your throats and you
cannot get them out. The Farmer had shut the poultry out of that yard
because he knew that they would become ill if they fed in there. Now
you are ill and I can't help you."
Older Brother looked scared. "How did she know what we did over
there?" he whispered to Younger Brother.
"I don't know," answered Younger Brother, while he watched his mother
to be sure that she did not overhear. "Mothers always seem to find out
what a Chicken is doing, anyhow."
Little Sister began to cry. "I'm afraid we are going to die," she
sobbed. "I feel so very, very badly."
"Shall we die?" asked the sick brothers, and they were so scared that
their bills chattered. Their teeth would have chattered, you know, if
they had had teeth, but none of their family ever do have them.
"Yes," answered their mother, sadly. "You will die unless something is
done to get the Gapeworms out of your throat. I cannot help you, for
they cannot be taken out by creatures who have only wings and feet.
There are times when hands would be handy. The only thing for you to
do is to find the Man and keep near him until he sees that you are ill
and does something to cure you. I will go with you."
You can imagine how sad the whole brood felt when they heard the news.
The brother who had not wanted to play with them was much ashamed of
himself, and kept scratching up fine Worms for the sick Chickens to
eat. He thought that a good way of showing how sorry he felt.
"I tell you what," said Older Brother to Younger Brother. "If I ever
get well again, I'll mind my mother every time, even if I just hate
to!"
"So will I," said Younger Brother. "I wish we hadn't coaxed Little
Sister to go along."
By this time they had reached the place where the Man was working. It
seemed a long while before he noticed that three of them were sick.
When he did, he put his hat on the back of his head and wiped his
forehead with his handkerchief. His handkerchief was white. The Farmer
had always carried red ones, and the Gobbler was much pleased when he
found that the Man did not.
"I wonder what is the matter with those Chickens," said the Man. "They
must be sick in some way. I will look it up in one of my books."
That was why, soon after this, the Man came from the house with a
small book and seated himself on the wheel-barrow to read. He would
look at the page for a few minutes, then put his finger on a certain
part of it and watch the sick Chickens. At last he arose and put the
book in his pocket. Then he got a box and a piece of burlap. He also
had a pan with some white powder in it. He set these down close
together and threw grain to the Chickens. When they came to pick it up
he caught the sick ones and put them into the box. "Oh! Oh!" they
cried. "Mother! Mother! The Man has caught us! The Man has caught us!"
"Keep still! Keep still!" clucked the Barred Plymouth Rock Hen. "The
Man has to catch you before he can cure you." She spoke as though she
was not in the least frightened, but the truth is that she was very
badly scared. She could not stand still, and kept walking to and fro,
clucking as fast as she could. She had never seen anybody use a box
and powder for Chickens that had the gapes. The Farmer had always made
loops of Horse-hair and put them down the Chickens' throats to catch
and draw out the tiny Worms. That was bad enough, and always hurt the
Chickens, but she had never told them beforehand that it would hurt.
You can see that she was a very brave Hen, for she made her children
stand the hard times that would make them better, and a Hen needs to
be very brave for that.
Now the Man covered the open top of the box with burlap and began to
sift the white powder through it.
"Ow!" said Older Brother, coughing as though he would never stop. "Ow!
Ow! I can't breathe! I am stifling!"
"Ow!" said Younger Brother. "Ow! Ow! I can't stop coughing!"
"Ow!" said Little Sister. "Ow! Ow! Isn't this dreadful!"
The three Chicks staggered around in the box, coughing just as hard as
they could. The dust which came down through the burlap seemed to bite
and sting their throats, and very soon they were coughing so hard that
they could not speak at all. The Man was coughing too, but he did not
stop for that. The Chickens who were well could not understand what
the Man was doing to the sick ones, and it was a very sad time for the
whole family. At last the Man uncovered the box and lifted the
Chickens out. They could not stop coughing all at once, yet they
managed to get over to where their mother was. Then she spread her
wings and tried to cover them, as she had done when they were first
hatched. She could not do it, because they were so big; still, it
comforted them to have her try, and after a while they were able to
speak.
"Why," said Older Brother. "I must have coughed up some of the
Gapeworms! I can breathe with my mouth shut."
"So can I," said Younger Brother.
"So can I," said Little Sister.
"Then come down to the meadow for the rest of the day," said their
mother. "We can find good feeding there."
"We will come," answered the three, and they were hardly away from
their mother's side during the rest of that day. Once they got near
the fence that separated the meadow from the road, and a couple of
Chickens from the other farm called to them to come across. "Uh-uh!"
they answered. "Our mother doesn't want us to."
They did not even ask their mother what she thought about their
going, and there was no reason why they should, for they knew
perfectly well that they ought not to go. When they had walked so far
away that they were sure of not being overheard, they looked each
other in the eye and said solemnly, "You don't catch us going where
our mother thinks we should not!"