Late in the fall, when the Man began to talk of shutting the poultry
into their own yards for the winter, there came a few mild and lovely
days. The Little Girls had been playing out-of-doors in their jackets,
but now they left them in the house and ran around bare-headed, as
they had done during the summer. All the poultry were happy over the
weather, and several said that, if they thought it would last long
enough, they would like to raise late broods of Chickens.
The fowls had finished moulting, and had fine coats of new feathers to
keep them warm through the winter. The young Turkeys looked more and
more like their mothers, for they were already nearly as large as they
ever would be. The Goslings and the Ducklings had grown finely, and
boasted that their legs and feet began to look rougher and more like
those of the old Geese and Ducks. The Chickens were all White Plymouth
Rocks this year, and the tiny red combs which showed against the snowy
feathers of their heads made them very pretty. Even the Hens who had
cared for them since they were hatched would not have had them any
other color, although at first they had wished that their Chickens
could look more like them.
In the barn all was neat and well cared for. The Man had made Brownie
a warm box-stall, so that he need not be tied in a cool and narrow
place whenever he stood in the barn, but might turn around and take a
few steps in any direction he chose. There was plenty of fine hay in
the loft for him, and the place where Brown Bess and her Calf were to
stand had also been made more comfortable. There were great bins
filled with grain for the poultry, and another full of fine gravel for
them to eat with their meals. They had no teeth and could not chew
their food, you know, so they had to swallow enough gravel, or grit,
for their stomachs to use in grinding it and getting the strength out.
In another place was a great pile of dust for winter dust-baths.
Everything was so well prepared for cold weather that it seemed almost
funny to have warm days again. And just at this time the Little Girls
had a birthday. Not two birthdays, you understand, but one, for they
were twins and were now exactly six years old. They were plump and
rosy Little Girls, and very strong from living so much out-of-doors.
Each had a new doll for a birthday gift, and the funniest part of it
was that the brown-haired Little Girl had a brown-haired doll and the
golden-haired Little Girl had a golden-haired doll. That made it easy
to tell which doll was which, just as the difference in hair made it
easy for their parents to tell one twin from the other.
When they first awakened they were given birthday kisses instead of
birthday spanks, six apiece for the years they had lived, a big one on
which to grow, and another big one on which to be good. After the
breakfast dishes were washed and put away, their mother made two
birthday cakes for the Little Girls and put six candles on each. With
all this done for them, one would certainly expect the Little Girls to
be perfectly happy. But, what do you think? They could not be
perfectly, blissfully happy, because they were not to have a party.
Every year before this, as far back as they could remember, they had
been allowed to have a party, and this year they could not have it,
because they were living on a farm and there were no other children
who could come. It is true that there were two others living quite
near, but these two had the measles and could not go to parties. By
the time they were over the measles, the birthday would be long past,
and so the Little Girls were disappointed.
It was when the brown-haired Little Girl was telling her doll about
the last year's party, and the golden-haired Little Girl's eyes were
filling with tears, that their mother had a bright idea. She would
not tell them what it was, but asked them to care for the Baby while
she went out to talk with the Man in the barn.
When she came back she told them that they might have a party after
all and invite the poultry to come. "I think it will be great fun,"
said she, "and I am sure they have never been to a birthday party in
their lives."
How happy the Little Girls were then! The Man had put a very large box
just in front of the poultry-yards where the White Plymouth Rocks were
kept, so that, by crowding into the corners, the Chickens on one side
of the separating fence and the Cock and Hens on the other could come
quite near to the box. Inside the big box was another which was to be
their table, and a couple of milking stools on which they were to sit.
The Baby's chair was to be brought when he came.
Of course it seemed a long time to wait until afternoon, when the
party was to come off. If there had not been so much to do, the
Little Girls certainly could not have been patient. It was wonderful
how many things their mother could suggest. In the first place, they
had to write a few invitations to pin up where the fowls could see
them. Then they had to go over to the edge of the woods and hunt all
along the roadside to find late flowers, bits of brake, and autumn
leaves, with which to trim their box and the table. After that they
took pans and got grain for their guests from the bins in the barn.
These they carried to the big box and placed on the table inside. It
was not long afterward that the brown-haired Little Girl found the
Black Hen and the White Cock eating from these pans. "Oh, shoo!" she
cried, running as fast as she could toward them and flapping her
skirts. "Shoo! Shoo! It isn't time for you to come, and you mustn't
eat up the party yet."
The other twin feared that, after being frightened away in this
fashion, these two fowls would not want to come at the proper time,
but she need not have worried. Fowls are always glad to come to a good
supper, and there is much more danger of their coming too early and
staying too late than there is of their not coming at all. After that
the pans of grain were carried into the house to wait until the right
time.
In the afternoon the twins and their dolls came out to the big box
which they pretended was their house. The open side of it was toward
the poultry-yards, and there was plenty of room between for the fowls
who were running free to come in and get their food. The Little Girls
had wanted to put on their Sunday dresses, but their mother told them
that she did not think it would be really polite to the poultry, who
had to wear the very same feathers that they had on every day. So the
Little Girls contented themselves with having their hair done up on
top of their heads and bows of yellow tissue paper pinned on the
knots. This made them feel very fine indeed, and as though being six
years old were almost the same as being grown up. They had some
beautiful red tissue paper which they wanted to use, but when they
remembered how the Gobbler felt about red, they decided to use the
yellow instead. And that was both wise and kind. One should always try
to make guests happy.
The Baby was not to come out until supper-time, so the Little Girls
and their dolls played quite alone for a while. There was much to tell
and to show the dolls, for it was the first time they had ever been on
a farm, and everything must have seemed strange to them.
"Do you see that tall White Plymouth Rock Cock over there?" said the
brown-haired twin to hers. "My Father says he is the most vallyoobol
fowl on the farm. He cost a lot of money. I asked Father if he paid as
much as ten cents for him, and he said he paid a great deal more. Just
think of that! More than ten cents! You must be very polite to him."
"I will show you our kindest Hen," said the golden-haired twin to her
doll. "She is coming this way now. She is the Barred Plymouth Rock
Hen, and she is a peticullar friend of my Father's. She didn't cost so
much as some of the others, but she is very good."
"And there comes the Speckled Hen," said the brown-haired twin. "She
doesn't lay many eggs, but my Father says that she is the best Hen on
the farm about taking care of lonely or sick Chickens. She is very
small, but she spreads herself out so she can cover a lot, and then
she cuddles them until they are happy again, and can run around with
her and eat the Worms she scratches up for them."
There is no telling how much more the dolls might have learned about
their new neighbors, if the Baby and the mother of the Little Girls
had not come out just then. The Baby was put in his chair in the big
box and given a cracker to eat, while the Little Girls stood outside
and called to their company.
"Come, Chick, Chick, Chick!" they called. "Come, Chick, Chick,
Chick!"
From far and near the Hens came running, with lowered heads and
hurrying feet, to seize the food which they knew would be given them
after that call. The Shanghai Cock and the White Cock followed more
slowly, as was their habit. The Gander waddled gravely along from the
farthest corner of the pasture in which the poultry-house stood, with
his wife and the other Geese following solemnly behind him. The
Turkeys, all together once more since the children were so large, came
with rather more haste from the roadside, where they had been hunting
acorns. And down by the river the Ducks and their children could be
seen scrambling up onto the bank and shaking themselves. All were glad
enough to come to the party as soon as they were sure it was time, but
whether they had understood the invitations which had been pinned
around for them to read--well, who can tell about that?
The Man came from the barn to see the fun, and he and the Woman set
the two birthday cakes from her basket onto the table. After she had
done that, she had to pay more attention to the Baby, who kept trying
to reach them with his fat little hands. The Man handed a pan of corn
to each of the Little Girls. "Wait until the Ducks get here," he said.
"They must have their share and there is plenty of time."
The brown-haired Little Girl felt that those who were waiting should
be amused in some way, so she began to talk to them. "This is our
birthday party," she said, "and we are very glad you didn't have the
measles, so you could come. A party is something to eat when you are
dressed up and have company. We have some corn for you because you
like that best, but if you are good and polite you may have some of
our cake, too."
By this time the Ducks were there, and each Little Girl began flinging
handfuls of corn out to the poultry. Some of it was thrown into the
yards where the White Plymouth Rocks were kept, and the rest fell
between the yards and the big box. One cannot say very much for the
manners of the company, yet it is quite certain that they had a good
time. When they had settled down to eating quietly, the Man lighted
the candles on the birthday cakes and the Woman passed a plate of
bread and butter sandwiches to the three happy children around the
table. The dolls did not seem to be hungry, but they must have enjoyed
it very much, for they smiled all the time, even when nobody was
speaking to them.
The Man and the Woman sat on a couple of old Chicken-coops by the open
side of the big box, and said what a fine day it was, and how good
everything tasted, and what a very large party it was. The Baby
laughed a great deal and said "Pitty! Pitty!" every time a soft breeze
made the candle-flames dip and waver. The most exciting time came when
the candles burned low and had to be blown out by the Little Girls,
with the Baby helping.
Then the cakes were cut, and the Man and the Woman and the three
children in the box all had a share. The dolls were not forgotten, but
even after they had been fed there was much remaining. The Barred
Plymouth Rock Hen stepped daintily up to the box and stood with her
left foot lifted.
"My friend, the Hen, is hinting that we should pass the cake to the
other guests," said the Man, "and I think we should."
The Little Girls helped to cut it into small pieces, and then the
whole family, Baby, and all, stood in the sunshine and threw the
fragments to the eager poultry, while the dolls looked on. The Barred
Plymouth Rock Hen walked inside the box and picked up the many crumbs
around the table, while the other fowls fluttered and ran for the
pieces outside. The Black Hen always picked for the largest, and the
rest chased her. Their manners were certainly bad, but it was the
first birthday party they had ever attended, and perhaps it is not
strange that they were excited and greedy.
When the last crumb had been thrown out and not even the Black Hen
could find another scrap, the Man and his family turned toward the
house. The sun was already low in the sky, and the air grew cooler as
night drew near. It reminded the Man that winter was coming. "It has
been a happy summer," he said, "a busy and happy summer. I am strong
again, and the work has gone well. I have a fine lot of fowls, and I
am fond and proud of them. I think they deserve a party once in a
while."
"It was the very nicest party we ever had," said the Little Girls. "We
ought to invite the poultry every time."
The Barred Plymouth Rock Hen murmured softly as she walked along
behind them.
"She thinks so too," said the Man.