Rensselaer Union, Volume 9, Number 15, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 28 December 1876 — CLUCK-A-LUCK’S STRANGE CHILDREN. [ARTICLE]

CLUCK-A-LUCK’S STRANGE CHILDREN.

Of course Cluck-a-luck thought r.he had been sitting on her own eggs. Why should she not think so ? There were ten of them, just as many as she had counted when she first began to sit upon them; so when her young brood turned out to be ducklings,"she was naturally surprised and distrusted. But that was the farmer’s fault. Cluck-a-luck was such a good hen-mother that he chose her to raise the brood of ducklings. For a duck-mother is such a careless creature—such a very careless creature! All she thinks of is her own toes, and how to say “Quack” amiably, and to plume herself. So Cluck-a-luck had to see her fuzzy yellow brood step into the water at a spnng-pond, and paddle away from her, while she sat on the shore and scolded at them. “You’ll take your deaths of cold!” she screamed, when she found they did not drown, as she had told them they would. “ I shall have the whole ten of you down with the croup,” moaned Cluck-a-luck, and she ran off to consult Grandpa Wattles, the great Dorking rooster. “Dear Grandpa Wattles! what shall 1 do with my children? None of our family ever acted this way before!” “ Took-a-rook-a-raw, raw,” said Grandpa Wattles, gravely; he always said that when he felt puzzled. “ You must make allowances, make allowances. Young folks are very different now-adays. You can’t always tell how they are going to turn out. Sometimes they are one thing and sometimes they are another. Don’t fret. Here’s a fine grub for you. Don’t fret.” So Cluck-a-luck ate the grub and stopped fretting. By and by the ducklings grew large and handsome, with fine purple necksand broad yellow bills. “They really do me great credit,” said Cluck-a-luck, proudly, as she bade them good-bye, ana began to hatch out another brood. This time thefarmerhad enough ducks, so he allowed Chuck-a-luck to hatch out her own eggs. A fine brood they were. Nine yellow little fuzzy balls, with a little silvery chirp put inside of each one, to make music for their mamma. Cluck-a-luck was very proud of them, and as soon as they were big enough she led them out of the hen-house into the barnyard and showed them to everybody, while she clucked delightedly. Then she took them to the pond. “Peep-peep!” said all the little ones, “ such a large water-trough!” “ Well, why don’t you go in?” asked Cluck-a-luck.

“ Peep-peep! we don’t want to,” said they. “What nonsense!” cried Cluck-a-luck. “ Not want to go in ? Why. your brothers and sisters ran in of their own accord, before they were as old as you. Go in at once, before they laugh at you.” “ What’s the matter, there?” cried Shiny Tail, one of the eldest duck-sons, coming up. “ Afraid to go in ? Give them a push, that’s all they want.” So Cluck-a-luck led the little chickens to a board that leaned out over the water, and then pushed them in, first one, then another, till all the nine were in the water. “Peep-peep! it’s very cold! It’s very wet. Peep-peep, p-e-e-p!” cried all the little ones, and then they went down under the water, and staid there. “ Why do you suppose they stay down so long?” asked Cluck-a-luck of Shiny Tail, who stood near. “ I’m sure I don’t know. I never staid down so long,” answered he, thoughtfully. But the little chickens never came up again, though Cluck-a-luek waited all day long for them, and clucked till she was quite hoarse. So she ran to Grandpa Wattles and told him about it. “Took-a-rook .’’ began Grandpa Wattles, but seeing she felt very badly indeed, he stopped before he got to “ raw, raw,” and said: “Now, don’t fret, there’s a good creature. You have made a little mistake in their education. You can’t always tell; sometimes they turn out one thing, and sometimes they ” “ But they are all drowned, gone entirely!” interrupted Cluck-a-luck. “What am 1 to do?” “Well, well! Don’t fret. Go and hatch another brood. Here’s a fine caterpillar I’ve saved for you. Don’t fret,” said Grandna Wattles, very kindly. So Cluck-a-luck ate the fine caterpillar and stopped fretting, and began to hatch another brood. While she was sitting, a weasel ate all her eggs but two. These she hatched out, saying to herself: , “It is just as well; there will be less trouble about their education, when there are so few, and I shall not go near the water with them, that’s certain.” 80, when they grew string enough, she took them up to the orchard, where there was no water, and there little Wacksy and Weepsy were good and happy for a long time. Cluck-a-luck gave them these names because one of them always said “ Wack ” and the other ouesaid “ Weep,” when he cned.

The little things were very “fond off each other, and could not bear to be part ed for a minute. One day Clnck-a-iuck missed them. She had just been taking her morning sand-bath, in a lovely dusthole under an apple-tree, and when she got up she missed both her children. She ran to the barn-yard and asked all her friends if they had seen her children. “I saw them a minute ago.” “id her cousin, Pulletta. "It seems to me they were going down to the pond." .‘The pond! Oh, dreadful!” cried Cluck-a-luck. “ Then they will surely drown!” She hurried to the pond, and so did every one else, and all the chickens and ducks and turkeys and geese stood In a great crowd on the shore. And what do you think they saw ? There was Wacksy, in the middle of the pond, swimming proudly around, while Weepsy stood near the shore, but up to his neck in the water, shrieking for her to come back and play with him! What a disgraceful sight for a proud mamma! Weepsy’s long legs and long neck were stretched out as far as possible, and he was squawking as only a young Shanghai rocster can squawk, because he coula not be a duck, like Wacksy, and swim with her. “ It seems to me you have very strange children, Cluck-a-luck,” said old Madam Brahma. “There must be something wrong in your system of education; my children never showed such dispositions." “Oh dear! oh dear!” cried poor little Cluck-a-luck. “I’m sure I don’l know what it is. I’ve done everything a mother could do, and I’m disgraced by them after all.” Everybody stood watching and laughing at Cluck-a-luck’s children. Everybody made remarks. “Who in the world but a Dorking, would think of hatching one duek and one great awkard Shanghai I” exclaimed an aristocratic Bantam. “How was I to know?” asked poor Cluck-a-luck, indignantly. “ I’m sure 1 never knew there could be so many different patterns of chickens, or I never would have hatched any!” Grandpa Wattles felt very sorry, but he could not conscientiously advise her to go and try another brood, so he only said “ Took-a-rook-a-raw, raw,” and stood gazing at Wacksy and Weepsy, who were still making themselves riaiculous. “I’ll never hatch another brood!” cried Cluck-a-luck; “I’ll never lay another egg! I’ll go somewhere all by myself, and learn to crow!” At this dreadful threat, all the other hens looked at her and drew up their wings, and nodded at each other. “ You see she’s going to crow. Ikfiew a hen who could not bring up her chickens properly would end by crowing. How very shocking!” “Oh, please don’t, there’s a good creature,” said Grandpa Wattles. “You are an excellent hen-mother; don’t be discouraged; don’t crow; hens never crow unless they’re good for nothing else.” “ But I will crow,” said Cluck-a-luck. “ I feel like doing something desperate. I can’t make my children behave, and none of you sympathize with me.” So ’she went away and got on a high fence, and crowed, and she tumbled over backward while she was crowing, and broke her neck, and her claws all curled up, and she was dead.— E. Muller, in St. Nicholas. —A Montreal advocate, at the request of Mrs. Worms, who is still residing in that city, has drawn up a petition to President,Grant praying for the release as her husband, the celebrated Dr. Worms,, who was convicted et Philadelphia of forgery, and sentenced by Judge Cadwallader to two years and ten months* im?risonment. The reasons urged for the 'resident’s clemency are. that the prisoner served as a Captain in the army during the civil war, and was for a long time a faithful servant of the cause of the Union; that he was engaged in numerous battles, and that he holds many testimonials testifying to his good character while in the service.