Rensselaer Union, Volume 9, Number 24, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 1 March 1877 — Souths’ Department. [ARTICLE]

Souths’ Department.

THE ADOPTED CHICKIX . Whkn I was a little girl, I lived on a farm where there were a great many chickens and ducks and turkeys, and among them there was a brown hen named Yellowfoot, who wanted veey much to have a nice family of little yellow chickies; and she knew if she laid an egg everyday until there were twelve eggs, and then sat on them patiently three weeks, she would have twelve dear little chicks. She laid a nice white egg everyday. But she never could get twelve, because every day the cook took her egg away; and so Yellowtoot felt very sadly. Now, another hen, named Tufty, thought it would be nice to have little chickens too; but she was very smart, and she found a place away off, that the cook didn’t know about, and there she hid her eggs; and one day she surprised all the other hens by walking into the chicken yard with twelve little chickens toddling after her! Now I had heard how sorry poor Yellowfoot felt because she had no little chickens, and when I saw Tufty walking about so proudly with her twelve, I fell very sorry indeed for Yellowfoot. Well, that very afternoon something very funny happened. I was walking about the farm, and 1 found in the corner of a rail-fence a turkey sitting on some eggs, and running around her a little lonely chicken just out ot its shell, making such a pitiful little “peep-peep." I took it up in my apron and ran and asked one of the men what it could mean, and he said that a hen’s egg had by mistake been put with tne turkey’s eggs, and as it takes a week longer for turkeys’ eggs to hatch than it does for hens’ eegs, the poor little chicken had come out of its shell a week before there was anybody to take care of it.

When I heard this I thought: “Poor little chickie! what will you do, for I don’t know how to take care of you at all, and it will be a week before that ugly turkey gets ready to do it, and you’ll be dead by that time?" and then suddenly I thought: “ Why, this little chick is just as old as the twelve that were hatched this morning; now I’ll take it to the chickenyard ana put it down among them, and Tufty will take care of it.” So I ran to the chicken-yard and put it with the. other little chicks, and it ran after Tufty just like the others. But you cannot believe how badly Tufty acted! The minute she heard the strange little “peep” with the twelve other little “peeps,” she turned around and stood still a minute, and then all her feathers began to stick out, and she bobbed her head a minute, and then she pounced at my poor little chicken and gave her an awful peck I t Wasn’t it crutel! I did not know what to do. I was afraid to go near Tufty, because she would think if I went near her that I was going to catch her little chicks, and I knew she would try to peck me just as she did my poor little chicken. While I was thinking she flew at it again and gave it another peck. This time I didn’t stop to think, but jumped and caught it and ran before Tufty could catch me. I ran till I felt quite safe, and then sat down on the kitchen door-step, with my poor chick in my apron, and cried. I think I must have cried pretty loud, because mother heard me and came out. When I had told her all about it, she said: “ Why didn’t you try old Yellowfoot?” At that, I lumped up and clapped my hands with delight, and my poor little chicken dropped on the grass; but it didn’t hurt it, and I put it carefully back in my apron, and went to the chickenyard again, to try mother’s plan. I baa a hard time finding old Yellowfoot, but finally I came upon her, looking very doleful, in the bottom of a barrel. I poked her with a stick, but she would not come Out. Bo finally I turned the barrel over*, so she had to come out. But she looked very angry; and made a great deal of noise about it.' ,1 waited till she got quiet, and then I put my little chicken dawn by her. And, oh 1 you should have seen her then I She looked at it a minute, and, when it “ peeped” she gave a quiet little “cluck,” just as if she were trying to ace how it sounded. And then the little chicken “ peeped" again, and Yellowfoot “clucked” again and walked ahead a little and chickie followed her. So my little chicken had found some one to take care of her, and I named her “Lucky” right away. And, oh! how proud Yellowfoot was! She strutted everywhere with her one chick, and all tfle love and care that she was going to give to twelve she gave to this one. She scratched for it, and “clucked” for it. and fought for it, and gave it all the broad cover of her warm wings at night. And little Lucky seemed to know that she had all the clue that waa meant for twelve, for she was the happiest little chick that ever lived.— St. Nicholas. t