A CONFLICT.

Akaroa Mail and Banks Peninsula Advertiser, Volume 4, Issue 340, 21 October 1879, Page 3

A CONFLICT.

J Hens are devils incarnate. Capt. Becks lays down" this proposition not jnta.'theftie.'w ;of Jnvitiag;ssctissionj trot ( as-an,axiom, , winch ricnoß 'h'n s-,taugl*t him,. : is; as. JDsmjutable, hurt JUH.cl»aiigsable,a^tiUoi€.,. r . ><l}frf>t..B.eekßj had, with infinite labor and pains, contrived- tpjraise : a,- few ,Btr-awbeFrieß}> some nice young'peas arid" oilier" vegetables, and fondly anticipated how in a few days he would sit djyj?n| »MiPE&«j reproduce of his own garden 'Before niinj' like other «.hdxriy*abMlgonsJt6'Mir': TSfc! Jifahi. just settling himselfiot-an afternoon nap, when, .the ipartner/ofyh&jojs happened; to glance outof theiWJndcJwintothe garden; and exclaimed,., ; ~,-,'.' -or " Drat! them hens. ,.

(3a i pt.-fee«}krwa'sbh [ liie feet , in instant. '.'•Somebody's > 4eflri the gate dpen arid'let them.tn/jWid he. $ ".Waft* 'em,!'aa4 with,.tHa.the;sttffted>Qn ftirun for the garden, loading himself with bHcfc-'bais ; 6n' theVay? :1 ' Setting;4Jie'&ate ajar/he tried,-1<? persuade, the ; hens r ,fco leave thefenploeure, $m%, ; instead > n tfeey scampered to of tjw cackiipgrilike,. t< After, preforming this operation.several Bjeeks, now losing; |control;, j: hje; • temper, fired a b.rickjat; ;< and; succeeded in demolishing i ,-> a>; doaenl , youngs cabbage plants. Qrowing desperate at the havoc he had . naade, and regardless of cpnsequences, r he r .fired his arsenal j of' b*ick J ,' -one after Mother iri quick/ succession, ,at, ; ,the-• ~This time he was: successful , in*--mißsing the hens, also, in knocking l otf two or three palings, smashing; the glass of the hotbed, and nearly driving a hole through X>T; ; Bullett, s , who had lopkedi ov;er the fence. to ; see, what, going on., , Pγ Bullett, of course, w.eflt" to. see a man." In his 'Capt. 1 Becks hastily made a> tfew; observations !6rA nithology and the;specimens; before him, which were, on the whole, more".remarfeabbj/or their, r ,compac^, Jthai| for tlieir aemereh^e'/ , io!_ fh'e. technicalities of scientific" inve'stigattion. : l

Rallying once---more, after nearly wrenching,, his; arm j and : fp hi? body inhis. efforts, to .Convert the wheelbarrow into a projectile he made a final rdsh at" the cackling hens. 'He ducked his head at the in , going* under, but did not make : sufficient : allowance for momentum. It caught him- on the crown pf his, head, andr-he sat down suddenly---on.jthe upturned rake., ther he was turning .over, mentally what effect Chandler's appointment would have on the Herzego>iniau"distufbance ; or whether the : northern' portion of Alaska would be-a -•"nice cool place to sit down " will remain forever a dark and hidden mystery, but as he wip; moving impetuOjUsljvawayj from the solemn scene, he might ' have ' been heard to scream: ends with two ]IV ,