A SAGACIOUS HEN.

Thames Star, Volume XV, Issue 4715, 16 February 1884, Page 4

A SAGACIOUS HEN.

" How d'ye do? "he asked, with a grin of familiar recognition. "Don't seem to know me, do yer ? I was in here last fall, and give yer some anecdotes about some snakes down in my parts. Eemember?"

" Yes,"/ growled the city editor, " I recollect you.. All your snake stories were lies, and we got letters from all over town saying so. What do you want nowP"

" You don't tell me," ruminated the snake man, smoothing his hat softly, " Lies, was they ? Mebbe the parties as writ to yer knowed more about them snakes than me. P'raps what I come to tell yer about my speckled heo. with the blue hackel, is all lies, too."

"What has she done?"

" She's done more'n the snakes, and if the snakes war lies that hen's a wopper, that's all I ken say," and he looked deeply injured.

'♦Tell us about her, anyway," said the city editor.

" Yer hearn about the cat that hatched chickens, I reckon. Well, my old speckled hen's been discountin' that cat. She's hatched fonr brood of kittens —one in each brood."

"Oh, go home and sleep it off!" re« commended the indignant city editor. " Face! Four brood, and one to the brood. I seen her gettin' restless and setting around on things and tried to knock her out o' the idee. No use. She'd set onto a hot flat iron but what she'd Bet. Fust she hatched an old milk pail into tin cups, and then she squatted on some dough that was sot to rise, and I'm slugged if she didn't hatch out a dozen biscuits and then try to learn 'em to swim. I seen she was gittin' right broody, and I says to the old woman, says I "Mar, sumpin' must be done for the speckled hen with the blue hackel." Mar tumbled to the idee, and says she, "yer bet yer life !" so with that we figgered what we'd beat do. While we was figgering she sat on a load o' cord wood and I'll eat a grind stun if it dont come out all sawed and split. I'm telling you this so yer wont think the kittens were unnat'ral. Well Mar and me figgered and figgered, and while we was figgerin the speckled ben was figgerin' too. She hopped on to a bar'l of scrap iron and I'm drunk if she didn't whack out two hundred papers of tacks. We seen that something had got to be done right off, but before we hit onto the scheme, ye can lick me if a tornado didn't take the roof right off'n my house. Of course ye know, we forget the hen for a few days. Dog my skin if she didn't set on the pumphandle and hatch it into toothpicks. Sure's yer born. Somehow my reaping machine got under her one night, and the next mornin' it was railroad spikes. Yer never see nothing like it. She as bent fer to set. I'll tell yer. There was three hard shell clams out in the yard, and she sot on 'em. and hatched out lobsters. If she didn't I'm a liar.'

•No doubt of* it, but how about the kittens ?\

" Well, the men come to put a new roof on the house; got there just before dinner, and left there tools in the yard. I seen the old hen watching them tools, but I didn't think no harm. Just before that "

"Never mind anything else. Come down to the cati." 4

" Jist so. While we were at dinner I seen her explorih' around, and I didn't know from what happened the day before —^- "

" Drop that," said the city editor, sternly. "Give us the four broods of cats, one in a brood."

" Well, the four workmen was at dinner, and the old speckled hen with a blue hackel was nosin' around, and says I to mar,' Mar' —— "

" Out with those cats, quick,'' and the city editor took down a scythe. "Certainly. The tools was outside you know, four sets on 'em, in—what's this they carry tools in? " "A kit." And the old speckled hen sot on them four kits, and if she didn't hatch out four brood o'— " Parties desiring to exchange a new scythe for a secondhand one, semew. bat out of repair, will please apply 4o the Eagle office for two days.