Children's Column.

Digger (Invercargill RSA), Issue 33, 29 October 1920, Page 12

Children's Column.

MATER'S LETTER BOX. Mater invites children to ser.d in steries for this column, or correspondence which will be replied to through these columns. All matter to be clearly written in vnk, and one oue side of the paper only. Name, age, and addiess, must be always givcn, and correspondence directed to "Mater, care of Editor, "The Digger," n>ox 310, Invercargill. WHEN CHICKKO STAYED UP LATE. Chikko was one of a family oi ten litt-le black chickens, and he lived with his mother, the big. black lien, and all his» brothers and sisters in a little wooden chicken coop in the big paddcck. I hey had a r.ice little wire run leading out of the coop, in which- they could play ana catch flies ali day long, but at six o'clock every evening they were all safeiy shut up iu the coop. After a time they grew so big and strong that the farmer s wife. said the wire was no longer big enough for them to plav in, and she had some of the long grass cut away just round the coop, and ailowed the black hen to take b,er children out into the paddock. The hen took great care of her little family, and -she was very angry if any of the other fowls carae near them, and drove them away. Siie was careful, too, that her children did not stray too far, and said "Gluck, cluck, cluck," which means "Come back at once," as soon as she saw them rurining too i far away from her, and she took them safeiy back to the coop every night at six o'clock and put them safeiy under her wings to bed. Now Chikko did not like going to bad so early. "Why can't we stay up till the grownup chickens go to bed?" he said. His .mother told hiin that all chickens, large and small, must go to bed before sun-down, but Chikko was disobedient, and stole away while the others were clucking and flapping their wings, as they settled down 011 their perches in the big fowl house. He had gone quit-e a long way across the paddock wh.cn he heard a rustling in the grass. He looked around quickly and saw a pretty little brown creature coming towards him. «. He had n,ever seen such a person before. It was much too small for a dog, he knew. It was even small er than the old tabby stable cat'3 bal>y kitten. "Hello!" he said. "Who are you?" "I am Master Rat," replied the little creature. "Oh!" replied Chikko, "I don't think I have met you before." "No," said Master Rat, "you are not often out so late, are you?" "That is not my fault," said Chikko. "I think myself this is the nicest time of the day." "It is, most certainly," agreed the little brown creature, and then he seemed to give a spring and a leap towards Ohikko. Just as he did so, there was a great scuffle in the grass, the thud of big boots tra-mp-ing on the ground, and a sh'arp little squeak from Master Rat. Chikko, who had just time to creep under a dock leaf, saw Yixen, the terrier, shaking the little brown creature in her mouth, and the farmer poking about the grass with his stick.

'iGood dog," he said, when he saw Yixen shaking Master Rat, and he patted the ierrior and took Master Rat out of

her mouth. C-ftikko knew the poor little creature was dead, for it wa^ quite still arid limp, and he was thinking How crnel it was of the farmer to let the dog kilkjt, when the farmer caught sight of him peeping from under the dock-leaf. "Why, here's the lost chicken," he said, "and if Yixen wasn't just in time to stop that rat killing it." And he picked Chikko up and gave him to his wife. She carried him back to the coop and said she would have a larger run made, as she could not let them run loose in the paddock if they were to be lost in the long grass where the rats would get them. "There," clucked the black hen to Chikko, "that is all through your disobedience. Now you will have to stay in a run all day long." When he told her about the rat, she said she hoped it- would be a lesson to him to go to bed at chickens' prcper bed time, for chickeng always go to bed at Eunset, before their enemies the rats come prowling about in search of chickens for their suppers.