Step Hen

“ This he applied to the red mark, examining the same closely.
“I can see two sets of little punctures, one above and one below,” he announced presently.
“That’s them!” exclaimed Step Hen. “Oh! he jumped right at me, and bit me, all right! I was that scared I could hardly move. I hate snakes, you know, the worst kind. Thad, tell me, did anybody ever get bit by a rattler, and live? My goodness! will you have to cut my leg off, to save me? Oh! I think I’d rather die right now, than have to hop around on one leg all my life. Do something for me, Thad; what are you grinning at, Giraffe? ”

“ Step Hen broke out with.
“Luck nothing,” flashed back Giraffe, refusing to be cheated out of any of his honors. “It’s the reward of patient, plodding work, and using eyes and brain right along. Now, if I’d been satisfied to limp along, looking up at the sky, and all around, but never once on the ground, like some people I know do, d’ye suppose I’d ever run across this trail? Not much. Give Old Eagle Eye his due, Step Hen.”
“Yes, he deserves it,” said Thad, “because this is a most important find. It places us on top once more.”
“Because now we’ve got something to work on,” added Allan. ”

“ Step Hen forgot all his weariness as he found himself being shaken by the hand again and again, while he and Thad told the tale of their day’s outing. It was nice to play the hero part once in a while, and more than ever did Step Hen feel that life had become more worth living than ever, since he joined the Cranford troop of Boy Scouts. ”

“ And so Step Hen went on, although grumblingly.
[127]
“Why couldn’t we use that nice, old hiding-place, Thad?” he called out; for the thunder, together with the roar of the wind, and the rain, in their rear, made so much racket, that talking in ordinary tones was impossible.
“That tree might go down with a crash in the gale,” was what Thad said over his shoulder, as he ran.
“Well, p’raps that’s so,” admitted Step Hen.
“And worse than that, it was liable to be struck by lightning,” added the young scoutmaster. “Nearly always picks out the tallest tree, or one standing alone. ”

“ All them things are possible, once Step Hen gets started on his collecting stunt."
"Well, forget it now, won't you, Giraffe, because there goes Bumpus putting supper on the fire; and unless you look sharp he'll just cut down your ration till you'll only get as much as any two of us," advised Step Hen.
In spite of all these little encounters of wit, and the sharp things that were sometimes said, boy fashion, these six churns were as fond of each other as any lads could possibly be. There was hardly anything they would not have done for one another, given the opportunity ”

“ As Step Hen so often declared, they did not want to be called “game hogs,” a term often used to describe the man who flings his catch of bass or trout up on the shore to die, no matter if he is taking ten times 74 what he can use; or who shoots his deer in or out of season, and allows it to lie there, wasted, on the ground, food for the foxes or wolves.
“This country seems to be rather sparsely settled up here?” remarked Thad, after they had been moving along the shore of Lake Winthrop for some time, looking up a desirable camp site. ”

“ Then we could carry off as much of the buck as we could tote, including the head; and them fellers not be any the wiser for it, till it was too late to follow us! How’s that?”
Thad nearly had his breath taken away by the boldness of Step Hen’s astonishing proposals. He looked at the other, and a smile spread completely across his face. Then he puckered up his lips, and 110 gave a little whistle, that somehow caused Step Hen to turn a bit red in the face.
“Whew!” ejaculated Thad, “I never before suspected what a fire-eater you could be, Step Hen. Why, nothing fazes you, nowadays. ”

“ Oh, me! oh, my! what tough luck!”
“Don’t worry, Step Hen,” said Thad, quickly; “that deer can’t get away. You shot him to pieces, and he’s just bound to drop before five minutes. We’ll just follow him up, and find him lying as dead as―”
Just what Thad had in mind as a comparison Step Hen never knew. Perhaps he was going to say “as dead as a door nail,” that being a favorite expression among the scouts; or it might be Thad meant to take a little flight into ancient history, and compare the condition of that buck inside of five 96 minutes with the Julius Caesar of olden Roman times. ”

“ Hen stoops. You glide up, making service of covert afforded by tree and bush, and your flasks catch, and sometimes you step on them. Hen, too, glides, just behind, imitating your every movement.
The hour is portentous, but the dare-devil bird braves it and maintains his post at table. Possibly, deceived by your woodcraft (as you fondly suppose) , he is oblivious to the fact that yard by yard two boys are drawing closer and closer. You are breathing hard, and to your rear pants Hen, for the advance has been onerous. ”

“ They had been heading up into the wind all the time, which was a part of Thad’s principle as a true still hunter; and the deer had not known of their presence until the greenhorn happened to step on a small branch, which snapped under his weight.
Possibly Step Hen never really knew just how he did it. Indeed, he afterwards confessed to himself that his ready little rifle just seemed to swing 94 upward to his shoulder by some instinct, which was probably the exact truth; for hunters seldom have time to do any thinking. ”

“ If all is well the Badger emerges, perhaps followed by the cubs; and they follow the well-worn tracks that their feet have hardened, and hunt for food. St. John says: "Eggs are his delight, and a partridge's nest with seventeen or eighteen eggs must afford him a fine meal, particularly if he can surprise and kill the hen-bird also; snails and worms which he finds above ground during his nocturnal rambles are likewise included in his bill of fare." ”

“ From this stronghold he issues at dusk, and trots at a light easy pace along his accustomed trails, keeping a watchful eye for rabbit, hare, pheasant, partridge, hedgehog, squirrel, vole, frog—even snails and beetles. He sometimes takes to the seashore in quest of fish, crabs, and mussels. On winter nights he will prowl around the farms, looking for a hen-house whose door has not been properly secured ”

“ His common diet of snails and beetles is varied by the eggs of the robin and meadow pipit, and occasionally he stumbles upon a huge store of food in the shape of a dozen or more eggs of pheasant or partridge. By depressing his spines he may even find his way between the bars of a hen-coop, but after eating a great part of the hen he may be too portly to get out, and then falls a victim to the enraged poultry-farmer. ”

“ So, again, in a very hopeful tone, she called out, “Who will thresh the Wheat?”
But the Pig, with a grunt, said, “Not I,” and the Cat, with a meow, said, “Not I,” and the Rat, with a squeak, said, “Not I.”
So the Little Red Hen, looking, it must be admitted, rather discouraged, said, “Well, I will, then.”
And she did.
Of course, she had to feed her babies first, though, and when she had gotten them all to sleep for their afternoon nap, she
went out and threshed the Wheat. ”

“ With brutal grip he drags the young Hen into the depths of the water, nor does he spare the old ones. Under the mirrory surface he chases the harmless family, until he has destroyed every one. The Reed Hen avoids the spot where the Pike is found. ”

“ The first drop loosened the bean, the second softened it, and the third sent it down her throat.
Hen-alie was well again; Cock-alu was ready to clap his wings and crow for joy; and the little hen turned quietly away to her solitary perch.
“Nay,” said Hen-alie, “but you shall not go unrewarded; see, here is a pair of silk stockings for you, and here is green fire which will make the most beautiful feathers in the world grow all over your body! Take them all, you good little thing, and to-morrow morning you will come out the handsomest hen in the yard!” ”

“ A delicious odor was wafted upon the autumn breeze. Everywhere the barnyard citizens sniffed the air with delight.
The Red Hen ambled in her picketty-pecketty way toward the source of all this excitement. ”

“ The hen, my man, is none too fond of sitting.... All she cares for is just to lay her egg, and then go off again to the café-restaurant to lark about with the cocks, and sing songs, and make love.... Why, you may have a hen so frivolous that if you keep her three days on the eggs with a coop over her, you can’t make her sit on them; she just wriggles away to one side; she thinks to herself, like any fine lady, ‘If I take care of the children myself, I may spoil the shape of my bust, and no one will love me!’... ”

“ They form it of interwoven aquatic weeds, and place it among the rushes, in such a way that it may occasionally rise with, but not be washed away by, the stream: and if ever this accident happens, steady on her nest, the hen does not desert her brood, but follows with them the destiny of their floating cradle. This bird, in the figure and shape of its body, resembles the water-hen, and weighs about twenty-four ounces. The feathers about the head and neck are low, soft, and thick. The colour about the whole of the body is black, but of a deeper hue about the head. ”

“ The Man was very full of fun, too, since he had grown so strong and fat on the farm. [Pg 171] He dearly loved a joke, and was getting ready to play a very big joke on some of his poultry.
Anybody who has ever kept Hens knows how hard it is to drive them into the poultry-house when they do not wish to go. People often run until they are quite out of breath and red in the face, trying to make even one Hen go where she should. Sometimes they throw stones, and this is very bad for the Hens, for even if they are not hit, they are frightened, and then the eggs which they lay are not so good. ”

“ It wasn't far to the edge of the cornfield from the farmyard fence. And Henrietta Hen was quick to discover that the freshly ploughed and harrowed field offered a fine place to scratch for all kinds of worms and bugs and grubs.
Not being what you might call a wise bird—like old Mr. Crow—Henrietta didn't know that Farmer Green had carefully planted corn in that field, in long rows. ”

“ Rock Hen. “The other fowls think him rather cross, but he never has been cross to me. I think he gets tired of hearing some of them quarrel and fuss, and then he speaks right out.”
“One has to at times,” said the Cock, politely, for he saw that the Barred Plymouth Rock Hen wished him to like her friends. “When you can,” he added, “tell him that I would like to meet him. I suppose we shall not be allowed to go out of our own yard, but he can come up to the fence. And send the others also. We would like to meet our new neighbors.” ”

“ When the sunbeams came more and more slantingly through the trees, the Chickens felt less and less like running around. Their tiny legs were tired and they liked to cuddle down on the grass in the shadow of the coop. Then the Speckled Hen often clucked to them to come in and rest, but they liked it better in the open air. The Speckled Hen would also have liked to be out of the coop, yet the farmer kept her in. He knew what was best for Hens with little Chickens, and also what was best for the tender young lettuce and radishes in his garden. ”

“ One day he went out to the meadow and he just ran and ran and ran until he got all overheated and perspired. Then he went down to the brook and began drinking cold water.
"Oh, my dear," the little Hen cried, "you mustn't drink cold water while you're overheated! Wait and cool off!"
But would the Rooster wait and cool off? No! He just drank that cold water and drank it until he could drink no more.
Then he got a chill and the poor little Hen had to drag him home and put him to bed and run for the Doctor.
The Doctor gave him bitter medicine and he didn't [137] get well for a long time. ”

“ Several of the other Hens also stole nests and began filling them, so on the day when the Man hunted very thoroughly for eggs and found these stolen nests, taking all but one egg from each, there were five exceedingly sad Hens. You would think they might have been discouraged, yet they were not. A Hen may become discouraged about anything else in the world, but if she wants to sit, she sticks to it. ”

“ One of these camps was directly opposite the house; and from the windows we could observe the regularity with which the two birds, sitting alternately on the eggs, came on and off at their fixed times. The cock always takes his place upon the nest at sundown, and sits through the night—his dark plumage making him much less conspicuous than the light-coloured hen; with his superior strength and courage, too, he is a better defender of the nest against midnight marauders. At nine in the morning, with unfailing punctuality, the hen comes to relieve him, and take up her position for the day. ”

“ Thus, every hen is in her turn the virago of the yard, in proportion to the helplessness of her brood; and will fly in the face of a dog or sow in defence of those chickens, which, in a few weeks, she will drive before her with relentless cruelty. This affection sublimes the passions, quickens the invention, and sharpens the sagacity, of the brute creation. Thus, a hen, just become a mother, is no longer that placid bird she used to be, but, with feathers standing on end, wings hovering, and clucking note, she runs about like one possessed. ”

“ One reason why we all was so serious was because the Sage-Brush Hen––who started most of what happened––didn’t show up as usual; and all hands got a real jolt when some of the boys went off to the Forest Queen to ask about her, and old Tenderfoot Sal told ’em she was laying down in her room and wasn’t feeling well. The Hen being always an out-and-out hustler, and hard as an Indian pony, her not being well shook us up bad. ”