Rosy said,--

"O, mamma, show them the nice seed, and then they won't go away!"

But her mamma answered,--

"Not yet, Rosy; let us go first and look at these good ladies that are walking about inside their house. We can have a good look at them before they get away. See, they can't get out if we stand at the door."

"Ah, look at these beauties, all over speckly feathers," cried Rosy, as she ran forward to catch one.

She put out her little arms to seize her; but the hen seemed to think this a great liberty from so small a child, and instead of running away, she turned and opened her beak in a very angry manner.

"Take care, Rosy," said her mamma, as the little girl drew back half frightened. "This hen seems rather a fierce lady. I will give her some seed to persuade her to be quiet. Perhaps she has got something there that she does not choose us to see. I wonder what it can be."

Rosy took one more peep, and then called out,--

"O, mamma, mamma, some little chickens, I do declare! If you stoop down you can see them running about behind her,--such dear, pretty, soft little creatures! Do get me one to play with."

"Little chickens!" said mamma; "why, they must have come out of their sh.e.l.ls very late in the year if they are little ones still, and I am afraid their mother won't let me touch them."

"Do chickens come out of sh.e.l.ls?" said Rosy, making very large eyes, and looking quite puzzled.

"Yes, Rosy, out of just such sh.e.l.ls as our eggs had this morning; and if in the summer we had given this good hen five or six of her own eggs in this little house of hers, she would have sat upon them, and spread her wings over them to keep them warm; and there she would have staid so patiently all day long, and day after day, until the dear little chickens were ready to come too."

"And wouldn't the hen get tired?" said Rosy. "I shouldn't like to stay still so long."

"No, I don't think you would," said her mamma, chucking her little girl under the chin; "but then, you see, you are like the little chickens, and not like the mamma hen. I think you will find that she has not got tired even yet, for if you peep down again you will see that she is keeping two of the little chickens warm under her even now. Little chickens are like little babies, and they very soon get cold, so they like keeping very close to their mammas."

"Are the little chickens naughty sometimes?" asked Rosy.

[Ill.u.s.tration: "If you stoop down you will see that she is keeping two of the little chickens warm under her."]

"Well, I don't know, Rosy; but I know that I have often thought it very pretty to see how they will all run to their mother when the great hen clucks for them."

"O, mamma, I should _so_ like to hear her cluck," cried Rosy, clapping her hands.

"Well, Rosy, you go a little way off, and keep quite quiet; and then I will see if I can tempt the good lady out of her nest with some of this nice seed."

So Rosy ran away, and her mamma stepped back a few paces and threw down some of the seed. The hen saw it directly, and looked for an instant as if she would like some very much; and she did not wait long, but soon stepped out of her house, and began picking up the seed.

Just at that moment a cat came creeping along the outside of the paling, and watching to see if she could pounce on one of the little chickens.

The hen saw the cat, and began to stretch out her neck very fiercely, as if she meant to fly at its eyes, and then began to cluck for her little ones, which all came running to her as fast as their legs would carry them.

Rosy's little eyes sparkled with pleasure, and she went up and put her hand into her mamma's, and said softly,--

"Wasn't it nice?"

"Yes, Rosy," said her mamma, "and I hope that my little chicken will always run to my side as quickly as these did to their mother. You see she knew that they were in danger when they didn't themselves; and so do I sometimes when my Rosy thinks she is quite safe."

[Ill.u.s.tration]