Mower County transcript., 1871-07-06
ROSE:

ROSE:
Rose is black girl eight years old, and
has hair 80 curly that it fairly kinks, and
nose as fiat as yours is, little darling,
when you press it against the window
pane to watch for papa's coming home.
Her lips are twice as thick as ours, aud
as red as cherries; and when she laughs,
| which is every two minutes, there can be
seen a row Of teeth as white as snow, and
as even as row of pins.
And-and! How shall tell you how
black Rose is? o, [ know; Just look
down at your little shoe, the one you
have worn long enough to take the first
gloss off, and there you have it. "As
| black as your shoe;" that is Roses color.
Rose doesn't like it much being so black,
and she runs out Of doors without any hat,
and sits whole hours in the sun, hoping
she'll fade out, "like Miss Lovegro's old
calico dress"
Rose has the care of the chickens, and
calls them hers. She feeds them twice
every day, and gives them plenty of nice
fresh water to drink. One day She came
running in and said
30, Miss Lovegro', I wish I was q
chicken, like them little white banties;
I'd give anything if could only be one?"
'",Why don't you play you are one?"
manage to roost on a pole, if you tried !;
you know you can do almost anything"
0, Miss Lovegro, can tryg"
And when size was told that she might,
she hopped up and down for joy, which
SO frightened Tabby, the cat, that she
jumped out Of the window, and over
turned flower. pot, and went racing down
the garden path, as if great black dog
was after her.
That night, when everything was quiet
and it was Roses bedtime, instead of
going up to her own little chamber, she
stole softly out of the back door, down
the path, behind the barn, to the hen
house.
She was little afraid Of the dark, which
made her hurry the faster, and i'll minute
she had unlocked the hen-house door,
opened it and walked in. 1t was very
dark inside, and Rose said to herself
30, dear, wish had brought a light"
then she thought, "Why, hens don't have
no light to go to bed by; what gump
you are, Rose Wallace, to want lamp!
You'd better get on to your perch and 60
to sleep"
So she clucked little, as near like hen
as she could, and slappt her arms against
her sides, as if they were wings, and look
ed up to the roosts, and wished she could
get up.
Il d'clar," said she, "'taint no use tryin'
to fly with nothin' but arms. Wish 1 had
some feathers! Nebber mind, I'll get
barrel and stan on"
So she rolled barrel under the perch,
and up she jumped, first upon the barrel
and then upon the perch. But all she
could do, she couldn't stay on. She would
slip first one way and then the other, and
then down she would go to the ground.
dear ne! I've hurt me awful" she
said. 1T Almost as hard to be hen as it
is to be good. declar' for it, don't see
how them hens stick"
After awhile, by trying very hard, Rose
lat last found herself roasted in corner,
with her back against beam, and one
hand holding on the window bar, and
feeling pretty comfortable, and quite Sc
cure, she thought she would try and go to
sleep.
""Taint quite 50 easy as bed, but I'll
soon get used to it, and then it's so nice to
be a hen. rs a good mind to try to fly
down. I would, if wasn't afraid of hit
ting that barrel. Law'salive, how did that
yer barrel come open end SO? must have
tipped it over. De very first thing I'll do
in the mornin' is to crow, just as loud as I
ever can, an then III go STAN on one leg
IN the sun, the whole live long day.
And so thinking and thinking, pretty
soon she began to dream. She dreamed
that she was. a splendid great hen, with
gold feathers, and diamond eyes, and a top
knot as high as barrel, and made of
feathers Of the grayest col0rs, which kept
nodding, and glancing, and waving in
in the wind, and which so overhung her
eyes that they made her quite dizzy TO
look at
She tried TO look down to the ground,
but she couldn't keep her eyes off the
feathers, and she was growing dizzier-
dizzier-everything seemed to be whirling
round zier-dizzier-round and round
until by and by she whirled herselfupon
the edge Of high bank.
Round and round she went until she
whirled herself off, and then round and
round, down and down she Went, until she
brought up, with her head down in u bar
rel-aud wide awake.
There she was-with her heels in the
air, and her head at the bottom of the bar
rel. She could not get ou:. She forgot
all aboutcrOWing; besides it was still dark.
"Miss LovegrO'-M -Miss-L ,ve-gro'!
That frightened the hens and they flew
down, and cackled and squawkcd. and tlut.
tered about, until such noise was made
that it reached Mrs. Lovegrove's ears, who
had not yet gone to bed, for it Was only
nine o'clock.
She called to her husband.
ooh, dear, somebody's stealing our
hens, or ferret has got in and is eating
them. Do go out quick and see what is
the matter, and III 60 out and hold the
lantern"
So out they went, and then Mrs. Love-
grove knew Rose voice-and screamed,-
"Whcre are you, Rose?'
"IIere is, Miss Lovcgro," in a barrel, in
the hen house. Do take me Out"
So they opened the door, and there were
the hens, frightened half to death, but
there in the corner, were two black feet
sticking out of a barrel, and that was all
there was to be seen of Rose.
So they pulled her out, and set her on
her feet, and away she scampered to the
house.
Then Mrs. Lovcgrovc remembered what
Rose had asked her in the afternoon and
laughed heartily to think Rose had taken
her in earnest.
After good washing Rose crept up to
her own chamber, and rs she went, said,--
"Good night, Miss Loyegro', faint no
use trying to be anything you amt
dclar fort, Id rather be RoseWallace, than
the prctticst beauty in that coop. Iouths
Coanlsu"ion.
Yalun Of Time.