The Hazel Green herald. [volume] (Hazel Green, Wolfe County, Ky.) 1885-19??, 1895-11-07
BEN'S BID.

"Why don't you raise chickens for
the marlset| suggested Hiram Bassett,
the village storekeeper, to Ben Singer.
Ben was fourteen years old. His moth
err had died short time before. His
| father was n carpenter by trade, but
had been crippled by rheumatism so
that he could not work. Ben, who al
ways looked on Mr.. Bassett as friend
of undoubted fidelity and great re-
sources, had been telling the store
| keeper how much he wished he could
get some steady work, Mr.. Singers
little stock of money was exhausted;
he had already sold some of his tools
to get the food he and his son needed
Ben realized that the day was rapidly
coming when there would be no way
of getting more, unless he managed TO
do something of greater profit than
the odd jobs he picked up now and
then from the surrounding farmers.
I'm do it," said Ben, in response to
Mr.. Bassetts suggestion, and, turning
about. trudged home, and all the way
was planning how he might begin.
week later the chicken farm" as
Ben called it, was a fact; at least he
nad made start In his spare time he
had constructed some coops from old
barrels and box or two. The pay for
two days work he invested IN three
dozen eggs, and with the money OBJ
tanned by sorting some vegetables for
the storekeeper bought two hens which
were just about to set" He and his
father already had five pullets, and
within a couple of weeks more there
were five "clu tches" of eggs under as
many Of his hens.
He fed his chickens from the screen
ings he got at a small price from sew
eral of the farmers, The hens man
aged, too TO pick up a good deal of
food among the bushes and in the tiny
garden back Of the house. Ben worked
hard at the small jobs he was given
round about, and waited with conf
deuce for the time when he should be
able to make something from his VEN
ture.
He would have felt much happier if
it hadn't been for his fathers condi-
ton. 7 Mr.. Singer did not complain of
the rheumatism, though it still kept
him confined to his big chair. But
something worried him very much; the
boy could see that. He asked what il
was several times, but Mr. Singers
only reply was that he suffered, he
felt downhearted on account of being
so crippled. He tried TO make Ben
think that that was all that distressed
him, but the boy could not believe it.
Slowly the flock of chickens grew.
The eggs hatched remarkably well.
Fifty downy little balls were soon
running in and out of the coops where
their mothers were confined. Four
more clutches" of eggs were under |
that number of new hens, which he |
had bought and paid for in install
ments of work. The first days of sum- |
mer saw him with sevcnty-tiye young |
chickens, some of them able to scratch |
for themselves. 1t took all he could |
now make TO keep his father and him
self in food and 10 provide for his farm,
but he was always on the alert for a |
job, and was az cheerful as he could |
be, SO that the neighbors all liked to
employ hin. when they could. Ben |
had told his father Of his plan, and ex- |
planned that as few of the farmers |
raised chickens, except for their own |
use, lie thought here ought to be a |
chance to make something by shipping
them to Waynesboro, the bigger town, |
Ave miles away. Mr. Singer was not |
altogether confident 81 the success Of
such an experiment, but he said moth |
Ing to discourage the boy, and used 70 |
SIT near the windows and watch the
broods and talk to Ben about them.
July and August went by, and the
young chickens thrived. Only az few
Of them were lost. "A providing pos
sum got several before Ben trapped
the maraudcr. Gold and rain killed off
few more. But The FIRST of Septem-
Der came and more than sixty chickens
were the boys, tg
Ben planned 20 sell thirty or forty |
IN the early autumn and TO keep the /
remainder til the next summer 70
stock his farm with afresh. He in-
tcnded to 60 inte Il then on bigger
scale, and he hoped 10 realze enough
from, has sales 10 keep him through the
winter with the part of his hoels he re.
tained.-
Then ono day in September, as he
and his father sat in The doorway of |