Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1895-02-02
LITTLE Mr.. TH|MBLEF|NGER
AND HIS QUEER COUNTRY,
THE BLUE HENS CHICKEN
BY JOEL CHANDLER HARRIS.

Copyright 1895. by Joel Chandler Harris.)
I'm not much Of a story teller" said Mr..
| Rabbit, "and never set up for one, but I
| will say that like the rough and tumble
| tales great deal better than do the kind
where some great somebody is always
coming in with conjurings and other
| carryings-on. It's on account Of my rails
| ing, I reckon
| "Well, stories can't be all alike" re-
| marked Mrs. Meadows. you might as
we'll expect fiddle to play only one tune"
Tell us the kind of story you like best,
said Buster John to Mr.. Rabbit.
| mo. not now" responded Mr.. Rabbit.
''Ill do that some other time. 1 happened
to think just now of a little circumstance
| that used to hear mentioned when was
| younger.
| In the country next door there used to
be great many chickens. Some were of
the barnyard breed, some were of the kind
| they called game, some were black, some
were white, some were brown, some were
speckled and some had their feathers
curled the wrong way Among all these
there was one whose name. as well as 1
| can remember. was Mrs. Blue Hen"
WAS she really blue?" Sweetest Susan
inquired.
Well not an indigo blue" replied Mr.
| Rabbit, after rejecting a moment, NOR
! yet sky blue. She was just plain, dull
| everyday blue. But such as she was, she
| was very fine She belonged to one of the
| first families and moved in the very best
! circles. She was trim looking, SO I've
heard said. and. as she grew older. came to
| have very bad temper. so much so that
she used to fly at hawk If he came near
| her premises. Some of her neighborS used
| to whisper it around that she tried to crow
| like rooster-but this was after she had
| grown old and hard-headed.
when Mrs. Blue Hen was growing up
couldn't bear to get water on her feet, and
she was always shaking the dust from her
clothes Some said she was finicky, and
| some said she was nervous. Once when
she Tanned out little Billy Bantam, who
called on her one day, great many of her
acquaintances said she would never settle
down and make good houSekeeper.
But after awhile Mrs. Blue Hen con-
Guided that it was about time to have a
Iamily or her own, so she went away off
from the other chickens and made her a
nest in the middle of a thick briar patch.
She made her a nest there and laid an egg.
1t was new and white. and Mrs Blue Hen
was very proud of it. She was proud, in
fact, that, although she had made up her
mind to make no fuss over 1t, she went
running and cackling toward the house,
just as any common hen would do. She
made so much fuss that away down in the
spring branch Mr.. Willy Weasel winked at
Miss Mimy Mink.
=" DO you hear that says he.
" 4 never heard anything palmer in my
life, says she.
Mrs. Blue Hen was proud of her new
white egg that she went back after awhile
to look at it. Nobody had bothered it.
There it was, shining white in the grass.
She covered it up and hid it as we'll as she
could, and then she went about getting
dinner ready.
THE next morning she went to the nest
and laid another egg. just like the first one.
This happened for three mornings, but on
the fourth morning, when Mrs. Blue Hen
went back she found four eggs in the nest.
muddylookng. She was very much as
tonfsh2d and alarmed, we'll she might
be, for here right before her eyes she saw
four eggs when she knew in reason that
that. they were all dingy and dirty.
Mrs Blue Hen was so excited that she
took off her bonnet and began to fan her
self. Then she wondered whether she had
not made a Observation-Disclosures she had not
really laid four instead of three eggs. The
more she thought about it the more con-
fused she became. She hung her bonnet
on blackberry bush and tried to count off
the days on her toes. She began to count
One, two three-and she would have
stopped there, but she couldn't She had
four toes on her foot and she was COM
PEELED to count them all. There was toe
on the foot for every egg in the nest.
This caused Mrs. Blue Hen to feel some
what more comfortable in mind and body,
but she was left in such a hysterical state
that she went off cackling nervously and
postponed laying an egg until late in the
afternoon. After that there were five in
the nest and she kept on laying until there
were ten altogether. Then Mrs. Blue Hen
rumpled up her feathers and got mad with
herself and went to setting. reckon that's
what you call it. I've heard some call it
setting and others Sitting Once, when
was counting. spoke of a sitting hen, but
the young; lady said 1 was too prissy for
anything"
what is 'prissy'?' asked Sweetest Susan.
Mr.. Rabbit shut his eyes and scratched
his ear. Then he shook his head slowly.
ITS nothing but girls word.'' remark
ed Mrs. Meadows, by way Of explanation.
ut means that somebody's trying hard to
show Off"
Il reckon that's So" said Mr. Rabbit,
opening his eyes. He appeared to be much
and went to setting. She was In snug
place and nobody bothered her. 1t was
such quiet place that she could hear Mr..
Willy Weasel and Miss Mimy Mink gossip
ing in the calamus bushes. and she could
hear Mrs. Puddle Duck wading in the
branch. One day Mrs. Puddle Duck made
so bold as to push her way through the
But her visit was not relished. Mrs. Blue
Hen rumpled her feathers UP and spread
cut her tail to such degree and squalled
out such a harsh protest that Mrs. Puddle
Duck was glad to waddle off with whole
bones. But when she got back to the
branch. she spluttered about good deal,
crying out:
AHA! aha! quack, quack! Aha! You are
there, are you: Aha! you'll have trouble
before you get away. Ahav
Now, the fact was that Mrs. Puddle
Duck was the very one that had caused
Mrs. Blue Hen all the trouble" said Mr.
Rabbit, nodding his head solemnly. "Wad- |
ing in the branch, Mrs. Puddle Duck had
seen Mrs. Blue Hen going to her nest for
three days, slipping and creeping through
the weeds and bushes, and she wanted to |
know what all the slipping and creeping
was about. So, on the third day Mrs. Pud-
die Duck did some slipping and creeping on
her own account. She crept I'D close enough |
to see Mrs. Blue Hen On her nest, and she |
was near enough to see Mrs. Blue Hen |
when she ran away cackling.
.'Then Mrs. Puddle Duck waddled up and |
peeped in the nest. There she saw three !
eggs as white and as smooth as ivory, and |
the sight filled her with jealousy. She be-
gan to talk to herself:
"T knew she must be mighty proud, the |
stuck up thing. I can see that by the way |
she steps around here. Quack Quack! and |
I'll just show her thing or two