Evening star., 1895-09-14

j
| creatures didn't mind the pole in the least;
| they would jump over it, fly it, creep
| trder it, to get at one another. Finally the
boy spent most of his cash in hand for wire
| netting. with which he made fences and
| cross fences, so that each chick had yard
| Tor itself, but the rascals would peck at
| one another through the interstices of the
| netting, and one morning Frank found two
| OF his largest chicks hanging dead in the
wires, having leaped too high and been un-
able to get their heads out after having
thrust them through.
There was no money in that sort of thing;
| Frank figured few minutes on his slate
| ard learned. not entirely to his satisfaction,
| that at the rate of two dead chickens a day
| it would take only five and half days
| mere of fighting to destroy his entire stock;
| the eleventh chick might be saved by hav-
irg no other to fight with but one solitary
chicken would not be trustworthy source
of winters supply of eggs and of some
new broods in the spring. He consulted
the men who drove the wagons of the
| famlyS butcher, grocer and ice man, and
| finally he discovered man who said he
| lsrew something about chickens.
Guess you must have been raisin' game
stock. suggested this authority.
Game stock? What is that?" asked the
| boy
Why it's the kind of birds that's raised
| only for fshtin'. Say, if that's what you've
| been don'. I shouldn't wonder if could
| find you some good buyers. There's lots of
| mains bein' fought in this county, on the
sly, an lots of fellers that's Iookin' for the
best fghtin' stock"
| Frank did not entirely like the idea of
| selling his chickens for lighting purposes
| for he had been brought up to believe that
| fighting was about the poorest possible use
| to which to put any sort of creature; STILL
| If they wouldn't do anything else, they
might we'll fight for business as for
nothing SO the man promised to send him
some possible purchasers. That afternoon,
while the boy at school, his mother
"as so frightened at seeing two very hard
| licking characters sneaking about the out
CD: :.fr Of fha rN1a hat -ha fD1n
| the police station. Before any one respond
| ed there appeared another couple of beings
who looked bad enough to do anything
wicked then the two couples began to eye
| each other, and to slowly approach each
other, and all four men began to use lam
| guage so bad that Mrs. Quickling made
haste to close all the windows to exclude
| the sound of their voices.
| 1t was not long before four sets of fists
were being brandished in four faces. and
| then there was a general fight, right in the
middle of the road, and Mrs. Quickling
| telephoned the police station again, and
announced that four men were killing one
another in front of her house, and she
| thought 1t was a disgrace and outrage
that taxpayers had to endure such things
while the police did nothing but lounge at
| the station house and corners along the
main street of the village.
This appeal had some effect, for in about
half an hour three officers-a full half of
the local police force-hurried toward the
house In wagon. On seeing them the
IOur suspicious characters, all OIL WHOM
were still alive, hurried away in different
directions, and of the officers went to
the house and interrogated Mrs. Quicklng.
whose face. very pale, appeared at an attic
window, and asked her il she wished to
make complaint against any one in par
ticular OF course the good woman could
not specify any of the bad characters by
name. and the officer complained that
| there had been a great deal of fuss about
nothing, and that the trip had cost the
department dollar for the use Of the
wagon to carry away the remains OF the
men who were reported as being killed,
and that it was such false alarms that
were making a policeman's life mere
dogs life, and Mrs. Qrickling retorted that
such an alarm as she had endured was
to make womans life not worth living,
upon which the police department went
away. No sooner were the officers out Of
sight than back sneaked the four disrepu-
table characters, again grouping them
selves by twos, and shouted uncompli-
mentary things TO each other. upon which
Mrs. Quicklng flew again to the telephone,
while up the street came Frank, saunter-
ing home from school.
Say. little feller," said one of the hard
| looking characters, sneaking up to Frank.
is 1T you that's got some fishtin' stock
to sell?'
Say. young feller." bawled another of
the men from across the street. don't do
no bizness with that bloke. He'll shove
bad money on yer"
moneys good as the Bank of England.
hut look out for them crooks over there,
sonny; they'd steal your chickens If we
wasn't here to purtect yer"
1T was trying situation for small
tremblingly conducted his possible Gus
toner to the chicken coop. The man
looked 1t over and asked:
Where's ..Nhs ss, De s.. games:
DE games-de fightin' stock de ice man
said was on de market"
why. here they are. They fight almost
all the time; you just ought to see them.
guess they're tired. or sleepy. or some
thing just now. but you stay here while
and watch them. and you'll see"
'Ah. me eye.' interrupted the man, roll
ing his lips outward and thrusting his
hands in his pockets and dropping his head
and sinking out Of the yard Frank fol-
lowed him. saying:
haps the other man would buy them?"
What fur? To eat? That's all they's
good for. Theirs no hghtin' blood in
bloomin' one of EN-"
Dear me. Then, what's the reason, do
you suppose. that they really do fight al
most all the time?'
DE reason? Why. It's cause de huh
lot of ems reosters-dars why" Then,
threatening to take it out of dat ice
man." the fellow went away, followed by
the others
had a long talk with him. and the man
took look at the chickens. and said that
the fellow in search of game cocks had
told the truth. He said also that he never
before had seen chicken broods with no
young hens among them, and he wondered
so long and asked many questions that
he finally enabled to explain that by
killing the smallest and most delicate for
broilers, Frank had killed all the female
chicks. and that the best he could do with
the remainder would be to sell them to
the butcher. for roosters could never be
persuaded to lay eggs or hatch chickens.
II was q severe blow to Frank, for 1t en-
tlrely upset all his calculation for the win
ter and early spring Still he came cut of
the operation several dollars ahead, and
when his father heard the whole STORY he
promised Frank a good start at chicken
raising In the spring, for said he:
"A boy who can mako several dollars
in single season by trading third in
interest in squirrel for the loan of a set
ting hen has surely head for business"