St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1897-05-21
A DEMORALIZED AUCTION.

fat hen, part Plymouth Rock, part
Brahma? Will any one make bid ?
Start it at ten cents, somebody.
That's right Ten cents | am bid.
Does any one make it fifteen? Fiji
teen-hiteen-do ! hear it? ?"
Fred Stamford was auctioning of
his hens to small crowd OF country
boys, Of about his own age. And
this was how it CHANGED that he had
to do thing which went so sorely
against his will 1t had been a ter
rible winter-the worst, it would
seem, that the Stanifords had known
since they came to Iowa. Crops had
been light the previous fall 4; frost and
cold weather had set in Unexpectedly
early deep snow had fallen before
the first of December, and some Of
the stock, still out, had persisted in
the remoter fields. Far into April
the fierce winter weather continued,
and part of the housed stock had to
be killed because there was not
enough fodder for them all. So it
went on until past the middle Of
April. Then the sun gradually walked
up. as it were, and shone with such
intense warmth that the great body
OF snow went off in floods, carrying
destruction to farms and buildings
along the Watercourses.
1t was about this time that Fred
Stamford came to the conclusion
that he must sell his hens. Since his
fathers death, a year before, this
fourteen-year-old boy had been "the
man of the house" He had man.
aged the little farm well, considering
his youth; but the poor harvest
season, the hard winter, loss of
stock, and damage by floods, had so
reduced the Staniiord's resources,
that poverty actually stared them in
the face when spring came. Some
thing would have to be sold in order
to get little ready money for pres
ent necessities. What, then-the
COW? No; the family could i'll spare
the milk upon which they depended
so largely for daily food. The two
farm horses were equally indispensa.
BILE. So Fred heroically decided that
his treasured poultry must go.
There were two roosters and about
thirty hens, which had been Fred's
especial property, even before his
fathers death, and upon which he
had bestowed a great deal of care.
Some Of them he had raised by hand
from downy chickens, and it seemed
pretty hard to have to part with
them now, just as they were getting
old enough to raise broods of their
own. But there were mother and
the two little sisters to be looked
after, and there was hardly a cent
left in the old leather purse in his
fathers cabinet drawer.
Fifteen cents am bid for this fine,
fat hen" continued the boys clear,
ringing voice. Think of it-only
fifteen cents for hen that lays seven
eggs week, and always a double.
yelked one for Sunday"
Fred Stamford looked eagerly
around the old barn in which the
auction was being held. He had
hoped to get thirty cents, at least,
for every hen-lorty would not be
too much, he thought. And yet,
even at twenty cents apiece, his pets
were proving hardly saleable. Two
had been sold at twenty cents, but
already the excitement was dying
down, and here was the handsomest
fowl in the lot sticking at fifteen
cents! Truly, it was dscouraging.
And yet the auction must go on, for
1t seemed to be the only way he
could raise any money at all on his
poultry, in that thinly settled dis
trict.
Fred held up the hen persuasively,
in spite OF her squawking and futter-
ing, and enlarged eloquently upon
her merits. But still the bidder OF
fifteen cents remained unchallenged.
II am going to give you fellows
just one more chance" exclaimed
Fred, desperately, his voice all but
drowned in the rumble of an ap.
preaching train on the railroad which
passed the barn, not more than ten
rods away. "It you don't speak in.
side OF just one minute, you will lose
your chance on this splendid fowl.
Now am going to count sixty"
And he mumb!ed the numerals
rapidly, raising his voice as he
reached the last-"ffty.eight, fifty.
nine, sixty Now does any one raise