The sun., 1897-01-03
UNCLE LIGEY's LITTLE RED HEN.
Shs Was Great Producer. hut the Eggs
Al IIatched Out Little Red Kooster.,

UNGIE IITTIE KED
-
She Was Great Producer. hut the EgGs
All Hatched Out Little Red Koosters.
II was the old grocery store Mt 1.-THE Cor
pers" Winter had been in tho land for somo
weeks, and the day was one OF Deccmber's
most unscemly children, half .haw
The store had been fairly crowded all tho
afternoon. Some had come to buy something
they wanted. and then stayed awhile to visit.
Some had .ome TO stay awhile to visit and
then bought because they happened to SEQ
something they wanted and many had como
with no special purpose and gone with no
special purchase. The weather question had
been fairly settled, only to bc revived again
with every new conner. Politics and religion
had been laid on the table. The matrimo-
nihl happenings. probabilities, and possibili-
ties OF tho neigh5orhood had been dwclt on
at length and the personal and mortgagcd
Indebtedness Of nearly every inhabitant OF
the township had bcen conjecturcd. II was
getting late In the afternoon, and convcrsa-
tion had begun TO lag n little when the door
opened and Deacon Hunt came In.
Afternoon. Deacon" :" said the storeteeper
slow are ye. Ditus? abridged from Epa-
phroditus.l I fetched We in a:few erxs. want
,o ,r,do ,o,, ,nr uo.s.. an nr,,o, m, 10,
w ""uo .in '"' '"s'ee u" hu'uioe an u i'''
tie asserhddity an few other notions.
"All right Dea son. all right Ye're dumb
,r,tr % nnv aIn, ,os, rnw IT,. ,,r,oa =.
lucky 10 nov "iS' Jest now ihe price
hens a.layin'Y"
Th. n,,ron .,.,r.d -, ,o ,h. o,.o.o ,ov
carefully carved a large slice. helped him
self TO n pocket full Of milk crackers, and
then. after all,nu nj, mouth with n norton
OF each. replied:
"oh, Jest keep 'em warm an persuade EN-
with ot o TINS An sh"' an Keep IN sort
Of generous humcr."
,r.. D."son .o,noS go, WY win , n,m 'he ..p heh'
e ,",un.e.,.a a. ,n. one p1s o' .ns s.,'rs neSx
'eisTs !!,, drop in nickel to church sandays."
marked a seedy looking Individual from hl,
n"ron or 90. ,,own s srma, narra, ''oX w. a
ago my hens used ter lay big. but in those times
tn ey don't do nuthin' but eat corn an scratch
up the garding."
while the st orekeep.r asked Uncle Lirey Com.
!ert 10 take his feet on the box OF sugar cook
les 80 that ho might make sale. Uncle LGey
ous,v s,,rsmi.tsa ,,,h nn,r,,r"s,, 'I h"a,d
ouS.y h ea',s,i..sa re, , m,'h pa.r,"rca' oeHra
sn s s%S sSS tho GT p
FULLY, tiom The coofy box and deposited them
the part OF fair-sized screens. while the crowd
waited silently. for they knew by experience
"spekin' o hens ,saii Tncle. LiGey. "ye orter
seen hen my father he'd a leetle red hen.
"oSs Ss yer eT r. SSsn
an a rqthcr ,ornerv iookin' one, too. I was a
lite feler then, an II were my Job to 20 spy
/ tell ye. They want no hole -nound the
mao%s or stalls er err on top O. anyth!n' or In
Dads hens got 20 they didn't try, to hide
their nests away ',anse they knowed twant
DAY she ind Snna F'n raonni msn
th!nkin,,.. but didn't 'spicion what was up
high an low an all over the. devils. half
acre acre 6nt not "a dnmned dn,' aig; Went Ven & on for
j didn't soon hey better luck thar'd be war IN
Israel, an ia hey tor lay In fur repairs.
@ oct % poked T raosnd The % third day come s s,n tn
q conclusion thet I'd watch that hen the hull
day She kinder ,spectsd me. an tried tor
peekod thr9ngh 2 crack O. the barn arter she
ipmp np oa top, set thar a, fsw minutes. an
eiump a sashs. a handroi foo, foot ni from NJ the he
barn an ,. thnr begins ter casklo Mt ter split.
q. the Ss on in ,op
sa.n!a, away Ssppsnsd ter ter ,hInS. an vent
kinder dark. so drawed up an poked my fin.
| ger In an felt aiR there. Then tried tor lift
the hogshead, but she wouldn't bulge.
| May | bo geewlzzled Of that thar hull
| dumb big four-bnrl hoRshead warnt full o.
atgs. Plumb, pilin, brimmin' full, an oil
laid by that cu,sed red hen, l run TO the
| hdouse pell moll an toll mother. She came
daown an see IL. an says she'd Just leave 'em
from curiosity ter see what tho dumb hen 'ud
do, an so We let her be. Mex day ! went ter
| look, an she was settln'. an she sot an
sot an sot right onto that bunghole fur six
weeks. Bein' so many aigs tux her twct as
| long ter hatch aout. Ono day, arter we'd
given her up, went inter the barn an fust I
| knOwed | heered a turrible peepin'. an thar
| the little hen were runnn' raoun' es II she