The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1900-04-22
THE WICKED CHICKEN.
Mickey Finn Decsives . Pet Pigeon and Loses
. Holiday Dinner.

"uSSum VI ~ HAstofS pTpNfu ~ w u pOutri
pigeon Of the gentler SCI. lie regarded the bird
with peculiar solidtude, chiefly because Il was
his latest acquisition. Bu, the coming Of the
pigeon created q nerce jealousy In the heart Of
the goat which no caiolery served 10 soften and
tine failed TO appease, The fierce old bsrserker
brooked no divided affection on the part u those
he loved
Mickey procured the pigeon from Jack Doolan
In exchange for the stopple OF u vinegar cruet,
n glass agate and a mammoth dodo lie made
a coop for the pigeon In the back yard, and at
tended to her wants with assiduuus care. The
pigeon grew plump and round on the scraps which
Mickey purloined from his mothers humble store
and became ~ tame that she would perch upon
the boys shoulder. eat from bis hand. and coo
her content into hls delighted ear. Tie tame
crow and the yellow gosling regarded these evil
dences ~ distinction with decided distavor, the
crow especially revealing his anger through the
vigorous use Of his bony beak upon the tender
body Of his rival. But Jean lngelOw's famous
mourner was not more patient than the pigeon,
and 80, sustained and soo,hed by the unwayer.
ing affection Of Mickey, the days passed too quick
ly 10 please the boy until the spring lad gone
and the warmth Of summer coaxed the cherry
trees 10 blossom and wooed he fields 10 robe them
selves la green. And when smiling June came
tIipping over the hills into The It'll. valley, her
warm breath coDjured melt dy In the ihroa,s Of
birds, made the brooks habble and the goa, risky
And, whisper The reyiyifyirg i~nfrence a spring
awakened the dormant maternal instinct in the
breast Of the pigeon. and she showed a desire 10
set Instead Of flying up 10 the gable of 'he shanly
and prrening her plumage in the sunlight, as
She was wont To do, she remained in The coop
sitting in patirD, eA pectalion upon two of Mickey's
biggest marbles This mental and physical
attitude of the pigeon caused Mickey much an
noyanc.. for, while the bird p, iden,ly supposed
She was Matching eggs she repulsed caresSes
and refused 10 eal the dain,ies shook from the
Finn tahlecloth I'm his distress Mickey went
~ his mother for advice In justice 10 the ina
lernal Finn IL was necessary 10 state that sen
timen,slism was no, one Of her weaknesses She
regarded her boys pc, purely from n pigeon
pot pie standpoint, and this economic view col
ored her remarks " hen she said
Lave her set, me hoy Sure you can play
! wld the goat while she's ralsin' childrn. But
there's no use for her 10 be wa,un' her time On
marbles. Now, a. yon have no pigeons eggs,
faith twill do no hnrrun 10 put II hin's egg under
her. She'll niyer know thr differ and her wind II
be aisy. There's two cents, Godo"n 10 Brady
and get an egg W, u the barrel, and N nd YOU
don get wan . thinI eggs that's made by ma
cheernery."
Mickey was delighted with the idea, and. run.
ming down 10 the grocery, ne bought an egg and
placed II beneath III" pigeon IN" egg was one
Of unusual '.Ae aud Mrs. Finn WAS doubtful #
tho warmth Of the pigeons small body would
be %sunlcen, To hatch II out. Bu, n order to AID
the pigeon In her maternal end"avyr Mickey and
his mother stuffed an old I'm wash basin with soft
woods and %i'nnnels taken from iht ragtGg IN
this hOmely Incubator III" pigeon was installed
II was two days before the pigeon could fiji her
small. warm body, 10 the big hens egg. but nf'cr
she settled down 10 business and sta rted to be-.
cvme q foster mother IN earnest.
And nov that the pigeon bad gone INTO tenn
his confidence again and pc rmlt'cd his head 10 be
scratched. while the crow peGched upon the shpul-
der lately ueurp'd by thu pigeon, and I'll wen,
The ensuing three weeks were filed Slh interest
10 little Nike, Every afternoon when h. cams
home from sch,o lac Lifted The lig,on o%prriu!lr
coop during his absence ana deyoured The I'm.
bryO. But cach une, rs the pigeon roued a tiut
,er,ng, protest against !he lher'y and rr1d!nSIrd
the glad udings Of security and serenity Ia his
mother.
Meanwhile ther" Was a good deal of ~specula
ton in Mckey's mind ~ 10 the sex, hered.ty and
general character u the contents Of the rggShell,
u delicious, mystery as ~ whether an infant tan.
tam, q bunch Of animated down representing
lordly house Of L"ghorl would. salute him with
querulous ieep.ngS as h. came home from school
with winged feet ~.mr bright afternoon And
A. the day drew near for IN, expected momeutuus
| event 10 occur, Mickey lifted the egg with tender
care aud placed i, 10 his eHr lie Yves Whiting
e hear mr,h ,hr Gn,,Aen STr" N2< a. rI he ' o1i " ~ ,bi 70
fine appreciation Of pigeon p9tpie, whirh, only
those fed Lnhilh9lly on cornnd beef and ca bbage
careSses, aud told him thu, the mysteries If ma.
ture were beyond the Ien"tra ton Of the wisest
Of men, adding Win . nod Of conviction
M Mickey, me boy not even President MChin-
ley c,uld toll will vpur chicken he d hin ar "A rpoSfsr
by lookin al the egg, Nor, could he tell amy
thing about the egg, by lookin' at he chicken,
lowed the red hot horseshoe nail. But YOU. can
rest aisy twill Dot be a pigeon. So nun along
and play leap frog wild tho goat. and don't be
bally rsggin' me. God help us, we are all poor
MIL ""' ''' VIM ;" nanny
But one afternoon late in June W hen the bum
blcbees we've stealing honey and the butterflies
spread their golden gossnmer wings like ~nrgosies
sailing over sunli, sens, the mystery was revealed.
An infant chicken broke It's calcaremus environ
piece Of shell ~clinging 70 its back. 1t was an
unusually vigorous bird, with u strong bpak
and a pair 81 keen, inquiSitiye eyes The pigeon
was ala rmcd at the proportions Of her offspring
aud also At its impudence and sell reliance tn
like the usual pigeon baby II refused to remain
In the nest, but jumping out started like Ulysses
In s-arch Of adventure The pigeon followed
the chicken with mo,hcrly love. ing over il.
hut the f~rathcrel knight Grant Was obli,ious
10 her care and started in 10 hustle and scratch
IT ilInNell
There was no happier boy in the world than
Mickey when be saw the chicken running around
the yard, while the pigeon sat on the fence ard
watched its cratic course with tender 'olicitudc.
50 lively was the young 'trr that II required Ten
minutes Of hard WORK on tie part Of Mickey 10
throw his cap over II and take the chicken into
the shanty for closer inspection The pigeon
few in a. the door aud pcrched upon the mantel.
The chicken stood upon Mickey's palm with a
calm confidence which was surprising in one
his mother. while his face glowed with pride and
satisfaction. But IN. propnttiun As the boy was
pleased with the chicken the pigeon was puzzled.
Her instinct taught her there was something
wrong with her child The infant was 80 wild
and hcadstrong tina, il did not accept the gentle
usually arc in their extreme youth. II was al
most pitiful 10 see the puzzled look on the mother
face A. she watched her self reliant offspring
foraging for worms under the %currant bushes
the back ward. And as the chicken grew and
ihriycd II developed a strength u character which /
was utterly AT variance with the gcntlcneSs Of
Its foster mother. Besides, il began h assume
physical attributes which indicated that il be- !
longed To the naughty ruling sex. Small knobs
and an i%nSipicnt comb began 10 sprOut upon its
head, This ruddv decoration provoked the re-
mark from Mrs. Finn, "~3crorra, It's a Shanghai
rooster" The rooster seemed 10 grow at the
an appetite which no amount ~ feeding could
nppcasr. So greedy, indeed, did il become. hat
not even its own mother was permitted 20 eAt
from the samc dish 1t afforded Mickey a never
ending source II delight 10 watch the relations
existing between these two birds lie saw queer
ton Il his more Needless mother One afternoon
he boldly asserted that he had actually seen ,hc
rooster deliberately kick the pigeon and cause
her 20 turn three somersaults. Such ingra'iiudc
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