The Yale expositor. (Yale, St. Clair County, Mich.) 1894-current, 1901-07-12
A Massachusetts, Mortgage.

Myra solemnly iabbed the point of the
bill file through that last receipt. Myra
had made that bill file herself, with
a knitting needle. bit of pine board
and pinch OF putty.
Given a farm Of fifty acres
("pretty wel coated with stones") in
terpolated the irrepressible Dolly.
Myra calmly ignored the Interrupt
ton. "a decent house. two barns,
pig pen" sans pig" "a hen pen"
with forty hens" this quite unex-
pectedly from Jean.
"One horse, two cows, and four girls
without clothes, means or professions
=" nothing but boundless ambition"
murmured Dolly.
and" Myra stopped and faced the
rest, and"
"The Octopus" they groaned in
chorus.
well, we'll girls. we must not be
too easily discouraged" said Myra,
briskfy. Her spirits usually rose when
everybody elses ran down. I'VE are
comfortably housed for the winter,
with plenty of wood, fruit and vege-
tables, hay and corn enough for the
stock, and the Octopus fed for this
year"
with sixty good juicy greenbacks," "
groaned Dolly. "Why don't you try
silver dollars. Myra? They would
choke him sure"
what can we do?" burst out Dolly
desperately. "If only we lived in town
perhaps / might get some music schol-
ars; but there is not much hope out
here"
THAT would be Pegasus harnessed
to a plough" laughed Myra. Fancy
Dolly counting 'one, two, three to
nerveless beginners" They all laughed
a little at the narrowing picture, and
someway the skies frightened bit.
Suddenly Jean looked up almost de-
family. 81 believe we could make a
living keeping hens"
She expected a volley of protests,
and she was not disappointed.
"Hens, why Jean Burton!"
ugh. the nasty things!"
"There wouldn't be a green thing
left on the place."
How many do you think that it
would take to feed the Octopus?"
But Ruthie. their gentle invalid, was
the worst of all.
"You must be crazy, Jean! Why, it
would be disgraceful. Fancy one of the
Burton girls peddling eggs and chick
ems around the streets"
"She's a genius" cried Dolly, who
had been studying the bit of brown
paper. 81 know she will succeed. Now
Jean could never draw a COW so but
what you would call 1t a wheelbar-
row. and while we have been talking
Octopus and SIGH. she has been cover
ing this page with big plump hens,
and the most darling little chickens.
Why. jeanne. dear. ia know they
weren't robins. even If chickens had
never been mentioned"
81 think Jean is right" said Myra
slowly. For year before father died
l had feeling that public sentiment
in Wilcott was somehow rather against
us. Since he died, and / found out
how deeply we were in debt. and about
the mortgage, have thought that ex-
planned it. l suppose 1t did seem as
IL we were selfish and extravagant, for
almost everybody knew about our
money affairs excepting Us. However,
we'll live 1t down. and Jean, I'm
ashamed to think that we laughed at
you; for at least you have a plan, and
that is more than the rest of us can
say. Now go ahead and tell us about
it"
Jean began with some hesitation.
She had always been the shy one, and
she hated to be laughed at. well, you
know, girls. that | have taken nearly
all the care of the fowls for the last
two years. l began when father was
first taken i'll, and before the summer
was over / found that l really en-
joyed it. So l watched other people
hens and methods, studied the poul-
try papers, and found that systematic
care and feeding went a long way to-
ward success. You see you must be
careful to feed BALANCED ration"
Whatever is that? Anything like
teeter-board?"
oh, Dolly, don't; of course it ism t.
1t means the kind of food that won't
produce too much fat, and will give
bones and flesh, and by and bye eggs
as WE'LL"
Perhaps If you fed fish enough
they'd grow so many brains that after
awhile we could plant our garden-sass
in their yards, and they'd never touch
it."
Go on, Jean; I'm getting interested;
didn't suppose there was any science
to keeping hen"
There's science to everything that
brings success" answered Jean sober
ly. Then l found that bad luck
usually meant carelessness; so l shut
up my chickens to protect them at
night from the skunks and owls, and
my brood grew the best of any about
here. l don't mean to say that l know
il all, nor indeed but very little, but
think that have the key to success
with poultry, and l am sure that IL we
are willing to go slowly we can build
up a successful and in time, maybe,