Freeland tribune. (Freeland, Pa.) 1888-1921, 1901-08-19
Damon and Pythias.

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chickens who lived in a large farm
yard with a great many other chick
ems Just like themselves. Their
mother, as every good mother hen
should do, taught them well how to
hunt for tiny worms and insects, to
eat, by kicking up the gravel and
knocking aside little heaps of dust
with their bills. But the time they
liked best of all was when the farmer
brought out an old milk pan full of
moist cornmeal, and then they tum-
bled over one another like little fat
puffballs, always managing to fall into
the pan in their excitement, and stay
ing there till it was wholly empty
One day in the early summer, when
the long, sunny afternoons began to
grow uncomfortably hot, Dolly came
to spend the summer at the farm.
Now Dolly wanted to have a chicken
which was all her own, and picking
out the downiest yellow one she
bought it for five cents and kept it
apart from the rest. Whenever it
uttered it's peep, peep" she felt sure
it was hungry, ana gave it cornmeal.
That seemed very kind treatment,
surely, but when at the close of the
second day she found the poor little
thing lying stiff and cold. and another
and yet another whom she tried to
adopt came to the same sad ending,
she decided that farmers did know
more than little girls, after all, and
it was not good for chickens to be
always eating. Dolly had hardly made
up her mind to this when she discov-
cred Damon and Phythias. Damon
and Pythias were always together;
indeed they seemed to be such good
friends that the farmers city cousin
had given them their queer names in
honor of two famous friends who lived
long ago and We're very fond OF each
ether. When Dolly first saw the two
all the other chickens were standing
about thinking of their nights rest
and feeling as sleepy as could be, but
Damon and Phythias had jumped up
saucily on their mothers back and
We're carefully balancing themselves
there, They were a pretty pair, for
Damon was jet black and Phythias
creamy white. Dolly pulled out her
small purse at once and paid for them
on the spot. From that time on
new life began for Damon and
Pythias.
On rainy days they were taken in
doors, where they delighted to patter
around, and when Damon discovered
a rag carpet mat he tried to kick it
up as he did the sand and looked at
it with an astonished air because the
kicks from his tiny flying claws, or
the taps from his bill, failed to root
out food. Soon they both began to
recognize their names, and would hur-
ry to their mistress when she called.
When Dolly went on short walks
around the farm it came to be under
stood that the two chickens would
follow her about, and they became so
affectionate that they could not bear
to have her out of their sight. When
she shook her forefinger at them and
said: NO, you can't go," they seemed
to understand her words, and gave
dismal peeps" that heightened into
loud squawks if they were left alone.
Friendly as they had always been
they grew jealous after a time, and
would stand with the tips of their
bills together, absolutely rigid for half
a minute, glaring fercely at each
other. The quarrels never lasted long,
for soon buz2lng fly would pass
overhead, which one chicken was sure
to hop into the air and catch, while
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