Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1910-03-26

was RECALLED with soft boiled eggs,
fried eggs, scrambled eggs, and let
tuce garnished with hard boiled eggs,
and departed more delighted with the
wonderful chicken birds than ever.
When the rest of the eggs had been
Matched and the hens were walking
proudly back and forth through the
chicken yard, each one at the head of
her downy little brood. the enraptured
charcoal burner folk crowded round
the chicken yard in loud and wide
eyed admiration. And. oh, the Wondei
of it! Baby chicks, not spraWling al
naked, with beaks wide open ana
clamoring for food to be thrust therein
by anxious parent birds, but bravery
running Gall covered with SOFT y elloM
DOWN through chicken yard sturdy
picking up their own living. and now
obedient to the gentle mother birds
soft clucl1- cuck! and how conf1dingly
they cuddled close down under her vel
yety breast and fluffy wings for pro-
lection and warmth! And the mother
Extraordinarily 80 shy and timio-
how bold in defense of her babies wnen
the old village hound came thrusting
his inouisitive and cold black nose
through the hedge near her little ones!
with widespread wings and loudly
r,lstline feathers she faced the as
founded Packan, and with loud and
angry squawks put him bodily 10
fight. Yes, yet thought the villagers
these chickens were remarkable blrds'
indeed.
AS the hickens grew into cocks and
hens the countess supplied each little
cottage with tiny chicken yard. anu
the cheerful call Of the chanticieer was
heard all along the mountainside.
All through the drear-- ark and bit
terlv cold winter the highborn lady
and the lower born peasants were as
neighborly as the elements permitted
and grew to be closer friends than
ever. When the longer, lighter softer
spring days came again the countess
determined to give her own chliaren
and the small mountaineers a little
outdoor festival. so she took Jutta IN
when.
why not on Easter Sunday" sug-
gested the young handmaiden. "Thats
a good day.
1T u.s." said the countess, land we
will: but what can give the children?
T. have nothing to give but eggs-for
the hens are laying finely once more
and they are nothing new"
mo" said Jutta, they're not new.
and we all have lots of them. thanks
to your grace-and fine thing they
are, too, and so much more satisfac-
tory than birds eggs, for all they're
white. Now if they were only blue or
green or streaked or speckled like they
would be altogether perfect!"
"Blue and green dnspeckled!' re-
peated the countess. well, now, ana
why shouldn't they be? Come, Jutta,
YOU and I will put our heads together
and see what can be done about 1t.
So while Lukas kept bringing il,
more and more eggs each day from
those Industrious hens the countess
and Jutta, with grass blades and onion
peel and bloodroot and gentian and
dandelion blooms, carefully achieved
a great Overlooking basketful OF ex-
quisitely tinted eggs, five for eacn
child.
On Easter Sunday the children, as
dressed in their best they came to pay
their respects to the countess, We're
taken by lido and his small sister
Blanda to the meadow thereby. Here
lido showed them how to weave
nest-one for each child-from twigs
and grasses: then Blanda led them
back to the house. where trimming
cup of milk and two bio slices of
wheaton bread awaited them. After
their small repast lido and Blanda led
the way back to the meadow, where,
10 ana DenOlQ, III edCA llCSL SlSAC "OiS
five eggs-wonderful eggs, each one as
big as those of the new and wonder
full chicken birds, and all gayly colored.
streaked and spotted like those Of
cuckoo, linnet, thrush and pirol. How
did they get there and what remark
able bird could have laid them?
The bigger boys and girls of course
had their suspicious. but the smaller
ones were greatly mystified and ready
for all sorts Of queer happenings; so
when Helga, Jutta's baby sister. who
had built her nest at the end Of the
mea dow nearest the big woods. saw
big brown gray, long cared, bushy
tailed rabbit scuttle briskly under the
trees she promptly raised the cry:
."Twas a rabbit laid the green and
blue and notified eggs! Twas an East.
err rabbit that laid our Easter eggs!"
The large children, with cheers and
laughter, took up the cry, Ia ster
eggs! Laid by the Easter rabbit And
so the colored eggs and Easter bunnie
began their jolly joint mission among
the happy girls and boys all over the
broad German fatherland.-Kate Hud-
son in the Circle Magazine. ...