Arizona republican., 1922-01-27
Little Stories For Bedtime
BY THORNTON W. BURGESS

Mrs. Grouse Learns Many Things
All the time that Peter Rabbit and
her other friends were worrying
about her Mrs. Grouse was very
warm and very comfortable in the
henhouse of Farmer Browns boy.
That first night she had slept sound
~, for you know she had been very,
very tired. In the morning when she
had opened her eyes she couldn't
think at first where she was. Then
she remembered how she had been
picked up by Farmer Browns boy
when she was too weak to fly and
put in the box Of hay, where she now
was, and given all she could eat.
She peeped out Of the box timidly
and looked around. 1t was a strange
place, very strange place, to Mrs
Grouse. You see, never before In all
her life had she ever slept under any
roof excepting the thick, low hang
ing branches of a hemlock tree.
Always she had been where she could
spread her stout wings and whirr up
and away when she pleased. But here
she couldn't fly, because there were
walls on all sides and a roof and no
place to fly to. The very thought
made her heart sink and frightened
her. Along one side were rows of
boxes with hay IN them. In some of
these were birds, who looked as If
they might be relatives of hers, only
they were ever so much bigger than
she. And sitting on long sticks
across one end were more of these,
biro. Presently one Of these, the
biggest one, stretched his long neck
~ nd L. III u
frightened Mrs. Grouse still more.
You see. she never had heard a
rooster crow close at hand before,
Mrs. Grouse kept very still None
of these strange birds had noticed
her and she didn't want them to.
Little by little as she looked and
listened she remembered things she
had heard Unc' Billy Possum tell
about Farmer Browns henhouse. You
know I'm Billy knows all about the
inside of that henhouse. Somehow
the things she was looking at were
very like the things she had heard
Unc' Billy tell about.
, "Why!" she exclaimed, II believe
this is the very placei"
BY and by she heard footsteps and
she knew them for the footsteps Of
Farmer Browns boz. All her old
fear of him returned and she
crouched down in her box all OF q
tremble. The door opened just wide
enough for Farmer Bro ms boy to
squeeze through. You see he was
afraid that IL he opened it wide Mrs.
Grouse might get past him and fly
away. So he squeezed through as mar
row space as he could and shut
the door after him. He smiled down
at Mrs. Grouse.
How do you do this morning,
Mrs. Grouse" said he, and his voice
was low and very pleasant. Il expect
that you are anxious to get back to
the Green Forest, but I am not going
to let you-not yet, anyway. You
see, that crust over the snow is just
as hard and icy as ever and 1 am
afraid that If I chould let you go
now you would have hard work to
find enough to eat. You might starve
to death. You are a great deal better
off right here, even If you don't
think So"
OF course, Mrs. Grouse didn't un-
derstand what he said or perhaps
she would have felt better. You see,
she is very. very timed. Then again
she was frightened by being shut in
where she couldn't use her stout
wings. She felt very helpless. So she
trembled more than ever and made
herself as small as possible in the
tarthest corner of the box. Farmer
Browns boy noticed it.
You haven't a thing to be afraid
OF, Mrs. Grouse" said he. and If only