CHICK, D.D. 



apples for city girls and boys to eat, and he saved many 

 dollars in time and spray-money for the Farmer Boy. 



And all he charged was a living wage : enough suet in 

 winter to tide hitn. over the icy spells, and free house- 

 rent in the old hollow post the Farmer Boy had nailed to 

 the trunk of one of the apple trees. 



That old hollow post was a wonderful home. Chick, 

 D.D. had crept into it for the first time Christmas after- 

 noon, when he had eaten until dusk overtook him before 

 he had time to fly back to the shelter of the fir forest. 

 He found that he liked that post. Its walls were thick 

 and they kept out the wind; and, besides, was it not 

 handy by the suet? 



In the spring he liked it for another reason, too — the 

 best reason in the world. It gave great happiness to 

 Mrs. Chick. ^' Fee-bee?'^ he had asked her as he called 

 her attention to it; and ^^Fee-bee,'' she had replied on 

 looking it over. So he said, ''Chick, D.D.'' in delight, 

 and then perched near by, while he warbled cosily a brief 

 song jumbled full of joy. 



Chick and his mate had indeed chosen well, for it is a 

 poor wall that will not work both ways. If the sides of 

 the hollow post had been thick enough to keep out the 

 coldest of the winter cold, they were also thick enough 

 to keep out the hottest of the summer heat. If they kept 

 out the wet of the driving storm, they held enough of the 



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