Night Noises 179 



step still more drowsily off perch upon the 

 warm surface, and settle down with a soft, 

 satisfied chuckle. How many settle there de- 

 pends upon the nerve and the muscle of the 

 chicken stealer. Two or three fat hens upon 

 the far end of a long board, make even sturdy 

 arms ache after a bit. The board must not 

 droop the least bit if it does the chickens fall 

 off. It must be slowly and steadily with- 

 drawn, until the nearest hen can be grasped 

 through the hole. Her neck is wrung deftly, 

 another and another follows until the warm 

 board is empty. But no tramp nor outlander 

 need attempt the trick at a well-furnished 

 Tennessee hen-house. There are always dogs 

 to give warning. If the warm board has done 

 its work, the fact is first-hand proof that the 

 hen-roost has suffered the dishonest troubling 

 of a friend. 



Time out of mind dogs have bayed the 

 moon, but it is from the farmlands she gets 

 the most varied chorus. Major Baker kept 

 nine dogs. Eight of them were supernum- 

 eraries, so far as guarding the place went. 

 Watch, the guard-dog proper, a big white 

 mastiff strong enough to pull down a mule 

 or an ox, let nothing come or go unchallenged 

 after dark. He was not a noisy dog. In- 

 deed acquaintance with him taught both Joe 

 and Patsy that a dog's bark was really in 



