a long time it remained tacked on to the coop with 

 " Pezulu " written on it. 



Pezulu the Great who was Pezulu the Second 

 was not like that : he was a game cock, all muscle 

 and no frills, with a very resolute manner and a real 

 love of his profession ; he was a bit like Jock in some 

 things ; and that is why I fancy perhaps Jock and he 

 were friends in a kind of way. But Jock could not 

 get on with the others : they were constantly chang- 

 ing ; new ones who had to be taught manners were 

 always coming ; so he just lumped them together, 

 and hated fowls. He taught them manners, but 

 they taught him something too at any rate, one of 

 them did ; and one of the biggest surprises and best 

 lessons Jock ever had was given him by a hen while he 

 was still a growing-up puppy. 



He was beginning to fancy that he knew a good 

 deal, and like most young dogs was very inquisitive 

 and wanted to know everything and at once. At 

 that time he was very keen on hunting mice, rats 

 and bush squirrels, and had even fought and killed 

 a meerkat after the plucky little rikkitikki had bitten 

 him rather badly through the lip ; and he was still 

 much inclined to poke his nose in or rush on to things 

 instead of sniffing round about first. 



However, he learned to be careful, and an old hen 

 helped to teach him. The hens usually laid their 

 eggs in the coop because it was their home, but some- 

 times they would make nests in the bush at the outspan 

 places. One of the hens had done this, and the bush 

 she had chosen was very low and dense. No one saw 



97 G 



