He that is laitUful in that which is least, is faithlul also in iiiuch.^JA KK 16. 10. 



MYSELF AND MY NEIGHBORS. 



Disfi-ctioii shall prcservt' tlicc. iinilci 

 shall kcei) thco.— I'nov. 2: 11. 



0XE Sunday al'tei- meetini;-. \vl 

 boys Avere collecting in iu\ 

 overheard some remarks in n 

 the chickens wliich tiiev each 

 ite 



.lili;; 



lie the 

 •lass. I 

 cai-d to 

 .Ithem 

 had at home, (^nite an animated dis- 

 cussion was goinu'on in regard lo the meiits 

 of the diltVrent breeds, etc. Half an lionr 

 later, when their attention seemed to Hag, 

 and it seemed a hard matter to get them in- 

 terested in the lesson before us. I suddenly 

 woke them up ail at once by taking for aii 

 illustration something that iiad to do with 

 poultry - keeping. When they discovered 

 that I could talk about Light IJrahmas. 

 I'lymouth Hocks, and that I knew some- 

 thing about chickens, they were all on the 

 alert; and if I did not teach the boys very 

 much Scripture that day, I am inc'lined to 

 think I got a hold on them that I had not 

 possessed before. After the school was over, 

 they plied me with a number of questions, 

 and tinally I told them I should be glad to 

 liave them come down and see my poultry- 

 yard and Light Brahmas. A couple of 

 them called a few days after ; and finding 

 that I had two hens on one nest, one of 

 them made the remark that he did not be- 

 lieve I would have good luck if I let them 

 go on in that way. Well. 1 did not have 

 good luck. You see. the boy's judgment was 

 l)etter than mine. They seemed to do very 

 well for a while, and each one kept on her 

 own nest. The nests were so close together 

 that, sooner or later, differences arose. One 



thought the other had got some eggs that 

 did not belong to hei'. Tretty soon some of 

 the eggs were l^roken. The liens got soiled, 

 and the other eggs got daubed with the bro- 

 ken ones ; and as no chickens hatched from 

 either hen. 1 linally concluded that eggs 

 will not hatch when smeared o\ er with any 

 substance that closes the pores of the sheli. 

 I do not know whether my conclusion is 

 scienliiic or not : but I do" not want two 

 hens on one nest any more. When 1 decided 

 thai the plan was a' bad one, I just (hopped 

 one ot tlie old Light Ihahma biddies out- 

 side the inclosuie of tiie wiie netting. She 

 walked around the yard. <'luckiiig for a day 

 or two: and when she got over the sitting 

 fever. I let her in again. The remaining 

 hen stayed on her nest about a week over the 

 regular three weeks. By that time she be- 

 gan cogitating in her mind (that is, if hens 

 : have minds) as to whether it was incumbent 

 ' on her to waste any more time over those 

 nasty, dirty-looking eggs or not. She evi- 

 , dently concluded there was not. for she got 

 off her nest, and went and walked with the 

 ; other hens, ate grass, drank water at the 

 I fountain, and sat under the shade of tiie 

 evergreens. She stopped clucking, and be- 

 i haved herself in a very sensible way. 



Xow. I have told you all. this little story 

 I just to illustrate a point to which I wish to 

 call your attention. These neighbors of 

 ours, among the dumb brutes, even, have a 

 I certain amount of judgment, or wisdom or 

 I discretion, if we may so term it. I let the 

 I old hen stay longer than I should have done, 

 1 because some of the eggs were laid in her 



