THE COUNTllY BOY 69 



would discover me, for I could hear her walk- 

 ing around in the house plainly. I got all 

 the sack would hold comfortably, also filled 

 my hat, and then made a trip to our calf pas- 

 ture, where I hid them in a fence corner. 



I had to make another journey to get them 

 all, for there were goose eggs, turkey eggs 

 and guinea eggs, besides all shades of hen 

 eggs, including some yellow cochin eggs I 

 knew Joe had stolen from another boy. 

 AVhen I reached the fence corner with the last 

 load I got a shock. The fence creaked, and 

 I thought I had been discovered. But it was 

 a false alarm, and I was about as proud as 

 a pirate could be when I reahzed that no one 

 would ever look in such an out-of-the-way 

 place for the eggs. 



That night when I went to the post-office 

 Joe Welch had a twinkle in his eye that no 

 one understood but me, and I let on that I 

 was just as certain as he as to who had the 

 most eggs. But when I saw him the next day 

 he was more thoughtful — he had a far-away 

 look on his face, and I — well, I guess I looked 

 a trifle happier than he did. 



I ffuess it was when I was about seventeen 



