THE COUNTRY BOY 107 



that never even shied before at anything; so 

 when I said to the handsomest girl in Silver- 

 ton, "It's chickens roosting on the hind axle," 

 she exclaimed, "No wonder; I never saw you 

 before to-night without a chicken, and there 

 they are really here with us now." I thought 

 we had lost some, as there were some missing. 

 I didn't know what to do as the dance would 

 soon be over. We couldn't leave them beside 

 the road for fear of skunks or minks. She 

 thought we ought to leave the chickens, but I 

 didn't, as one of our best old hens was in the 

 party and it seemed a crime to expose them to 

 next to certain death. If it had been day- 

 light and I could have seen the beautiful girl 

 perhaps I would have done differently, but we 

 turned around and started back home slowlv, 

 as the tired hens breathed heavily on the back 

 axle. We were still sitting as far apart as 

 the buggy seat would let us; had no outward 

 signs of getting closer, in fact we were getting 

 farther apart. She thought young men 

 shouldn't think so much of chickens, while I 

 thought they were next to human. We 

 planned another ride without chickens, but it 

 was the passing of my short reign and I didn't 



