164 THE DESERT AND THE ROSE 



eluded life, but when he had grown into a mag- 

 nificent bird tipping the scales at fourteen pounds 

 he well repaid me for the single dollar he had cost. 

 He was christened Jumbo, and he and his brought 

 home many a Blue and Red Ribbon. The cross be- 

 tween the Minorca and the Langshan is a very de- 

 sirable fowl, but my ambitions grew with every 

 year. Needless to say to the trained henman or 

 woman that roosters must not walk around with the 

 hens the long year through, therefore the time came 

 when Jumbo was put out to board. On the place of 

 his temporary sojourn no chickens were kept, but 

 for a while he managed to amuse himself by even- 

 ing strolls with the family, who caressed him as 

 they would a dog. Presently, however, this diver- 

 sion failed, and one morning he sallied forth alone, 

 returning just as his absence was beginning to 

 cause anxiety, but not alone. No more alone ! He 

 had found somewhere a small brown hen and kid- 

 napped her, and supreme was the care he lavished 

 upon this insignificant person. No dainty morsel 

 was too good for her, and as she did not share his 

 taste for evening promenades he abandoned his 

 walks with the family. 



I have not alluded to incubators, for though in 

 course of time a friend in the city went into part- 

 nership with me and raised incubator chicks, I ne- 

 ver found them to be as thrifty as the old hen-raised 

 babies. Neither did I achieve one up to Blue Rib- 

 bon standard, and as that standard was what I 

 worked for I stayed with the old hen. I have been 

 assured that incubators are a trifle hard to regulate 



