OUR NEW RANCH. 89 



"Hello! Is that you, Mr. Bealby ? " 



"Yes." 



" This is [So-and-so]. I say, do you know any- 

 thing about those red Hghts on the top of the moun- 

 tain opposite you ? Baker Street is full of people. 

 They are wondering if anybody is hurt up there." 



" It's only two of my young men," I answered, 

 " gone up to have a look at your country." 



" Is that all? Then it's all right? " 



" Yes: perfectly right. The signal you see means 

 that — that things are all right." 



It appeared from the newspaper next day that 

 Nelson had been quite excited about the mys- 

 terious signals on the top of the mountain. It was 

 feared that somebody had met with a serious accident, 

 and was signalling for assistance. And so much did 

 this idea gain ground that one of the doctors was 

 actually organising a rescue party. 



One of these young men, William, built me a 

 model poultry house. It is about twelve feet square, 

 double-boarded all over — sides, floor, and roof — with 

 a layer of tarred paper between the two skins of 

 planking. The floor is elevated three feet from the 

 ground for a distance of about four feet back from the 

 front of the house. Then it rises vertically ten inches, 

 and then slopes at a gentle incline up to the back 

 wall. The perches are arranged over this sloping 

 part, and every perch is movable, being held in its 

 place by a socket into which it drops at each end. 

 Ventilators are made to slide backwards and forwards 

 near the top of the back wall, and two big windows 

 are fixed to open on hinges in the upper part of the 

 front wall. The under part of the house, fenced in 



