many a talk about it while I helped her 

 to turn her eggs during the long waiting 

 time, and she and I were nearly wild 

 when we heard the chickens tapping on 

 their shells and calling "peep, peep," 

 wheii they had broken the tgg and rolled 

 in the nest. I could hardly sleep that 

 night, and next morning I was up with 

 the dawn, and flew to Dot's nest. There 

 were the whole thirteen chicks — ^little 

 rolls of down, beautiful to see. 



Dot allowed me to carry her family 

 into the deserted hennery, and as I had 

 been told that roosters were liable to 

 peck chickens, I was about to drive Rex 

 out of the enclosure, when he ran to Dot 

 as if he were crazed with delight. He 

 began to scratch and call to the chicks, 

 and though at first Dot ruffled her pretty 

 feathers and tried to cluck her little 

 brood back to her sheltering wings, the 

 fearless little beauties tottered over to 

 Rex, and tried to eat the grain which 

 he offered. Dot soon accepted the ser- 

 vices of the now gentle Rex, and divided 

 her cares with him, as if she felt that he 

 had a right to help her raise the family. 

 Rex did not weary in well doing. His 

 fatherly interest in the chickens did not 

 grow less — indeed if I had not fed him 

 plenty of corn, which the chicks could 

 not swallow, I believe that the generous 

 fellow would have gone hungry for 

 them. He gave up his roost at night 

 to sit close to Dot, and hover more than 

 half of the brood. 



In due time the other hens came off 

 their nests, followed by their chickens, 

 but Rex paid no attention to them. Not 

 a worm did he ever offer them, although 

 he was glad to see the hens return to 

 his realm — but woe to the other mothers 

 if they ever picked at one of his own 

 thirteen. 



After a few weeks of good care for 

 her family, pretty Dot began to plume 



her feathers, and take less and less in- 

 terest in her chicks. She dropped the 

 ''cluck" which her little ones loved, and 

 began to sing and lay eggs. As night 

 approached she paid no heed to the 

 sleepy cries of her family, but left them 

 and flew up on the roost. 



Not so. Rex. He tried and tried to 

 coax Dot down, but she seemed to toss 

 her gay head and laugh at him. Then 

 he gave her up, and spread his wings 

 wide, and hovered as many of the grow- 

 ing chickens as could get under the shel- 

 ter, and the rest of them nestled about 

 him. 



It was a divided love with Rex, for he 

 could not forget pretty Dot — naughty 

 though she was. The next night he fol- 

 lowed Dot to the roost, and seemed to 

 coax her again to return to duty. She 

 seemed to harden her heart, and not lis- 

 ten to Rex, or hear the cries of the mo- 

 therless thirteen — but Rex soon flew 

 down to hover his brood. 



I felt so sorry for this fatherly fowl 

 that I made a ladder of a pole and slabs, 

 and leaned it against the lowest roost, 

 making an easy slope, and one of the 

 prettiest sights I ever saw was Rex go- 

 ing slowly up that ladder, coaxing his 

 chicks after him by the tenderest calls. 

 When a chicken fell from the ladder, he 

 flew down to sympathize with it, and 

 coaxed it to "try, try, again," until every 

 one was safe on the roost. There he 

 hovered two on each side of him, and he 

 continued to do this until they grew so 

 large that he could no longer raise his 

 wings over them. 



Rex never deserted his family. Even 

 when his young roosters began to crow, 

 Rex seemed to take a fatherly pride in 

 them, although I have seen him punish 

 other young fowls when they dared to 

 begin a cock-a-doodle-do in his barn- 

 yard. 



M. R. HODDER. 



198 



