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and there Mr. Rollins put them in among Dorcas's 

 own white ones. 



The old hen looked at them curiously when 

 they were placed in her nest, but she made no 

 objections, settling down again as soon as she 

 was left alone, and cuddling all the eggs alike 

 under her soft, warm feathers. 



After a while the eggs hatched out, — the hen's 

 eggs and partridge's eggs at almost the same time. 



The little partridges were brisker and less help- 

 less than the chickens. Old Dorcas looked at 

 them with pride. Still, she made no distinction, 

 scratching and clucking for all alike, and the little 

 partridges themselves seemed to know no difference. 

 They ran about with their little foster brothers and 

 sisters perfectly content, and at night they were all 

 sheltered together under the hen's broad wings. 



Laura was very proud of her little partridges. 

 The visitors who came were always invited out to 

 the chicken yard to see the little things. Laura 

 liked to feed them herself. She liked to see them 

 pushing softly against each other in their eagerness 

 to get the corn meal she gave them, and she liked 

 to hear their eager pipings. 



One day Dorcas wandered down into the field 



