THE BANTAMS 



if not now, surely in the future, a chicken house and 

 long wired runs which never could be made beautiful 

 to anyone but a utilitarian. I confess the feat was ac- 

 complished in a most beguiling manner. One morn- 

 ing the Constant Improver casually mentioned that 



our neighbor Mr. H had some extremely pretty 



black bantams. This was in August. In September, 

 he remarked that this same neighbor wanted to present 

 us with a rooster and four hens. 



"They won't require any care or food," he said, 

 "they '11 just run around in the woods and look pretty." 

 It sounded attractive. 



"Yes, they will be pretty," I agreed, "if they don't 

 get into the garden." 



"Oh, no! They won't get into the garden; Mr. H 



assures me they never do any mischief. And think of 

 the nice fresh eggs we shall have, even if they are 

 small." 



So the four black bantams escorted by their gamey 

 little cock arrived and immediately took themselves 

 to the woods, returning night and morning to the pad- 



105 



