IN THE POULTRY YARD. 25 
and was rearing them successfully through all the perils of chicken- 
hood, when one unfortunate day they strayed off their own grounds 
on to those of the neighbor on the south, and, as there was not the 
best of feeling between Brown and the other man, the latter set his 
dog on them and killed the mother and all her brood. He then 
tossed the dead bodies over the fence. It was a brutal action—but 
no, I must not say that; it would be a libel on the brute. Brown 
might have shot the dog a dozen times, for the animal was fre- 
quently on his grounds without permission, but he was too much 
of a man to revenge himself on a dumb creature. Moreover, the 
dog was a very fine one, and a great favorite with others besides 
the wretched master whose instigations he had obeyed. Nettie 
was terribly shocked by the death of her pets, and the remaining 
birds became more than ever precious. 
One day, not long after this, Brown found the dog on his 
grounds. He coaxed it to him and tied it up. He then wrote a 
note and sent it to the owner, asking him if he should shoot the 
dog, or if he would come and take it away. He did not reply ; 
but his wife, a lady who had been very much chagrined at her 
husband’s churlishness, and who had sent Nettie a beautiful mock- 
ing bird with a note of deep regret and apology, came over and 
begged to be allowed to take the dog home. To such a woman 
few requests can be denied, but my. readers will not wonder that 
after all this we called our neighbor on the south Nadal. 
The little Seabright rooster met an untimely fate in a different 
way. Pugnacious beyond all expression, he would fight anything 
that wore feathers, no matter what its size, color or previous condi- 
tion. One day, however, Brown bought some live chickens for table 
use, and amongst them happened to be a thoroughbred game cock, 
a very handsome and powerful bird. The little Bantam attacked him 
as soon as he was set free from his coop. At first the game cock 
would hardly notice him, but the Bantam persisting in his attacks, 
and probably hurting the other so as to rouse him up, was killed in 
less time than it has taken to tell of it. Brown saw at once that 
the conqueror would .¢ a val able addition to his yard, and I 
suspect that this new and thoroughbred blood did a great deal to 
