THE WHITE EGG. 



189 



take them over to the barn-yard as soon as they were all out. But 

 one white e^g still lay motionless in the nest; no picking or 

 scratching was heard inside it; no crack appeared in the smooth 

 shell. AVhat could be the matter? Dame Partlet turned the eg^ 

 over and over with her beak. 



" I don't approve of helping chickens out, as a rule," she said. 



" They are always lazy if one does, and don't work for themselves. 

 But there must be something the matter with this one." 



She gave a sharp peck at the egg, adding, " I Tiave heard of a 

 chicken being born with only one leg, but I have never had any- 

 thing of that kind in my family." 



She eyed the egg anxiously, and pecked vigorously at it, but her 

 pecks, sharp though they were, made no crack or mark on the 

 smooth white surface; and no answering peck came from within. 



