1. after a little more time had passed, betty was taken out of the yard. they did not let her stay with her sisters and the other fowls any longer, but she was placed in a large room by herself.
2. here she was fed on all sorts of dainties. she had chestnuts, minced liver, new milk, and fresh lettuce. life was now a feast to betty, but she found it rather dull.
3. "i would rather have one worm or a spider," said she, with a sigh. how she longed for a good scamper with her sisters! "i am sure that we should never squabble now," said the poor, lonely little thing.
4. but this time alone did not last long. one morning a worse thing was done to her. she was taken by the cook and plunged into a warm bath. it was not of the least use for her to kick and scream.[pg 115]
5. the cook did not care. she rubbed betty gently with a soaped flannel, talking to her in a soothing way all the time, and then set her down before the fire to dry.
6. but betty's fright was soon over, and she was not at all hurt, of course. yet she might have caught her death of cold, and all this because of the show! that her feathers might look fine.
7. if the cook had let betty alone to clean them, she would have done it better. the soap was bad for them, so was the water.
8. betty felt very pleased when the cook went to call all the other servants. she wished them to admire the snowy whiteness of her feathers. "if she does[pg 116] not win a first prize i will eat my head!" said the cook.
9. "you will have a fine big meal, then," said the housemaid, "and i should not wonder if you have not spoilt her feathers for ever by washing them. you never ought to have done it, and the poor thing may get ill."
10. but thanks to the care taken of her, betty did not get ill, though the nasty soap made her feel sick; and the cook saw that she had made a mistake in washing betty.
11. "all creatures can clean themselves," said the housemaid, "leastways all birds can, at any rate, and we do harm by meddling."
12. "i think we ought to keep her under a wash-tub or in a basket until the day for the show," said the cook. "she will be sure to get dirty again in that barn."
13. when a nice new hen-coop was turned over her, betty began to think about her mother. "what a horrid time she must have spent when we were little,[pg 117] and she had to stay in a coop!" said the young hen to herself.
14. "and yet i think that i am even worse off than she was, for i have to stay here without any little chickens to amuse me, or to run under my wings."
write: the young hen was washed. it was bad for her and made her feathers rough. she grew tired of being shut up though she was well fed.
questions: 1. where was betty placed alone? 2. what did she say to herself about her food? 3. what did the cook do to her? 4. what did the housemaid tell her? 5. where was betty put next? 6. what did she think about in the coop?
