1. poor betty had plenty of time to think over all her troubles. but after two or three days she heard a sound which made her feel very happy.
2. it was the voice of her old friend the[pg 125] coachman, who had come to fetch her away. she cackled to him in a most loving way; but, alas! the coachman had nothing to say to her.
3. he was cross and sulky because betty had not won a prize.
"poor thing!" said the cook when betty[pg 126] got home, "what an object she looks to be sure! she is as light as a feather.
4. "the mother that hatched her won't know her again. i declare that i don't believe this is our betty at all, but some old rubbish of a bird they have sent us instead!"
5. "oh yes," said her mistress, coming up to look, "it is our betty. but i beg of you to get rid of her at once. i cannot bear the sight of her after thinking she would get a prize."
6. "shall i step out and do it at once?" said the cook, calmly.
"no, no!" said the mistress. "do not kill her. give her away. she will be a useful hen to some one else, and is sure to lay plenty of eggs."
"very good, ma'am," replied the cook.
7. there was no washing this time before betty was sent away. that was one comfort. she was huddled, just as she was, into a hamper, and sent as a present to a friend of the cook.
8. this friend was the wife of a farmer, and she was such a kind, good, rosy, happy,[pg 127] pleasant woman, that it was quite a treat to look at her. she lived about five miles from betty's old home.
9. the large farm-yard into which betty now stepped from her hamper, was like a new world to her. she began at once to dig with those of her sharp claws which were left.
10. and finding chalk like that which had been under the soil at home, she nodded her head and chuckled, for she was pleased. no hen can be happy without chalk, after she is old enough to lay eggs.
11. she knew that the yard in which she now was, would be a fine place for her young brood. they would not be likely to get the cramp or catch colds.
12. the fowl-house was built on a gentle slope, and below, at some little distance, was a pond with two or three green islands in the middle of it. here some water birds, such as betty had never seen before, were paddling about.
13. she could not think how they did it. the yard had good shelter from rough,[pg 128] cold winds, for a fir wood was at the back of it. and the houses for cattle and horses stood with their backs to it on two sides.
14. the houses where the hens were to sit on their eggs, were sprinkled with chalk laid over dry coal ashes. this was to keep the floor clean and wholesome.
they were swept out often. the perches for roosting were not thin sticks, but nice stout boughs of trees, so that the feet could clasp them without slipping.
write: the new home to which betty was sent pleased her. she thought that she should soon forget her sorrows. the fowl-house was nice and clean.
questions: 1. to whom was betty sent? 2. what sort of woman was the farmer's wife? 3. when betty stepped out of her hamper what did she begin to do? 4. what did she find? 5. what was the hen-house like?
