<h2 class='c006'>CHAPTER XIII<br/> <span class='large'>PIGS, COWS AND CHICKENS</span></h2></div>
<p class='c010'>There were several pig-pens. As the
young man explained to us later, it does not
do to put pigs of different sizes together.
The big ones impose on the little ones, and
push them away from the feeding-troughs, so
all Farmer Gleason's pigs were in assorted
sizes.</p>
<p class='c000'>They were the rudest pigs I ever saw, but
of course I have not seen many live ones. I
have seen plenty of dead ones in Boston.
Their manners had plenty of repose, but
these creatures were yelling, jumping, pushing,
snorting and charging each other as if
they were crazy. Each pen wanted to be fed
first.</p>
<p class='c000'>Mary soon grew calm, then she began to
laugh and scream, for the pigs excited her.
She and her mother stood on one side, while
Denno went up- and down-stairs with more
<span class='pageno' id='Page_210'>210</span>feed. He got some milk from a hogshead—and
the milk almost set them wild. They
pushed and slobbered till each pig's head was
covered with white, and even the man had to
laugh, though he said he saw their greedy
goings-on twice every day of his life.</p>
<p class='c000'>The man had to do his work, and could not
stay in the barn cellar, so Mrs. Denville and
Mary and I followed him up-stairs.</p>
<p class='c000'>Little Mary was wiping her eyes, and I
heard her promising herself many visits to
the pigs in future.</p>
<p class='c000'>When we got to the barn floor, Denno ran
up the ladder where Thummie had gone, and
began to throw down hay.</p>
<p class='c000'>Mrs. Denville stepped along the floor, and
called to Mary, “Come here, dear, and see
the horses.”</p>
<p class='c000'>There were some fine box stalls there on
the south side of the barn. Glory and Dungeon
came forward, and put their heads out,
expecting to receive a dainty of some kind.</p>
<p class='c000'>“We have nothing now,” said Mrs. Denville.
“The next time we come, we will
bring you some bread or lumps of sugar—what
<span class='pageno' id='Page_211'>211</span>fine big creatures you are! Mary, here
is a pony,” and she passed to the next stall.</p>
<p class='c000'>“That is the children's pony,” said Denno
who at this moment came down from the
ladder. “They call him Ponto.”</p>
<p class='c000'>The pony was very affectionate and gentle,
and Mary could hardly bear to leave him.
He was a dapper little fellow with a fine
arched neck, and silky mane, and beautiful
eyes.</p>
<p class='c000'>“Come, I want to see the cows,” said Mrs.
Denville. “I wish to see the source of your
excellent milk supply.”</p>
<p class='c000'>The cow stalls ran all along the other side
of the barn. Denno took us in, for Mrs. Denville
was rather nervous.</p>
<p class='c000'>“They wouldn't hurt you, ma'am,” he
said; “still, if you're frightened, don't go
too close.”</p>
<p class='c000'>“This is Miss Molly,” he said, pointing to
a fine red cow who had a chain round her
neck, and was having a good feed of something
from a box. “She is no particular
breed, but a grand milker. This is a Jersey,”
and he passed to the next stall.</p>
<p class='c000'><span class='pageno' id='Page_212'>212</span>“Oh, what eyes, mamma,” murmured
Mary, “what eyes.”</p>
<p class='c000'>The cow had eyes like big brown ponds.
They were beautiful country eyes, and she
turned them on us in a calm and deliberate
way.</p>
<p class='c000'>We were walking behind the cows, but this
one seemed so gentle that Mrs. Denville
stepped forward, and glanced in her manger.
“What is she licking in there?”</p>
<p class='c000'>“Rock salt, ma'am,” said Denno. “They
all have a big lump, and they set great store
by it.”</p>
<p class='c000'>There were six or seven more cows, all
sleek, fat and clean.</p>
<p class='c000'>“Do you groom them the way you do the
horses?” asked Mrs. Denville.</p>
<p class='c000'>“Yes, ma'am, but not so much. We would
if we had time, but this is the busy season,
and we're just jumping.”</p>
<p class='c000'>Mary was giving one of her happy little
shrieks. “Oh! mamma, see what I have
found. I almost stepped on it.”</p>
<p class='c000'>I had seen it before she did. It was a
pretty little red calf tied near one of the
<span class='pageno' id='Page_213'>213</span>cows. Oh! how anxious that cow was about
it.</p>
<p class='c000'>“Is it her baby?” asked Mary.</p>
<p class='c000'>Denno told her that it was.</p>
<p class='c000'>“Then why don't you put it in with her?”
asked my little mistress.</p>
<p class='c000'>“It wouldn't do, little miss. It would be
taking milk all the time. We always keep
the calves tied all day, except a little while
night and morning when they can get all the
milk they like from their mother. But I
guess I'll begin pretty soon to let this calf
out to pasture.”</p>
<p class='c000'>“Are these cows going out to-day?” inquired
Mrs. Denville.</p>
<p class='c000'>“Oh, yes, ma'am. I'm late getting them
milked. A neighbor's son hurt his foot, and
I had to go help attend to it. Usually I milk
by daylight, and get the cows out of the stable.
So-so, bossy,” he went on. Going in beside
the cow he called Miss Molly, he unfastened
her chain, and allowed her to leave her
stall.</p>
<p class='c000'>She immediately went to a kind of trough
at one side of the stable, where there was
<span class='pageno' id='Page_214'>214</span>running water. What a good long drink she
had. Then she leisurely made her way
toward a door in the north side of the barn,
stood for a few seconds in the doorway, as
if, Mrs. Denville said, she were admiring the
magnificent view of the Purple Hills in the
distance.</p>
<p class='c000'>Denno was unloosing the other cows, and
as Miss Molly heard them coming behind her,
she stepped down a sloping walk, and entered
a large green field that stretched away beyond
the river.</p>
<p class='c000'>“I suppose she won't come back till
dark,” said Mrs. Denville.</p>
<p class='c000'>“No, ma'am,” replied Denno, “but she'll
be here then, waiting to get in that door, and
all the other cows with her.”</p>
<p class='c000'>“Don't they ever run away like naughty
children?” asked Mary.</p>
<p class='c000'>“No,” replied the man, “they don't run
away, but sometimes if we are careless about
our fences, they get into the neighbor's pastures.
Usually though, they come right
home. You see they love their stable. Mr.
Gleason keeps them clean and comfortable,
<span class='pageno' id='Page_215'>215</span>and gives them extra feed, and cows know
when they are well off as well as human beings.
They like to sleep in their own beds.
Some of the neighbors have to run all over
their pastures hunting cows at night but we
never do.”</p>
<p class='c000'>“Mamma, what are you laughing at?”
inquired Mary taking her hand.</p>
<p class='c000'>Mrs. Denville's face was very much
amused. “I was just thinking, Mary,” she
said, “how many points of similarity there
are between human beings, and the lower
order of animals. These cows are just like
us in one respect. They like a quiet, happy
home. You remember what an unhappy
household there is next us in Boston. The
mother delicate and fretful, the servants unruly,
the master of the house a tyrant. Their
sons hate to come home. I have seen them
entering the front door late in the evening
with a regretful air, as if they were saying,
“I wish I did not have to spend the night
here—””</p>
<p class='c000'>“And papa just hurries home,” concluded
Mary, as her mother paused with a slight
<span class='pageno' id='Page_216'>216</span>frown, as if to say, “I should not be talking
about my neighbors.”</p>
<p class='c000'>“How large is the pasture?” asked Mrs.
Denville hurriedly of the young man, and as
she spoke, she walked to the open door.</p>
<p class='c000'>“It goes across the river, and away back
of that wood, ma'am. You can't see the
cows when they are at the further end of
it.”</p>
<p class='c000'>“I should like to walk back there,” said
Mrs. Denville. “Would it be too far for you,
Mary?”</p>
<p class='c000'>“Oh, no, mamma,” said my little mistress,
but just as we were about to step out through
the doorway, Denno said, “Don't you want
to look at the oxen, ma'am?”</p>
<p class='c000'>“Yes, indeed,” replied Mrs. Denville, and
she went back into the stable.</p>
<p class='c000'>Denno proudly opened a half-door that led
into a very large stall. There were two
enormous creatures in there, and I was quite
frightened of them.</p>
<p class='c000'>“Are they cows?” asked Mary in an
awed voice.</p>
<p class='c000'>“No, oxen,” replied her mother. “They
<span class='pageno' id='Page_217'>217</span>do the work of horses. Are you going to
let them out, Denno?”</p>
<p class='c000'>“Yes, ma'am. They go to pasture days
that we are not working them.”</p>
<p class='c000'>Mrs. Denville and Mary drew up very close
in one of the vacant cow stalls, and Denno
let out the big animals.</p>
<p class='c000'>They were beauties, dark red with fine
large eyes and big horns. They gave us a
calm, steady look as they passed by, then
they too went on out into the sunshine.</p>
<p class='c000'>As soon as they disappeared, Denno
seized a big broom and began to sweep and
tidy the stable, so that the cows would find
it in order when they came home at night.</p>
<p class='c000'>Mrs. Denville and Mary went out-of-doors,
and I, of course, followed them.</p>
<p class='c000'>Beyond the big barn was what Mr. Gleason
called his young orchard. Young, I suppose,
because the trees were small, and just
on the edge of this orchard stood a red building
having many windows.</p>
<p class='c000'>“It looks like a hen-house,” said Mrs.
Denville, “let us go and see.”</p>
<p class='c000'>We walked toward it, found ourselves confronted
<span class='pageno' id='Page_218'>218</span>by a wooden fence that bounded the
pasture. I easily went under it, and after a
little searching, Mrs. Denville found a gate.
She and Mary went through, then we approached
the little building and looked
in.</p>
<p class='c000'>The door was wide open. Inside, there
were plastered walls and ceiling and a number
of perches. It was as clean as wax, and
if it had not been for the perches, if we had
seen tables and chairs, I should have said it
was some little house for human beings. I
am sure many poor people in cities have not
a home as snug as Farmer Gleason's hens
have.</p>
<p class='c000'>The windows were open, and the whole
place was as quiet as—well, as quiet as the
rest of the things in the country. The floor
was covered with grass sods, and Mrs. Denville
stepping softly in asked, “Is there any
one at home?”</p>
<p class='c000'>“Ka, ka, ka,” said a demure voice.</p>
<p class='c000'>“Oh! the nest boxes,” remarked Mrs.
Denville in a voice equally demure, and she
approached the wall where there were fastened
<span class='pageno' id='Page_219'>219</span>up some rows of things that I did not
understand.</p>
<p class='c000'>It seems they were nest boxes. I crept
closely after Mrs. Denville, then, as I could
not see, I sprang on the rack of perches.</p>
<p class='c000'>Oh! how cunning! There in that nice
roomy nest, on a clean straw bed, sat a fat
gray hen with a red comb and the quaintest
air in the world.</p>
<p class='c000'>“She is likely sitting on eggs,” said Mrs.
Denville, “hens are shy at such times. We
must not frighten her.”</p>
<p class='c000'>“Oh, mamma,” exclaimed Mary, “I must
stroke her,” and she reached out one cautious
finger.</p>
<p class='c000'>“Be careful,” said her mother, but her
caution was not needed. The hen was evidently
a great pet, for she only pecked kindly
at Mary's finger, and said again gently,
“Ka! Ka! Ka!”</p>
<p class='c000'>“I wonder how many eggs she has,” continued
Mrs. Denville, and she gently pushed
the hen on one side.</p>
<p class='c000'>The gray biddy, far from resenting this
familiarity, agreeably stepped off the nest,
<span class='pageno' id='Page_220'>220</span>said very loudly a number of times, “Ka!
Ka! Ka!” and went up to a dish of water
where she took a great many drinks.</p>
<p class='c000'>Little Mary was squealing with delight.
There was one new-laid egg in the nest beside
a china nest egg.</p>
<p class='c000'>“May I have it? May I have it?” she
cried, and Mrs. Denville said, “Certainly, if
you will explain to Mrs. Gleason how you got
it.”</p>
<p class='c000'>“Why, here are more nest eggs,” said
Mrs. Denville, and she examined the other
boxes, “and quite a number of eggs. We
must get a basket, and come up here for the
fresh eggs every day. It will amuse you,
Mary, and save Mrs. Gleason trouble.”</p>
<p class='c000'>The gray hen after drinking all she wished,
had taken to cackling.</p>
<p class='c000'>“Poor biddy, biddy,” said Mrs. Denville
in a clear voice, “Mary and I will bring you
up some food.”</p>
<p class='c000'>The moment she made that promise, she
had more claimants on her favor. I never
saw anything more funny than the way in
which more hens arrived after she raised her
<span class='pageno' id='Page_221'>221</span>voice. They seemed actually to spring out
of the earth, and little Mary squealed with
delight.</p>
<p class='c000'>First of all, a big, white rooster came running
round the corner of the hen-house, his
legs just sticking out behind him. He drew
up quickly when he saw Mrs. Denville, as if
to say, “Why, here is a stranger, what are
you calling us for?” Then, as if persuaded
that she had something for him, he glanced
over his shoulder, and called to the hens,
“Kut, kut, ka, da dee. Come on, girls, there
is nothing to be afraid of.”</p>
<p class='c000'>The girls came cackling, running, complaining,
and pushing for front places.</p>
<p class='c000'>Mary was very much disappointed to think
that she had nothing for them. Mrs. Denville,
however, found a little mixed grain covered
up in a box and this she gave to Mary.</p>
<p class='c000'>Oh! how tame those hens were. They
crowded round my little mistress, and ate
from her hand, and I nearly collapsed with
laughter as I listened to their talk. Mary
and her mother could not understand them,
but I did.</p>
<p class='c000'><span class='pageno' id='Page_222'>222</span>“Kut, kut, girls,” said the rooster, “these
strangers have good faces. Must be some
relation to the Gleasons. Don't be frightened,
girls. Stuff yourselves all you can.
We don't get much grain these days since
we are allowed to run in the orchard. A little
corn sits well on the angleworms in the crop.
Hurry up, girls, the sun is getting high, there
are lots of eggs to be laid.”</p>
<p class='c000'>Then the hens would answer him. “Ka,
ka, the Leghorn is pushing me. I can't get at
the little girl's hand. It is a small hand anyway.
That Plymouth Rock just pecked
me—I've got a horse mane oat in my throat—it's
stuck fast, let me to the water dish.
I don't like these strangers much. I wish the
children would come home. Some one pulled
my tail—I say, it's mean to push.”</p>
<p class='c000'>Then the rooster would settle their differences,
stepping very high and going gravely
from one to another. I don't know much
about hens. I never had any chance to study
them in Boston, but I easily saw that this
rooster was a good fowl. He was vain, that
was his one fault. Mrs. Denville told Mary
<span class='pageno' id='Page_223'>223</span>that he was a white Wyandotte, and a very
handsome creature.</p>
<p class='c000'>He understood her, and after that he was
so proud that he could not eat. He just
strutted. “Do they see my legs, girls?” he
chuckled in his throat to the hens, “do they
see my nice fine legs, and the big spurs just
like a gamecock's? Oh, I hope they will
notice my legs. It is all very well to praise
my body, but I am very proud of these nice
clean feet. Not a scale on them. Listen,
girls, they're giving me more praise. Oh!
isn't it lovely. I am so happy I can't eat. I
wish my comb hadn't got frost-bitten last
winter. It has marred its beauty just a little
bit. Oh, girls, this is a proud day for your
lord and master, when ladies from Boston
give him such delicious taffy.”</p>
<p class='c000'>I had to laugh myself to hear him. Mary
was perfectly convulsed, though she did not
understand him as I did, and had to guess
at his meaning.</p>
<p class='c000'>He had a good business head too, for the
instant that the grain was gone, he made his
hens follow him to the orchard.</p>
<p class='c000'><span class='pageno' id='Page_224'>224</span>“Not the meadow, girls,” he said sharply,
as some of them seemed inclined to rebel and
go down by the river. “Didn't I tell you you
must give the grubs a rest there for a while?
Follow me to the orchard,” and he strutted
along, and pecked, and clucked, and looked
after them till they all went meekly after him.
Then we saw him in the distance, scratching
for worms, calling his girls and giving them
everything he found. I did not see him eat
once while we were watching.</p>
<p class='c000'>Oh! what a good walk we had, after the
hens left us. Mrs. Denville with Mary hanging
on her arm, sauntered down the gentle
hillside to the meadow. There we came to
the river, and Mary took time to strip off her
shoes and stockings, and paddle in it.</p>
<p class='c000'>There were willows and alders growing all
along the edge of it. Mrs. Denville said the
farmer had planted them there to keep the
watercourse from changing, then there were
small things, peppermint, spearmint, and
goldenrod, which Mrs. Denville said would
blossom toward autumn, and wild hop vines,
and little Mary brushing in among them,
<span class='pageno' id='Page_225'>225</span>bruised the leaves which filled the air with
perfume.</p>
<p class='c000'>After she had got tired of paddling in the
water, she put on her shoes and stockings,
and we went over a foot-bridge, and across
another meadow, then up through an orchard
of pear trees and across a field of winter rye,
and then—then into the most beautiful wood
I have ever seen.</p>
<p class='c000'>It was not like the parks about Boston,
lovely as they are. They have a calm, cultivated
air. This wood in Farmer Gleason's
land is wild. Things grow any way they
like. First are the tall pine trees. I felt
myself such a very little cat as I stared up
at their long, straight trunks, and their green
heads away up, up against the blue sky.
What happy trees to be so very far up in
the air! It must be the next best thing to
flying.</p>
<p class='c000'>Under the pines, were shorter trees, some
with big leaves—hardwood trees, but
mostly spruces and firs, shorter and more
stubby growths. They were all lovely, anyway,
then under them, spread huckleberry
<span class='pageno' id='Page_226'>226</span>and blueberry bushes. What crops we shall
have later, for we saw thousands and millions
of little berries forming.</p>
<p class='c000'>In one place, we saw a cranberry bog. I
stepped on it, and found it very soft for my
feet, softer than the softest carpet in the
Denvilles' house in Boston. The earth
seemed to be spongy underneath, then there
was moss, and then the pretty trailing vines
of cranberry.</p>
<p class='c000'>I am very fond of turkey with a suspicion
of cranberry sauce. I hope the farmer's
wife will give us some.</p>
<p class='c000'>Well, we stayed in that wood till dinner
time, for here dinner is at twelve. Mrs. Denville
and Mary took off their hats, and sat
down with their backs against the same tree
trunk, and they ate the strong, sweet wintergreen
leaves and talked about the beauties of
nature, and then they went to sleep, and only
woke when a dismal sound came faintly to us.</p>
<p class='c000'>Mrs. Denville sprang up. She said she
thought she was in a steamer, and the foghorn
was blowing. Then she remembered
that country people blew a horn for meals,
<span class='pageno' id='Page_227'>227</span>so she took her little daughter by the hand,
and they both walked slowly back to the
house.</p>
<p class='c000'>We had a very odd dinner. “Pork and
beans,” Mrs. Gleason called it. It tasted
very nice here, but I have a feeling that I
wouldn't like it in the city. The farmer says
it is very “hearty,” and he has a good deal
of it as the haying season approaches.</p>
<p class='c000'>Well, I must go to sleep. I am tired of reviewing
the events of this day, pleasant as
they have mostly been. If it weren't for
Serena, I should not have a worry to-night.</p>
<div class='chapter'>
<span class='pageno' id='Page_228'>228</span>
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