The Tale of Henrietta Hen | Page 7

flock that laid eggs exactly as big--or even bigger--than Henrietta Hen's. Some of them told her as much. Yet it did them no good to talk to her. She wouldn't believe that there were any eggs in the world to compare with hers. So her neighbors learned after a while that they might as well let Henrietta Hen manage her affairs as she pleased. They couldn't help hoping, however, that somehow Farmer Green would find a way to outwit her.
"What can Henrietta Hen be so boastful about now?" the hens asked one another one day. "She acts as if she thought more highly of herself than ever."
They soon discovered the reason for Henrietta's unusually pompous manner. For she began to make calls on all her friends. And she invited everybody to come to her latest nest high up in the haymow.
"I've something there to show you," she said with an air of mystery. "You'll be surprised to see it."
Most of Henrietta's neighbors did not show any great curiosity to see the surprise. They smiled at one another. "She's laid another egg--that's all!" they whispered.
But there are always some that can't rest until they know everybody else's business. And it was lucky that Henrietta Hen hurried home to receive her callers, because she had a good many. They came even earlier in the afternoon than was strictly fashionable. And they came in a crowd, too. That, however, didn't bother Henrietta Hen. Nor could they have arrived too soon to suit her.
"Look!" she cried, when they reached her nest high up in the haymow. "Did you ever see anything to beat that?"

X
THE BIG, WHITE EGG
When Henrietta Hen's callers crowded about her nest in the haymow they expected to see something wonderful. But when they craned their necks and peered into the little hollowed-out snuggery in the hay they couldn't help being disappointed. And when they didn't burst forth with cries of surprise and praise Henrietta Hen looked quite unhappy.
"I thought," she said, "you'd want to see this egg. I'm sure you never beheld a bigger nor a whiter one than this."
They admitted that the egg was big and that it was very, very white. And if their praise was faint, Henrietta never noticed it.
"Are you going to let Farmer Green have that egg?" one of the company inquired.
"No doubt Johnnie Green will grab it as soon as he finds my nest," said Henrietta with something like a sigh. "If I could only keep this one I wouldn't care how many others he took."
Polly Plymouth Rock turned to old Whitey, a hen who had come with her to the haymow.
"What do you think?" Polly asked. "Is Henrietta in danger of losing this egg that she thinks so much of?"
"She needn't be alarmed," old Whitey answered. "If Johnnie Green robs her of this one, I'll miss my guess."
"Oh! I'm glad to hear you say that!" Henrietta Hen cried. "Now I won't need to worry--that is, if you know what you're talking about."
That, of course, was a most impolite way for Henrietta Hen to speak to anybody of old Whitey's age. Whitey was the oldest hen in the flock. And what she didn't know about such things as nests and eggs and roosts wasn't worth knowing.
Polly Plymouth Rock didn't like Henrietta Hen's remark. She opened her mouth.
And no doubt she would have said something quite sharp in reply. But old Whitey stopped her.
"Never mind!" said Whitey. "The day will come when Henrietta Hen will agree that my guess is a good one."
Still Henrietta Hen felt uneasy about that big, white egg.
"I do hope Johnnie Green won't find this new nest of mine," she remarked.
"If he does, I fear he'll take my beautiful egg away from me."
"Lay another!" said old Whitey. "Lay another and he'll take that and leave this one."
"I suppose I may as well try your scheme," Henrietta replied, "since nobody suggests anything better."
"My idea's a good one, or I'll miss my guess," said old Whitey.
There was some snickering among Henrietta Hen's callers as they bade her good afternoon and left her.
"They're laughing at old Whitey," she said to herself. She hadn't the slightest notion that they could be giggling at her. "Old Whitey must be wrong," she thought. "But I may as well take her advice, for I don't know what else to do."
Not long afterward Henrietta Hen came fluttering down from the haymow, squawking at the top of her lungs for old Whitey. And as soon as she found her, Henrietta cried, "Come up to my nest right away! I want to ask your advice."
Although she didn't say "Please!" old Whitey went with her.
[Illustration: "Come Up to My Nest!" Cried Henrietta Hen. (Page 50)]

XI
OLD WHITEY'S ADVICE
Old Whitey--the most ancient hen in the flock--scrambled with some difficulty up to the top of the