The Tale of Turkey Proudfoot | Page 9

Arthur Scott Bailey
Henrietta Hen: "Gather your chicks and get
them out of the way. There's going to be trouble here."
Henrietta Hen obeyed him without a word. And she had no sooner
shooed her youngsters into the chicken house than Turkey Proudfoot
gave a loud laugh--a somewhat forced, yet loud laugh.
"You're just the sort of bird I like," he told the rooster. "I've been
testing you to see if you were brave. I'm delighted to find that you are.
And I suggest that you and I stand by each other and run things in this
yard to suit ourselves. When folks don't do as I tell them to, you and I
will attend to them."
"Agreed!" cried the rooster. He was greatly flattered. "We'll make the
neighbors step lively." And off he went, to find Henrietta Hen and tell
her how he and Turkey Proudfoot were going to help each other.

"You're even sillier than I supposed," she informed the rooster, to his
great astonishment. He had expected nothing but praise from her.
He left her hurriedly. And he felt quite glum.
"She's just like the whole Hen family," he grumbled. "You never can
tell what they're going to do or what they're going to say. They may
squawk and cross the road; they may cross the road and not squawk;
they may squawk and not cross the road; they may not cross the road
and not squawk. I don't believe they know themselves what they are
going to do next."

XII
MR. CROW'S NEWS
There was no denying that the rooster at Farmer Green's place had
handsome tail feathers. But they were as nothing, compared with
Turkey Proudfoot's. Not only were the rooster's fewer in number; but
he couldn't spread them, fan-fashion.
Mr. Grouse, who lived in the woods, beyond the pasture, could spread
his tail. But he was a much smaller bird than Turkey Proudfoot and his
tail wasn't nearly as big.
Turkey Proudfoot often remarked that he had no rival. To be sure, there
were young gobblers on the farm. But in the matter of tails, Turkey
Proudfoot outshone them all.
Farmer Green once had another turkey cock that bade fair to have as
fine a tail as Turkey Proudfoot's. And for a time this gentleman made
Turkey Proudfoot feel a bit uneasy.
"I'll have to fight him and pull out some of his tail feathers," Turkey
Proudfoot decided.
But on the very day, in the fall, when Turkey Proudfoot intended to

pick a quarrel with this person--and spoil his fatal beauty--he was
missing. And oddly enough, nobody ever saw him around the farmyard
again.
Turkey Proudfoot went so far as to hint that he had scared the fellow
away. Not many believed that that was what happened, however. For
old dog Spot claimed to have seen one of the missing gobbler's wings
hanging in the kitchen of the farmhouse.
"Mrs. Green uses it for a brush," Spot had explained.
When he heard that story Turkey Proudfoot exclaimed, "Nonsense! A
Fox's tail is a brush. But a Turkey's wing is a wing. Old dog Spot
doesn't know what he's talking about. No doubt Mrs. Green has a Fox's
brush hanging up beside her kitchen range."
Still, most of the farmyard folks insisted that the missing gobbler had
met with an accident. Anyhow, the question as to what had become of
him didn't trouble Turkey Proudfoot. The fellow was gone. And there
wasn't another young gobbler on the farm that was likely to have a tail
out of the ordinary. So Turkey Proudfoot was content.
His peace of mind lasted only a few days. He was ranging through the
meadow one morning when he heard a great commotion in the
farmyard. Old Mr. Crow soon came sailing over from the edge of the
woods to see what was the matter. And after a while he went sailing
back again. On his way he stopped to drop down into the meadow and
speak to Turkey Proudfoot.
"You ought to hurry home," Mr. Crow croaked. "Johnnie Green has a
new pet. You ought to see him."
"Johnnie Green's pets don't interest me," Turkey Proudfoot sniffed.
"He's never owned a pet yet that had a tail worth looking at twice. As
for his Guinea Pigs--well, they haven't tails that you could look at even
once. They haven't any tails at all. I must say I don't admire Johnnie
Green's taste in pets," said Turkey Proudfoot.

"Ah! This one is different," Mr. Crow told him with a hoarse laugh.
"When you see his tail you'll fold yours up in a hurry. And you'll never
spread it again."
"Impossible!" cried Turkey Proudfoot. "Impossible!" He was so angry
with Mr. Crow that he couldn't say anything more.
For all that, he strode away towards the farmyard. And
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