The Gray Goose's Story Part 4

"I'll hunt for my own frogs, thank you," Mrs. Goose replied as she straightened herself up angrily. "I never yet have asked others to find food for me, and I hope I don't live simply for the sake of eating, as does Mrs. Wild Goose, who visited us not long ago."

Mr. Gander gazed at Mrs. Gray Goose sadly; but she refused even to look at him, and after a time he waddled slowly away, stopping now and then to snap at a gra.s.shopper that jumped over his head.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Mrs. Gray Goose is Angry.]

MRS. WILD GOOSE'S VISIT.

"What about Mrs. Wild Goose making you a visit?" Aunt Amy asked, when she and the gray goose were alone once more.

"It isn't what you might really call a story," Mrs. Goose replied. "I only spoke of it to remind Mr. Gander how he himself talked about those who think only of what can be eaten. Not more than a month ago Mrs. Wild Goose flew down into our yard, and one would have thought that she owned the entire farm, to hear her talk.

"'This seems to be quite a comfortable place,' she said, walking around and poking her bill into every corner before she had spoken to any of us. 'I have seen better yards, of course; but a goose who has traveled as much as I have, learns to make the best of everything. It looks as if Mr. Man gave you all you wanted to eat.'

"'So he does,' Mr. Dorking Rooster said, and we have nothing to do but enjoy ourselves.'

"'Indeed!' Mrs. Wild Goose cried. 'Then I'll stay right here. The doctor says I mustn't move around very much, and the climate seems to agree with me.'

"Well, she was the greediest goose I ever saw. She would gobble up fully half of all the food that was brought into the yard, before one of us had time to swallow a single mouthful, and it did seem as if she couldn't get enough. Even Mr. Gander, who has just shown how greedy he can be, said that it really made him feel faint to see her show of gluttony.

"When Mrs. Wild Goose had been with us about two weeks, Betty, the housemaid, came into the yard with a cloth over her head, and a big ap.r.o.n on. All of us who lived there knew what it meant, and ran for dear life, with Mrs. Wild Goose at our heels, as she shrieked:

"'What is she going to do?'

"'She's going to pull out our feathers with which to stuff pillows and beds for Mr. Man to sleep on,' Mr. Gander said.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Mrs. Wild Goose Goes Away in a Hurry.]

"Dear me, dear me, I never will put up with such treatment as that! I only came here for a change of air and food, and couldn't think of parting with my feathers!'

"Then, without stopping to thank us for the pleasant visit, off she flew to find another place where she could make a glutton of herself without having to pay or work. Some birds seem to think, as did Mrs. Pea-Hen, that they have nothing to do in this world but enjoy themselves; but I've lived long enough to know that we must do our full share of the work, if we want to take part in the play."

"What did Mrs. Pea-Hen believe," your Aunt Amy asked, and Mrs. Gray Goose replied:

WHEN MRS. PEA-HEN ABANDONED THE ORPHANS.

"She always has looked, and always will look first after her own comfort or pleasure, no matter how much others may suffer. Any other bird on this farm would have been so ashamed, after doing what Mrs. Pea-Hen has, that she'd never hold up her head again, and what I'm going to tell you isn't the first selfish thing she has done.

"About four weeks ago Mrs. Pea-Hen made a great fuss over wanting to bring up a family, and began to set on anything and everything she could find that looked like an egg. Well, Mr. Man made a nice nest for her, and put in it thirteen white eggs. No hen could have asked for a better place in which to show what she was able to do, and whenever any of us went to call on her, Mrs. Pea-Hen had a great deal to say about what she would do when her family came out of the sh.e.l.ls.

"I can't deny but that she sat there faithfully, and took proper care of the eggs, and, of course, out came thirteen as pretty little chickens as you could want to see. Mrs. Pea-Hen seemed to be real proud because she had so many babies, and after the last one was hatched she called all of them out for a walk.

"They came from the nest with considerable noise, such as all youngsters make, and no sooner did she hear the first peep than Mrs. Pea-Hen turned around like a flash, looking at first one and then another until she had seen the whole brood.

"'Why, they are nothing but ordinary chickens!' she cried, and off she walked, paying no heed to the poor little things when they called after her for something to eat.

"'Are you going away and leave those dear little babies with no one to care for them?' Mamma Speckle asked angrily, and Mrs. Pea-Hen replied, as if to say she didn't allow any one to meddle with her family affairs:

"'Of course I am! Do you suppose a fowl of my standing in society would spend her time looking after a lot of common chickens?'

[Ill.u.s.tration: The Hard-Hearted Mrs. Pea-Hen.]

"'But they'll starve to death!' Mamma Speckle cried, as if she was almost heart-broken.

"'That's no concern of mine. Mr. Man made me believe they were my own eggs, else I'd never sat on them a single hour,' Mrs. Pea-Hen said, as she kept on walking away with never a look at the poor little babies, and Mamma Speckle called after her:

"'You was so crazy to set that you would have tried to hatch out a nest full of stones, if you couldn't have found anything better!'

"Mrs. Pea-Hen tried to act as if she didn't hear what Mamma Speckle said; but she couldn't help it, for you know how loud the speckled hen talks. She never paid any attention to the babies, though, and the other fowls took care of them as best they could with babies of their own."

ALICE QUESTIONS MR. TURTLE.

"Say, of course you know a good deal more than any bird or animal on this farm, and I do wish you would tell me how long Mr. Turtle has lived?"

That was a question which your Aunt Amy could not answer, and when she said as much, Mrs. Goose continued:

"He claims to be very, very old, and to hear the stories he tells you'd think he had lived in every part of the world. He started a kind of a show last week, and calls it a 'zoo,' whatever that may be. A lot of birds and animals sit around to show themselves, and say it is a 'wonderful exhibition.' Mr. Man's little girl Alice was out walking with her doll yesterday, and saw Mr. Turtle near the old maple tree selling tickets for the 'zoo.' This is what Mr. Crow declares she said to the old fellow:

"They tell me, Mr. Turtle, you Were born long years ago-- Five hundred years, the doctor says, And doctors ought to know.

"He says that every year you live A scientist can tell Because each birthday leaves a mark Upon your rusty sh.e.l.l.

"I've lots and lots of questions, then, To ask if you're so old, And if you will not answer them, Please do not think me bold.

"In fourteen ninety-two, when Chris Columbus westward sailed, When he discovered Yankeeland, Was he, then, later jailed?

"Did Shakespeare write those dramas old, Or did Lord Bacon's pen?

When Joan rambled in Lorraine, Were you out crawling then?

"You must have known the virgin queen, And known Sir Walter, too; You've heard that story of the ring, What really did she do?

[Ill.u.s.tration: Alice and Mr. Turtle.]

"Did Pocahontas save the life Of Captain Smith that day?

Did Cromwell take the reins of State, As all the school-books say?

"Did Was.h.i.+ngton cut down the tree That time in early May, And say 'I cannot tell a lie?'

Now answer me I pray."