what a hot, drowsy afternoon it was.
the blazing sun shone with such a glare upon the farmyard that it was almost unbearable, and there was not a vestige of grass or any green thing to relieve the eye or cast a little shade.
but the fowls in the back yard were not disturbed by the heat the least bit in the world, for they had plenty of time in which to doze, and they were fond of taking a siesta in the hottest place that could be found. certainly the hottest place that afternoon, by far, was the yard in which they reposed.
there were five of them—a cock and four hens. two of the hens were renowned throughout the whole village, for they wore tufts of feathers on their heads instead of the usual red combs; and the cock was very proud of having such distinguished-looking wives.
besides which, he was naturally a very stately bird himself in appearance, and had a splendid blackish-green tail and a golden speckled hackle, which shone and glistened in the sun. he had also won many sharp battles with certain young cocks in the neighbourhood, whom curiosity about the tufted foreigners had attracted to the yard. the consequence of these triumphs was that he held undisputed dominion as far as the second fence from the farmyard, and whenever he shut his eyes and sounded his war-clarion, the whole of his rivals made off as fast as wings and legs could carry them.
so the five sat or stood by themselves in the yard, dozing in the sunshine, and they felt bored.
during the middle of the day they had managed to get some winks of sleep, but now the farmer's men began to thresh in a barn close by, making noise enough to wake the dead, so there was small chance of well-organized fowls being able to sleep through the din.
"i wish some one would tell a story," said one of the common hens, as she ruffled all her feathers up on end, and then shook them straight again, for coolness. "i am tired of scrabbling in the dust, and fly-catching is an amusement only suited to sparrows and such vulgar birds."
this was a hit at one of the foreign hens, who had wandered away a little and was pecking at flies on the wall. the two common hens were very fond of vexing the foreign ones, for their feelings were hurt at being reckoned less beautiful and rare.
the tufted fair one heard the remark, and called out spitefully from a distance: "if certain people were not ignorant country bumpkins, they would be able to tell a good story themselves."
"that remark can't apply to me, for i know a great number of stories," replied the common hen, turning her head on one side to show her contempt. "for instance: once upon a time there was a hen who laid nothing but soft-shelled eggs—"
"you can't mean me by that story," said the tufted one, "for i have only laid one soft-shelled egg in my whole life. so there! but do tell me how your interesting story ends—i am so anxious to hear the end."
"you know that best yourself," retorted the other.
"now i'm sure, dear father cock, you could tell us something really amusing if you would be so kind," said the second common hen, who was standing near him. "those two make one's life a burthen, with their everlasting wrangling and bickering."
"hush!" said the cock, who was standing motionless with one leg in the air, an attitude he often assumed when any very hard thinking had to be done; "i was just trying to recollect one."
after a pause, he said in a solemn voice: "i will tell you the terrible tale of the troubles of 'the hens of hencastle.'
"once upon a time—it was the village fair week, when, as you know, every one eats and drinks as much as he possibly can, and consequently a great many animals are killed,—the farmer's cook came into the fowlyard, and after carefully looking over all the chickens, remarked that seven of them would be twisting merrily on the spit next morning. on hearing this, all the fowls were plunged into the deepest despair, for no one felt sure that he would not be of the seven, and no one could guess how the victims would be chosen. two young cockerels, in their deep perplexity, at last went to the yard-dog, flaps by name, who was a very great friend of theirs, and to him they cackled out their woes.
"'why do you stop here?' asked flaps. 'if you had any pluck at all you would run away.'
"'ah! perhaps so—but who has enough courage for such a desperate step?' sighed the young cockerels. 'why, you yourself are no more courageous than we, else why do you stop here chained up all day, and allow those tiresome children to come and tease you?'
"'well,' replied the dog, 'i earn a good livelihood by putting up with these small discomforts, and besides that, i am not going to be set twisting on a spit. however, if you particularly wish it, we can go away somewhere together; but if we do, i may as well tell you at once, that you will have to feed me.'
"the cockerels, fired by this bold advice, betook themselves at once to the henroost with the courage of young lions; and after a short but animated discussion, persuaded the whole of the cocks and hens to run away and to take flaps as protector of the community.
"when darkness fell, the dog was unchained for the night as usual, and as soon as the coast seemed clear, he went to the henhouse, pushed back the sliding door with his nose, and let them all out.
"then he and the whole company stole away as quietly as possible through the yard-gate, away out into the open country.
"the fowls flew and wandered on, the livelong night, perfectly happy in their freedom, and feeding themselves from the sheaves of corn that stood in the stubble-fields.
"whenever flaps felt hungry, the hens laid him a couple of eggs or so which he found far nicer than barley-meal and dog-biscuit.
"when they passed through thinly-populated places where they were not likely to be observed, they marched gaily forward; but whenever there was a chance of danger, they only travelled by night.
"meanwhile the cook went early in the morning to kill the chickens; but on finding the whole place as empty as mother hubbard's cupboard, she fell into a violent fit of hysterics, and the kitchen-maid and pig-boy had to put her under the pump, and work it hard for a quarter of an hour before they could revive her.
"after some days' journeying, the wanderers arrived at a large desolate-looking heath, in the middle of which stood an old weather-beaten house, apparently uninhabited. flaps was sent forward to examine it, and he searched from garret to cellar without finding a trace of a human being. the fowls then examined the neighbourhood for two whole days and nights with a like result, and so they determined to take up their abode in the dwelling.
"in they trooped, and set themselves to work to turn it into a strong castle, well fortified against all danger. they stopped up the holes and cracks with tufts of grass, and piled a wall of big and little stones right round the house. when the repairs were completed they called it hencastle.
"during the autumn some of the fowls ventured forth into the cornfields that lay near the haunts of men, and collected a store of grain to supply them with food during the winter. they kept it on the floor of a loft, and when spring came they sowed the remainder of the stock in a field, where it produced such an abundant crop that they had plenty of provisions for the following winter.
"thus they lived a peaceful and happy life, which was so uneventful that it has no history; and mark, the watchman, who always stood on the coping-stone of the highest chimney to act as sentinel, used constantly to fall asleep, partly from sheer boredom, and partly from the combined effects of old age, good living, and having nothing on earth to do. flaps, too, who had undertaken to guard the castle against intruders, and who at first used to patrol the house carefully inside and out every night, soon came to the conclusion that the game was not worth the candle.
"one chilly evening, about the time of the first snows, when the wind was beginning to whistle over the heath and make strange noises in the castle, two old hens were up in the loft having a chat and picking up a few stray grains of corn for supper. all of a sudden they heard a mysterious 'piep.' 'hollo!' said one, 'what's that? no one can be hatching out at this time of the year—it's impossible; yet surely something said "piep" down there in the corner.'
"just then another 'piep' was heard.
"'i don't think it sounds quite like a young chicken,' replied the other hen.
"in the middle of their discussion on this knotty point, they descried a couple of mice at the edge of the corn-heap. one of them was sitting on his hind-legs, washing his ears and whiskers with his fore-paws, but his wife was gobbling up corn at a rapid rate, and in this sight the wise and far-seeing old hens discerned the probability of future troubles.
"'hollo there! that's our corn,' they cried; 'you mustn't steal it. of course you may have a few grains in the depth of winter to keep you from starving; but remember, when spring comes again, this sort of thing must stop, and you must go away and never come here any more.'
"'piep,' said the mice, and vanished.
"the two hens told the rest what had happened, but nobody troubled themselves about such an insignificant matter, and some said that the poor old things made mountains out of molehills. anyhow, in two days everybody, including the wise hens themselves, had forgotten all about it. later on, that winter, the mice had seven young ones—seven such skinny, thread-limbed, beady-eyed little beasts that no one noticed their arrival.
"very soon after, almost before any hen had time to look round or think, behold! mice were squeaking in every corner, and there were holes behind every wainscot, plank, and rafter.
"a year passed away, and when winter returned again the mice came and took the stored corn away in such quantities that everybody saw none would be left to sow in the spring.
"matters had come to a crisis; many and anxious discussions were held amongst the fowls, for good counsel was a thing much sought after at hencastle.
"at first they took very energetic measures, and many a mouse fell a victim to a well-aimed peck from a cock's beak; but alas! the mice took energetic measures also, and resisted to the death, so that many a fowl's leg was bitten to the bone. much had been said, and much was done, but the mice were more numerous than before.
"the commonwealth then decided on sending three experienced cocks out into the world, to try and find some means for getting rid of the plague of mice.
"the cocks journeyed for one whole day without finding anything to help them in their trouble, but towards evening they came to a wild, rocky mountainside, full of caves and clefts, and made up their minds to stay there for the night; so they crept into a hole under a ledge of rock, put their heads under their wings, and went to sleep.
"in the middle of the night they were roused by the sound of flapping wings, followed by a whispering voice, saying, 'whish—ish,' which soon broke out into a loud 'whoo—hoo! whoo—hoo!' they popped their heads out of the hole to see what was the matter, and they perceived a great owl sitting on a stump, flapping its wings up and down, and rolling its great round eyes about, which glared like red-hot coals in its head.
"'mice here! mice here! whoo—hoo!' it shrieked.
"on hearing this the cocks nudged one another, and said, 'we are in luck's way at last.' then as the owl still continued to call for mice, one of them plucked up courage and addressed it: 'if you will only come with us, sir, you shall have as many mice as you can eat—a whole house-full, if you like.'
"'who may you be?' hissed the owl, and glared with its fiery eyes into the cleft.
"'we come from hencastle, where there are hundreds of mice, who devour our corn day and night.
"'whoo—hoo! i'll come, i'll come,' screamed the owl, snapping its beak with pleasure.
"in the grey of the dawn the fowls sat on the roof-tree, listening to mark, the watchman, who stood on the top of, his chimney, and cried,
"'what do i see?
here come the three!
and with them, i reckon,
a bird with no neck on.'
"thereupon the owl and the three messengers flew up with a rush to the top of the castle.
"'ha! ha! i smell mice,' shrieked the new comer, and dashed through a hole in the roof, from whence it shortly reappeared with a mouse in its claws.
"this sight filled all the fowls with joy; and as they sat on the edge of the roof in a row, they nudged each other, and remarked,
"'this has indeed been a happy venture.'
"for a few days everything went as smoothly as possible, but after a time the mice began to find out that the owl could only see really well at night, that it saw badly by day, and hardly at all when the midday sun was shining through the window into the loft. so they only came out at noon, and then dragged enough corn away into their holes to last them till the following day.
"one night the owl did not catch a single mouse, and so, being very hungry, drove its beak into some hen's eggs that lay in a corner, and ate them. finding them more to its taste than the fattest mouse, and much less trouble to catch, henceforth the owl gave up mouse-hunting, and took to egg-poaching. this the fowls presently discovered, and the three wise cocks were sent to tell the owl to go away, as it was no longer of use to anybody, for it never caught mice but only ate eggs.
"'whoo—hoo! whoo—hoo! more eggs—give me more eggs, or i'll scratch your eyes out,' shrieked the owl, and began to whet its beak on a beam in such a savage manner that the three cocks fled in terror to the top of the chimney.
"having somewhat recovered from their alarm, they went down and told flaps, who was basking in the sunshine, that the owl must be got rid of.
"'what, are all the mice eaten, then?' inquired he.
"'alas!' answered one of the cocks, 'the brute will eat nothing but eggs now, and threatens to scratch our eyes out if we don't supply as many more as it wants.'
"'wait till noonday,' said the dog, 'and i'll soon bring the rascal to reason.'
"at twelve o'clock flaps quietly pushed the door open and went up into the loft. there sat the old owl winking and blinking in a corner.
"'so you are the robber who is going to scratch people's eyes out,' said flaps. 'for this you must die!'
"'that remains to be seen,' sneered the owl; 'but eyes i will have, and dogs' eyes too!' and with that it swooped down upon flaps' head; but the old dog seized the bird between his teeth and killed it, though not before one of his own eyes had been scratched out in the struggle.
"'no matter,' said flaps; 'i've done my duty, at any rate, and i don't know why i should want more than one eye to see with;' and so saying, he went back to his post.
"the fowls made a great feast, which lasted the whole day, to celebrate the owl's death.
"but the mice remained in the castle, and continued to increase and multiply. so the three wise cocks had to go forth on a second voyage of discovery, in order to try and find a remedy against the intruders.
"they flew on for a night and a day without any result; but towards morning, on the second day, they alighted to rest in a thick wood, and there, in one of the forest glades, just as the sun was rising, they saw a red-coated animal watching a mouse-hole. it was a fox, who had come out to find something for breakfast. they soon saw him catch a mouse and eat it, and then heard him say, 'heaven be praised for small mercies! i have managed to secure a light breakfast at last, though i've been hunting all night in vain.'
"'do you hear that?' said one of the messengers. 'he considers himself very lucky to have caught a single mouse. that's the sort of animal we want.'
"so the cock called down from the tree—'i say! below there! mr. mouse-eater! you can have a whole loft-full of such long-tailed vermin as that, if you will come with us. but you must first solemnly swear that you will never eat eggs instead of mice.'
"'nothing on earth shall ever tempt me to touch an egg. i swear it most solemnly,' said the fox, staring up into the tree. 'but whence do you come, my worthy masters?'
"'we live at hencastle, but no one knows where that is except the mice, who eat us out of house and home.'
"'you don't say so,' said the fox from below, licking his lips. 'and are there many more such handsome, magnificent birds as you are, at hencastle?'
"'why, of course, the whole place is full of them.'
"'then i'll come with you,' said the fox, lowering his eyes, lest the cocks should discern the hungry look in them. 'and if there are a thousand mice in the loft, they shall all soon lick the dust. ah! you don't know what delicious dainties such—mice—are.'
"this time the fowls had to wait till evening before they heard mark, the watchman, crowing from his chimney, and calling forth,
"'here come the three!
but what do i see?
why, the friend that they bring
is a four-legged thing.'
"when the fox got to the outer wall, he sniffed about uneasily and said,
"'i smell a dog, and i am not fond of the race, nor do they as a rule like me.'
"'you need not be alarmed,' replied the cocks; 'there is only one of them here—our friend mr. flaps,—and he is always stationed outside the castle; besides, he is just as glad as we are that you have come to kill the mice.'
"but in spite of this assurance, the fox did not at all like the idea of going in past flaps, who stood at the door, showing his teeth, and with the hair down his back standing on end; but at last, catching sight of a number of plump young chickens looking out at a window, reynard could resist no longer, and with his mouth watering in anxiety to be among them, he slipped past flaps like lightning, and scampered up into the loft. once there, he behaved so affably to the fowls, and especially to some of the oldest and most influential hens, that very soon every one looked on him as their friend in time of need, and their enthusiasm was brought to a climax when they saw him catch four mice in half as many minutes.
"in the dead of the night, when all were asleep, reynard crept up to where the fowls roosted, and finding out where the youngest and fattest were perched, he snapped off the heads of a couple before they had even time to flutter a feather. he then carried them to the window, opened it very gently, dropped the dead bodies out on to the ground beneath, and then sped away down to the house-door and bolted it.
"when he had done this, he returned to the old hens and woke them by groaning in such a heartbreaking manner, that all the fowls crowded round him to know what was amiss.
"'alas!' cried he, 'it has been my sad lot to witness a most fearful sight. that dog whom you keep down below to guard the house slipped in at the door, and going to the corner where the lovely young chickens roost, quicker than thought killed two that were more beautiful than angels. i was chasing a mouse under the stairs at the time, and happened to come up just as the dreadful deed was done, and i saw the robber making off with his booty. only come with me a minute, and you shall see that i have spoken the truth.'
"he took the scared and frightened fowls to the window, and when they looked out, they saw to their horror their guardian flaps sniffing at the dead bodies on the ground outside.
"'who would have thought it!' said the hens, in an awe-stricken whisper.
"'you may thank me,' said the fox, 'for my presence of mind in bolting the house-door when he ran out, or no one knows how many more he would have killed! if you will take my advice, you will send him about his business; and if you will put me in his place, i can assure you that you shall be protected in quite another manner.'
"'hi! open the door,' cried flaps, who saw something was wrong; 'you've got another king stork, i'll be bound.' but though he rattled and shook the door, no one unbolted it. 'ah!' sighed flaps, 'before long the whole pack of idiots will be killed and eaten.' so he scratched open an old hole in the wall that had been stopped up, and crept in. he arrived just in time to hear the old hens giving orders that no more eggs were to be given him, and that the door was to be kept bolted, in order that he might be obliged either to leave the place or to starve.
"they were all talking at once, and so eagerly, that no one noticed the dog come up behind them. he gave one spring and seized the fox by the throat. the attack was quite unexpected, but the fox fought, writhed, and wriggled like an eel, and just as he was being borne down, he made one desperate snap, and bit off the dog's ear close to the head.
"'well, my ear is done for, but so is this blood-thirsty villain,' said flaps, looking down at the fox, which lay dead at his feet; 'and as for you, you pack of ungrateful fools, one ear is quite enough to listen to you with. here have i been your faithful comrade for all these years, and yet you believe that i have turned murderer in my old age on the word of this rogue, who did the evil deed himself last night.'
"now that the panic was over, the fowls felt heartily ashamed of themselves for having been deceived by the fox, and done flaps such great injustice. so they all asked his pardon, and the feast which they held to celebrate their deliverance from the fox was even more magnificent than the last, and it went on for two whole days.
"hencastle was en fête for a time, but it was a very short time. for the mice were no less glad than the fowls that their enemy was dead; and now that both he and the owl had disappeared, they came out fearlessly at all hours of the day, and lived a life quite free from trouble and care.
"not so the fowls. what was to be done with the ever-increasing colony of corn-stealers? the more the fowls meditated, the more the mice squeaked and played about, and the more corn they dragged away into their holes. there was even a rumour that some one meddled with the eggs.
"there was nothing for it but to dispatch the three messengers a third time, with directions to be more vigilant and careful than before. away they flew, farther than ever. the first chance of help that arose was from a couple of cats and a kite, who seemed likely to perform the required work, but the cocks declined to accept their aid, feeling that the hencastle had suffered too much already from two-winged and four-legged protectors.
"at length the messengers reached a bit of waste ground close to a village, and there they saw an extremely grimy-looking gipsy sitting on a bank. he knocked the ashes out of his black pipe, and muttered, 'i've the luck of a dog! here am i with a lot of the best mouse-traps in the world, and i haven't sold one this blessed day!'
"'here's luck!' said the wise birds. 'that is exactly the man for us; he is neither two-winged nor four-legged, so he will be quite safe.'
"they flew down at once to the rat-catcher and made their proposition. he laughed softly and pleasantly to himself, and accepted their invitation without any demur, and started at once with a light step and lighter heart for hencastle.
"two days after this, the fowls heard mark, the watchman, crowing away lustily from his chimney-pot,
"'what do i see?
here come the three!
and the black beast they bring
has no tail and no wing.'
"'but,' added the sentinel in less official language, 'he carries a bundle of things that look like little houses made of wire.'
"the gipsy was at once taken up to the loft, and having, luckily, a few scraps of strong-smelling bacon left over from his last night's supper, he struck a light and managed to make a small fire in the long-disused grate with some bits of dry grass and chips. he then frizzled some bacon and baited his traps, and in less than ten minutes he had filled them all, for the mice had never smelt such a delicious thing as fried bacon before, and besides, they were new to the wiles of man.
"the fowls were wild with delight, and in their thankfulness they bethought them of a special mark of favour, and every hen came clucking up to him and laid an egg at his feet.
"for about a week the gipsy did nothing but catch mice and eat eggs; but all things must have an end, and the bacon ran out, just when the gipsy had come to the conclusion that he was heartily sick of egg-diet. being a man of action, he put out his hand suddenly and caught the fattest and nicest young chicken within reach, and promptly wrung its neck.
"oh, what a row there was in the henroost! the cocks began to crow loud enough to split their throats, and the hens to fly about and cackle. the man was nearly deafened, and yelled out at the top of his voice, 'what do you expect, you fools? mice can only be caught with meat, and meat i must and will have too.' he then let them rave on, and quietly and methodically continued to pluck his chicken. when it was ready, he made a fire and began to roast it.
"in the meanwhile, flaps had heard all the noise and outcry, and as it showed no signs of abating, he thought the man was most likely in mischief, so he went into the castle.
"'oh! woe! misery! horror! despair!' cried all the fowls at once as soon as they saw him. 'the murderer has slain young scratchfoot the cock, and is just going to roast him!'
"'you're a dead man,' growled flaps to the rat-catcher, as soon as he got up to the loft.
"'i'm not so sure of that, my fine cur,' said the man, taking hold of the cudgel he had brought with him, and tucking up his sleeves.
"but the brave old dog sprang at him and bit him so severely that he uttered a savage groan, and dealt flaps a heavy blow with his cudgel. this nearly broke the dog's leg and obliged him to relax his hold, on which the gipsy dashed down-stairs and ran away with such speed that flaps on three legs had no chance of overtaking him.
"'wait a bit!' cried the man from afar. 'i'll remember you!' and then his retreating figure became smaller and smaller on the heath until at last it disappeared altogether.
"this time the fowls had no heart for a feast. they sat brooding and moping in rows on the rafters, for they began to see very clearly that it was quite hopeless to try and get rid of the mice.
"poor old flaps, too, was very ill. a good many days elapsed before he could get about, and for years he walked lame on his injured leg.
"one morning as the fowls were listlessly wandering about, wondering what was to happen next, mark, the watchman, was heard crowing away in a very excited manner,
"'what do i see?
twenty and three!'
"'what do you see?' cried they all in a great fright. 'twenty and three what?'
"'an army of soldiers dressed in smock frocks. they are armed with pitchforks, and the black gipsy is their general.'
"the fowls flew up like a cloud to the roof, and sure enough they saw the rat-catcher coming across the heath with a crowd of villagers towards the castle.
"when they broke the doleful news to flaps, he said, 'that scoundrel of a man has betrayed our hiding-place, and we must wander forth again. get ready, and keep up your spirits, and remember that in any case we should not have been able to stay here much longer, on account of the mice.'
"so the hens filled their crops as full as possible, and escaped with flaps out at the back door.
"when the country-folk got to the house, they found nothing in it but a small heap of corn; so they fell upon the gipsy and half killed him for having brought them on a fool's errand. then they divided what little corn there was left, and went away.
"as to the mice they were left to whistle for their food.
"so ends the tale of the hens of hencastle."
"and a very fine tale too," said one of the stranger-hens who had been asleep all the time, and woke up with a jump. "it was deeply interesting." the threshers happened to have stopped to rest for a moment, or she would never have woke at all.
"of course it was!" said the cock, full of dignity; and he shook his feathers straight.
"but what became of the fowls afterwards?" asked one of the common hens.
"i never tell a hen a secret," said the cock; and he strutted off to hunt for worms.
