As yet only one small family of chickens had come out of their eggs but they were quite enough for Joan to play with. She soon made friends with them and gave them all names. There were: Honeypot, Darkie, Piggy, Fluffy, Cheeky, Dolly and Long-legs. Darkie was rather different from the others; he was a lively little chick with a dark coat and white shirt front. Cheeky was the boldest and most impudent. He would cock his little head on one side and stare at Joan, and he was always the last to run to Mother Hen if anything was the matter.
Dolly found a worm.
Cheeky dashing off with the prize.
Joan never forgot the morning Dolly found a worm. Instead of keeping quiet, the silly chick made such a fuss over it that the others soon found it out. Cheeky was on the spot at once, and before slow Dolly could say a “peep” he had snatched the worm out of her beak and was off. I wonder if you have ever seen a chicken running with a worm; it really is great fun. Joan shouted with delight to see that rascal of a Cheeky dashing off with the prize while poor foolish Dolly only looked on. However, one chick is never allowed to have a worm to himself for long, and soon Fluffy and Darkie were after Cheeky trying hard to get the worm for themselves. Round and round they ran, into the long grass round the food pails, into the corners of the yard and out again, till at last poor Cheeky despaired of ever being able to eat the worm, there never was a second’s time. At last, he tried to take a bite, and at once it was snatched away from him by Darkie, and then the race began again and they all rushed about after each other till Fluffy got it. He was just going off with it when Mr. Cock came along, a very proud and dignified gentleman. “Ah, Ha!” he cried, “What have we here?”
“Please, it’s mine,” said Cheeky, “he snatched it away from me.”
The cock looked very surprised, for I don’t think any other chick would have been bold enough to speak to him at all. Every one was rather afraid of him, for he had a very sharp beak and would take no back answers.
“It isn’t yours at all!” cried Darkie and Fluffy. “You stole it, you didn’t even find it yourself.”
“Please, don’t make such a noise,” said the cock, “I never knew such rowdy, ill-behaved chickens, you have no dignity at all. Now, so that there shall be no quarrel, I am going to remove the cause,” and he stooped down and gobbled up the worm.
Made them take some grain out of her hand.
This is really what happened; it is quite true for Joan saw it all. I am not quite so sure that the cock actually used these words because, you see, Joan couldn’t understand his language, but she thought he said something very like it.