CHAPTER X
JANET ADDS TO HER STOCK FAMILY
That evening at supper Janet was unusually quiet and Natalie remarked it. “Well,” said Janet despondently. “I was wondering if one of the scouts would buy out my business. I’m going back home.”
“Good gracious! You really do not mean that!” exclaimed the girls in chorus.
“I may as well, what’s the use of staying here and not succeeding in anything.”
“But Janet, you are just beginning to raise your stock,” argued Mrs. James.
“I’m not raising anything but trouble, so far as I can see,” sighed Janet.
“If you think you are having such a time of it, what do you think about poor me! But I haven’t said I would sell out,” was Natalie’s comment.
“Nat is coming right up as Independent Individual, isn’t she,” laughed Belle.
“Yes and Jan is falling behind to the rear. If she isn’t careful she’ll have to resign her place in favor of Natalie, as ring-leader of us girls,” added Frances. These remarks were made to enthuse Janet with a little more spirit to resist circumstances.
“It would really be a pity for Janet to leave us now just when Susy is about to join us,” ventured Mrs. James, wisely.
“Oh, to-morrow is Saturday, isn’t it?” exclaimed the girls, and Janet smiled at the thought of the calf. Thereafter no one heard further that Janet wished to dispose of her business interests.
Early Saturday morning the scouts from the house were hanging onto the gate or over the picket fence, watching for the farmer who was to bring the cow and Susy. Mrs. James finally came down the steps of the porch and crossed the lawn to join them.
“Girls that lawn is a sight! It should have been mowed long ago, but we have had so much to think and plan about that it was forgotten.”
“Why mow it now just as the cow is coming. Let her eat off the tops,” suggested Natalie, to the amusement of her companions.
“That’s a good idea, Jimmy,” added Janet. “Instead of taking Sue to pasture in the field we will let her graze here.”
“Besides, Jimmy,” said Norma, “we could never run a blade through that grass. It will need a scythe, first”
“And that means Farmer Ames for half a day again,” sighed Mrs. James, thinking of the cost of keeping a lawn in order.
“We’ll just have Folsom tether Sue out here when she comes and we’ll see how much grass she can cut down in a day,” laughed Belle.
“Couldn’t we tether the calf here, too? You always see a calf out in pasture with her mother,” remarked Frances.
The members of Solomon’s Seal Camp appeared now and joined the others to await the coming of their corporation capital. Not long after the scouts came to the farm-house, Dorothy Ames was seen hurrying along the country road. Then she explained that she wanted to see Sue and Susy and appraise them from her experience with cattle. Finally Nancy Sherman and Hester Tompkins came from Four Corners and the membership of the two scout patrols was complete.
The girls began to feel impatient, and Janet even ventured to say: “Maybe that old farmer won’t bring them to-day,” when a heavy lumbering farm wagon was seen coming down the road.
The cow was tethered on the lawn as Mrs. James directed the farmer to do, and the calf was taken to the rear-grass plot and staked there because Folsom said the cow had better not see too much of her calf or she would not graze, and then there would be no milk. As plenty of milk was the great objective of the corporation the scouts were careful to carry out the man’s advice.
Rachel and Sambo lost no time in joining the admiring owners of Sue, and then arose a debate between the Four Corners’ farmer girls and those of Solomon’s Seal on one side, with Rachel, Sambo, Mrs. James and her girls on the other side, as to the best points of the cow. As each one had the right of her own opinion, being a shareholder in the cow, there was a general “kaffe-klatch” without the kaffe.
Finally, the admiring owners grew breathless and could find no new term in which to voice their admiration and satisfaction of Sue, so they transferred their remaining opinions to the calf who was rolling and kicking playfully upon the back lawn.
“Isn’t she just too darling for anything!” sighed Janet.
“Aren’t you glad you didn’t find a customer for your business?” added Natalie, grinning at her chum.
This started the disclosure that Janet had wanted to go home the previous evening because of her troubles with the stock.
“Did you see to it, Janet, that the chicken-house and fences were white-washed?” asked Mrs. James.
“No, Frances is to bring back the lime from Four Corners when she goes to the store this morning,” was Janet’s excuse.
“What about the hens? Did you walk over to Ames and see if he would exchange them for you?” persisted Mrs. James.
“Now you know I didn’t, Jimmy! Haven’t I been busy all morning watching for Susy?”
Everyone laughed at Janet’s form of occupation, but Mrs. James said: “Procrastination never succeeded when I lived on a farm. Farming is one form of work that brooks of no postponements.”
“I’ll get out the car now, Janet, and we’ll run over to Ames and then drive on to the store for the white-wash,” offered Frances.
“I’ll go with you, Janet, and help you pick out good hens from Uncle’s flock,” added Dorothy Ames.
“And when you come back with the alcohol and white-wash, we experienced farm scouts will help you clean the fowl and white-wash the coops,” added Nancy.
Dorothy went with Janet to help Sam catch the chickens which had to go back to their former owner, but the little chicks and the setting hen were left undisturbed. When the prisoners had been placed in sacks the stock scouts, Dorothy Ames and Janet and the chickens were stowed away in the car.
When Dorothy explained to her uncle about the hens, he shook his head slowly as he replied: “I tried my best to make Janet buy young hens but she thought I was doin’ her out of a bargain. Now she has seen for herself!”
Janet admitted the fact, and Farmer Ames led the girls to the large chicken-run to permit them to make another choice.
“If I were you, Janet, I’d take some Rhode Island Red hens and a rooster. They may not look so large but they are the best layers and smallest eaters of all other well-known kinds of hens,” whispered Dorothy, when the three girls stood wondering what to do.
“I tole Janet, when she was here afore, to take a few guinea-hens, cause they are fine layers, you know, Dot,” added Mr. Ames.
“I’d much rather have a few ducks, Mr. Ames,” said Janet.
“But I warned you that ducks is hard to keep well unless you make a special business of them. Geese is much easier to keep.”
“Well, then, I’ll take a few geese instead of guinea-hens. Somehow or other, I despise their struts, and their shrill cries, and the speckles on their feathers!” declared Janet.
These three reasons for not wanting guinea-hens made the farmer laugh with amusement. He never as much as saw one of those objectionable features with his guinea-hens. He saw the business interest in their slight need of food and the eggs they laid.
So Rhode Island Reds were taken in place of the old hens and rooster, and then Janet felt that she owed Mr. Ames an extra sale for taking so much trouble with her exchanges. He had thrown the sacks in which the infested hens had come, out upon the ground and taken new bags for the Rhode Island fowl so they need not be troubled with the plague of a poulterer.
“Now I’ll pick out the geese,” said Janet, having quickly figured up the cost and deciding that she could afford them.
“Do you want to pick them out yourself?” asked Ames.
“No, I am going to trust to Dorothy’s and your wisdom,” was Janet’s rejoinder.
“Then I’d say, don’t take a gander and geese, Janet,” was Dorothy’s advice, “take goslings. They are very much cheaper and easier to feed and care for.”
“Besides, they grow up fast, to geese and ganders, Miss Janet,” supplemented the farmer.
“I never thought of the goslings. They’ll be much cuter, too,” was Janet’s delighted reply. “How many goslings could I get for the price of a gander and four geese?”
“I can let you have ’bout twenty goslings,” estimated Farmer Ames.
“Oh, what a lot. Then I’ll take goslings, by all means!”
“Better not take them now, ’cause you’ll want to fix up a separate coop and yard for ’em. If you let them run with the hens, they’ll soon have their down picked off and then they’ll get nipped and bitten by the hens that don’t agree, nohow, with geese.”
“Will you bring them over to Green Hill for me, some time when you pass there?” asked Janet.
“Yeh. And I should advise you to leave the hens here until that chicken house is well cleaned and ready for new chickens. All them chicks have to be bathed, you know, to keep lice from increasing and getting on the Rhode Island Reds.”
As they left the chicken yard Janet saw the pigeons on the barn-roof, cooing and billing tenderly.
“Dear me, I do so want to have pigeons, too. I love to watch them mount up in the sky and drop like a stone until they almost reach the ground, and then suddenly soar again. I have seen those tumbler pigeons of yours do this until they remind me of an aviator doing the loop-the-loop in his aero-plane,” said Janet
“Pigeons is easy to rear, but you don’t want to take everything at once and not be able to care for anything,” was Farmer Ames’ wise advice.
“I don’t think pigeons are so easy to raise, Uncle,” was Dorothy’s opinion. “They want quiet and protection, as they never fight for their lives, like chickens and other kinds of fowl do. A cat or a rat can catch and kill a pigeon without combat from the victim. One has to have a mighty good pigeon-loft that is proof against prowlers, if one wants to keep the birds.”
“I forgot you had so many pigeons, Dorothy. I think I’ll come over and let you show me how to care for them before I buy any,” remarked Janet.
Mr. Ames considered this a wise plan, and so the girls left him with his promise to deliver the chickens and goslings as soon as the coops were in order to receive them. Then Frances drove to Four Corners for the mail, and Janet bought a white-wash brush and the materials with which to cleanse the coops.
The scouts all helped with the task of white-washing the house and bathing the chicks. Mrs. James advised the girls not to disturb the setting hen but to let her handle that important part of the work.
It was sunset before the work was completed, but once it was done, Janet felt that her friends had accomplished a great deed for her future success—to say nothing of future physical comfort.
“If only we could send word to Ames that everything is ready for the chickens,” said Natalie, as they started for the house.
“To-morrer is Sunday, you know,” was Sam’s reminder.
“Oh pshaw! I forgot all about it,” said Janet.
“Then Janet will lose another day without getting any eggs from her hens,” was Natalie’s disturbing suggestion.
“I don’t see why I can’t go over now and get them,” said Janet.
“What have you decided to do about Susy. Has she a shed to sleep in?” said Mrs. James, calmly.
Janet turned and looked at Sam. He shook his head.
“Can’t Susy sleep in the barn for one night?” asked Janet.
“I don’t know why she couldn’t, but it isn’t fair to the calf to make her pay in discomforts just to humor her mistress with the chickens.”
The scouts had stood around listening to this conversation, and now they whispered with Miss Mason. The result was the captain offered to help Janet, not only to get the hens that evening but also to clean out a shed and repair it if necessary, for Susy’s tenancy.
“Then you all must be my guests to supper at the house. I won’t think of keeping you here so late for my affairs and then let you go back to camp and cook your supper. If Rachel can arrange for so many extras, it will be great fun for us all,” said Janet.
Rachel was always glad to have company and she hastily planned. “We kin eat on the side porch where dey is enough room. Sam kin wait on table, and I will cook and serb. Go along, honey, we’ll hab a fine time!”
This important event being satisfactorily settled between Janet, Rachel and the scouts, all hands went to work again and in another hour’s time, the shed was so far completed that Frances was dispatched for the chickens. The goslings had to remain with Ames until their coops were ready on Monday.
When the scouts had completed the remodelled homes for Susy and the cow, they triumphantly left the barn yard, eagerly planning about the gosling’s coop and the pigeon loft they said they would help build for Janet. These tests in carpentry would win each scout the badge she desired.
As the procession reached the house they were surprised to find that Rachel had already milked the cow and was now busy straining the milk. Sue stood quietly waiting at the end of the lane for Sam to show her to her hotel and then give her her supper.
The girls were disappointed that they had not been present at the very first milking of their capital stock asset, but Rachel did not confess that she was not so sure of her old-time cleverness at milking and preferred to experiment without an audience. Now that she found she had not forgotten the knack of milking, she was as eager to show off to the others as they were to see her do the work.
Frances brought home the chickens before supper was ready, and Janet jumped in the car as it came past the side-porch, to accompany Frances and Dorothy to the barnyard. Then the hens and roosters were taken inside the chicken-house and left to seek their roosts for the night. They had been fed before the transference took place, so there was nothing to disturb them again that night.
That supper was a gay one, with scouts sitting on the steps, sitting on boxes, and sitting on the floor of the piazza, eating, drinking and making merry, because all troubles seemed past and the future beamed brightly for them.
When the babel of voices began to quiet somewhat, Miss Mason remarked: “If a swarm of bees has to be hived on a Sunday what would you scouts do?”
“Why, hive them, of course,” was Janet’s sensible reply.
“Just the same as if we fed the cow, or removed the eggs from the chicken-nests,” explained Natalie.
“Well, I was wondering if Mrs. Tompkins would do that, as she is very particular about Sunday work, you know,” mused Miss Mason.
“She’s a good woman and a conscientious one, but I would not say she was a fanatic. Let us remember the words of the Master when he rebuked the hypocrits with the question of ‘Who would not save a sheep on the Sabbath Day if it was in danger?’” said Mrs. James.
“Now that reminds me, Jimmy! When we come across any sheep that may be for sale, I think it would be most interesting to have one or two on the farm, don’t you?” said Janet.
“Oh, sheep are so interesting!” cried Norma.
“I love to watch them graze in a field,” added Natalie. “And we have such a large field that it won’t cost Janet anything.”
“What are sheep good for, anyway?” asked Practical Frances.
“Goodness me! Didn’t you know that wool came from sheep?” exclaimed Janet, amazed at such ignorance.
“I know it, but you need a flock of sheep to derive any results from them. The wool of one sheep won’t make a shirt.”
When the laughter this remark created had subsided, Mrs. James said: “We won’t discuss the sheep question until we have finished housing and caring for the other stock Janet has thrust upon us. We have enough work cut out for the next few days without planning for sheep.”
When the scouts bid their hostess good-night, they left with the plans all arranged for early Monday morning. The coop for the goslings was to be built, and a pigeon loft constructed in the gable end of the barn.
CHAPTER XI
BREAKING THE TENTH COMMANDMENT
Sunday morning was generally observed with an hour’s more sleep and a leisurely breakfast. Because it was not a work day, there was no sense of hurry to accomplish a task. But the Sunday following the arrival of the cow and calf at Green Hill Farm was an exceptional one for the farmer-scouts.
They were too eager to try a hand at milking Sue to stay in bed and allow Sam or Rachel the same pleasure. And then there was Susy, who was too cute for anything when she was being led so docilely to and from the back lawn. Had she not skipped obediently in Sam’s footsteps last night when she was taken to the new shed.
Consequently, the whole household was astir at dawn this Sunday morning, and Sam had the entire family to escort him to the barn for Sue and the calf.
“Shall we milk the cow in the stall or out of doors?” asked Sam, as they neared the barn yard.
“Every one milks the cow in the yard,” said Natalie from having seen the Ames’ follow that custom.
“All right; I’ll bring her out of the stall and you kin show me where to stan’ her. Then we’ll start her on her breakfast to keep her quiet until she’s milked,” agreed Sam.
The girls chose a shady spot quite close to the pig pen, and here Sam was told to bring Sue. The bright new pans attracted the curious attention of the three little pigs, and the large brown beast which now came across the barn yard made them tremble with apprehension, for they had never remembered seeing such a big creature before.
Sue followed Sam until she reached a given point and then she balked. For no apparent reason whatever, she refused to budge. She was standing in the sunshine with no nearby shade where the girls could stand while watching the process of milking.
All Sam’s coaxings and threats failed to move Sue one step. There she stood, blank-eyed and calmly chewing her cud, but with no intention of being moved. Sam pulled, and he pulled, then he went behind and pushed with might and main. Suddenly, without warning, Sue kicked out with a left hind heel and Sam caught the hoof in his stomach. It doubled him up on the ground so that in holding himself with both hands he let go the leading rope that was tied to the cow’s head.
Sue seemed to think she had accomplished the purpose for which she had balked, and now she scampered across the barn yard and turned to face her corporate owners. Her tail switched nervously against the frail fence of the pig pen, and her rear heels acted as if they stood on red coals—they twitched and jumped in turn.
Sam was helped to his feet again by Rachel and Mrs. James but he entertained no resentment against Sue. He merely remarked: “Dat’s the way wid cows!”
He chirped sweetly to Sue and held out his hand as if to assure her that he held a feast in his palm. In this manner he again approached the cow. But he was facing her this time, and his courage rose accordingly. He knew she could not kick with her forefeet, and before she could wheel to lift her hind foot again he could get out of the way.
Sue watched with lowered head as Sam came up to her and then with a fearful kick of the hind feet she jumped and ran back to the barn. But she left dire results of that kick against the fence of the pig pen. A large break gaped at the girls, but they failed to see it then, as their entire powers of concentration were centered in events about to transpire at the barn.
Sam hurried after Sue and the girls hurried after Sam, leaving the three curious pigs to follow their own sweet wills. Just as Sam came forth again, leading Sue after him, the pigs crept out of the break in the fence and stood watching this new approach.
This time the cow did not balk about walking over to the shady place, because Janet held the pail of tempting breakfast right under her nose and she followed after. But the pigs ran in different directions to prevent a wholesale capture by their owners.
Sam was walking backwards while leading Sue, to give himself ample time to escape if she ran for him, so he did not see a pig running blindly toward him. The shouts and shrill warnings of the girls came too late! The pig went head first into Sam’s legs and toppled him over backward. This gave the leading rope a sudden yank that Sue resented.
Mrs. James, Rachel and the five girls now gave chase to the pigs who had not yet found a way out of the barn yard. Consequently two of them were captured and thrust back inside the shed, but the third one was still at large.
Janet called advices to her companions: “You all form a circle about Seizer and we will close in gradually. When we get him in a close ring we will pounce on him and hold him until we carry him back to the pen.”
Because the pig had displayed such wisdom and diplomacy in other battles with his brethren and his owners, and also managed to seize the best of all the feed given the three of them, he had been named Seizer. While Janet was issuing these orders Seizer stood innocently staring from one scout to another. Finally he saw the circle closing in about him.
He seemed to ponder which might be the right spot to attack—for a chain is no stronger than its weakest link. Then he made a determined dash for Natalie.
Now Natalie had been watching Sam’s heroic efforts to calm the cow, and her eyes were not all for Seizer, so she was taken unawares. The pig ran head down right into her shins and she went down upon her knees, but the wily creature dodged the fall and doubled back to dash quickly against Janet.
But the stock scout was ready for the onslaught. She had braced her legs and planted her feet firmly apart when Seizer made his dive. She was stooping slightly forward in order to grasp his lean body. But the pig swerved when he was almost within reach of her fingers, and ran blindly for Mrs. James.
He met with the folds of a long skirt that were unfamiliar to him, so he gave that lady no opportunity to catch him but flew back at Janet again. These turns had all been so unexpected and sudden that the scouts forgot to close in as they had been told to do. But when the pig ran between Janet’s ankles hoping to run out that way, the scout spasmodically closed her feet together and caught Seizer. In another moment he would be away again, but in that moment four girls threw themselves upon him and the little pig was captured. He wriggled to no good, and he was soon penned in with his brothers.
During this by-play, Rachel tried to assist her nephew. But the cow thought otherwise. She broke loose and started running down the lane that led to the house.
“The cow’s gone! The cow’s running away!” shouted Natalie, who stood gently rubbing her shins while her companions took Seizer to the pen.
This dire news started every one flying like leaves on a March wind, down the lane after Sue. But the cow had no evil plan in mind. She remembered the sweet luscious grass on the front lawn and when she arrived there she stopped of her own free will and began grazing.
No one was willing to go near enough to tether her to the steel pin, but Rachel came puffing up at the end of the race and wailed: “Oh, dat milk! She ain’t been milked yet and runnin’ like dat is enough to churn butter of dat ten quarts!”
It took the united courage and daring of eight people to tie the rope to the stake, and then the breakfast pail was held before Sue’s nose again, and Sam sidled along with the stool and milk-pail until he dared sit down and begin the work.
Being an amateur at the art of milking a cow, Sam forgot to strip the teats as any self-respecting cow is accustomed to, so Sue expressed her displeasure at such slighting in a sound whack of her heavy tail across Sam’s face.
The slap was so unlooked for and so stinging to his cheek that Sam yelled and went promptly over backwards on the three-legged stool. But Sue continued munching her feed as if no one had insulted her. Mrs. James now summoned all her courage to say:
“If the cow is to be milked this morning, I fear I am the one who has to do it.”
The girls held their breath and stood at a safe distance watching for developments. But Mrs. James patted Sue on the head and “cooed” softly to her, then she began slapping her back gently. Then she moved her persuading hands along the side of the cow until she reached the belly.
Now she sat upon the stool and stood the pail upright again. Very soon she began stripping in an experienced way and Sue waved her tail thankfully, for she had been nervous and restive because the milk had not been drained the previous night. Rachel had only milked out the quantity that flowed readily and left more than a quart still in the udder. This always causes a cow to feel uncomfortable and irritable.
When the milking was over and Sue had been left to her own devices Mrs. James carried the pail to the kitchen. The milk was measured and to every one’s surprise and delight there was more than Miss Jipson had guaranteed.
After the milk was strained Sam was told to take it down to the cellar and place it on the floor to cool. The pans were carefully covered with wire fly-protectors and left.
Breakfast was unusually late that morning, but none the less welcome when it did appear. Rich heavy cream was served with fruit, cereals and everything that could afford an excuse for it, because the milk of the previous night’s milking had produced the richest of cream in the morning.
“Well, we didn’t get the worst of that cow bargain, did we, Jimmy?” said Natalie, sipping the cream from her spoon.
“No, Miss Jipson was honest with us, but I feel angry every time I think of that trader Folsom,” replied Mrs. James.
“All the same, Susy is a darling,” remarked Norma.
Janet suspended her spoon in mid-air and gasped: “We forgot Susy was on earth in the thrills the cow gave us. I wonder if Sam gave her any breakfast?”
“Didn’t you feed her?” was Mrs. James’ question.
“I forgot it,” was Janet’s meek confession.
“I’m glad the calf is not incorporated with Sue in our stock company,” laughed Belle.
“I’ll go at once and attend to her breakfast—poor little Susy,” Janet declared, so she excused herself from the breakfast table and ran out of the house.
Sam was enjoying his breakfast of waffles and cream when Janet went through the kitchen. He admitted that he had also forgotten the calf in the trouble caused by Sue. So Janet went on to the barn yard to open the door of the little shed where Susy had been kept for the night, and let her come out to gambol about in her yard while she, Janet, was mixing the breakfast for her.
Susy had become so impatient at the enforced confinement that she not only showed her joy at being released, but she took it into her woolly little calf head to attempt to jump the bars of the pen built especially for her the night before.
Janet had hardly opened the door to place Susy’s breakfast before her when she was startled to see the little calf leap clear of the fence and land on the other side into the open barn yard. Away went Susy, bounding gayly over the privet hedges, across the flower beds and down the road that led to the woods.
And away sped Janet after her, shouting wildly to her friends at the house to follow and help in the capture. Before Susy had reached the cross path that went to Natalie’s garden, the girls who had just finished breakfast, ran out and joined in the chase.
The calf had no idea of where she was heading, but Janet feared lest the little creature run headlong into the stream and drown. She raced after the flying heels but she was too far behind to divert the calf’s direction. Then Susy changed her mind and the direction she was taking, and turned to the left to plunge across Natalie’s garden beds.
“Oh, oh! Drive her away from there!” screamed Natalie, when she thought of the havoc four hoofs can make.
Before any one could reach the garden to chase Susy away from it, the calf found the direct pathway to the kitchen. This she chose and came pattering clumsily up to the stoop steps. She had sniffed the milk for her belated breakfast waiting on the steps.
The line of scouts ran nimbly after her, and formed a circle to prevent her going in any other direction other than up into the kitchen, or remain where she was to be harnessed. She chose the latter as being the least doubtful.
“There now! Both bovine scouts are captured for the day and we can sit down and remember it is Sunday,” said Natalie.
“Rather a tardy beginning of the Sabbath,” laughed Norma.
“‘Better late than never,’” quoth Belle.
“Janet, I fixed the warm milk fer Susy’s brekfus’ so you’d better give it to her now,” called Rachel from the kitchen.
“Is this it in the deep pan?” asked Janet.
It was, so Janet lifted the dish while Natalie and the other girls led Susy by the tether-rope to a shady spot under the apple tree to eat her breakfast. But the calf sniffed at the warm milk only. She refused to taste a drop of it.
“She isn’t hungry, yet. We’ll leave it here for her to drink when she wants it,” said Janet.
So Susy was tethered on the grass back of the house and the pan of milk was left nearby under the tree so she could lap it if she wanted to. As the girls gathered about Mrs. James who was sitting on the porch with an open Bible upon her lap, Janet smiled.
“We haven’t made this Sunday a day of rest, thus far.”
“I was just looking over the Ten Commandments,” added Mrs. James, “and I wondered if it made any difference if you work because of necessity, or only for gain.”
“And we worked ‘our maid-servant and our man-servant, and the strangers within our gates,’ as well as the cattle, didn’t we,” said Janet.
Rachel appeared in the doorway from the dining room and said: “Natalie, you forgot to pull dat lettuce last evenin’. I tole you we diden’ have no salad fer Sunday ’cause you want to make us buy your lettuce.”
“I’ll go now and gather enough for dinner and supper, as long as I have sinned, already, on Sunday,” said Natalie, running away before any one could object to the plan.
Enough garden lettuce was gathered to last for three days at the rate of three meals per day, but Rachel kept that secret to herself. Then just as Natalie had bathed her warm face and seated herself once more on the breezy porch, Hester Tompkins ran in at the side gate and called to Mrs. James and the girls.
“Mother sent me post-haste to tell you that a great swarm of bees was found down the road about a quarter of a mile from us. No one knows whose it is, and there it hangs. If we delay much longer in hiving it it will wander away and be lost.”
The girls were up and dancing about in a moment, and Mrs. James said: “What does your mother want us to do about it?”
“Well, she thought that if you scouts wanted the swarm, it is a dandy one to start a colony with as it is so large and compact. If we can get home again in a few moments and carry Mother and Father to the spot, with a hive, we can capture it for you.”
“If it’s a lost swarm, it won’t cost us anything to buy,” ventured Janet.
No one had thought of that but now they were more eager than before to secure the swarm. So Frances had the car out of the barn in a jiffy, and the girls stood waiting to jump in. Just as the automobile was slowing beside the porch, the scouts from camp ran up and wanted to know where they were going on a Sunday?
“Jump in, jump in!” ordered Janet, waving her hands.
“We’ll tell you on the way there!” exclaimed Natalie.
So the scouts jumped—some inside the automobile, some on the running board where they clung for dear life while Frances tore out of the yard, turning the corner of the fence on two wheels and just missing the gate-post by the width of a hair. On down the road sped the machine, completely enveloped in the dust it raised.
Frances was so used to the road by this time that she knew every rut, every rock, and every obstacle in the way from Green Hill Farm to Four Corners store. So, in spite of the blinding dust that choked the others, the driver of the car kept right on, steering by instinct as she raced for the swarm of bees—the prize.
But no one had known that the constable of the township had ordered extra deputies to watch the roads on Sundays and arrest any one found breaking the speed laws. Thus it happened that the dust blinded the occupants of the car so that they did not see the officer who was waiting for them to come close enough to hold up.
He called without having any result. Then he shouted but the car was almost opposite him now. In another moment it had flown past and he had but one thing to do—to shoot at the tires. So he aimed and plugged a hind tire.
The girls heard the report of the pistol and the sound of the air escaping from the tire but Frances never slowed up. In a few moments the car was bumping on a flat tire but a swarm of bees had to be hived, and tires were a secondary consideration.
By the time the car reached Si Tompkins’ house the occupants were glad enough to get out. The way they were jolted and jammed during the latter end of that race was too much for human endurance. But Mrs. Tompkins was waiting with the hive, and now stood wondering why every one jumped out.
“Ma,” explained Hester, “you and a few of the scouts go on with the hive, while me and the rest of the girls will hitch up Spark to the surrey and drive over to the swarm.”
That was agreed upon, and the two elder Tompkins with a large hive got into the automobile with Mrs. James and Miss Mason. Frances drove, and they were safely out of the way before the deputy rode up on his motorcycle and asked the scouts, who were waiting for Hester and the surrey:
“Did you gals see a speed demon flyin’ past here a few minutes ago?”
“We never thought to look out for him. Which way did he come?” said Janet, innocently. The girls never dreamed that the officer was looking for their own car and party.
“It don’t matter what way he come but I wants to know which way he went!” snapped the man. Had he been more polite he might have discovered that these girls had just come the way he came and he would have found that they were his quarry.
Hester now drove Spark out of the barn yard lane and called to her friends: “Hurry up girls, or we’ll miss the swarm.”
While the scouts were crowding into the three-seated surrey Hester said “How-de-do” to the man she knew, and then they drove away, leaving the officer baffled to find that the car with a flat tire had escaped him.
When the surrey came near the place where they heard a “rat-tat-tat” upon a tin pan, Hester slowed up and guided Spark over to a fence rail where she planned to tie him. Then the girls jumped out and followed Hester noiselessly over to the place where the adults in the party were standing.
The hive was placed right under an enormous swarm of bees, and Mr. Tompkins, encased in wire-mask and rubber gloves with long gauntlets, and a wire mesh armor covering his neck and upper body, was beating the pan regularly to call the bees to attention.
But imitation of Nature did not complete that hiving of a swarm because a genuine thunder storm now came up suddenly, and the rolling vibrations above caused the bees to break and seek madly for shelter. The queen was soon inside the convenient hive, and in a short time thereafter, every bee in the swarm had sought refuge from the threatening electrical storm.
“Isn’t that a wonderful sight! I wouldn’t have missed it for anything,” exclaimed Janet, when the last vagrant bee alighted upon the running board and sought entrance to the hive.
“We can thank that thunder for this quick work. Some times a swarm of that size takes an hour or more to collect inside the hive,” remarked Mr. Tompkins removing the wire mask and the gloves.
“That thunder storm won’t touch us, either. It is already passing overhead,” said Mrs. Tompkins, gazing upward.
“I’ve only felt a drop or two of rain,” added Miss Mason.
“But it did a good job for us,” laughed Mr. Tompkins.
“If a farmer is entitled to claim a swarm of bees he has to hive, can the real owner of the runaway swarm demand payment in any way?” asked Mrs. James.
“There have been disputes over that claim but the usual rule is that when a farmer cannot find the owner of the swarm in time to save it, and he does the work himself, the owner must reimburse the finder the value of the swarm, or let him keep it.”
“Well, then, if there is no claim for this vagrant swarm, Mr. Tompkins, we propose to pay you the full value of it for your time and work,” said Mrs. James.
“I wasn’t thinking of that, at all, Mrs. James,” remonstrated Mr. Tompkins. “I was thinking of the fun the scouts would have in watching it hived and in carrying it home.”
“We know that was your sole intention, but we also want to show our appreciation of your thoughtfulness. If we were not here to want a swarm of bees you could keep this one yourself.”
They were still discussing the point of recompense when the car drove up beside the store door. Frances turned to ask Mr. Tompkins if he knew of a garage at Four Corners where the tire could be repaired before they started for Green Hill Farm.
“Why, Frances, I’ll do it myself. You never took me for such a poor farmer as all that, did you,” laughed Mr. Tompkins.
“You are a store keeper, but even so, I never knew a farmer could mend a tire tube.”
“A farmer has to know how to do pretty much anything, gal. He can’t send, whenever he likes, to a plumber, a mechanic or the different trades needed to keep places in order. If a farmer had to lose a whole day of farm work while waitin’ for a machinist to come from town to mend his plough or harvester, what profit would he have at the end of the year?” laughed Mr. Tompkins, kindly.
“Well, you’re right! We’ll drive in the side gate and stop in the back yard and repair the tire and put in a new tube,” answered Frances, impressed by the realization that farmers were, of necessity, very clever men.
By the time the surrey with the girls arrived at the store, the tire was almost repaired. Shortly after that, Frances backed the car out to the road again and the adults in the party were invited to get in and drive to Green Hill to establish the colony of bees. Hester was to drive Spark and the surrey with the girls crowded in it.
Frances had to drive slowly on the return trip as the hive of bees stood in the back of the car, well covered with a dark lap robe. This precaution was taken to prevent any startled bee from coming out during the drive. If one did venture forth on to the running board of the hive, and find how dark it was, it would believe it to be night and would hurry back inside to wait for morning.
The two vehicles passed the officer on the way back, and Hester called out: “Hello, Mr. Babcock—did you catch the speeders?”
“No, I didn’t! I don’t see how they got away so quick!”
Then as the surrey followed the automobile in through the side gate of Green Hill, Frances said: “What was that you asked the officer?”
When she heard of the search for the speeders who had an exploded tire, she suddenly gasped. Then she bent double and laughed: “Girls! I’ll wager you this car that we were the speeders with the shot tire! That spot is just about where the tire burst on our way to Four Corners.”
The more they pondered it the more convinced were they that Frances was right. But Mrs. James said: “No use confessing at this late hour. We were really speeding out of necessity.”
The hive was firmly placed in a desirable spot under the trees and then the new bee-farmers walked slowly back to the house. The Tompkinses were persuaded to remain to Sunday dinner, and then the topic of recompense was argued again.
“S’pose we leave the subject for a week day,” said Mrs. Tompkins. “I feel sinful enough after doin’ all this hivin’, to do a little Bible readin’ now to pay for my back-slidin’.”
The rest of that Sabbath day was kept as it is commanded in Exodus. But it was the zeal of keeping the Commandment that made Janet forget to inquire why Susy had not tasted the milk left for her that morning.
It was Rachel who found the milk sour and curdled and never touched by the calf. Then she poured it out and tried fresh milk to tempt Susy, but the calf backed away when Rachel thrust the liquid at her nose.
That afternoon, when it was time to milk Sue, Mrs. Tompkins offered to teach a few of the scouts how to do it properly. So Janet, Natalie and Norma tried the milking that time but they found it hard on the fingers. They soon tired and gave place to another of the group. Finally, Mrs. James finished the task to the great relief of the cow.
CHAPTER XII
SUSY’S COMPLAINT
After the cow was milked and bedded in the stall for the night, Sam came for Susy. But the little calf acted wobbly in comparison to her nimble jumping and activity of the morning. So he walked slowly to give her time to rest now and then, and they finally reached the shed which was her domain.
The following morning Sam came hastily to the house and asked his aunt: “Is Miss Janet inside?”
“Yeh. They all eatin’ brekfus’—why?”
“Somethin’ seems wrong with Susy. She can’t get up.”
“Law-sake! I’ll call Janet immedjit, Sam. Jus’ wait.”
So not only Janet, but the whole family, ran from the back door and wanted to know what was the matter with the calf.
“I donno, but somethin’ is, cause she won’t stan’ up an’ she won’t eat nothin’.”
Out to the barn yard they hurried, Rachel as usual bringing up the rear because of her size and breathlessness. Susy was watched for a few minutes, but she remained upon her side. Then Janet tried to coax her to get up by showing her the pan of milk. Still the calf paid no attention to the offer. Mrs. James stooped over her and said: “She looks all right.”
“How can you judge that way, Jimmy?” cried Janet, greatly concerned. “Susy can’t go pale, you know, nor can you see the flush of fever, even if she has one.”
Natalie placed a hand on Susy’s forehead to see if it was hot and feverish, and Belle remarked laughingly: “Feel her pulse.”
“How cruel of you, Belle!” exclaimed Janet, half-crying.
“Well, is there any other way you can tell if Susy is ill or merely pretending,” retorted Belle.
“She can’t pretend like a ’possum would,” said Norma, defensively.
“And to think she may die and I haven’t even paid for her yet. I owe all that money to Jimmy!” wailed Janet.
“Should the worst come to the worst, Janet, you’re better off than if you paid for her with your own money,” Belle said, teasingly.
“What do you mean?” demanded Janet.
“Jimmy could not collect because you could tell her to confiscate the chattel on which the mortgage was made,” laughed Belle. But her joking in face of such a calamity as a sick Susy, was her undoing. The girls unceremoniously told her to get out!
While they tried to push Belle out of the shed, Susy lifted her woolly head and gazed after them, then she flopped back again upon the straw. Mrs. James called to Janet to hurry back.
“Susy just tried to lift her head. I believe we can get her out in the air if we can carry her, or help her stand.”
As they tried to find a hold on the calf, she struggled upon her wobbly legs. Then she nosed hungrily at Mrs. James’s hands.
“I know, girls!” exclaimed Mrs. James, as a sudden memory flashed into her thoughts. “I had a little calf when I lived on the farm, and we had to coax her to drink for a few weeks after she was weaned. Maybe this is what Susy wants—a comfort, so to say.”
“Do you think she is too weak to stand?” asked Janet.
“Yes, I do. If we can coax her to eat she will be all right in no time,” declared Mrs. James.
“Sam, you bring the milk out to us, will you,” asked Janet.
The deep dish of milk was brought and placed before Susy and then Mrs. James held one hand down in the fluid, while she fondled the calf’s nose with the other hand. She managed to slowly draw the nose down to the milk, and when Susy sniffed the warm flesh of the hand in the milk, she began to lap. The hand very gently stroked the soft nose as Susy began lapping, and this was exactly what the poor little thing wanted. She had not been completely weaned from her mother and was afraid of unknown food.
Slowly at first, then as her courage grew, Susy began snuffling loudly as she fed. Finally she over-gulped just as babies will, and she choked as they too, do. She sent the milk flying out of the pan as if an underground explosion had burst upward. The anxious scouts had been close about the calf watching her feed, and Mrs. James was on her knees holding her hand in the milk, when the upspurt took place so every girl was sprinkled, and Mrs. James’s face was streaming with milk.
Susy never stopped for such a trifle as that, however, nor did she express any regrets for the deluge of milk she had caused. Then when all the milk was gone, the calf gazed with soulful eyes at Mrs. James. It was so plainly a look of gratitude that it made the girls laugh. A short time after the bountiful breakfast, Susy was as frisky as ever, and provided ample amusement for her admirers.
Janet walked to the house with Mrs. James and remarked: “I always thought a cow weaned the calf without assistance from others.”
“So they will if they are given time, but when a calf is taken prematurely from its mother, the weaning process has to take place in an artificial manner,” explained Mrs. James.
“It won’t be very pleasant to have to hold my hand in the pan of milk every time Susy wants to eat. I think we ought to wean her at once from a bad habit like that,” was Janet’s comment
“It is much like having a baby that sucks its thumb when it is hungry. But there is no aftermath with a calf while there are adnoids, dwarfed arch in the mouth, enlarged tonsils, and many other serious things that develop from thumb, or nipple sucking. I never see a child with a so-called ‘mother’s comfort’ in its mouth that I do not want to scream at the ignorant woman who allows it.”
“Well, Jimmy, I never knew that myself. I do not believe it is ignorance so much, as that one woman hears another one commend a rubber comfort for the baby to keep it quiet, so they use it.”
“What do you call that if it is not ignorance! Why does not the mother make sure that the sucking is safe before she gives the child the habit that is so difficult to break. I don’t blame the poor child, but it is the one that pays the penalty for the mother’s carelessness. If it were the mother who had to pay in physical pain and weakness the price of that ‘comfort’ sucking maybe there would be more mothers willing to hear the baby cry, or to take it up to soothe it.”
Belle had never heard of the dangers of rubber sucking for babies, but she then and there determined to warn every mother she met who allowed her baby to hold a “comfort” between its lips.
During the interest in their subject, Janet and Mrs. James stood a short distance from the others who were still playing with Susy. But quite suddenly, without due warning of her intentions, the calf resented the pulling of her curly hair on top of her head, and kicked out with her heels.
Fortunately no one was in line with the kick, but the girls shrieked and backed pell-mell away from Susy. Then she, beginning to cut capers as she did the day before, rushed to the end of the tether and pulled on it as if to loosen it. But it held.
Before the girls could get out of the way, Susy began to race in a circle just as great in circumference as the rope permitted. And circling wildly around and around, she wound the swiftly winding rope about the feet of the group watching her. In another moment they had been tripped over and were struggling to get out of the noose the rope was making. But Susy kept on circling until the rope was so short that it almost choked her.
Sam came to the rescue of the calf and after he had disentangled her from the rope, he mumbled: “I hopes I am here when Susy goes to de butcher!”
Such a torrent of abuse as that brought down on his head, drove Sam back to the barn to finish the pigeon coop. But that was not the last time Susy played the same trick upon the girls. She generally tripped them over when they were least expecting the playful act, and she invariably ended by snarling herself so completely in the rope that she had to be untangled every time.
That noon when Frances came home from Four Corners with the mail and the grocery orders for Rachel, she did not put the car up as usual. She left the groceries in the kitchen and then went to the side-porch where Mrs. James sat sewing.
“Jimmy, I heard the funniest thing that I know of, while I was at Tompkins’ this morning,” she began.
The girls instantly gathered around to listen. And Frances continued: “That officer who shot the tire has a farm several miles the other side of Four Corners. While he was chasing us, and trying to find out where the escaping villains went, his son rode a bicycle furiously to the place where he expected to find his father, to tell him he was wanted at home to keep a swarm of bees that was about to swarm from flying away. But he could not find his dad so he went back home to learn that the bees had already wandered away.
“The boy hunted all over the country-side for the swarm but could not locate it. Today when Si Tompkins told his customers of the fine swarm of lost bees he had hived on Sunday, one of them said: ‘That must be Babcock’s swarm he lost yesterday.’
“Mr. Tompkins investigated and is sure now that the swarm we secured were Babcock’s bees. He told me to tell you, so that we would know what to do in case Babcock puts in a claim for it.”
“That seems to be ‘adding injury to insult’,” laughed Janet, when she heard the story.
“I could hardly keep from laughing myself, when I heard how the officer missed his natural prey and then lost the very object we were speeding to win. I think he is entitled to the full value of the bees because we deprived him of making an arrest,” explained Frances.
“Girls, that will be the best way out of the whole case. We’ll pay for the swarm and we’ll pay Tompkins for hiving it for us. It is well worth the price Mr. Tompkins said the owner may demand of us,” added Mrs. James.
So a letter was written to Mr. Babcock explaining how the bees came to be on Green Hill Farm, but nothing was said about the identity of the speeders he had hoped to catch. This letter and a check for the swarm of bees was taken back to Four Corners that same day and left in Babcock’s letter box.
Sue had been grazing faithfully ever since she had been tethered on the lawns, but the contract was too large for her. Eat as constantly and ravenously as she could, the grass grew beyond her powers of grazing. Then Norma realized that a mower would be a necessity.
“Well, you are the flower-scout, Norma, and grass is a decorative feature of the farm, so it comes under your work,” said Natalie, laughingly.
“All right, if I have charge of the grass, I’ll ask Janet the rent for the cow who is feeding on my grass. I ought to collect enought that way to pay for a new lawn mower.”
“If you do that, I’ll charge you for Sue’s services in keeping part of the lawn down since Saturday,” retorted Janet.
“Stop bandying words, girls, and come down to the cellar to help us carry the old mower out. It has to be tried out to see if the knives work all right,” ordered Natalie.
So the old lawn mower left by the last tenant, was dragged up the cellar steps and overhauled by Sam. He examined the wheels and pronounced them able to turn. Then he examined the blades and said they seemed all right, but needed grinding, maybe. He examined the rest of the mower and his final verdict was that the mower was as good as any new one from the shops. So it was decided that Norma should try it out on the lawn.
Norma was about to pull the lawn mower across the grass to the front plot, when Sam said: “Jus’ wait a minute and I’ll fetch some ile and ile the machinery to make it run easier.”
Rachel ran indoors to the pantry and found the oil bottle and brought it to her nephew who then oiled the mower quite liberally. The mower ran splendidly as long as it was being drawn over the grass in the reverse order for cutting, but once Norma started to push it the proper way to cut, its blades balked. They would not move the least.
Sam was watching, and when Norma called that the mower wouldn’t go, he crossed the grass and had another look at it.
“It went all right back by the kitchen door,” said he.
“But it didn’t have anything to cut when you had it on a box and began spinning the blades in the air,” argued Norma.
“Lem’me try it. Mebbe you ain’t got strength enough to push it along,” remarked Sam.
Norma expressed a sneer at this statement and Sam tried to make the machine work. It balked exactly as it had for Norma. But it always acted perfectly when the wheels were being backed the reverse way.
“I reckon we’d better get a screw-driver and loosen the nuts up a little bit,” suggested Sam, after he had rattled the various parts of the mower.
One of the girls ran for a screw-driver and Sam began taking the wheels off; next the outside frame was removed and then the blades. When the entire mower was in sections, Sam searched anxiously for whatever it was that blocked the action of the blades. But he found nothing.
“It looks all right to me,” he announced in the tones of a specialist who has been summoned to diagnose a fatal disease.
“Put it together again and we’ll try it once more. It may work now that it has been doctored,” laughed Natalie.
But Sam could not assemble the parts as they had been before. He screwed wrong parts together and did other erroneous things that caused the girls who were watching him to laugh merrily. Finally he threw down the screw-driver and said angrily:
“I never said I was a machinist! I can’t fix the ole thing.”
Farmer Ames drove in just now with the goslings. When he saw the group of interested girls standing about Sam he pulled on the reins to stop the horse. Then he called out to ask what was the matter with the mower.
“That’s what we want to know,” retorted Natalie.
Ames jumped out of the wagon and crossed the grass. He looked it over critically, smiled at the way Sam had adjusted the parts in the wrong places and then took apart the mower again. He felt of the blades and looked, to report, to Natalie.
“Fust thing, them blades is so dull they won’t cut soft butter. And next thing, there’s a nut missing from inside.”
Everyone went down upon her knees to hunt for the nut and after a diligent search in the grass, found it. Mr. Ames fastened it in place and then shoved the mower a few feet across the grass. It ran nicely, now, but the knives did not cut anything.
“I’ll get behind and push it good and hard and see if it cuts,” offered Norma, jumping up to do as she had said.
The mower ran noisily across the grass, the blades clicking loud enough to chop down forest trees. But not a wisp of grass was cut when Norma finished the length of the lawn.
“It won’t cut!” declared Mr. Ames.
“But the knives revolve all right. They wouldn’t do even that before you fixed them,” replied Natalie.
“Maybe the grass is too long and needs a top-cutting,” suggested Janet.
“I says it ain’t no good, whatever. Quickest way to cut that grass is to buy a new mower at Four Corners,” said Mr. Ames.
Norma had stood still while this talk was going on but she now called out: “I’ll try it once more. I’ll run it through the middle of the lawn where the cow grazed off some of the longest grass. Maybe it will cut there.”
So Norma blithely pushed the mower easily over the lawn with the blades passing over the tops of the grass instead of through them. Suddenly the machine ran against a fragment of broken bottle that was hidden in the grass. Norma was moving quickly at the time, but the unexpected obstruction stopped the mower with such force that the handle-bar struck her at the waist line doubling her half across the wooden bar and making her grunt loudly.
She let go her hold on the handle and held herself with both hands while she groaned: “Oh! I’m cut in two instead of the grass.”
Her friends laughed heartily at her remark but Norma had not said it as a joke and now she took offence at their mirth. To pacify the angry scout, Janet called out: “That settles the mower’s residence at Green Hill Farm! Away it goes and we buy a new one of Si Tompkins.” Everyone agreed to this and Frances was authorized to get a new machine the next time she went to Four Corners.
The troop of girls, having settled the momentous question of a lawn mower, now followed Ames to the barn yard to see the goslings they had heard Janet describe as being the cutest things she had ever seen.
“I brought you two dozen, Janet, as that is just about what a gander and the geese you wanted would cost,” explained Ames, as he began lifting the fluffy little things from the crate and placing them in the coop.
“My goodness, Mr. Ames! I don’t know what I shall do with twenty-four geese when they grow up. Just think of all the corn they will eat before Thanksgiving,” exclaimed Janet.
Sam had followed the girls when Ames drove to the barn yard, and he now said soothingly: “Neber mind dat, Miss Janet. Dey dies awful easy when dey is little. Chicken hawks love goslin’s, and so do black snakes. Cats are plentful in the country, too, and dey kills more chicks and goslin’s—my! Besides, lots will die of disease, so you won’t have to spend much money on corn by fall.”
“I don’t see any nourishment in that, after my money has been spent for the goslings!” snapped Janet, peevishly.
The girls laughed, and Natalie said: “But think of the good you will be doing the hawks and snakes and cats, by feeding them with goslings.”
“Janet, don’t let Sam or anyone else frighten you,” said Ames, as he patted Janet on the back. “You ain’t lost no chicks that way yet, have you?”
“Not that I know of. I never counted them to find out.”
“Well, if a chicken-hawk was about, you’d hear about it quick enough from the noise the hens and rooster would make to warn the chicks to run home. As for cats, you haven’t kept one and my house is the nearest neighbor and we haven’t a cat, so there!”
This cheered Janet considerably, and she decided to try and raise the two dozen goslings in spite of Sam’s pessimistic views to the contrary.
Having deposited the goslings in the coops, Mr. Ames passed the pig pen on his way to the wagon. He stopped a moment to look at them and then said: “Janet, you got to feed them more milk. Now you got a cow why spare the skim milk? Pigs need about four to six quarts of milk a day besides other feed.”
“You mean six for the three of them?” asked Janet.
“No. I mean six quarts for one. Why a tiny baby drinks two quarts of liquid before it is six months old, and pigs is hungrier critters than babies. You are starvin’ your pigs.”
“I’ll go straight away and ask Rachel if she has any skim milk on hand for them!” declared Janet, running for the house.
When Frances drove to the store that afternoon for the evening mail, she ordered a lawn mower from Mr. Tompkins and borrowed his, meantime. He laughed when she explained how they had hoped the cow would keep the grass cropped short enough to spare them any effort at mowing.
“You’ll find the cow’s hoofs cut up the sod so badly that your lawn will be ruined if she keeps on grazing there. The man who lived on the farm before you took great pride in those lawns. He was always fussing over them and never let folks walk on them until August.”