Show JL a gat t t Z r T r + 1 ii ° a r o wt N tb s t + > ° 1 a y a M 54 y S nryw M IA Y Va o 4ra J dd1 I Simple Simons Part in a Christmas Dinner frf F ANY of old Speckles queerly e1J assorted brood were stcpchll dren or only adopted she never betrayed It by even so much as an upward roll of her eye Truth to tell old Speckle knew as well as any one that her inclination to sot had come at a slack egg season but the maternal instincts thrilled her and with a touching trust in human providence she submissively turned every egg In her nost each day and sat a week longer than any other hen would have thought compatible with her dignity Most of Speckles offspring came in twins There were two fluffy white chickens two pert black ones two r tic t s c cA t1 G i The Thief Threw Himself Over wee striped bantams two long legged peevish turkeys and two perpetually hungry ducks But when It came to the twin goslings there was only one of them Of course the different twins associated together and told each other oth-er their trials and Joys their fears and hopes but the gosling was the yellow sheep of the family Ho linen no troubles but his own he wanted little and when he found a happy 1 hunting ground of bugs he had It all to himself He had also a little hablt of wabbling In whllo two chickens fought over a bug quietly gobbling up the insect and calmly turning his back without oven so much as a reminder that theqi no longdr existed a cause for quarrelling Others might have sharp bills to dig and fight but he had a broad one to crnsi and retain In his independent happygolucky way he waddled through the world making strange friends and having featherbreadth escapes knoSvn only tOj himself and tho Martin family f May Day dawned warm and sunny Worms had fairly wriggled themselves into the goslings mouth that morning and he felt morn than content as ho squatted In the sun on tho back kitchen kitch-en step suddenly In turning his head to the loft ho spitvl a tempting red object peeping up from a great round whitish looking surface Tho gosling mode a dash and splash he went under the shining white surface Ho had that led bit however and as ho swallowed It ho Instinctively struck out with his legs What a delightful sensation the gosling had then Ho seemed born for paddling and as he paddled he kept bobbing his head down Into the whlto qubstanco and fetching up the most appetizing things Evidently the world had been made for nothing except gobbling and paddling By and by he began to feel tired Ho determined to Jump out on the i steps again but strange to say all his I Jumps turned to paddles Ho couldnt seem to get over a hard brown object next to the steps Ho decided to try no more but Just to sit still so he doubled dou-bled his short logs up under him and floated After a while ho felt himself sinking but ho paddled twice or thrIce and got up again Still It was pleasanter pleas-anter to drift so he rested once more Lower and lower he sank Strange odors floated up around him Drowsiness Drowsi-ness besieged him Not much except his head was now above surface but somehow as he rested his bill on that cool substance the gosling didnt care Just then Mary Ann came out with a pan of peelings and dashed them In Peep peep murmured the gosling gos-ling bobbing up and down I La ejaculated Mary Ann and ran for the shovel When she had shoveled him out on the grass she finished her exclamation La aunt that fool goose got no moro sense that to go swlmmln In the slop bucket Peep replied the gosling placidly I turning over on the grass In the warm sun with a deliciously filled feeling Lazily the summer months drifted by One day and another that fool goose as every one came to designate him figured continually before the public eye So entirely devoid of sense did escapades seem that the hired man named him Simple Si mon tor short With tho coming of tho snappy December De-cember days people began to think of Christmas feasts and tho farmers to look over their poultry with an eye to tho markets One frosty day when Mrs Martlhs kitchen breathed spicy odors her husband slouched in Ive Just been looking over the I poultry he drawled Turkeys aro Lud awful scarce this year and prices big I low mobbo wed batter sell nil ours anti oat Simon for our Christmas dinner din-ner Ono goose aint any good and be eats more than any hog on tho pine Pears like Simon was just made to die young anyhow agreed Mary La the times Ive reskewed hlmll Fully a month before Christmas city people began to send out to cngago Ono or two of Farmer Martins well known turkeys A week before the day Mary Ann shut np all the salable turkeys and Simon In a casnla of largo t carriage crates which served as coops They must have the choicest food aril bo ready to deliver Into the hamii of the many stlt bucked coachmen who came for thorn dally Tho gobblers gob-blers spread their fino young tAils and grow rod with Indignation but Simon took it all as philosophically as was his wont contentedly eating moro than was Iris share of food and on warm days wallowing In the basin of drinking water Soon all but two of tin turkeys woro carried away One of the two a handsome hand-some young gobbler Col ftobcrtson and his uiulson would call for or Thursday Proudly and utility the young turkey strutted up and down tho now roomy cage and gobbled hIs protest from morning till night nt tho top of his voice Simon lay at his ease in the basin and blinked at his irafo companion as If tho air around him did not fairly reek with garlic Whenever the turkey came too near In bis snpllcn pride it was only necessary neces-sary for Simon to open hid mouth and extend his tongue At last the Colonel came for hIs turkey and bore him away still protesting pro-testing volubly Only Simon and an undersized hen turkey romaind It aint much of a turkey thats a fact acknowledged Fftrpor Martin as I ho and Mary Ann pti sod the pen Friday Fri-day evening She aint worth much Wouldnt you ruthcr Id kill her than Simon tomorrow 1 to-morrow tentatively queried Mary Ann with her eyes on Simon who ran to tho bars to Bee If more food was forthcoming Gooseis gooil enough for me and Simon pint no money value Mobbo that turkey will fatten up gainst Spring rind make a right respectable mother hen replied Farmer Martin i Shes not likely to unless she makes iv better light for her victuals Mary Ann returned Pears like Simon gets most of em In splto ot till I can do Hes sick a fool ho dont know when hoa got enough Most seems a pity to kill such n silly critter That night Mary Ann had everything every-thing In readiness for the morrow f planning to rIse early and prepare Simon before breakfast for even Mary acknowledged that a goose Is hard to dress About four oclock In the morning she was aroused by unearthly quacking and hissing Hastily throwing throw-ing a quilt around her shoulders and plungingInto her shoes she rushed to the chicken yard A man fled toward the fence with a bloody turkey In one handDrop that drop that yelled Mary Ann hurling the cloths stick at him and bearing down upon him at full speed as ho neared the barbed wlro fence The thief throw himself over but his trousers and a turkey wing caught on a barb Gaunt Mary Ann in her motley quilt loomed up before him armed with a chicken trough With a desperate wrench he freed himself but he lost his prize Mary Ann grabbed up the turkey Its head had been wrung off She ran frantically to the coop It had been overturned Hes stole Simon hes atolo SImon SI-mon wailed Mary Ann as Farmer Martin appeared hitching up his trousers trou-sers Suddenly a familiar sound smote her ear Glancing up she caught a glimpse of Simon quacking merrily and waddling rapidly through tho rusty weeds in the direction of tho corn pen Well I reckon wed better hayo turkey for Christmas after all Aint no use of loam two fowls said Farmer Farm-er Martin after relieving his feelings La muttered Mary Ann as she watched Simon blissfully quacking and gobbling In the middle of the corn pen I do believe Simon aint such a fool after allN Y Herald A PERTINENT QUERY Imtr tstnsr > t f r r1 > a r F f t y 7 S t F Y joY A n d i p i I |