In the barnyard a gray hen sat on her nest, feeling very happy because itwas time for her eggs to hatch, and she hoped to have a fine brood ofchickens. Presently crack, crack, went the shells, "Peep, peep!" cried thechicks; "Cluck, cluck!" called the hen; and out came ten downy littlethings one after the other, all ready to run and eat and scratch,--forchickens are not like babies, and don't have to be tended at all.
There were eight little hens and two little cockerels, one black and oneas white as snow, with yellow legs, bright eyes, and a tiny red comb onhis head. This was Cockyloo, the good chick; but the black one was namedPeck, and was a quarrelsome bad fowl, as we shall see.
Mrs. Partlet, the mamma, was very proud of her fine family; for the eightlittle daughters were all white and very pretty. She led them out into thefarmyard, clucking and scratching busily; for all were hungry, and ranchirping round her to pick up the worms and seeds she found for them.Cocky soon began to help take care of his sisters; and when a nice corn ora fat bug was found, he would step back and let little Downy or Snowballhave it. But Peck would run and push them away, and gobble up the foodgreedily. He chased them away from the pan where the meal was, and pickedthe down off their necks if they tried to get their share. His motherscolded him when the little ones ran to hide under her wings; but hedidn't care, and was very naughty. Cocky began to crow when he was veryyoung, and had such a fine voice that people liked to hear his loud, clear"Cock-a-doodle-doo!" early in the morning; for he woke before the sun wasup, and began his song. Peck used to grumble at being roused at dawn, forhe was lazy; but the hens bustled up, and were glad to get out of thehen-house.
The father cock had been killed by a dog; so they made Cocky king of thefarmyard, and Peck was very jealous of him.
"I came out of the shell first, and I am the oldest; so I ought to beking," he said.
"But we don't like you, because you are selfish, cross, and lazy. We wantCocky; he is so lively, kind, and brave. He will make a splendid bird, andhe must be our king," answered the hens; and Peck had to mind, orthey would have pulled every feather out of his little tail.
He resolved to do some harm to his good brother, and plagued him all hecould. One day, when Cocky was swinging with three of his sisters on abush that hung over the brook, Peck asked a stupid donkey feeding near tocome and put his heavy foot on the bush. He did it, and crack went thebranch, splash went the poor chicks into the water, and all were drownedbut Cocky, who flew across and was saved. Poor little Hop, Chirp, andDowny went floating down the brook like balls of white foam, and werenever seen again. All the hens mourned for them, and put a black featherin their heads to show how sorry they were. Mamma Partlet was heart-brokento lose three darlings at once; but Cocky comforted her, and never toldhow it happened, because he was ashamed to have people know what a badbird Peck was.
A butterfly saw it all, and he told Granny Cockletop about it; and thehens were so angry that they turned Peck out of the barnyard, and he hadto go and live in the woods alone. He said he didn't care; but he did, andwas very unhappy, and used to go and peep into the pleasant field wherethe fowls scratched and talked together. He dared not show himself, forthey would have driven him out. But kind Cocky saw him, and would run withsome nice bit and creep through the fence into the wood, saying,--"Poorbrother, I'm sorry for you, and I'll come and play with you, and tell youthe news."
Now in this wood lived a fox, and he had been planning to eat Peck as soonas he was fat; for he missed the good corn and meal he used to have, andgrew very thin living on grasshoppers and berries. While he waited the slyfellow made friends with Peck, though the bird knew that foxes ate hens.
"I'm not afraid, and I don't believe old Granny Cockletop's tales. I cantake care of myself, I guess," he said, and went on playing with the fox,who got him to tell all about the hen-house,--how the door was fastened,and where the plump chickens roosted, and what time they went to bed,--sothat he could creep in and steal a good supper by and by. Silly Peck neverguessed what harm he was doing, and only laughed when Cocky said,--
"You will be sorry if you play with the fox. He is a bad fellow; so becareful and sleep on a high branch, and keep out of his way, as I do."
Cocky was fat and large, and the fox longed to eat him, but never could,because he wisely ran home whenever he saw the rogue hiding in the wood.This made Peck angry, for he wanted his brother to stay and play; and soone day, when Cocky ran off in the midst of a nice game, Peck said to thefox,--
"See here, if you want to catch that fellow, I'll tell you how to do it.He has promised to bring me some food to-night, when all the rest are atroost. He will hide and not get shut up; then, when those cross oldbiddies are asleep, he will cluck softly, and I am to go in and eat all Iwant out of the pan. You hide on the top of the hen-house; and while hetalks to me, you can pounce on him. Then I shall be the only cock here,and they will have to make me king."
"All right," said the fox, much pleased with the plan, and very glad thatPeck had a chance to get fatter.
So when it was night, Peck crept through the broken paling and waited tillhe heard the signal. Now, good Cocky had saved up nice bits from his owndinner, and put them in a paper hidden under a bush. He spread them allout in the barnyard and called; and Peck came in a great hurry to eatthem, never stopping to say, "Thank you."
Cocky stood by talking pleasantly till a little shower came up.
"Peck, dear, put this nice thick paper over you; then you will be dry, andcan go on eating. I'll step under that burdock leaf and wait till you aredone," said Cocky; and Peck was too busy gobbling up the food to rememberanything else.
Now the fox had just crept up on the hen-house roof; and when he peepeddown, there was just light enough to see a white thing bobbing about.
"Ah, ha! that's Cockyloo; now for a good supper!" And with a jump heseized Peck by the head before he could explain the mistake.
One squawk, and the naughty bird was dead; but though the paper fell off,and the fox saw what he had done, it was too late, and he began to eatPeck up, while Cocky flew into a tree and crowed so loud that the farmerran with his gun and shot the fox before he could squeeze through the holein the fence with the fowl in his mouth.
After that the hens felt safe, for there were no more foxes; and when theyheard about Peck they did not mourn at all, but liked Cocky better thanever, and lived happily together, with nothing to trouble them.
King Cockyloo grew to be a splendid bird,--pure white, with a tall redcomb on his head, long spurs on his yellow legs, many fine feathers in histail, and eyes that shone like diamonds. His crow was so loud that itcould be heard all over the neighborhood, and people used to say, "Hark!hear Farmer Hunt's cock crow. Isn't it a sweet sound to wake us in thedawn?" All the other cocks used to answer him, and there was a finematinee concert every day.
He was a good brother, and led his five little sisters all about thefield, feeding, guarding, and amusing them; for mamma was lame now, andcould not stir far from the yard. It was a pretty sight to see Cocky runhome with a worm in his bill or a nice berry, and give it to his mother,who was very proud of her handsome son. Even old Granny Cockletop, whoscolded about everything, liked him; and often said, as the hens satscuffling in the dust,--
"A fine bird, my dears, a very fine bird, and I know he will do somethingremarkable before he dies."
She was right for once; and this is what he did.
One day the farmer had to go away and stay all night, leaving the old ladyalone with two boys. They were not afraid; for they had a gun, and quitelonged for a chance to fire it. Now it happened that the farmer had a gooddeal of money in the house, and some bad men knew it; so they waited forhim to go away that they might steal it. Cocky was picking about in thefield when he heard voices behind the wall, and peeping through a hole sawtwo shabby men hiding there.
"At twelve, to-night, when all are asleep, we will creep in at the kitchenwindow and steal the money. You shall watch on the outside and whistle ifany one comes along while I'm looking for the box where the farmer keepsit," said one man.
"You needn't be afraid; there is no dog, and no one to wake the family, sowe are quite safe," said the other man; and then they both went to sleeptill night came.
Cocky was much troubled, and didn't know what to do. He could not tell theold lady about it; for he could only cackle and crow, and she would notunderstand that language. So he went about all day looking very sober, andwould not chase grasshoppers, play hide-and-seek under the big burdockleaves, or hunt the cricket with his sisters. At sunset he did not go intothe hen-house with the rest, but flew up to the shed roof over thekitchen, and sat there in the cold ready to scare the robbers with a loudcrow, as he could do nothing else.
At midnight the men came creeping along; one stopped outside, and theother went in. Presently he handed a basket of silver out, and went backfor the money. Just as he came creeping along with the box, Cocky gave aloud, long crow, that frightened the robbers and woke the boys. The manwith the basket ran away in such a hurry that he tumbled into a well; theother was going to get out of the window, when Cocky flew down and pickedat his eyes and flapped his wings in his face, so that he turned to runsome other way, and met the boys, who fired at him and shot him in thelegs. The old lady popped her head out of the upper window and rang thedinner-bell, and called "Fire! fire!" so loud that it roused theneighbors, who came running to see what the trouble could be.
They fished one man out of the well and picked up the wounded one, andcarried them both off to prison.
"Who caught them?" asked the people.
"We did," cried the boys, very proud of what they had done; "but weshouldn't have waked if our good Cocky had not crowed, and scared therascals. He deserves half the praise, for this is the second time he hascaught a thief."
So Cocky was brought in, and petted, and called a fine fellow; and hisfamily were so proud of him they clucked about it for weeks afterward.
When the robbers were tried, it was found that they were the men who hadrobbed the bank, and taken a great deal of money; so every one was glad tohave them shut up for twenty years. It made a great stir, and people wouldgo to see Cocky and tell how he helped catch the men; and he was so braveand handsome, they said at last,--
"We want a new weather-cock on our court-house, and instead of an arrowlet us have a cock; and he shall look like this fine fellow."
"Yes, yes," cried the young folks, much pleased; for they thought Cockyought to be remembered in some way.
So a picture was taken, and Cocky stood very still, with his bright eye onthe man; then one like it was made of brass, and put high up on the court-house, where all could see the splendid bird shining like gold, andtwirling about to tell which way the wind was. The children were nevertired of admiring him; and all the hens and chickens went in a processionone moonlight night to see it,--yes, even Mamma Partlet and GrannyCockletop, though one was lame and the other very old, so full of pridewere they in the great honor done King Cockyloo.
This was not the end of his good deeds; and the last was the best of all,though it cost him his life. He ruled for some years, and kept his kingdomin good order; for no one would kill him, when many of the other fowlswere taken for Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners. But he did die at last;and even then he was good and brave, as you shall hear.
One of the boys wanted to smoke a pipe, and went behind the hen-house, sonobody should see him do such a silly thing. He thought he heard hisfather coming, and hid the pipe under the house. Some straw and dry leaveslay about, and took fire, setting the place in a blaze; for the boy ranaway when he saw the mischief he had done, and the fire got to burningnicely before the cries of the poor hens called people to help. The doorwas locked, and could not be opened, because the key was in the pocket ofthe naughty boy; so the farmer got an axe and chopped down the wall,letting the poor biddies fly out, squawking and smoking.
"Where is Cocky?" cried the other boy, as he counted the hens and missedthe king of the farmyard.
"Burnt up, I'm afraid," said the farmer, who was throwing water on theflames.
Alas! yes, he was: for when the fire was out they found good old Cockysitting on a nest, with his wide wings spread over some little chickswhose mother had left them. They were too small to run away, and satchirping sadly till Cocky covered and kept them safe, though the smokechoked him to death.
Every one was very sorry; and the children gave the good bird a finefuneral, and buried him in the middle of the field, with a green moundover him, and a white stone, on which was written,--
Here lies the bravest cock that ever crew: We mourn for him with sorrow true. Now nevermore at dawn his music shall we hear, Waking the world like trumpet shrill and clear. The hens all hang their heads, the chickens sadly peep; The boys look sober, and the girls all weep. Good-by, dear Cocky: sleep and rest, With grass and daisies on your faithful breast; And when you wake, brave bird, so good and true, Clap your white wings and crow, "Cock-a-doodle-doo."