SHORT STORY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLVIII, Issue 14807, 10 October 1911, Page 4

SHORT STORY.

GIDEON MARSHALL'S HENS,

It was a chilly morning, and Gideon Marshall buttoned his overcoat about his lean form and drew on a pair of warm, * home-made mittens, preparatory to taking a 20-mile ride to his own domicile, whish could scarcely be called a home, since it sheltered nothing human. save himself and an old domestic who had nursed ■; him in infancy, and still persisted in calling him ** her boy/' though he was on the shady side of 40. But if Gideon lived without the society of his fellow-mortals, he made up for it* by surrounding himself with an. innumerable number of pets. ■ -, ■■ He kept guinea hens and guinea pigs, rabbits and canaries by the score, and pigeons and geese, turkeys and h<?ns beyond count. Then he had fnnirrels in revolving cages, and crows whose ton gues he had split that they might, learn to talk. There was a woodchuck, 100, thai would follow him about; like a dog, and drink milk from a cup,, sitting up like » monkey, with cup held firmly m hi* paws. He had tame mice besides, which cut all sorts of antics, and had their nest, m an eld coat sleeve "which hung at the foot- of Gideon's bed, over which they scampered every morning until he got up, and then they ran before him to the kitchen for their breakfast. On the morning of which we write Gideon was rejoicing in the acquisition of half a dozen choice Dorking hens, already cooped and in his waggon, r««4.y to be taken home. "Take my advice, brother, and let voir pets go to crass. Get a sensible lit tie •wife to make your home pleasant in pla-e.-s of your mice and woodchucks, and tf;y word for it. you will never be sorry. Sv.ch a pet as this now." and Gideon's brother picked up a little curly-headed two-year-old as he spoke; " such a jolly pet- as this .is worth all of yours a thousand times 'over." . ...... . " You and I can never think alike on | that subject, brother." replied Gideon, ' rather contemptuously, as he took up the reins, and gave bis horse a cut with a whip, which put the ancient beast in a j lazy trot. The hens cackled their adieus. j and the waggon was soon out of sight of j the group assembled in the porch to wit- ] ness the departure of their eccentric relative. " "* He will never marry—nothing surer than that r and ail, I suppose, because Linda Pratt jilted him so shabbily years ago. Wei!, she made a miserable match for herself, I've been told, though what has become of her I'm sure I don't know, linda -wasn't so much"to blame, though, after all. Some '-busybody stirred up a breeze between ; them, the girl slighted ' Gid. and he went off in a huff, and the : engagement';,was; broken.",-. '■ '-■: Thus murmured Gideon's brother, as with little curly-head still in his arms, he retreated into the \ house. :Gic':eon drove away, forgetful of the subject his brother Had broached, his mind naturally enough-filled with thoughts, of ."' the pets which had been held up to ridicule. ■; Never before had he left them so long ; to the care of another, and he wondered ; anxiously whether the old house- * keeper had not gratified her dislike for his guinea pigs., mice, etc., by keeping ;■ them on short rations. Occasionally, as his horse jogged along in his -steady-go-easy I gait;'; his master - would turn to look 'i after the safety of the ; coop in : the back i part of the- waggon, peering in now and .> then to see .how the fowls' were deporting themselves..Only once did his brother's words awake 1 anything like a wish; in his bachelor's heart, and;thai- was when he^turned-to take a parting view of the happy home ■1 circle he was leaving—-the father stand--1 ing ia the midst of Ms children,; with 11 the ,? little ; one laughing and crowing in his ; ■ I arms, and ' the : mother*: bright- and j smiling, .by his side. Then he, too, thought* of ; ; Linda " Pratt, and : : of : .-''the ': long-ago- 'k days % when she -.was his promised bride. : Th"en; ; with a half-suppressed sigh, for the me-. I mory of what might have been, and with __.:*'■ hasty/ dash .of the hand across the moistened eye*, he dismissed the subject. ■■■ - Gideon had'got over half his homeward ~ journey, when a couple of gay young "■■:;' men. I driving i»i pair .'-; of V fast' - horses, ■; ■: ap- -■» proached •; him i : from behind. '.■'; Tn» worthy bachelor was unconscious of their ;; proximity, so absorbed was he in his own j thoughts, until forcibly apprised of it by •fi a■> concession in the rear, occasioned, by the tongue of the young rnen'ijiwaggon »' coming in contact 6 withtthe box of his. ;:" * "Well, you'd better ran-; over ia '- body and he done with it." eaid Gideon, gruf- '' - v— ■-■:- ";:>->. : :-'■-'-';.-'-.'.--. -•..--'-;- ■-..-- .'-.-- ~■-■.. ---.-■

fly. -.-//" Didn'tr seeV you / in time /. to stop, •* uncle, *pon honor/* answered the driver, /, with comic ; gravity,/then,/with a wink at ■..4 his i companion, he turned out of the road | in order ; to pass the slow -going vehicle of ; Gideon; but the old horse, seeming riot * to relish the implied reproach, ;prieked up < his ears, stretched his giraffe-like neck, aid was off;like a shot. / ■ The | young men shouted, and ; the funX loving driver kept, back his fiery steeds to see the old ; horse exert» his ] feeble powers /r to gain the victory. - -.-■ Gideon smiled proudly at the,:noble ef- . forts of, his beait. ; and slackened in his ;/ reins, giving v every now and then ■. an en"v couraging word to the plucky animal. / ■:X /-' Thus the race ~, continued for about a railed,- when, the young men darted ahead like wildfire, shouting out to Gideon : ■' Better look, after your hens, uncle ; , they need it by this lime." ; Gideon turned about anxiously, to' fallow ■ this piece of : advice, and looked into the coop. ? But-, alas for poor Gideon I his hens :*: were gone. I y A* large hole /in/the' end of l the 7 coop revealed the manner of their egress. " The mean, -lived scoundrels ! They [ smashed the coop, and then beguiled me T ' into a. face on purpose to let; my hens : 1 escape; but they're somewhere a-back, and 'I: won't go home 'without them if It takes me a week to catch'them. ; How I should ! like :' to horsewhip them fellows !'-'*/' Thus muttering, Gideon put his horse -about and retraced his steps. .*•."?." Let's see!'■" 'twas somewhere near the / Ted mill, that them rascals did the dam- ; age, and let ray hens out. 'Twould serve me right if I "never see a feather of them ■ again.. -I To go to; racing horses like a boy, s and leave six of the finest -Dorking hens that ever cackled to shift for themselves I" ''.- Never starving hunter looked with more i eager eyes for the game by which he hoped * to appease his - hunger than did Gideon Marshall for his missing hens. When he reached the* little valley where stood the red mill' his eyes wandered from" side to side in anxious search. " 'He "passed the mill, and drew near a / pretty white cottage, surrounded by fruit ,*. trees and flowering shrubs, which were • just beginning to put forth their leaves. A lady, -comely ■ and dark-haired, though past the rosy bloom of early womanhood, ■ was standing before the door, admiring a ■.'■;' row of beautiful white hens - which had mysteriously made their appearance on the ; premises, and were quietly pluming them- • selves.on the front fence. i> Gideon saw neither tb> lady nor the * dimple-cheeked child which played near ■i her on the young grass. He had' iV-nd his hens, and now his mind was wonderi fully. perplexed . to contrive some - v.ay to catch them; for, to use his own words, they were as " wild as hawks," and quite as fond of their liberty, too. He took an ear of corn from his pocket, ind shelling it on the ground, called to • them in every conceivable way to come and eat; but the hens were either too stupid to unden-tand or too wise to heed, and so kept their perch.' / * , At length Gideon became convinced that there was no way but to ran them down ' one at a timeno very easy feat to accom- : plish, considering that- they would have ,-all the time a locomotive power in reserve, and could fly or rim as their need or fancy prompted. Acting on this conviction, he crept cautiously forward" and made/a lunge at the nearest, sufficiently dexterous enough to secure a handful of feathers, while the hens fluttered in concert from ths fence and struck out in dif- / ferent directions. /// Gideon was over the fence in a trice, ; and*- in lively pursuit of the refractory •/fowls/-*:.;.,/:•"/;'"■ ■:"// /■-".< : : ".-/ ' '■ /// Around the house he olloweo. the hindmost, and into a neat, newly-made garden, \ over \ the smooth, /even beds .of.' which he trampled without compunction. Hound and round he ran, and leaped/and jumped IX until" the hen, as if desirous; of a wider -. held of ■ action, * flew r over; the fence into a fresbiv-plorghcd £dd. This Gideon

ii miMMiiir 1 1 arm —lit rnriii wrum inm win iibwubw i i-""- ■um "»" ■*■*"■"**— ■. found less adapted fur a race than its* garden, for with every step he sank ankledeep in < the mellow loam. After making the circuit of tfe field, the hen W«J the top of a peach tree, in which wtx : .<=•.-- lows were already congregated. £i«- sale arrival was the occasion of.-. a j-ioiongea and triumphant crow frivß-:; the rooster, tantalising enough w» who came up. wiping the from his Ueateu face. M hoVpiSsed the - garden- he saw with some WMfgiiw the full ext«a»» -- -*** mischief £* hi'j wrought, and wondered why araMftM h*d not come out to remou-rc-vate ag/J.uit his devastating flourishes over tie 'zeds. - ' G-j5.«Wi wis in sore perplexity. There win- aci «uch- thing for him as catching the b/.r.s in a race. He stood under the pev.rv. tree in a brown study, scratching iis bead vigorously to coax therefrom fes.ia plan by which his Dorkings might be cured. He did not see the dark eyes v. nidi watched him so curiously from a b\\cfc window, nor the mischievous smile tfcay. larked around the lady's mouth as il>"a witnessed his discomfiture. " I'm dashed if I can think of any way to circumvent the torments. They're too | knowing," murmured Gideon. "Maybe ' th*> woman can contrive a. -way to do it. I've heard i?ay women have sharper wits than we." •"Msdam." said Gideon, as he apcrcached the cottage and made his most paSite bow. " I crave your assistance, or, rather, your advice, about catching those hens in "the tree yonder.". The lady thought he would have to wait ti" night, when they were gone to roost, sad >■ hen Gideon demurred on account of the lonely way he had to go, eke told him he would be welcome to stay over night. Gideon looked more perplexed than ever. What was there in the lady's voice and eves thai puzzled him so? And the child. How its dimpled cheeks and rosy mouth ; sent- his thoughts far back in the past. He" led his horse, which all this while had been standing like a tin-peddler's in the. middle of the road, to the stable, and then came back to watch his Dorkings till niaht should restore hem to his keeping. The child's mother was busy in another part of the house, and the little fellow was soon on familiar terms with Gideon, who. strangely enough, felt his Bachelor heart- warm towards him. The little felj low imparted to his new friend all his little stock of knowledge—told him of the brother and sister who were at school, and of the father who was at rest in the farawav chnrchvard. Gideon retired early to his room, meanin" to start for home by the break day. He pulled off his coat and boots, and then took from his wallet a banknote, which was to be left as a compensation to his hostess for her hospitality, as well as the i injury he had done in her garden. But where had he best deposit the money! Several books were lying on a shelf." He took one down, intending to place the bill therein in the form of a book-mark, ;' and leave it on the table. Something written on "the flyleaf caused him to start, -and flush, and pale alternately.':./'' ." .' - ~ ~ He shut the book, fancying himsek the victim of an . illusion. But again he opened it. and again read his own name : and that of Linda Pratt traced in his own handwriting. How well he remembered giving such a book to his betrothed. This mnst-'be the very one ; but how did it come into the widow possession ? Gideon re- ! solved to know. so. again investing himself in coat- and boots, he went down into the kitchen where the little widow was still at work. '- ' ;" ' - ' Does the Teader wish to follow him thither, or will it suffice to say that when he again sought his room it was past midnight, and that he was once more engaged to the sweetheart of his youth, the pretty widow, Linda Pratt Holmes Gideon did not think of his hws or any of his manv pets again that'night, though he lay awake till the son began to streak the east with lines of light. Mortal never had a lighter heart than Gideon earned to his home next day. The old housekeeper wondered much when the mice and guinea pi«rs - the woodchncks t and crows disappeared, and her wonder increased when Gideon brought his wife and her ctoldren home. To use her own words, ■ she was thunderstruck, but proper glad on t to think her boy^ was took with a sensible: streak once in his life." Then the brother, with bis family, came down to offer congratulations, and the old house was made merry by the , ring of childish voices, and in time ! there came another, with * eyes and hair the counterpart of Gideon's, whose happiness the little stranger's advent rendered complete. _