um-pudding," said his Majesty.
"If this is true, I am going to punish you severely."

"But it is not true," answered the Yellow Hen; "for I have just
returned from a long journey."

"Where have you been?" inquired the King.

"I will tell you," she replied; and, after rearranging a few of her
feathers that the rough hands of the soldiers had mussed, the Yellow
Hen spoke as follows:

THE YELLOW HEN'S STORY

"All my life I have been accustomed to hatching out thirteen eggs; but
the last time there were only twelve eggs in the nest when I got ready
to set. Being experienced in these matters I knew it would never do to
set on twelve eggs, so I asked the Red Rooster for his advice.

"He considered the question carefully, and finally told me he had seen
a very nice, large egg lying on the rocks near the sugar mountain.

"'If you wish,' said he, 'I will get it for you.'

"'I am very sorry to trouble you, yet certainly I need thirteen eggs,'
I answered.

"The Red Rooster is an accommodating fowl, so away he flew, and shortly
returned with a large white egg under his wing. This egg I put with the
other twelve, and then I set faithfully on my nest for three weeks, at
the end of which time I hatched out my chickens.

"Twelve of them were as yellow and fluffy as any mother could wish. But
the one that came from the strange egg was black and awkward, and had a
large bill and sharp claws. Still thinking he was one of my children,
despite his deformity, I gave him as much care as any of them, and soon
he outgrew the others and became very big and strong.

"The Red Rooster shook his head, and said, bluntly:

"'That chick will be a great trouble to you, for it looks to me
strangely like one of our enemies, the Hawks.'

"'What!' I exclaimed, reproachfully, 'do you think one of my darling
children could possibly be a Hawk? I consider that remark almost an
insult, Mr. Rooster!'

"The Red Rooster said nothing more; but he kept away from my big, black
chick, as if really afraid of it.

"To my great grief this chick suddenly developed a very bad temper, and
one day I was obliged to reprove it for grabbing the food away from its
brothers. Suddenly it began screaming with anger, and the next moment
it sprang on me, digging its sharp claws into my back.

"While I struggled to free myself, he flew far up into the air,
carrying me with him, and uttering loud cries that filled me with
misgivings. For I now realized, when it was