nhouse had joined her. The white rooster was the loudest of all, and
the little bantam rooster stretched his neck and did the best he could.

Now, the horses, cows, and sheep were not far away. They heard the happy
voices, and they, too, joined in the grand chorus. The pigs did their
best to sing louder than all the rest.

Higher and higher, stronger and stronger, rose the chorus. Louder and
louder quacked the ducks. Shriller and shriller squealed the pigs.

They were all so happy that they quite forgot their hunger until the
door of the henhouse burst open, and in came three chubby children. Each
was carrying a dish of hot chicken food.

"Don't stop your music, Mr. Rooster," said the little girl, who was
bundled up until you could scarcely see her dear little face.

[Illustration: The children arrive with food]

"You see, we were so lonesome that we didn't know what to do. We heard
you folk singing out here, and we laughed and laughed until we almost
cried. Then we went to tell Jack about you. He was lonesome, too, for
he's sick with a sore throat, you know. He said, 'Why, those poor hens!
They haven't been fed since morning! Go and feed them.' And so we came."

"Cock-a-doodle-doo!" said the white rooster. "This comes of making the
best of things. Cock-a-doodle-doo!" And nobody asked him to stop
crowing.

--FRANCES M. FOX.

THE ANIMALS AND THE MIRROR

I

Aunt Susan sent an old-fashioned looking-glass to the barn to be stored
in the loft, with other old furniture. The farm boy stood it on the
floor of the barn until he should have time to put it away. The mirror
was broad and long, and it was set in a dark wooden frame.

An old duck wandered into the barn and caught sight of herself in the
mirror. "There is another duck," she said. "I wonder who she is."

And she walked toward the reflection. "She is rather friendly," the duck
went on. "She is walking toward me. What large feet she has, but her
feathers are very handsome."

Just then she bumped into the mirror. "Goodness!" she cried; "if that
duck isn't in a glass case! Why are you in there?"

"Well, you needn't answer if you don't want to," she said, walking away.
"A glass case is a good place for you."

Just then a pig came along, and nosing around, he came in front of the
mirror.

"What are you doing here?" he asked, thinking he saw another pig. His
nose hit the glass, and he stepped back.

"So you are in a glass pen," he said. "You are