I'll miss my guess."

"Oh! I'm glad to hear you say that!" Henrietta Hen cried. "Now I won't
need to worry--that is, if you know what you're talking about."

That, of course, was a most impolite way for Henrietta Hen to speak to
anybody of old Whitey's age. Whitey was the oldest hen in the flock. And
what she didn't know about such things as nests and eggs and roosts
wasn't worth knowing.

Polly Plymouth Rock didn't like Henrietta Hen's remark. She opened her
mouth.

And no doubt she would have said something quite sharp in reply. But old
Whitey stopped her.

"Never mind!" said Whitey. "The day will come when Henrietta Hen will
agree that my guess is a good one."

Still Henrietta Hen felt uneasy about that big, white egg.

"I do hope Johnnie Green won't find this new nest of mine," she remarked.

"If he does, I fear he'll take my beautiful egg away from me."

"Lay another!" said old Whitey. "Lay another and he'll take that and
leave this one."

"I suppose I may as well try your scheme," Henrietta replied, "since
nobody suggests anything better."

"My idea's a good one, or I'll miss my guess," said old Whitey.

There was some snickering among Henrietta Hen's callers as they bade her
good afternoon and left her.

"They're laughing at old Whitey," she said to herself. She hadn't the
slightest notion that they could be giggling at _her_. "Old Whitey must
be wrong," she thought. "But I may as well take her advice, for I don't
know what else to do."

Not long afterward Henrietta Hen came fluttering down from the haymow,
squawking at the top of her lungs for old Whitey. And as soon as she
found her, Henrietta cried, "Come up to my nest right away! I want to ask
your advice."

Although she didn't say "Please!" old Whitey went with her.

[Illustration: "Come Up to My Nest!" Cried Henrietta Hen. (_Page 50_)]

XI

OLD WHITEY'S ADVICE

Old Whitey--the most ancient hen in the flock--scrambled with some
difficulty up to the top of the haymow in Farmer Green's barn. She could
scarcely keep up with Henrietta Hen, whom she was following--by request.
And when she arrived, breathless, at Henrietta's nest that proud and
elegant creature turned a troubled face toward her.

"See!" said Henrietta. "I've taken your advice and laid another egg. But
it's nothing like the beautiful, big, white one. This last egg is much
smaller; and it's brown."

Old Whitey nodded her head. "Well!" she said. "What's your diffic