n all the rest of the
chickens had quieted down a little and the old hen had gathered the rest
of her brood under her wings, Peter-Kins threw the little peep at mother
hen's head, which killed the little chicken instantly and upset all the
rest of the fowls in the barnyard once more.

[Illustration]

"I'll just keep hidden, and wait until he comes down," planned Zip, "and
then I will pounce out and grab him by the back of his neck and shake him
as if he were a rat."

[Illustration: PETER-KINS LEAPED ONTO A TURKEY GOBBLER THAT WAS STRUTTING
AROUND THE YARD ALL SWELLED OUT WITH PRIDE

(_Page Fifty-Five_)]

But instead of coming down the trunk as he had before, Peter-Kins ran out
on one of the long, slender, drooping limbs that reached nearly to the
ground, and when it bent within three feet of the earth, he dropped and
lit on the back of a rooster.

[Illustration]

Then the fun began, for the poor old rooster was beside himself with
fright, and ran around and around the yard, trying to get between the
palings of the fence, into holes no larger than his head, into chicken
coops and out, in amongst the other fowls, squawking and gurgling as he
went. Then all of a sudden he was relieved of his rider, for Peter-Kins
leaped from his back onto a turkey gobbler that was strutting around the
yard all swelled out with pride, every feather spread out to its fullest
extent. Now another race began, the turkey gobbling and the monkey
chattering as they made the rounds.

Now while Peter-Kins had been riding the rooster, this very gobbler called
out, "You stupid fellow! Stop running round and round! Go under the fence
and scratch that beast off your back!"

But alas, for him! He could give advice, but not live up to it himself,
for while he was gobbling, Peter-Kins leaped from the rooster's back to
his own, and with shrunken feathers, he began running around and around
the yard, just as the rooster had done, too frightened to know what he was
doing, or to pay attention to his own advice, while all the chickens were
now cackling at him, "Run under the fence! Run under the fence and scratch
him off!"

"Run under the fence and scratch him off!" quacked the ducks.

"Run under the fence and scratch him off!" hissed the geese.

"Run under the fence and scratch him off!" gobbled his wife, the old
turkey hen.

But no; he was deaf to their cries, and with pride gone and feathers
clinging to his sides, he was running and jumping