BELL COUNTS HER CHICKENS.
Reading edition
BY AMANDA SHAW ELSEFFER.
"Aunt Lena, come look at my chickies; They have a house all to themselves; It's very much bigger than Dickie's; They sleep in a row on the shelves." "And how many have you?" asked Auntie. "I'll count them," said dear little Bell. "There's Speckle, and Top-knot, and Bantie, And that little lame one is Nell; "And papa calls this Coach-in-China, The greediest one of the lot; And that one we named for old Dinah, Because it's as black as a pot; "And Brownie, and Whitey's her mother, And Yellow-legs there by the door, And Shanghai, and Prince, and another, And Graywing, and Dot, and one more; "And there, you see, 'way in the corner, Is Patsy—we call her Cross-patch— And Ned says she looks like a mourner, But I know she's going to hatch. "And so I have five that are hidden, But Patsy knows what she's about, And won't come away if she's bidden Until she can bring them all out. "I do hope that one is a Bantie, And don't you want one for Elaine?" "Well, how many have you?" "Why, auntie, I s'pose I must count them again."