126 Old Primrose

“Well, ma’am—ah—in a kind of general
way of speaking—yes.” You see old P.
was very cunning: he allowed her to think
that he contemplated being hatched as a
chick. He chuckled a long time at his own
deepness.

“But how to get an egg big enough for
me!” mused old P. Then he called again
on Jane the hen.

“I’m sorry to trouble you again, ma’am,”
he said ; “‘but—if I don’t interrupt you—I’m.
very anxious to have your advice.”

“Pray come in, Mr. Primrose,” said Jane.

“Well, ma’am, I was going to ask you
whether— when you had half-an-hour to
spare—you could manage to lay an egg
large enough for me to get into.”

‘“Well now, dear me!” said Jane, “that’s
quite a new idea tome. If you'll just show
me how small you can curl up, I might think
it over. Well, I really don’t know—I’m
very bad at calculation—my poor mother
always was.

Now I’ve no doubt, if we asked Mr.
Rooster my husband, he would know,