"Well, if you are not a conceited fellow!" laughed the dog; "but I was not the only one that saw the hawk start off with you, and we all know that if master had not shot it you would not be here to crow to-morrow morning."
"No," piped the robin from a tree; "you were telling me how brave you were, and the hawk was not half as large as a cow. You were not very brave when he came upon you. You did not do a thing. Oh, dear! it was so funny to hear you crowing about your bravery and then to see you caught up so soon by a hawk that is only a little larger than you."
The drake and all his family were listening, and Madam Pig had put her head over the wall to listen. Poor Red Rooster felt that it was no time to crow about his bravery, so he walked away with all the dignity he could muster.
"He crowed too soon," said the drake.
"He crowed too much," said the dog.
"He crowed too loud," said the robin, "or he would have heard the warning cries from the hens and chickens."
headpiece to Tearful
TEARFUL
Once upon a time there was a little girl named Tearful, because she cried so often.