The Rooster couldn't help looking foolish. Henrietta Hen believed in letting him know that she stood in no awe of him. And while he was feeling ill at ease she hastened to tell him that hereafter he must hold onto his first crow until after sunrise.
"I can't do that," he told her again, unhappily.
"Don't you dare let go of it!" she warned him. "If that first crow gets away from you while it's dark, there'll be so many others to follow it that I shan't be able to close an eye for even a cat-nap."
VIII
WHY THE ROOSTER CROWED
Henrietta Hen had commanded the Rooster to wait until daylight before he began to crow.
He saw that she had made up her mind that he must obey her. But he knew he couldn't. And he always took great pains to be polite to the ladies.
It was a wonder the Rooster didn't turn red in the face. He had never found himself in such a corner before.