At any rate on came this bull after the children, and Russ and Rose hastened with their younger brothers and sisters toward the open door of the hen-house.
They reached it some little distance ahead of the charging animal. In they ran. Russ closed the door and placed against it a strong stick he found on the floor. The hen-house was deserted except for one chicken that had strayed in to lay an egg, and she flew off the nest, cackling in surprise, as the children entered.
Mun Bun and Margy laughed at this, and Rose was glad, for she did not want them to be too frightened. She and Russ expected every moment to hear the bull dash against the hen-house door. The boy was afraid, if this happened, that the shaky door would be broken so the bull could get in.
But, to his surprise, a moment later Laddie cried:
“Look! He ran right past here!”
And that is just what happened. The bull, charging head down, had carried himself well past the hen-house, but could be seen to one side rushing around.
That is one difference between a bull and a cow. A bull charges with his head down and cannot well see where he is going, so that if one is very active he can leap out of the way. But a cow rushes at you with head up and “takes better aim,” as Laddie expressed it.
So this is how it happened that the bull rushed past the hen-house without doing any damage. Rose breathed a sigh of relief, and she said:
“Now don’t make any noise and maybe he won’t know we’re here. Keep still!”
And you may be sure the four small little Bunkers did—very still.