That evening Mrs. James sat with the two girls talking over the plan of keeping chickens and other farmyard stock.
“I can manage the initial investment all right, from my allowance that I have saved up, but how do I know that the poor creatures will not die or get sick under my management?” said Janet laughingly.
“We’ve got Mr. Ames near at hand, if a chicken gets the pip,—that is what they get more than anything else, I’ve learned,” said Natalie.
Both her hearers laughed hilariously at her remark, and Janet finally said: “Well, I just think I’ll experiment for fun! Where can I buy some chickens?”
“Oh, any farmer will sell you a hen,” returned Natalie.
“But I want more than one hen,” said Janet.
“You’ll have to raise them yourself, just as I am raising vegetables from seeds. You get a hen, put some eggs in a nest and make her sit upon them. In three weeks you’ll have all the young chicks you want to start with,” explained Natalie.
“It’s too bad to-morrow is Sunday, or I’d go over to Farmer Ames in the morning and see about hens and a pig,” said Janet regretfully.
“We’re all invited to go to the Scout camp to spend the day to-morrow. But you and I will start for Ames’s early Monday,” replied Natalie eagerly.
So it was decided, after several hours’ serious talk, that Janet should venture to raise chickens and keep a pig.