“Hi there! Hi, hi!” she yelled fiercely, starting 22toward them brandishing her arms. The cattle paused, wavered, might have turned, but Huz, being thus reinforced, barked lustily again. The steers edged forward as if fascinated by this small, noisy object.
“Huz, Huz, why can’t you be still?”
Gathering up Jilly in her arms and bidding her hold tight and be very quiet, Chicken Little started on the run to Huz and speedily cuffed him into silence. But the steers were still curious and resentful. As she started to walk on, with Huz slinking crestfallen at her heels, the cattle moved after them.
“I’ll have to get him out of sight!”
She picked him up by the scruff of his neck and put him into Jilly’s chubby arms.
“Here, Honey, you hold Huz, and slap him hard if he barks. Bad Huz to bark!”
Jilly hugged the dog tight. “Huz bark, Jilly sap,” she remarked complacently.
The cattle stopped when the dog disappeared from the ground. Chicken Little started toward them carrying her double burden and yelling “Hi, hi!” until they gave back a little. She persisted until she succeeded in heading them away from the road. Then she started on across the pasture still carrying Jilly and Huz, afraid to set either of them down lest they should attract the cattle.
23But the herd’s curiosity had been thoroughly aroused. They were uneasy, and by the time Chicken Little had walked a hundred yards further on, they had faced toward her again and stood with heads up and tails waving, watching her. She began to walk rapidly, not daring to run lest she should give out under the child’s weight. Another twenty yards and the steers were following slowly after her. She quickened her pace; the herd also came faster. Chicken Little knew cattle were often stampeded by mere trifles. Jilly, seeing the bristling horns approaching, commenced to whimper.
“Do home, Anjen, do home–Jilly’s ’faid!”