He emptied the stocking of its contents--bills, pennies, and silver pieces of all denominations--upon the table, and the children drew up their chairs.
"Now we 'll sort," said Chi. "You take the bills, Rose, 'n' the rest take the other pieces, 'n' make little piles before you of a dollar each. Then we can reckon up easy. I 'll take the pennies and the nickels."
"I choose the ten-cent pieces," said Cherry, "an' you take the quarters, Budd." March and Hazel took the rest.
"This is a kind of stockholders' meetin'," said Chi, as the piles were completed. "We 'll divide the proceeds accordin' the number of hens each set; coz I could n't keep run of so many chicks after they'd struck out for themselves."
He opened his book.
"Here 's some items you better hear, before you find any fault with the management:
"Mem. July. 15 chicks killed by hen-hawks.
"Mem. August. 21 chicks died of the pip.
"Mem. September. Skunks stole ten.
"Mem. October. 2 can't find.