Hurry, scurry! Scurry, hurry! "Cluck, cluck." "Peep-peep." "Groo-groo." "Gobble-gobble." "Quack, quack." Such noise and excitement you never heard!
Such table manners you never saw! All were talking at once. Everyone was pecking and pushing and grabbing!
One morning at the farmyard breakfast Mrs. White said, "Where can Brown Betty be? I haven't seen her for two or three weeks. I am afraid she has gone off and hidden her nest somewhere. I wish I knew where, for turkey eggs are scarce this year. If you four children will find her nest I will pay you ten cents for each egg in it."
The little girls were very much excited.
"Just suppose," said Betty, "that we find a nest with six eggs in it. That will be sixty cents. What shall we buy with so much money?"
"Wouldn't it be fun to get Father to take us to the store and let us buy things for a picnic?" said Mary.
"Oh, yes, let's have a picnic," cried Peggy and Betty.
"But first," said wise little Dot, "we must find Brown Betty's nest."
That very day the children began to hunt for the hidden eggs. They climbed up into the barn loft and looked in the hay. Here they found Mrs. Nicker on her nest. When they came near she ruffled up her feathers and gave an angry cluck. "Don't be afraid," laughed Betty; "we are looking for something worth much more than one little hen's egg."
Then hidden down in the hay they came across a mouse's home with four baby mice in it. They looked very small and young and funny. Their tiny eyes were shut tight. "You are cunning little things but you won't buy us a picnic," said Peggy.