" They were never refused, and sometimes a dozen different
"messes" were set off to await claimants,--potato-pones, cracklin
bread, apple-pies, blackberry-pies, squirrels, birds, and often
_chickens_. For a long time the amount of chickens brought in by "the
boys" puzzled me. They had little or no money, and chickens were
always high-priced. I had often noticed that the men in the wards were
busy preparing _fish-hooks_, and yet, though they often "went
fishing," they brought no fish to be cooked. One day the mystery was
fully solved. An irate old lady called upon Dr. McAllister, holding at
the end of a string a fine, large chicken, and vociferously
proclaiming her wrongs. "I _knowed_ I'd ketch 'em: I _knowed_ it. Jes'
look a-here," and she drew up the chicken, opened its mouth, and
showed the butt of a fish-hook it had swallowed. Upon further
examination, it was found that the hook had been baited with a kernel
of corn. "I've been noticin' a powerful disturbance among my fowls,
an' every onct in while one of 'em would go over the fence like
litenin' and I couldn't see what went with it. This mornin' I jes' sot
down under the fence an' watched, and the fust thing I seed was a line
flyin' over the fence right peert, an' as soon as it struck the ground
the chickens all went for it, an' this yer fool chicken up and
swallered it.
Pages:
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168