XI
I believe it now, Nell, to be my duty to give you our experience in the egg and poultry business. You may remember that the day our cows came to their new home several coops of chickens were brought with them; also that this occurred soon after we had moved here, when we were mud-bound in these hills, with nothing to eat but bacon and “spuds,” not having seen an egg for weeks. Well, the following morning, bright and early, those coops were thrown open, their unhappy prisoners fluttering out to freedom with a mighty clamor; and as they went crowing and cackling about the old log barn, their owners thought it the sweetest music ever heard. All day long I could think of nothing but those blessed hens, and the various ways of cooking eggs. For supper that night I had planned such an omelet as the world has scarcely seen; and for the next day, ham and eggs for breakfast, custard-pie for dinner, and devilled eggs for supper. That seemed the longest day I had ever known; but finally the clock struck five.
“Come, Tom, it’s time to gather the eggs,” I said, as I handed him a peach basket nicely lined with paper.
“At Uncle Jim’s we always gathered them in our
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