louder tone. And still the Rooster made no reply. Henrietta
couldn't understand it, he was always so polite to the ladies. Could it
be that he was snubbing her?

Henrietta grew a bit angry as that thought popped into her head.

"What's the matter?" she snapped. "Have you lost your voice? It was loud
enough to wake me up a few moments ago."

Receiving no response whatsoever, Henrietta completely lost her temper.
"I'll see what's wrong with you!" she cackled. And throwing herself off
her roost, though it was dark as a pocket in the henhouse, she flung
herself upon the perch just opposite, where she knew the Rooster had
slept.

It was no wonder that Henrietta Hen blundered in the dark. It was no
wonder that she missed her way and stumbled squarely into the Rooster,
knocking him headlong on the floor.

He set up a terrible clamor. And he made Henrietta Hen angrier than ever,
for he cried out in a loud voice something that would have displeased
anybody. "A skunk is after me!" he bawled.

XVII

A SIGN OF RAIN

There was a terrible hubbub in the henhouse. The Rooster squalled so
loudly that he waked up every hen in the place. And when they heard him
crying that a skunk had knocked him off his roost they were as frightened
as he was, and set up a wild cackle. All but Henrietta Hen! She knew
there was no skunk there.

"Don't be a goose--er--don't be a gander!" she hissed to the Rooster.
"I'm the one that bumped into you."

The Rooster quickly came to his senses.

"Don't be alarmed, ladies!" he called to the flock. "There's no danger.
There's been a slight mistake." He pretended that he hadn't been scared.
But he had been. And now he was somewhat uneasy about Henrietta Hen. He
feared he was in for a scolding from her.

"If you had answered me when I spoke to you I wouldn't have left my perch
in the dark," she told the Rooster severely. "When I moved to your perch
to see what was the matter I blundered into you. And then you thought I
was a skunk! You owe me an apology, sir!"

The Rooster was glad it was not lighter in the henhouse, for he felt
himself flushing hotly.

"You must pardon me," he said. "I had no idea it was you, for you waked
me out of a sound sleep."

"Sound sleep, indeed!" Henrietta Hen exclaimed with a sniff. "Why, you
had been crowing only a few moments before. In fact it was your crowing
that roused me."

"No doubt!" said the Rooster. "But you see, I fell asleep again
immediately."