nd then we couldn't play
with it any more."

"That's so," agreed Bunny. "I'll see if I can get it away from her."

But when Bunny crept under the currant bush, and reached for his ball,
the hen made a funny clucking noise, ruffled up her feathers and looked
so angry, that Bunny was afraid.

"Maybe she's got little chickens in her nest," said Sue. "If she has
she'll peck you if you go close to her--grandma said so."

"Maybe she has," agreed Bunny. "But I'll get a long stick and poke my
ball out. Then she can't peck me."

But it was not easy to make the ball roll out of the way of the hen. The
stick would slip off it when Bunny reached for it, and whenever the
stick came near the hen she would peck at it. Once she almost knocked it
from Bunny's hand.

And, all the while, the hen made that queer clucking noise, and fluffed
up her feathers so that she looked twice as big as she really was.

"Oh, come away! Come away!" begged Sue. "She'll bite you, Bunny!"

Bunny Brown was a little afraid of the hen. And when he found he could
not roll the ball out of her way he ran to the house, with Sue, and told
his mother and grandmother what had happened.

"Why, that must be the old gray hen, sitting on her nest that she went
off and made by herself," said Grandma Brown. "I wondered where she was
hiding, but I never thought to look under the currant bush. I'm glad you
found her, Bunny. I'll get your ball for you."

The hen did not seem to mind when Grandma Brown went close to her. Very
carefully Grandma reached for Bunny's ball. Then she gently lifted up
one of the hen's wings, and showed the children the eggs under her
feathers.

"Soon some little chickens will hatch out of the eggs," said grandma.
"Some of the shells are already cracked, and the chickies may be out
to-morrow."

"Oh, I'll just love to see them!" cried Sue.

Now that they had their ball again, Bunny and Sue could play once more.
And the next day the little chickens did hatch. Up to the house came the
old mother hen with eleven little, fluffy, yellow balls, almost as round
as Bunny's ball, but of course not so big.

"Peep! Peep!" went the little chickens, as they followed the hen-mother
around.

"Cluck-cluck!" said the hen-mother.

[Illustration: "OH, AREN'T THEY CUTE!"--_Page 208._
_Bunny Brown and His Sister Sue on Grandpa's Farm._]

"Oh, aren't they cute!" cried Sue.

Every one thought they were, and I think the hen mother was very proud
of t