ar round."

We found the flock of turkeys, and Miss Laura admired their changeable
colors very much. Some of them were very large, and I did not like them,
for the gobblers ran at me, and made a dreadful noise in their throats.

Afterward, Mrs. Wood showed us some ducks that she had shut up in a
yard. She said that she was feeding them on vegetable food, to give
their flesh a pure flavor, and by-and-by she would send them to market
and get a high price for them.

Every place she took us to was as clean as possible. "No one can be
successful in raising poultry in large numbers," she said, "unless they
keep their quarters clean and comfortable."

As yet we had seen no hens, except a few on the nests, and Miss Laura
said, "Where are they? I should like to see them."

"They are coming," said Mrs. Wood. "It is just their breakfast time, and
they are as punctual as clockwork. They go off early in the morning, to
scratch about a little for themselves first."

As she spoke she stepped off the plank walk, and looked off towards, the
fields.

Miss Laura burst out laughing. Away beyond the barns the hens were
coming. Seeing Mrs. Wood standing there, they thought they were late,
and began to run and fly, jumping over each other's backs, and
stretching out their necks, in a state of great excitement. Some of
their legs seemed sticking straight out behind. It was very funny to see
them.

They were a fine-looking lot of poultry, mostly white, with glossy
feathers and bright eyes. They greedily ate the food scattered to them,
and Mrs. Wood said, "They think I've changed their breakfast time, and
to-morrow they'll come a good bit earlier. And yet some people say hens
have no sense."

* * * * *

CHAPTER XIX

A BAND OF MERCY

A few evenings after we came to Dingley Farm, Mrs. Wood and Miss Laura
were sitting out on the veranda, and I was lying at their feet.

"Auntie," said Miss Laura, "What do those letters mean on that silver
pin that you wear with that piece of ribbon?"

"You know what the white ribbon means, don't you?" asked Mrs. Wood.

"Yes; that you are a temperance woman, doesn't it?"

"It does; and the star pin means that I am a member of a Band of Mercy.
Do you know what a Band of Mercy is?"

"No," said Miss Laura.

"How strange! I should think that you would have several in Fairport. A
cripple boy, the son of a Boston artist, started this one here. It has