The  earliest  tidings  of  the  rising  had  been  conveyed
to  the  house  by  young  Bayliss,  son  and  heir  of  the
hen-keeper,  and  my  presence  had  been  urgently  re-
quested. Let  me  remark  in  parenthesis  that  fowls
were  my  special  department  in  domestic  economy,
and  that  no  step  was  ever  taken  in  their  manage-
ment without  my  advice  and  assistance.  Old  Bay-
liss hobbled  out  upon  our  arrival,  and  informed  us
of  the  full  extent  of  the  disturbance.  It  seems  that
the  crested  hen  and  the  bantam  cock  had  developed
such  length  of  wing  that  they  were  enabled  to  fly
over  into  the  park,  and  that  the  example  of  these
ringleaders  had  been  so  contagious,  that  even  such
steady  old  matrons  as  the  bandy-legged  Cochin  China
had  developed  roving  propensities,  and  pushed  their
way  into  forbidden  ground.  A  council  of  war  was
held  in  the  yard,  and  it  was  unanimously  decided
that  the  wings  of  the  recalcitrants  must  be  clipped.
What  a  scamper  we  had!  By  "we"  I  mean  Mr.
Cronin  and  myself,  while  Cousin  Sol  hovered  about
in  the  background  with  the  scissors,  and  cheered  us
on.  The  two  culprits  knew  that  they  were  wanted;
for  they  rushed  under  the  hay-ricks  and  over  the
coops,  until  there  seemed  to  be  at  least  half  a  dozen


208  OUR  DERRY  SWEEPSTAKES.
