The little girl sat down on the ground, and it was most amusing to see the hens gather round her. Some even got on her lap, and looked in her pockets for the grain that they knew she had. One old thing gave her a loving peck on the neck that made Della squeal.
“What friends!” exclaimed Mary admiringly. “How they love her!”
“She's always fussing round them,” said Timothy, the elder of the two boys, “they ought to like her—Come on, Robert, let's go down to the river and have a swim.”
Mary looked at them curiously. She could have stayed here all day watching the hens. Then she said, “Don't you like animals?”
Timothy looked at Robert, and Robert looked at Timothy, and finally the elder one said, “Yes, but we don't want to live and die with them the way Della does.”
Just then the dinner-horn sounded, and without waiting for the girls, the two boys ran like the wind toward the house.
Della dismissed the hens, put the pig back in the pen, took the pony to his stall, then, accompanied by Mary, went to the house.
Her father made a great fuss about her. “Ho, ho!” he laughed catching her up in his arms, big girl though she was, “ho, ho! I'm glad to have my tomboy back, and my little sissies,” and he winked at the two demure little boys.
Della wriggled away from him, and went to her mother's bedroom to tidy herself. The farmer and his men always washed their faces and hands and brushed their hair in a little wash-room off the kitchen.
In a few minutes every one was ready for dinner. Mr. Gleason sat at the foot of the table, his wife at the head, then there were the four children, the two men, and Mr. Gleason's sister. Mr. and Mrs. Denville, not caring for such an early dinner, were going to have theirs later.
The food smelt very nice and hot. They had beef and potatoes, turnips and lettuce, and a big plum pudding with a nice sauce. I sat under the table, and listened to all that was said. It was pleasant to have every one so happy. There was a good deal of laughing and joking, and no cross words.
After dinner Della and Mary went out on the front veranda, and after Mrs. Gleason had given me something to eat, I trotted after them.
There were two hammocks on the veranda, and Mary was swinging in one, and Della in the other.