* * * * *

THE ADOPTED BROOD.

"Oh, look, Bobby!" said Betty, as she jumped out of the swing, and
went running down toward the hayfield. "Here comes Joe, and he has
something to show us. I know it's a surprise."

Bobby looked, and then he and Betty went running to meet Joe, who was
coming along the path by the orchard. He was carrying his straw hat
carefully in one hand, and beckoning with his other hand for the
children to hurry and see the surprise.

"What have you got?" shouted both the children, excitedly, as they
came near.

"Eggs." said Joe.

"Oh, eggs," said Bobby and Betty. "Eggs--why eggs are nothing to see.
We find them every day."

"Yes," said Joe, "but these are not hen's eggs--they are pheasant's
eggs!"

Bobby and Betty looked, and sure enough, in Joe's hat were seven
eggs--olive-brown in color.

"We were mowing in the meadow," said Joe, "and we almost ran over a
mother pheasant on her nest. She flew up right under the horse's feet,