Well, if there was one thing that Henrietta Hen couldn't endure, it was
to be laughed at.

"Don't be silly!" she cried. "Why shouldn't I think it was morning, when
he crowed almost in my ear?"

"Don't you know why I crowed?" the Rooster asked her. And without waiting
for any reply, he said, "I crowed to let Farmer Green know it was going
to rain to-morrow."

Of course Henrietta Hen had to have the last word. The Rooster might have
known she would.

"Then," she observed, "I suppose you squawked to let him know there was a
skunk in the henhouse."




XVIII

IN NEED OF ADVICE


Something was troubling Henrietta Hen. She seemed to have some secret
sorrow. No longer did she move with her well-known queenly manner among
her neighbors in the farmyard. Instead, she spent a good deal of her time
moping. And no one could guess the reason. She didn't even care to talk
to anybody--not even to boast about her fine, speckled coat. And that
certainly was not in the least like Henrietta Hen.