It is there as
a standard of size, and in accordance with its dimensions so will the
credit of the fowl yard be.
In this particular yard all went well for many months. Why, the hens
beat the nest eggs with scarcely an effort, and then started making
records. It was a fierce and clamorous competition, and the enterprise
flourished. A good beginning had been made, and the high-minded hens
chuckled with pride and satisfaction. In the course of two or three
months, however, a gradual deterioration in the size of the eggs took
place. There was just the same amount of fuss and feathers, showing the
artfulness of the hens, but the eggs soon dwindled down below plans and
specifications, and then an investigation took place. Not a single nest
egg was to be found. Vainly was search made. The hens sniggered. They
had fulfilled their duty, and finding it tiresome and wearing to produce
abnormal eggs, had secreted those set apart for them to measure by,
and had thereupon levelled their enterprise and skill down. Such
sinfulness and such burglarious conduct on the part of respectable
hens that had the most discreet upbringing, that had never been
allowed to play in anybody else's yard, and that had never been
permitted to wander from the paths of virtue, was a sore affliction.
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