"But then there's their barley; how much will they need? Why, they take but one grain at a time when they feed,-- So that's a mere trifle; now then, let us see, At a fair market price how much money there'll be. "Six shillings a pair--five--four--three-and-six-- To prevent all mistakes, that low price I will fix; Now what will that make? fifty chickens, I said,-- Fifty times three-and-sixpence--I'LL ASK BROTHER NED. "Oh, but stop,--three-and-sixpence a PAIR I must sell 'em; Well, a pair is a couple,--now then let us tell 'em; A couple in fifty will go (my poor brain!) Why, just a score times, and five pair will remain. "Twenty-five pair of fowls--now how tiresome it is That I can't reckon up so much money as this! Well, there's no use in trying, so let's give a guess,-- I'll say twenty pounds, AND IT CAN'T BE NO LESS. "Twenty pounds, I am certain, will buy me a cow, Thirty geese, and two turkeys,--eight pigs and a sow; Now if these turn out well, at the end of the year, I shall fill both my pockets with guineas, 'tis clear." Forgetting her burden, when this she had said, The maid superciliously tossed up her head: When, alas for her prospects! her milk-pail descended, And so all her schemes for the future were ended. This moral, I think, may be safely attached,-- "Reckon not on your chickens before they are hatched." This amusing little poem may be made to seem even funnier if we stop to think what an absurd little milkmaid she really was! Let us ask ourselves a few questions: How many quarts of milk were probably in the pail? How many dozen eggs in a hundred? What is milk worth a quart? What are eggs worth a dozen? Was she carrying enough milk to buy a hundred, or even fourscore, good eggs? Does a farmer count on having sixty out of eighty eggs hatch successfully? If he has sixty chickens hatched, can he count with certainty on fifty growing big enough to boil or roast? Is it true that the cost of the grain to feed them is a mere trifle? How much is an English shilling in our money? Is a dollar and a half a pair too much to expect for good chickens? Is eighty-seven and a half cents too small a price for a pair? Is twenty pounds too much or too little for twenty-five pairs of chickens at three shillings and sixpence per pair? If she could get twenty pounds for her chickens, could she buy a cow, thirty geese, two turkeys and a sow with a litter of eight pigs for the money? HOLGER DANSKE By Hans Christian Andersen NOTE.--The first paragraphs of this story contain an old Danish legend which Hans Christian Andersen uses very skilfully. We can imagine that the story would mean a great deal more to boys of Denmark than it does to us, for they would be a great deal more familiar with the people referred to than we are; but there is so much in the story that is not confined to Denmark, and it is told in such a fascinating way, that even the boys of the United States will find it interesting.