Page:Original stories from real life 1796.pdf/26

to look for food to ſatisfy the craving of the almoſt fledged young. An idle boy, who had borrowed a gun, fired at them—they fell; and before he could take up the wounded pair, he perceived Mrs. Maſon; and expecting a very ſevere reprimand, ran away. She and the little girls drew near, and found that one was not much hurt, but that the other, the cock, had one leg broken, and both its wings ſhattered; and its little eyes ſeemed ſtarting out of their ſockets, it was in ſuch exquiſite pain. The children turned away their eyes. Look at it, ſaid Mrs. Maſon; do you not ſee that it ſuffers as much, and more than you did when you had the ſmall-pox, when you were ſo tenderly nurſed. Take up the hen; I will bind her wing together; perhaps it may heal. As to the cock, though I hate to kill any thing, I muſt put him out of pain; to leave him in his preſent ſtate would be cruel; and avoiding an unpleaſant ſenſation myſelf, I ſhould allow the poor bird to die by inches, and call this treatment tenderneſs, when it would be ſelf-