and a dresser, which the children thought superior to any they had ever
seen; a rack over it held their small stock of crockery, and a few
hanging shelves on the wall were their book-case: cleanliness and
neatness made up for the want of more and better furniture, and
cheerfulness and content were at home in the humble cottage. Annie was a
great help to her mother, and fast learning to be a good housewife. The
poultry was her particular care, and she had already received from Mrs.
Watson a cock, half a dozen hens, and two pairs of fine turkeys, with
many useful directions concerning their management. She would soon
perhaps have lost them all, however, if it had not been for an adventure
which happened to George, and which made her very watchful of them.

He came running home one day smelling so horribly that he was perfectly
intolerable, and the whole house was scented by his clothes.

"Oh, mother!" he cried, "I was playing in the wood, when I saw such a
pretty animal; I thought it was a squirrel at first, or a young fox, and
it seemed so tame that I ran to catch it, but it ran a little way off,
and then stopped and looked back at me--at last, just when I thought I
should get hold of it, it squirted all over me. Oh! it smells so nasty!"

"You may well say that, Georgy," said his uncle; "but it was lucky it
did not squirt into your eyes, or you might have been blinded for life.
That was a skunk, and very likely thinking of paying a visit to the
chickens when you disturbed it. It makes great havoc in a hen-roost,
Annie; and I would advise you to get Tom to make yours safe."

"That I will, this very day," cried Tom; "but, uncle, I never heard of a
skunk before; what kind of a looking thing is it?"