There were no feathers, and so far as he could see, all the hens
were standing or walking about.
At once Farmer Brown's boy began to count them. Of course, he knew
exactly how many there should be. When he got through counting, not one
was missing. Farmer Brown's boy was puzzled. He counted them again. Then
he counted them a third time. He began to think there must be something
wrong with his counting. After the fourth count, however, he was forced
to believe that not a single one was missing.
If Reddy Fox had been relieved when he discovered that henyard gate
open, Farmer Brown's boy was equally relieved when he found that not a
single biddie had been taken. When two people are relieved at the same
time, it is called mutual relief. But there was this difference between
Reddy Fox and Farmer Brown's boy: Reddy knew all about what had
happened, and Farmer Brown's boy couldn't even guess. He went all around
that henhouse, trying to find a way by which Reddy Fox had managed to
get in. Of course, he discovered that the little sliding door where the
biddies go in and out of the henhouse was open. He guessed that this
was the way by which Reddy had entered.
But this didn't explain matters at all. He knew that the gate had been
latched when he entered the henyard that morning. How had Reddy managed
to get into that henyard with that gate closed? To this day, Farmer
Brown's boy is still wondering.
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