Counting Chickens

It was Mary's birthday. She received a letter from her uncle who was a farmer.

"Dear Mary," the letter said.

"Happy Birthday. I am sending you some chickens. They will arrive tomorrow. I hope you like them. Best wishes, Uncle Toby."

Mary was very pleased. She liked eating eggs and she liked eating chicken. "I can keep the chickens for their eggs or eat them," she thought.

When the chickens arrived the next day, they were in a box.

Mary was very excited. She took the box off the back of the truck and began to carry it into her garden.

However, the box of chickens was heavy and she dropped it.

The box fell to the ground and broke. The chickens all ran out.

They ran everywhere -- into neighbors' gardens, into the road, into shops, even into the next street. Mary spent hours trying to find them and take them back to her garden.

A few days later her uncle came to visit her.

"Did the chickens arrive safely?" he asked Mary.

"Yes, Uncle Toby," Mary said. "But I had a lot of trouble with them. I dropped the box. It broke open and the chickens ran everywhere. I spent the whole morning looking for them."

"Did you find them all?" her uncle asked.

"I hope so," Mary replied. "I caught eleven of them."

"That's very interesting," her uncle said with a smile, "because I only sent you six."