The

Rollo Books

by

Jacob Abbott

[Illustration: The Rollo Books by Jacob Abbott. Boston, Phillips, Sampson, & Co. ]

Boston, Phillips, Sampson, & Co. 

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Rollo At Work

Or

The Way to Be Industrious

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NOTICE TO PARENTS. 

Although this little work, and its fellow, “ROLLO AT PLAY, ” are intendedprincipally as a means of entertainment for their little readers, it ishoped by the writer that they may aid in accomplishing some of thefollowing useful purposes:--

1. In cultivating _the thinking powers_; as frequent occasions occur, inwhich the incidents of the narrative, and the conversations arising fromthem, are intended to awaken and engage the reasoning and reflectivefaculties of the little readers. 

2. In promoting the progress of children _in reading_ and in knowledge oflanguage; for the diction of the stories is intended to be often inadvance of the natural language of the reader, and yet so used as to beexplained by the connection. 

3. In cultivating the _amiable and gentle qualities of the heart_. Thescenes are laid in quiet and virtuous life, and the character and conductdescribed are generally--with the exception of some of the ordinaryexhibitions of childish folly--character and conduct to be imitated; forit is generally better, in dealing with children, to allure them to whatis right by agreeable pictures of it, than to attempt to drive them to itby repulsive delineations of what is wrong. 

CONTENTS

Story 1. Labor Lost Elky. Preparations. A Bad Beginning. What Rollo Might Do. A New Plan. Hirrup! Hirrup! An Overturn. Story 2. The Two Little Wheelbarrows. Rides. The Corporal’s. The Old Nails. A Conversation. Rollo Learns to Work at Last. The Corporal’s Again. Story 3. Causey-Building. Sand-Men. The Gray Garden. A Contract. Instructions. Keeping Tally. Rights Defined. Calculation. Story 4. Rollo’s Garden. Farmer Cropwell. Work and Play. Planting. The Trying Time. A Narrow Escape. Advice. Story 5. The Apple-Gathering. The Garden-House. Jolly. The Pet Lamb. The Meadow-Russet. Insubordination. Subordination. The New Plan Tried. A Present. The Strawberry-Bed. The Farmer’s Story. Story 6. Georgie. The Little Landing. Georgie’s Money. Two Good Friends. A Lecture On Playthings. The Young Drivers. The Toy-Shop. 

ENGRAVINGS

Rollo Digging Holes in the Ground. Too Heavy. The Corporal’s. Rollo Took Hold of His Wheelbarrow. The Cows. The Bull Chained by the Nose. Work in the Rain. The Harvesting Party. There, Said He, See How Men Work. Georgie’s Apples. 

[Illustration: Rollo Digging Holes in the Ground. ]

LABOR LOST. 

Elky. 

When Rollo was between five and six years old, he was one day at work inhis little garden, planting some beans. His father had given him a littlesquare bed in a corner of the garden, which he had planted with corn twodays before. He watched his corn impatiently for two days, and, as it didnot come up, he thought he would plant it again with beans. He ought tohave waited longer. 

He was sitting on a little cricket, digging holes in the ground, when heheard a sudden noise. He started up, and saw a strange, monstrous headlooking at him over the garden wall. He jumped up, and ran as fast as hecould towards the house. 

It happened that Jonas, the boy, was at that time at work in the yard, cutting wood, and he called out, “What is the matter, Rollo?”

Rollo had just looked round, and seeing that the head remained still whereit was, he was a little ashamed of his fears; so at first he did notanswer, but walked along towards Jonas. 

“That’s the colt, ” said Jonas; “should not you like to go and see him?”

Rollo looked round again, and true enough, it was a small horse’s headthat was over the wall. It looked smaller now than it did when he firstsaw it. 

Now there was behind the garden a green field, with scattered trees uponit, and a thick wood at the farther side. Jonas took Rollo by the hand, and led him back into the garden, towards the colt. The colt took his headback over the fence as they approached, and walked away. He was now afraidof Rollo. Jonas and Rollo climbed up upon a stile which was built thereagainst the fence, and saw the colt trotting away slowly down towards thewood, looking back at Rollo and Jonas, by bending his head every minute, first on one side, and then on the other. 

“There comes father, ” said Rollo. 

Jonas looked and saw Rollo’s father coming out of the wood, leading ahorse. The colt and the horse had been feeding together in the field, andRollo’s father had caught the horse, for he wanted to take a ride. Rollo’sfather had a little basket in his hand, and when he saw the colt comingtowards him, he held it up and called him, “_Elky, Elky, Elky, Elky_, ” forthe colt’s name was Elkin, though they often called him Elky. Elkin walkedslowly up to the basket, and put his nose in it. He found that there weresome oats in it; and Rollo’s father poured them out on the grass, and thenstood by, patting Elky’s head and neck while he ate them. Rollo thoughthis head looked beautifully; he wondered how he could have been afraid ofit. 

Rollo’s father led the horse across the field, through a gate, into agreen lane which led along the side of the garden towards the house; andRollo said he would run round into the lane and meet him. So he jumped offof the stile, and ran up the garden, and Jonas followed him, and went backto his work. 

Rollo ran round to meet his father, who was coming up the green lane, leading the horse with a rope round his neck. 

“Father, ” said Rollo, “could you put me on?”

His father smiled, and lifted Rollo up carefully, and placed him on thehorse’s back. Then he walked slowly along. 

“Father, ” said Rollo, “are you going away?”

“Yes, ” said he, “I am going to ride away in the wagon. ”

“Why did not you catch Elky, and let him draw you?”

“Elky? O, Elky is not old enough to work. ”

“Not old enough to work!” said Rollo, “Why, he is pretty big. He is almostas big as the horse. I should think he could draw you alone in the wagon. ”

“Perhaps he is strong enough for that; but Elky has never learned to workyet. ”

“Never learned!” said Rollo, in great surprise. “Do horses have to _learn_to work? Why, they have nothing to do but to pull. ”

“Why, suppose, ” said his father, “that he should dart off at once as soonas he is harnessed, and pull with all his strength, and furiously. ”

“O, he must not do so: he must pull gently and slowly. ”

“Well, suppose he pulls gently a minute, and then stops and looks round, and then I tell him to go on, and he pulls a minute again, and then stopsand looks round. ”

“O no, ” said Rollo, laughing, “he must not do so; he must keep pullingsteadily all the time. ”

“Yes, so you see he has something more to do than merely to pull; he mustpull right, and he must be taught to do this. Besides, he must learn toobey all my various commands. Why, a horse needs to be taught to work asmuch as a boy. ”

“Why, father, I can work; and I have never been taught. ”

“O no, ” said his father, smiling, “you cannot work. ”

“I can plant beans, ” said Rollo. 

Just then, Rollo, who was all this time riding on the horse, looked downfrom his high seat into a little bush by the side of the road, and sawthere a little bunch that looked like a birdsnest; and he said, “O, father, please to take me down; I want to look at that birdsnest. ”

His father knew that he would not hurt the birdsnest; so he took him offof the horse, and put him on the ground. Then he walked on with the horse, and Rollo turned back to see the nest. He climbed up upon a log that layby the side of the bush, and then gently opened the branches and lookedin. Four little, unfledged birds lifted up their heads, and opened theirmouths wide. They heard the noise which Rollo made, and thought it wastheir mother come to feed them. 

“Ah, you little dickeys, ” said Rollo; “hungry, are you? _I_ have not gotany thing for you to eat. ”

Rollo looked at them a little while, and then slowly got down and walkedalong up the lane, saying to himself, “_They_ are not big enough to work, at any rate, but _I_ am, I know, and I do not believe but that _Elky_ is. ”

Preparations. 

When Rollo got back into the yard, he found his father just getting intothe wagon to go away. Jonas stood by the horse, having just finishedharnessing him. 

“Father, ” said Rollo, “I can work. You thought I could not work, but Ican. I am going to work to-day while you are gone. ”

“Are you?” said his father. “Very well; I should be glad to have you. ”

“What should you like to have me do?” asked Rollo. 

“O, you may pick up chips, or pile that short wood in the shed. But standback from the wheel, for I am going to start now. ”

So Rollo stood back, and his father drew up the reins which Jonas had justput into his hands, and guided the horse slowly and carefully out of theyard. Rollo ran along behind the wagon as far as the gate, to see hisfather go off, and stood there a few minutes, watching him as he rodealong, until he disappeared at a turn in the road. He then came back tothe yard, and sat down on a log by the side of Jonas, who was busily atwork mending the wheelbarrow. 

Rollo sat singing to himself for some time, and then he said, “Jonas, father thinks I am not big enough to work; don’t you think I am?”

“I don’t know, ” said Jonas, hesitating. “You do not seem to be veryindustrious just now. ”

“O, I am resting now, ” said Rollo; “I am going to work pretty soon. ”

“What are you resting from?” said Jonas. 

“O, I am resting because I am tired. ”

“What are you tired of?” said Jonas. “What have you been doing?”

Rollo had no answer at hand, for he had not been doing any thing at all. The truth was, it was pleasanter for him to sit on the log and sing, andsee Jonas mend the wheelbarrow, than to go to work himself; and he mistookthat feeling for being tired. Boys often do so when they are set to work. 

Rollo, finding that he had no excuse for sitting there any longer, presently got up, and sauntered along towards the house, saying that hewas going to work, picking up chips. 

Now there was, in a certain corner of the yard, a considerable spacecovered with chips, which were the ones that Rollo had to pick up. He knewthat his father wished to have them put into a kind of a bin in the shed, called the _chip-bin_. So he went into the house for a basket. 

He found his mother busy; and she said she could not go and get a basketfor him; but she told him the chip-basket was probably in its place in theshed, and he might go and get that. 

“But, ” said Rollo, “that is too large. I cannot lift that great basketfull of chips. ”

“You need not fill it full then, ” said his mother. “Put in just as many asyou can easily carry. ”

Rollo still objected, saying that he wanted her very much to go and get asmaller one. He could not work without a smaller one. 

“Very well, ” said she, “I would rather that you should not work then. Theinterruption to me to get up now, and go to look for a smaller basket, will be greater than all the good you will do in picking up chips. ”

Rollo then told her that his father wanted him to work, and he related toher all the conversation they had had. She then thought that she hadbetter do all in her power to give Rollo a fair experiment; so she lefther work, went down, got him a basket which he said was just big enough, and left him at the door, going out to his work in the yard. 

A Bad Beginning. 

Rollo sat down on the chips, and began picking them up, all around him, and throwing them into his basket. He soon filled it up, and then luggedit in, emptied it into the chip-bin, and then returned, and began to fillit again. 

He had not got his basket more than half full the second time, before hecame upon some very large chips, which were so square and flat, that hethought they would be good to build houses with. He thought he would justtry them a little, and began to stand them up in such a manner as to makethe four walls of a house. He found, however, an unexpected difficulty;for although the chips were large and square, yet the edges were so sharpthat they would not stand up very well. 

Some time was spent in trying experiments with them in various ways; buthe could not succeed very well; so he began again industriously to putthem into his basket. 

When he got the basket nearly full, the second time, he thought he wastired, and that it would be a good plan to take a little time for rest;and he would go and see Jonas a little while. 

Now his various interruptions and delays, his conversation with hismother, the delay in getting the basket, and his house-building, hadoccupied considerable time; so that, when he went back to Jonas, it wasfull half an hour from the time when he left him; and he found that Jonashad finished mending the wheelbarrow, and had put it in its place, and wasjust going away himself into the field. 

“Well, Rollo, ” said he, “how do you get along with your work?”

“O, very well, ” said Rollo; “I have been picking up chips all the timesince I went away from you. ”

Rollo did not mean to tell a falsehood. But he was not aware how much ofhis time he had idled away. 

“And how many have you got in?” said Jonas. 

“Guess, ” said Rollo. 

“Six baskets full, ” said Jonas. 

“No, ” said Rollo. 

“Eight. ”

“No; not so many. ”

“How many, then?” said Jonas, who began to be tired of guessing. 

“Two; that is, I have got one in, and the other is almost full. ”

“Only two?” said Jonas. “Then you cannot have worked very steadily. Comehere and I will show you how to work. ”

What Rollo Might Do. 

So Jonas walked along to the chips, and asked Rollo to fill up thatbasket, and carry it, and then come back, and he would tell him. 

So Rollo filled up the basket, carried it to the bin, and came back verysoon. Jonas told him then to fill it up again as full as it was before. 

“There, ” said Jonas, when it was done, “now it is as full as the otherwas, and I should think you have been less than two minutes in doing it. We will call it two minutes. Two minutes for each basket full would makethirty baskets full in an hour. Now, I don’t think there are more thanthirty baskets full in all; so that, if you work steadily, but withouthurrying any, you would get them all in in an hour. ”

“In an hour?” said Rollo. “Could I get them all in in an hour?”

“Yes, ” said Jonas, “I have no doubt you can. But you must not hurry andget tired out. Work moderately, but _steadily_;--that is the way. ”

So Jonas went to the field, leaving Rollo to go on with his thirtybaskets. Rollo thought it would be a fine thing to get the chips all inbefore his father should come home, and he went to work very busilyfilling his basket the third time. 

“I can do it quicker, ” said he to himself. “I can fill the basket a greatdeal faster than that. I will get it all done in half an hour. ”

So he began to throw in the chips as fast as possible, taking up verylarge ones too, and tossing them in in any way. Now it happened that hedid fill it this time very quick; for the basket being small, and thechips that he now selected very large, they did not pack well, but lay upin every direction, so as apparently to fill up the basket quite full, when, in fact, there were great empty spaces in it; and when he took it upto carry it, it felt very light, because it was in great part empty. 

He ran along with it, forgetting Jonas’s advice not to hurry, and thinkingthat the reason why it seemed so light was because he was so strong. Whenhe got to the coal-bin, the chips would not come out easily. They were solarge that they had got wedged between the sides of the basket, and he hadhard work to get them out. 

This fretted him, and cooled his ardor somewhat; he walked back ratherslowly, and began again to fill his basket. 

A New Plan. 

Before he had got many chips in it, however, he happened to think that thewheelbarrow would be a better thing to get them in with. They would notstick in that as they did in the basket. “Men always use a wheelbarrow, ”he said to himself, “and why should not I?”

So he turned the chips out of his basket, thus losing so much labor, andwent after the wheelbarrow. He spent some time in looking to see how Jonashad mended it, and then he attempted to wheel it along to the chips. Hefound it quite heavy; but he contrived to get it along, and after losingconsiderable time in various delays, he at last had it fairly on theground, and began to fill it. 

He found that the chips would go into the wheelbarrow beautifully, and hewas quite pleased with his own ingenuity in thinking of it. He thought hewould take a noble load, and so he filled it almost full, but it took along time to do it, for the wheelbarrow was so large that he got tired, and stopped several times to rest. 

When, at length, it was full, he took hold of the handles, and lifted awayupon it. He found it very heavy. He made another desperate effort, andsucceeded in raising it from the ground a little; but unluckily, aswheelbarrows are very apt to do when the load is too heavy for theworkman, it tipped down to one side, and, though Rollo exerted all hisstrength to save it, it was in vain. 

[Illustration: Too Heavy. ]

Over went the wheelbarrow, and about half of the chips were poured outupon the ground again. 

“O dear me!” said Rollo; “I wish this wheelbarrow was not so heavy. ”

He sat down on the side of the wheelbarrow for a time in despair. He had agreat mind to give up work for that day. He thought he had done enough; hewas tired. But, then, when he reflected that he had only got in threesmall baskets of chips, and that his father would see that it was reallytrue, as he had supposed, that Rollo could not work, he felt a littleashamed to stop. 

So he tipped the wheelbarrow back, which he could easily do now that theload was half out, and thought he would wheel those along, and take therest next time. 

By great exertions he contrived to stagger along a little way with thisload, until presently the wheel settled into a little low place in thepath, and he could not move it any farther. This worried and troubled himagain. He tried to draw the wheelbarrow back, as he had often seen Jonasdo in similar cases, but in vain. It would not move back or forwards. Thenhe went round to the wheel, and pulled upon that; but it would not do. Thewheel held its place immovably. 

Rollo sat down on the grass a minute or two, wishing that he had nottouched the wheelbarrow. It was unwise for him to have left his basket, his regular and proper mode of carrying the chips, to try experiments withthe wheelbarrow, which he was not at all accustomed to. And now the propercourse for him to have taken, would have been to leave the wheelbarrowwhere it was, go and get the basket, take out the chips from thewheelbarrow, and carry them, a basket full at a time, to the bin, thentake the wheelbarrow to its place, and go on with his work in the way hebegan. 

But Rollo, like all other boys who have not learned to work, was moreinclined to get somebody to help him do what was beyond his own strength, than to go quietly on alone in doing what he himself was able to do. So heleft the wheelbarrow, and went into the house to try to find somebody tohelp him. 

He came first into the kitchen, where Mary was at work getting dinner, andhe asked her to come out and help him get his wheelbarrow out of a hole. Mary said she could not come then, but, if he would wait a few minutes, she would. Rollo could not wait, but went off in pursuit of his mother. 

“Mother, ” said he, as he opened the door into her chamber, “could not youcome out and help me get my wheelbarrow along?”

“What wheelbarrow?” said his mother. 

“Why, the great wheelbarrow. I am wheeling chips in it, and I cannot getit along. ”

“I thought you were picking up chips in the basket I got for you. ”

“Yes, mother, I did a little while; but I thought I could get them alongfaster with the wheelbarrow. ”

“And, instead of that, it seems you cannot get them along at all. ”

“Why, mother, it is only one little place. It is in a little hole. If Icould only get it out of that little hole, it would go very well. ”

“But it seems to me you are not a very profitable workman, Rollo, afterall. You wanted me very much to go and get you a small basket, because thecommon basket was too large and heavy; so I left my work, and went and gotit for you. But you soon lay it aside, and go, of your own accord, and getsomething heavier than the common chip-basket, a great deal. And now Imust leave my work and go down and wheel it along for you. ”

“Only this once, mother. If you can get it out of this hole for me, I willbe careful not to let it get in again. ”

“Well, ” said his mother at length, “I will go. Though the common way withwagoners, when they get their loads into difficulty, is to throw a partoff until they lighten it sufficiently, and then go on. I will go thistime; but if you get into difficulty again, you must get out yourself. ”

So Rollo and his mother went down together, and she took hold of thewheelbarrow, and soon got it out. She advised Rollo not to use thewheelbarrow, but to return to his basket, but yet wished him to do just ashe thought best himself. 

When she had returned to the house, Rollo went on with his load, slowlyand with great difficulty. He succeeded, however, in working it alonguntil he came to the edge of the platform which was before the shed door, where he was to carry in his chips. Here, of course, he was at a completestand, as he could not get the wheel up such a high step; so he sat downon the edge of the platform, not knowing what to do next. 

He could not go to his mother, for she had told him that she could nothelp him again; so, on the whole, he concluded that he would not pick upchips any more; he would pile the wood. He recollected that his father hadtold him that he might either pick up chips or pile wood; and the last, hethought, would be much easier. 

“I shall not have any thing to carry or to wheel at all, ” said he tohimself, “and so I shall not have any of these difficulties. ”

So he left his wheelbarrow where it was, at the edge of the platform, intending to ask Jonas to get it up for him when he should come home. Hewent into the shed, and began to pile up the wood. 

It was some very short, small wood, prepared for a stove in his mother’schamber, and he knew where his father wanted to have it piled--backagainst the side of the shed, near where the wood was lying Jonas hadthrown it down there in a heap as he had sawed and split it. 

Hirrup! Hirrup!

He began to lay the wood regularly upon the ground where his pile was tobe, and for a few minutes went on very prosperously. But presently heheard a great trampling in the street, and ran out to see what it was, andfound that it was a large herd of cattle driving by--oxen and cows, andlarge and small calves. They filled the whole road as they walked slowlyalong, and Rollo climbed up upon the fence, by the side of the gate, tolook at them. He was much amused to see so large a herd, and he watchedall their motions. Some stopped to eat by the road side; some tried to runoff down the lane, but were driven back by boys with long whips, who ranafter them. Others would stand still in the middle of the road and bellow, and here and there two or three would be seen pushing one another withtheir horns, or running up upon a bank by the road side. 

Presently Rollo heard a commotion among the cattle at a little distance, and, looking that way, saw that Jonas was in among them, with a stick, driving the about, and calling out, HIRRUP! HIRRUP! At first he could notthink what he was doing; but presently he saw that their own cow had gotin among the others, and Jonas was trying to get her out. 

Some of the men who were driving the herd helped him, and they succeeded, at length, in getting her away by herself, by the side of the road. Therest of the cattle moved slowly on, and when they were fairly by, Jonascalled out to Rollo to open the gate and then run away. 

Rollo did, accordingly, open the gate and run up the yard, and presentlyhe saw the cow coming in, with Jonas after her. 

“Jonas, ” said Rollo, “how came our cow in among all those?”

“She got out of the pasture somehow, ” said Jonas, in reply, “and I must goand drive her back. How do you get along with your chips?”

“O, not very well. I want you to help me get the wheelbarrow up on theplatform. ”

“The wheelbarrow!” said Jonas. “Are you doing it with the wheelbarrow?”

“No. I am not picking up chips now at all. I am piling wood. I _did_ havethe wheelbarrow. ”

In the mean time, the cow walked along through the yard and out of thegate into the field, and Jonas said he must go on immediately after her, to drive her back into the pasture, and put up the fence, and so he couldnot stop to help Rollo about the chips; but he would just look in and seeif he was piling the wood right. 

He accordingly just stepped a moment to the shed door, and looked atRollo’s work. “That will do very well, ” said he; “only you must put thebiggest ends of the sticks outwards, or it will all tumble down. ”

So saying, he turned away, and walked off fast after the cow. 

An Overturn. 

Rollo stood looking at him for some time, wishing that he was going too. But he knew that he must not go without his mother’s leave, and that, ifhe should go in to ask her, Jonas would have gone so far that he shouldnot be able to overtake him. So he went back to his wood-pile. 

He piled a little more, and as he piled he wondered what Jonas meant bytelling him to put the largest ends outwards. He took up a stick which hada knot on one end, which made that end much the largest, and laid it onboth ways, first with the knot back against the side of the shed, and thenwith the knot in front, towards himself. He did not see but that the sticklay as steadily in one position as in the other. 

“Jonas was mistaken, ” said he. “It is a great deal better to put the bigends back. Then they are out of sight; all the old knots are hid, and thepile looks handsomer in front. ”

So he went on, putting the sticks upon the pile with the biggest ends backagainst the shed. By this means the back side of the pile began soon to bethe highest, and the wood slanted forward, so that, when it was up nearlyas high as his head, it leaned forward so as to be quite unsteady. Rollocould not imagine what made his pile act so. He thought he would put onone stick more, and then leave it. But, as he was putting on this stick, he found that the whole pile was very unsteady. He put his hand upon it, and shook it a little, to see if it was going to fall, when he found itwas coming down right upon him, and had just time to spring back before itfell. 

He did not get clear, however; for, as he stepped suddenly back, hetumbled over the wood which was lying on the ground, and fell overbackwards; and a large part of the pile came down upon him. 

He screamed out with fright and pain, for he bruised himself a little infalling; though the wood which fell upon him was so small and light thatit did not do much serious injury. 

Rollo stopped crying pretty soon, and went into the house; and thatevening, when his father came home, he went to him, and said, “Father, you were right, after all; I _don’t_ know how to work any betterthan Elky. ”

THE TWO LITTLE WHEELBARROWS. 

Rides. 

Rollo often used to ride out with his father and mother. When he was quitea small boy, he did not know how to manage so as to get frequent rides. Heused to keep talking, himself, a great deal, and interrupting his fatherand mother, when they wanted to talk; and if he was tired, he wouldcomplain, and ask them, again and again, when they should get home. Thenhe was often thirsty, and would tease his father and mother for water, inplaces where there was no water to be got, and then fret because he wasobliged to wait a little while. In consequence of this, his father andmother did not take him very often. When they wanted a quiet, still, pleasant ride, they had to leave Rollo behind. A great many children actjust as Rollo did, and thus deprive themselves of a great many verypleasant rides. 

Rollo observed, however, that his uncle almost always took Lucy with himwhen he went to ride. And one day, when he was playing in the yard whereJonas was at work setting out trees, he saw his uncle riding by, withanother person in the chaise, and Lucy sitting between them on a littlelow seat. Lucy smiled and nodded as she went by; and when she had gone, Rollo said, “There goes Lucy, taking a ride. Uncle almost always takes her, when hegoes any where. I wonder why father does not take me as often. ”

“I know why, ” said Jonas. 

“What is the reason?” said Rollo. 

“Because you are troublesome, and Lucy is not. If I was a boy like you, Ishould manage so as almost always to ride with my father. ”

“Why, what should you do?” said Rollo. 

“Why, in the first place, I should never find fault with my seat. I shouldsit exactly where they put me, without any complaint. Then I should nottalk much, and I should _never_ interrupt them when they were talking. IfI saw any thing on the road that I wanted to ask about, I should waituntil I had a good opportunity to do it without disturbing theirconversation; and then, if I wanted any thing to eat or drink, I shouldnot ask for it, unless I was in a place where they could easily get it forme. Thus I should not be any trouble to them, and so they would let me goalmost always. ”

Rollo was silent. He began to recollect how much trouble he had given hisparents, when riding with them, without thinking of it at the time. He didnot say any thing to Jonas about it, but he secretly resolved to tryJonas’s experiment the very next time he went to ride. 

He did so, and in a very short time his father and mother both perceivedthat there was, some how or other, a great change in his manners. He hadceased to be troublesome, and had become quite a pleasant travellingcompanion. And the effect was exactly as Jonas had foretold. His fatherand mother liked very much to have such a still, pleasant little boysitting between them; and at last they began almost to think they couldnot have a pleasant ride themselves, unless Rollo was with them. 

They used to put a little cricket in, upon the bottom of the chaise, forRollo to sit upon; but this was not very convenient, and so one dayRollo’s father said that, now Rollo had become so pleasant a boy to ridewith them, he would have a little seat made on purpose for him. “In fact, ”said he, “I will take the chaise down to the corporal’s to-night, and seeif he cannot do it for me. ”

“And may I go with you?” said Rollo. 

“Yes, ” said his father, “you may. ”

Rollo was always very much pleased when his father let him go to thecorporal’s. 

The Corporal’s. 

But perhaps the reader will like to know who this corporal was that Rollowas so desirous of going to see. He was an old soldier, who had becomedisabled in the wars, so that he could not go out to do very hard work, but was very ingenious in making and mending things, and he had a littleshop down by the mill, where he used to work. 

Rollo often went there with Jonas, to carry a chair to be mended, or toget a lock or latch put in order; and sometimes to buy a basket, or arake, or some simple thing that the corporal knew how to make. A corporal, you must know, is a kind of an officer in a company. This man had beensuch an officer; and so they always called him the corporal. I never knewwhat his other name was. 

That evening Rollo and his father set off in the chaise to go to thecorporal’s. It was not very far. They rode along by some very pleasantfarm-houses, and came at length to the house where Georgie lived. Theythen went down the hill; but, just before they came to the bridge, theyturned off among the trees, into a secluded road, which led along the bankof the stream. After going on a short distance, they came out into a kindof opening among the trees, where a mill came into view, by the side ofthe stream; and opposite to it, across the road, under the trees, was thecorporal’s little shop. 

The trees hung over the shop, and behind it there was a high rocky hillalmost covered with forest trees. Between the shop and the mill they couldsee the road winding along a little way still farther up the stream, untilit was lost in the woods. 

[Illustration: The Corporal’s]

As soon as Rollo came in sight of the shop, he saw a little wheelbarrowstanding up by the side of the door. It was just large enough for him, andhe called out for his father to look at it. 

“It is a very pretty little wheelbarrow, ” said his father. 

“I wish you would buy it for me. How much do you suppose the corporal asksfor it?”

“We will talk with him about it, ” said his father. 

So saying, they drove up to the side of the road near the mill, andfastened the horse at a post. Then Rollo clambered down out of the chaise, and he and his father walked into the shop. 

They found the corporal busily at work mending a chair-bottom. Rollo stoodby, much pleased to see him weave in the flags, while his father explainedto the corporal that he wanted a small seat made in front, in his chaise. 

“I do not know whether you can do it, or not, ” said he. 

“What sort of a seat do you want?”

“I thought, ” said he, “that you might make a little seat, with two legs toit in front, and then fasten the back side of it to the front of thechaise-box. ”

“Yes, ” said the corporal, “that will do I think; but I must have a littleblacksmith work to fasten the seat properly behind, so that you can slipit out when you are not using it. Let us go and see. ”

So the corporal rose to go out and see the chaise, and as they passed bythe wheelbarrow at the door, as they went out, Rollo asked him what wasthe price of that little wheelbarrow. 

“That is not for sale, my little man. That is engaged. But I can make youone, if your father likes. I ask three quarters of a dollar for them. ”

Rollo looked at it very wishfully, and the corporal told him that he mighttry it if he chose. “Wheel it about, ” said he, “while your father and Iare looking at the chaise. ”

So Rollo trundled the wheelbarrow up and down the road with greatpleasure. It was light, and it moved easily. He wished he had such a one. It would not tip over, he said, like that great heavy one at home; hethought he could wheel it even if it was full of stones. He ran down withit to the shore of the stream, where there were plenty of stones lying, intending to load it up, and try it. But when he got there, he recollectedthat he had not had liberty to put any thing in it; and so he determinedat once that he would not. 

Just then his father called him. So he wheeled the wheelbarrow back to itsplace, and told the corporal that he liked it very much. He wanted hisfather to engage one for him then, but he did not ask him. He thoughtthat, as he had already expressed a wish for one, it would be better notto say any thing about it again, but to wait and let his father do as hepleased. 

As they were going home, his father said, “That was a very pretty wheelbarrow, Rollo, I think myself. ”

“Yes, it was beautiful, father. It was so light, and went so easy! I wishyou would buy me one, father. ”

“I would, my son, but I think a wheelbarrow will give you more pleasure atsome future time, than it will now. ”

“When do you mean?”

“When you have learned to work. ”

“But I want the wheelbarrow to _play_ with. ”

“I know you do; but you would take a great deal more solid and permanentsatisfaction in such a thing, if you were to use it for doing some usefulwork. ”

“When shall I learn to work, father?” said Rollo. 

“I have been thinking that it is full time now. You are about six yearsold, and they say that a boy of _seven_ years old is able to earn hisliving. ”

“Well, father, I wish you would teach me to work. What should you dofirst?”

“The first lesson would be to teach you to do some common, easy work, _steadily_. ”

“Why, father, I can do that now, without being taught. ”

“I think you are mistaken about that. A boy works steadily when he goesdirectly forward in his work, without stopping to rest, or to contrive newways of doing it, or to see other people, or to talk. Now, do you thinkyou could work steadily an hour, without stopping for any of thesereasons?”

“Why--yes, ” said Rollo. 

“I will try you to-morrow, ” said his father. 

The Old Nails. 

The next morning, after breakfast, Rollo’s father told him he was readyfor him to go to his work. He took a small basket in his hand, and ledRollo out into the barn, and told him to wait there a few minutes, and hewould bring him something to do. 

Rollo sat down on a little bundle of straw, wondering what his work wasgoing to be. 

Presently his father came back, bringing in his hands a box full of oldnails, which he got out of an old store-room, in a corner of the barn. Hebrought it along, and set it down on the barn floor. 

“Why, father, ” said Rollo, “what am I going to do with those old nails?”

“You are going to _sort_ them. Here are a great many kinds, all together. I want them all picked over--those that are alike put by themselves. Iwill tell you exactly how to do it. ”

Rollo put his hand into the box, and began to pick up some of the nails, and look them over, while his father was speaking; but his father told himto put them down, and not begin until he had got all his directions. 

“You must listen, ” said he, “and understand the directions now, for Icannot tell you twice. ”

He then took a little wisp of straw, and brushed away a clean place uponthe barn floor, and then poured down the nails upon it. 

“O, how many nails!” said Rollo. 

His father then took up a handful of them, and showed Rollo that therewere several different sizes; and he placed them down upon the floor inlittle heaps, each size by itself. Those that were crooked also he laidaway in a separate pile. 

“Now, Rollo, ” said he, “I want you to go to work sorting these nails, steadily and industriously, until they are all done. There are not morethan three or four kinds of nails, and you can do them pretty fast if youwork _steadily_, and do not get to playing with them. If you find anypieces of iron, or any thing else that you do not know what to do with, lay them aside, and go on with the nails. Do you understand it all?”

Rollo said he did, and so his father left him, and went into the house. Rollo sat down upon the clean barn floor, and began his task. 

“I don’t think this is any great thing, ” said he; “I can do this easilyenough;” and he took up some of the nails, and began to arrange them ashis father had directed. 

But Rollo did not perceive what the real difficulty in his task was. Itwas, indeed, very easy to see what nails were large, and what were small, and what were of middle size, and to put them in their proper heaps. Therewas nothing very hard in that. The difficulty was, that, after havingsorted a few, it would become tedious and tiresome work, doing it thereall alone in the barn, --picking out old nails, with nobody to help him, and nobody to talk to, and nothing to see, but those little heaps of rustyiron on the floor. 

This, I say, was the real trouble; and Rollo’s father knew, when he sethis little boy about it, that he would soon get very tired of it, and, notbeing accustomed to any thing but play, would not persevere. 

And so it was. Rollo sorted out a few, and then he began to think that itwas rather tiresome to be there all alone; and he thought it would be agood plan for him to go and ask his father to let him go and get hiscousin James to come and help him. 

He accordingly laid down the nails he had in his hand, and went into thehouse, and found his father writing at a table. 

“What is the matter now?” said his father. 

“Why, father, ” said Rollo, “I thought I should like to have James come andhelp me, if you are willing;--we can get them done so much quicker ifthere are two. ”

“But my great object is, not to get the nails sorted very quick, but toteach you patient industry. I know it is tiresome for you to be alone, butthat is the very reason why I wish you to be alone. I want you to learn topersevere patiently in doing any thing, even if it is tiresome. What Iwant to teach you is, to _work_, not to _play_. ”

Rollo felt disappointed, but he saw that his father was right, and he wentslowly back to his task. He sorted out two or three handfuls more, but hefound there was no pleasure in it, and he began to be very sorry hisfather had set him at it. 

Having no heart for his work, he did not go on with alacrity, and ofcourse made very slow progress. He ought to have gone rapidly forward, andnot thought any thing about the pleasantness or unpleasantness of it, butonly been anxious to finish the work, and please his father. Instead ofthat, he only lounged over it--looked at the heap of nails, and sighed tothink how large it was. He could not sort all those, possibly, he said. Heknew he could not. It would take him forever. 

Still he could not think of any excuse for leaving his work again, until, after a little while, he came upon a couple of screws. “And now what shallI do with these?” said he. 

He took the screws, and laid them side by side, to measure them, so as tosee which was the largest. Then he rolled them about a little, and afterplaying with them for a little time, during which, of course, his work wasentirely neglected, he concluded he would go and ask his father what hewas to do with screws. 

He accordingly walked slowly along to the house, stopping to look at thegrasshoppers and butterflies by the way. After wasting some time in thismanner, he appeared again at his father’s table, and wanted to know whathe should do with the _screws_ that he found among the nails. 

“You ought not to have left your work to come and ask that question, ” saidhis father. “I am afraid you are not doing very well. I gave you all thenecessary instructions. Go back to your work. ”

“But, father, ” said Rollo, “as he went out, I do not know what I am to dowith the screws. You did not say any thing about screws. ”

“Then why do you leave your work to ask me any thing about them?”

“Why, --because, --” said Rollo, hesitating. He did not know what to say. 

“Your work is to sort out the _nails_, and I expect, by your coming to mefor such frivolous reasons, that you are not going on with it very well. ”

Rollo went slowly out of the room, and sauntered along back to his work. He put the screws aside, and went on with the nails, but he did verylittle. When the heart is not in the work, it always goes on very slowly. 

Thus an hour or two of the forenoon passed away, and Rollo made verylittle progress. At last his father came out to see what he had done; andit was very plain that he had been idling away his time, and hadaccomplished very little indeed. 

His father then said that he might leave his work and come in. Rollowalked along by the side of his father, and he said to him--

“I see, Rollo, that I shall not succeed in teaching you to workindustriously, without something more than kind words. ”

Rollo knew not what to say, and so he was silent. He felt guilty andashamed. 

“I gave you work to do which was very easy and plain, but you have beenleaving it repeatedly for frivolous reasons; and even while you were overyour work, you have not been industrious. Thus you have wasted yourmorning entirely; you have neither done work nor enjoyed play. 

“I was afraid it would be so, ” he continued. “Very few boys can be taughtto work industriously, without being compelled; though I hoped that mylittle Rollo could have been. But as it is, as I find that persuasion willnot do, I must do something more decided. I should do very wrong to letyou grow up an idle boy; and it is time for you to begin to learn to dosomething besides play. ”

He said this in a kind, but very serious tone, and it was plain he wasmuch displeased. He told Rollo, a minute or two after, that he might go, then, where he pleased, and that he would consider what he should do, andtell him some other time. 

A Conversation. 

That evening, when Rollo was just going to bed, his father took him up inhis lap, and told him he had concluded what to do. 

“You see it is very necessary, ” said he, “that you should have the powerof confining yourself steadily and patiently to a single employment, evenif it does not amuse you. _I_ have to do that, and all people have to doit, and you must learn to do it, or you will grow up indolent and useless. You cannot do it now, it is very plain. If I set you to doing any thing, you go on as long as the novelty and the amusement last, and then yourpatience is gone, and you contrive every possible excuse for getting awayfrom your task. Now, I am going to give you one hour’s work to do, everyforenoon and afternoon. I shall give you such things to do, as areperfectly plain and easy, so that you will have no excuse for neglectingyour work or leaving it. But yet I shall choose such things as will affordyou no amusement; for I want you to learn to _work_, not play. ”

“But, father, ” said Rollo, “you told me there was pleasure in work, theother day. But how can there be any pleasure in it, if you choose suchthings as have no amusement in them, at all?”

“The pleasure of working, ” said his father, “is not the fun of doingamusing things, but the satisfaction and solid happiness of being faithfulin duty, and accomplishing some useful purpose. For example, if I were tolose my pocket-book on the road, and should tell you to walk back a mile, and look carefully all the way until you found it, and if you did itfaithfully and carefully, you would find a kind of satisfaction in doingit; and when you found the pocket-book, and brought it back to me, youwould enjoy a high degree of happiness. Should not you?”

“Why, yes, sir, I should, ” said Rollo. 

“And yet there would be no _amusement_ in it. You might, perhaps, the nextday, go over the same road, catching butterflies: that would be amusement. Now, the pleasure you would enjoy in looking for the pocket-book, would bethe solid satisfaction of useful work. The pleasure of catchingbutterflies would be the amusement of play. Now, the difficulty is, withyou, that you have scarcely any idea, yet, of the first. You are all thetime looking for the other, that is, the amusement. You begin to work whenI give you any thing to do, but if you do not find _amusement_ in it, yousoon give it up. But if you would only persevere, you would find, atlength, a solid satisfaction, that would be worth a great deal more. ”

Rollo sat still, and listened, but his father saw, from his looks, that hewas not much interested in what he was saying; and he perceived that itwas not at all probable that so small a boy could be _reasoned_ intoliking work. In fact, it was rather hard for Rollo to understand all thathis father said, --and still harder for him to feel the force of it. Hebegan to grow sleepy, and so his father let him go to bed. 

Rollo Learns to Work at Last. 

The next day his father gave him his work. He was to begin at ten o’clock, and work till eleven, gathering beans in the garden. His father went outwith him, and waited to see how long it took him to gather half a pint, and then calculated how many he could gather in an hour, if he wasindustrious. Rollo knew that if he failed now, he should be punished insome way, although his father did not say any thing about punishment. Whenhe was set at work the day before, about the nails, he was making anexperiment, as it were, and he did not expect to be actually punished ifhe failed; but now he knew that he was under orders, and must obey. 

So he worked very diligently, and when his father came out at the end ofthe hour, he found that Rollo had got rather more beans than he hadexpected. Rollo was much gratified to see his father pleased; and hecarried in his large basket full of beans to show his mother, with greatpleasure. Then he went to play, and enjoyed himself very highly. 

The next morning, his father said to him, “Well, Rollo, you did very well yesterday; but doing right once is a verydifferent thing from forming a habit of doing right. I can hardly expectyou will succeed as well to-day; or, if you should to-day, that you willto-morrow. ”

Rollo thought he should. His work was to pick up all the loose stones inthe road, and carry them, in a basket, to a great heap of stones behindthe barn. But he was not quite faithful. His father observed him playingseveral times. He did not speak to him, however, until the hour was over, and then he called him in. 

“Rollo, ” said he, “you have failed to-day. You have not been very idle, but have not been industrious; and the punishment which I have concludedto try first, is, to give you only bread and water for dinner. ”

So, when dinner time came, and the family sat down to the good beefsteakand apple-pie which was upon the table, Rollo knew that he was not tocome. He felt very unhappy, but he did not cry. His father called him, andcut off a good slice of bread, and put into his hands, and told him hemight go and eat it on the steps of the back door. “If you should bethirsty, ” he added, “you may ask Mary to give you some water. ”

Rollo took the bread, and went out, and took his solitary seat on thestone step leading into the back yard, and, in spite of all his efforts toprevent it, the tears would come into his eyes. He thought of his guilt indisobeying his father, and he felt unhappy to think that his father andmother were seated together at their pleasant table, and that he could notcome because he had been an undutiful son. He determined that he wouldnever be unfaithful in his work again. 

He went on, after this, several days, very well. His father gave himvarious kinds of work to do, and he began at last to find a considerabledegree of satisfaction in doing it. He found, particularly, that heenjoyed himself a great deal more after his work than before, and wheneverhe saw what he had done, it gave him pleasure. After he had picked up theloose stones before the house, for instance, he drove his hoop aboutthere, with unusual satisfaction; enjoying the neat and tidy appearance ofthe road much more than he would have done if Jonas had cleared it. Infact, in the course of a month, Rollo became quite a faithful andefficient little workman. 

The Corporal’s Again. 

“Now, ” said his father to him one day, after he had been doing a fine jobof wood-piling, --“now we will go and talk with the corporal about awheelbarrow. Or do you think you could find the way yourself?”

Rollo said he thought he could. 

“Very well, you may go; I believe I shall let you have a wheelbarrow now, and you can ask him how soon he can have it done. ”

Rollo clapped his hands, and capered about, and asked his father how longhe thought it would be before he could have it. 

“O, you will learn, ” said he, “when you come to talk with the corporal. ”

“Do you think it will be a week?”

“I think it probable that he could make one in less than a week, ” said hisfather, smiling. 

“Well, how soon?” said Rollo. 

“O, I cannot tell you: wait till you get to his shop, and then you willsee. ”

Rollo saw that, for some reason or other, his father was not inclined totalk about the time when he should have his wheelbarrow, but he could notthink why; however, he determined to get the corporal to make it as quickas he could, at any rate. 

It was about the middle of the afternoon that Rollo set off to go for hiswheelbarrow. His mother told him he might go and get his cousin James togo with him if he chose. So he walked along towards the bridge, and, instead of turning at once off there to go towards the mill, he went onover the bridge towards the house where James lived. James came with him, and they walked back very pleasantly together. 

When they got back across the bridge again, they turned off towards themill, talking about the wheelbarrow. Rollo told James about his learningto work, and about his having seen the wheelbarrow at the corporal’s, andhow he trundled it about, and liked it very much. 

“I should like to see it very much, ” said James. “I suppose I can, when weget to the corporal’s shop. ”

“No, ” said Rollo, “he said that that wheelbarrow was engaged; and Isuppose it has been taken away before this time. ”

Just then the corner of the corporal’s shop began to corner into view, andpresently the door came in sight, and James called out, “Yes, yes, there it is. I see it standing up by the side of the door. ”

“No, ” said Rollo, “that is not it. That is a green one. ”

“What color was the wheelbarrow that you saw?” asked James. 

“It was not any color; it was not painted, ” said Rollo. “I wonder whosethat wheelbarrow can be?”

The boys walked along, and presently came to the door of the shop. Theyopened the door, and went in. There was nobody there. 

Various articles were around the room. There was a bench at one side, neara window; and there were a great many tools upon it, and upon shelves overit. On another side of the shop was a lathe, a curious sort of a machine, that the corporal used a great deal, in some of his nicest work. Thenthere were a good many things there, which were sent in to be mended, suchas chairs, a spinning-wheel, boys’ sleds, and one or two largewheelbarrows. 

The boys walked around the room a few minutes, looking at the variousthings; and at last Rollo spied another little wheelbarrow, on a shelf. Itwas very much like the one at the door, only it was painted green. 

Rollo said that that one looked exactly like the one he trundled when hewas there before, only it was green. 

“Perhaps he has painted it since, ” said James; “let us go to the door, andlook at the other one, and see which is the biggest. ”

So they went to the door, and found that the blue one was a little thebiggest. 

Just then they saw the corporal coming across the road, with a hatchet inhis hand. He had been to grind it at the mill, where there was agrindstone, that went round by water. 

“Ah, boys, ” said he, “how do you do? Have you come for your wheelbarrow, Rollo. ”

“Yes, sir, ” said Rollo; “how soon can you get it done?”

“Done? it is done now, ” said he; “there it is. ” And he took the bluewheelbarrow, which was at the door, and set it down in the path. 

“That is not mine, ” said Rollo, “is it?”

“Yes, ” said the corporal; “your father spoke for it a week ago. ”

Rollo took hold of his wheelbarrow, and began to wheel it along. He likedit very much. 

[Illustration: Rollo Took Hold of His Wheelbarrow. ]

James said he wished he could have one too, and while Rollo was talkingwith the corporal, he could not help looking at the green one on theshelf, which he thought was just about as big as he should like. 

The corporal asked him if he wanted to see that one, and he took it downfor him. James took hold of the handles, and tried it a little, back andforth on the floor, and then he said it was just about big enough for him. 

“Who is this for?” said he to the corporal. 

“I do not know, ” said the corporal; “a gentleman bespoke it some time ago. I do not know what his name is. ”

Just then he seemed to see somebody out of the window. 

“Ah! here he comes now!” he exclaimed suddenly. 

Just then the door opened, and whom should the boys see coming in, buttheir uncle George!

“Why, James, ” said he, “have you got hold of your wheelbarrow already?”

“_My_ wheelbarrow!” said James. “Is this mine?”

“Yes, ” said his uncle, “I got it made to give to you. But when I foundthat Rollo was having one made, I waited for his to be done, so that youmight have them both together. So trundle them home. ”

So the boys set off on the run down the road, in fine style, with theirwheelbarrows trundling beautifully before them. 

CAUSEY-BUILDING. 

Sand-Men. 

Next to little wooden blocks, I think that good, clean sand is anexcellent thing for children to play with. When it is a little damp, itwill remain in any shape you put it in, and you can build houses andcities, and make roads and canals in it. At any rate, Rollo and his cousinJames used to be very fond of going down to a certain place in the brook, where there was plenty of sand, and playing in it. It was of a gray color, and somewhat mixed with pebble-stones; but then they used to like thepebble-stones very much to make walls with, and to stone up the littlewells which they made in the sand. 

One Wednesday afternoon, they were there playing very pleasantly with thesand. They had been building a famous city, and, after amusing themselveswith it some time, they had knocked down the houses, and trampled the sandall about again. James then said he meant to go to the barn and get hishorse-cart, and haul a load of sand to market. 

Now there was a place around behind a large rock near there, which theboys called their barn; and Rollo and James went to it, and pulled outtheir two little wheelbarrows, which they called their horse-carts. Theywheeled them down to the edge of the water, and began to take up the sandby double handfuls, and put it in. 

When they had got their carts loaded, they began to wheel them around tothe trees, and stones, and bushes, saying, “Who’ll buy my sand?”

“Who’ll buy my white sand?”

“Who’ll buy my gray sand?”

“Who’ll buy my black sand?”

But they did not seem to find any purchaser; and at last Rollo said, suddenly, “O, I know who will buy our sand. ”

“Who?” said James. 

“Mother. ”

“So she will, ” said James. “We will wheel it up to the house. ”

So they set off, and began wheeling their loads of sand up the pathwayamong the trees. They went on a little way, and presently stopped, and satdown on a bank to rest. Here they found a number of flowers, which theygathered and stuck up in the sand, so that their loads soon made a verygay appearance. 

Just as they were going to set out again, Rollo said, “But, James, how are we going to get through the quagmire?”

“O, ” said James, “we can step along on the bank by the side of the path. ”

“No, ” said Rollo; “for we cannot get our wheelbarrows along there. ”

“Why, yes, --we got them along there when we came down. ”

“But they were empty and light then; now they are loaded and heavy. ”

“So they are; but I think we can get along; it is not very muddy therenow. ”

The place which the boys called the quagmire, was a low place in thepathway, where it was almost always muddy. This pathway was made by thecows, going up and down to drink; and it was a good, dry, and hard path inall places but one. This, in the spring of the year, was very wet andmiry; and, during the whole summer, it was seldom perfectly dry. The boyscalled it the quagmire, and they used to get by on one side, in among thebushes. 

They found that it was not very muddy at this time, and they contrived toget through with their loads of sand, and soon got to the house. Theytrundled their wheelbarrows up to the door leading out to the garden; andRollo knocked at the door. 

Now Rollo’s mother happened, at this time, to be sitting at theback-parlor window, and she heard their voices as they came along theyard. So, supposing the knocking was some of their play, she just lookedout of the window, and called out, “Who’s there?”

“Some sand-men, ” Rollo answered, “who have got some sand to sell. ”

His mother looked out of the window, and had quite a talk with them abouttheir sand; she asked them where it came from, what color it was, andwhether it was free from pebble-stones. The boys had to admit that therewere a good many pebble-stones in it, and that pebble-stones were not verygood to scour floors with. 

The Gray Garden. 

At last, Rollo’s mother recommended that they should carry the sand out toa corner of the yard, where the chips used to be, and spread it out there, and stick their flowers up in it for a garden. 

The boys liked this plan very much. “We can make walks and beds, beautifully, in the sand, ” said Rollo. “But, mother, do you think theflowers will grow?”

“No, ” said his mother, “flowers will not grow in sand; but, as it israther a shady place, and you can water them occasionally, they will keepgreen and bright a good many days, and then, you know, you can get somemore. ”

So the boys wheeled the sand out to the corner of the yard, took theflowers out carefully, and then tipped the sand down and spread it out. They tried to make walks and beds, but they found they had not got as muchsand as they wanted. So they concluded to go back and get some more. 

In fact, they found that, by getting a great many wheelbarrow loads ofsand, they could cover over the whole corner, and make a noble large placefor a sand-garden. And then, besides, as James said, when they were tiredof it for a garden, they could build cities there, instead of having to goaway down to the brook. 

So they went on wheeling their loads of sand, for an hour or two. Jameshad not learned to work as well as Rollo had, and he was constantlywanting to stop, and run into the woods, or play in the water; but Rollotold him it would be better to get all the sand up, first. They at lastgot quite a great heap, and then went and got a rake and hoe to level itdown smooth. 

Thus the afternoon passed away; and at last Mary told the boys that theymust come and get ready for tea, for she was going to carry it in soon. 

A Contract. 

So Rollo and James brushed the loose sand from their clothes, and washedtheir faces and hands, and went in. As tea was not quite ready, they satdown on the front-door steps before Rollo’s father, who was then sittingin his arm-chair in the entry, reading. 

He shut up the book, and began to talk with the boys. 

“Well, boys, ” said he, “what have you been doing all this afternoon?”

“O, ” said Rollo, “we have been hard at work. ”

“And what have you been doing?”

Rollo explained to his father that they had been making a sand-garden outin a corner of the yard, and they both asked him to go with them and seeit. 

They all three accordingly went out behind the house, the children runningon before. 

“But, boys, ” said Rollo’s father, as they went on, “how came your feet somuddy?”

“O, ” said James, “they got muddy in the quagmire. ”

The boys explained how they could not go around the quagmire with theirloaded wheelbarrows, and so had to pick their way through it the best waythey could; and thus they got their shoes muddy a little; but they saidthey were as careful as they could be. 

When they came to the sand-garden, Rollo’s father smiled to see the bedsand walks, and the rows of flowers stuck up in the sand. It made quite agay appearance. After looking at it some time, they went slowly backagain, and as they were walking across the yard, “Father, ” said Rollo, “do you not think that is a pretty good garden?”

“Why, yes, ” said his father, “pretty good. ”

“Don’t you think we have worked pretty well?”

“Why, I think I should call that play, not work. ”

“Not work!” said Rollo. “Is it not work to wheel up such heavy loads ofsand? You don’t know how heavy they were. ”

“I dare say it was hard; but boys _play_ hard, sometimes, as well as workhard. ”

“But I should think ours, this afternoon, was work, ” said Rollo. 

“Work, ” replied his father, “is when you are engaged in doing any thing inorder to produce some useful result. When you are doing any thing only forthe amusement of it, without any useful result, it is play. Still, in onesense, your wheeling the sand was work. But it was not very useful work;you will admit that. ”

“Yes, sir, ” said Rollo. 

“Well, boys, how should you like to do some useful work for me, with yourwheelbarrows? I will hire you. ”

“O, we should like that very much, ” said James. “How much should you payus?”

“That would depend upon how much work you do. I should pay you what thework was fairly worth; as much as I should have to pay a man, if I were tohire a man to do it. ”

“What should you give us to do?” said Rollo. 

“I don’t know. I should think of some job. How should you like to fill upthe quagmire?”

“Fill up the quagmire!” said Rollo. “How could we do that?”

“You might fill it up with stones. There are a great many small stoneslying around there, which you might pick up and put into yourwheelbarrows, and wheel them along, and tip them over into the quagmire;and when you have filled the path all up with stones, cover them over withgravel, and it will make a good causey. ”

“Causey?” said Rollo. 

“Yes, causey, ” said his father; “such a hard, dry road, built along amuddy place, is called a causey. ”

They had got to the tea-table by this time; and while at tea, Rollo’sfather explained the plan to them more fully. He said he would pay them acent for every two loads of stones or gravel which they should wheel in tomake the causey. 

They were going to ask some more questions about it, but he told them hecould not talk any more about it then, but that they might go and askJonas how they should do it, after tea. 

Instructions. 

They went out into the kitchen, after tea, to find Jonas; but he was notthere. They then went out into the yard; and presently James saw him overbeyond the fence, walking along the lane. Rollo called out, “Jonas! Jonas! where are you going?”

“I am going after the cows. ”

“We want you!” said Rollo, calling out loud. 

“What for?” said Jonas. 

“We want to talk with you about something. ”

Just then, Rollo’s mother, hearing this hallooing, looked out of thewindow, and told the boys they must not make so much noise. 

“Why, we want Jonas, ” said Rollo; “and he has gone to get the cows. ”

“Well, you may go with him, ” said she, “if you wish; and you can talk onthe way. ”

So the boys took their hats and ran, and soon came to where Jonas was: forhe had been standing still, waiting for them. 

They walked along together, and the boys told Jonas what their father hadsaid. Jonas said he should be very glad to have the quagmire filled up, but he was afraid it would not do any good for him to give them anydirections. 

“Why?” said James. 

“Because, ” said Jonas, “little boys will never follow any directions. Theyalways want to do the work their own way. ”

“O, but we _will_ obey the directions, ” said Rollo. 

“Do you remember about the wood-pile?” said Jonas. 

Rollo hung his head, and looked a little ashamed. 

“What was it about the wood-pile?” said James. 

“Why, I told Rollo, ” said Jonas, “that he ought to pile wood with the bigends in front, but he did not mind it; he thought it was better to havethe big ends back, out of sight; and that made the pile lean forward; andpresently it all fell over upon him. ”

“Did it?” said James. “Did it hurt you much, Rollo?”

“No, not much. But we will follow the directions now, Jonas, if you willtell us what to do. ”

“Very well, ” said Jonas, “I will try you. 

“In the first place, you must get a few old pieces of board, and lay themalong the quagmire to step upon, so as not to get your feet muddy. Thenyou must go and get a load of stones, in each wheelbarrow, and wheel themalong. You must not tip them down at the beginning of the muddy place, forthen they will be in your way when you come with the next load. 

“You must go on with them, one of you right behind the other, bothstepping carefully on the boards, till you get to the farther end, andthere tip them over both together. Then you must turn round yourselves, but not turn your wheelbarrows round. You must face the other way, and_draw_ your wheelbarrows out. ”

“Why?” said James. 

“Because, ” said Jonas, “it would be difficult to turn your wheelbarrowsround there among the mud and stones, but you can draw them out veryeasily. 

“Then, besides, you must not attempt to go by one another. You must bothstop at the same time, but as near one another as you can, and go out justas you came in; that is, if Rollo came in first, and James after him, James must come up as near to Rollo as he can, and then, when the loadsare tipped over, and you both turn round, James will be before Rollo, andwill draw his wheelbarrow out first. Do you understand?”

“Yes, ” said James. 

“Must we always go in together?” asked Rollo. 

“Yes, that is better. ”

“Why?”

“Because, if you go in at different times, you will be in one another’sway. One will be going out when the other is coming in, and so you willinterfere with one another. Then, besides, if you fill the wheelbarrowstogether, and wheel together, you will always be in company, --which ispleasanter. ”

“Well, we will, ” said Rollo. 

“After you have wheeled one load apiece in, you must go and get another, and wheel that in as far as you can. Tip them over on the top of theothers, if you can, or as near as you can. Each time you will not go inquite so far as before, so that at last you will have covered the quagmireall over with stones once. ”

“And then must we put on the gravel?”

“O no. That will not be stones enough. They would sink down into the mud, and the water would come up over them. So you must wheel on more. ”

“But how can we?” said James. “We cannot wheel on the top of all thosestones. ”

“No, ” said Jonas; “so you must go up to the house and get a pretty long, narrow board, as long as you and Rollo can carry, and bring it down andlay it along on the top of the stones. Perhaps you will have to move thestones a little, so as to make it steady; and then you can wheel on that. If one board is not long enough, you must go and get two. And you must putthem down on one side of the path, so that the stones will go into themiddle of the path and upon the other side, so as not to cover up theboard. 

“Then, when you have put loads of stones all along in this way, you mustshift your boards over to the other side of the path, and then wheel onthem again; and that will fill up the side where the boards lay at first. And so, after a while, you will get the whole pathway filled up withstones, as high as you please. I should think you had better fill it upnearly level with the bank on each side. ”

By this time the boys came to the bars that led into the pasture, and theywent in and began to look about for the cows. Jonas did not see them anywhere near, and so he told the boys that they might stay there and picksome blackberries, while he went on and found them. He said he thoughtthat they must be out by the boiling spring. 

This boiling spring, as they called it, was a beautiful spring, from whichfine cool water was always boiling up out of the sand. It was in a narrowglen, shaded by trees, and the water running down into a little sort ofmeadow, kept the grass green there, even in very dry times; so that thecows were very fond of this spot. 

James and Rollo remained, according to Jonas’s proposal, near the bars, while he went along the path towards the spring. Rollo and James had afine time gathering blackberries, until, at last, they saw the cowscoming, lowing along the path. Presently they saw Jonas’s head among thebushes. 

[Illustration: The Cows. ]

When he came up to the boys, he told them it was lucky that they did notgo with him. 

“Why?” said Rollo. 

“I came upon an enormous hornet’s nest, and you would very probably havegot stung. ”

“Where was it?” said James. 

“O, it was right over the path, just before you get to the spring. ”

The boys said they were very sorry to hear that, for now they could not goto the spring any more; but Jonas said he meant to destroy the nest. 

“How shall you destroy it?” said Rollo. 

“I shall burn it up. ”

“But how can you?” said Rollo. 

Jonas then explained to them how he was going to burn the hornet’s nest. He said he should take a long pole with two prongs at one end like apitchfork, and with that fork up a bunch of hay. Then he should set thetop of the hay on fire, and stand it up directly under the nest. 

The boys continued talking about the hornet’s nest all the way home, andforgot to say any thing more about the causey until just as they weregoing into the yard. Then they told Jonas that he had not told them how toput on the gravel, on the top. 

He said he could not tell them then, and, besides, they would have as muchas they could do to put in stones for one day. 

Besides, James said it was sundown, and time for him to go home; but hepromised to come the next morning, if his mother would let him, as soon ashe had finished his lessons. 

Keeping Tally. 

Rollo and James began their work the next day about the middle of theforenoon, determined to obey Jonas’s directions exactly, and to workindustriously for an hour. They put a number of small pieces of board upontheir wheelbarrows, to put along the pathway at first, and just as theyhad got them placed, Jonas came down just to see whether they werebeginning right. 

He saw them wheel in one or two loads of stones, and told them he thoughtthey were doing very well. 

“We have earned one cent already, ” said Rollo. 

“How, ” said Jonas; “is your father going to pay you for your work?”

“Yes, ” said Rollo, “a cent for every two loads we put in. ”

“Then you must keep tally, ” said Jonas. 

“_Tally_, ” said Rollo, “what is tally?”

“Tally is the reckoning. How are you going to remember how many loads youwheel in?”

“O, we can remember easily enough, ” said Rollo: “we will count them as wego along. ”

“That will never do, ” said Jonas. “You must mark them down with a piece ofchalk on your wheelbarrow. ”

So saying, Jonas fumbled in his pockets, and drew out a small, well-wornpiece of chalk, and then tipped up Rollo’s wheelbarrow, saying, “How many loads do you say you have carried already?”

“Two, ” said Rollo. 

“Two, ” repeated Jonas; and he made two white marks with his chalk on theside of the wheelbarrow. 

“There!” said he. 

“Mark mine, ” said James; “I have wheeled two loads. ”

Jonas marked them, and then laid the chalk down upon a flat stone by theside of the path, and told the boys that they must stop after every load, and make a mark, and that would keep the reckoning exact. 

Jonas then left them, and the boys went on with their work. They wheeledten loads of stones apiece, and by that time had the bottom of the pathall covered, so that they could not wheel any more, without the longboards. They went up and got the boards, and laid them down as Jonas haddescribed, and then went on with their wheeling. 

At first, James kept constantly stopping, either to play, or to hear Rollotalk; for they kept the wheelbarrows together all the time, as Jonas hadrecommended. At such times, Rollo would remind him of his work, for he hadhimself learned to work steadily. They were getting on very finely, when, at length, they heard a bell ringing at the house. 

This bell was to call them home; for as Rollo and Jonas were often away ata little distance from the house, too far to be called very easily, therewas a bell to ring to call them home; and Mary, the girl, had two ways ofringing it--one way for Jonas, and another for Rollo. 

The bell was rung now for Rollo; and so he and James walked along towardshome. When they had got about half way, they saw Rollo’s father standingat the door, with a basket in his hand; and he called out to them to bringtheir wheelbarrows. 

So the boys went back for their wheelbarrows. 

When they came up a second time with their wheelbarrows before them, heasked how they had got along with their work. 

“O, famously, ” said Rollo. “There is the tally, ” said he, turning up theside of the wheelbarrow towards his father, so that he could see all themarks. 

“Why, have you wheeled as many loads as that?” said his father. 

“Yes, sir, ” said Rollo, “and James just as many too. ”

“And were they all good loads?”

“Yes, all good, full loads. ”

“Well, you have done very well. Count them, and see how many there are. ”

The boys counted them, and found there were fifteen. 

“That is enough to come to seven cents, and one load over, ” said Rollo’sfather; and he took out his purse, and gave the boys seven cents each, that is, a six-cent piece in silver, and one cent besides. He told themthey might keep the money until they had finished their work, and then hewould tell them about purchasing something with it. 

“Now, ” said he, “you can rub out the tally--all but one mark. I have paidyou for fourteen loads, and you have wheeled in fifteen; so you have onemark to go to the new tally. You can go round to the shed, and find a wetcloth, and wipe out your marks clean, and then make one again, and leaveit there for to-morrow. ”

“But we are going right back now, ” said Rollo. 

“No, ” said his father; “I don’t want you to do any more to-day. ”

“Why not, father? We want to, very much. ”

“I cannot tell you why, now; but I choose you should not. And, now, hereis a luncheon for you in this basket. You may go and eat it where youplease. ”

Rights Defined. 

So the boys took the basket, and, after they had rubbed out the tally, they went and sat down by their sand-garden, and began to eat the breadand cheese very happily together. 

After they had finished their luncheon, they went and got a watering-pot, and began to water their sand-garden, and, while doing it, began to talkabout what they should buy with their money. They talked of several thingsthat they should like, and, at last, Rollo said he meant to buy a bow andarrow with his. 

“A bow and arrow?” said James. “I do not believe your father will letyou. ”

“Yes, he will let me, ” said Rollo. “Besides, it is _our_ money, and we cando what we have a mind to with it. ”

“I don’t believe that, ” said James. 

“Why, yes, we can, ” said Rollo. 

“I don’t believe we can, ” said James. 

“Well, I mean to go and ask my father, ” said Rollo, “this minute. ”

So he laid down the watering-pot, and ran in, and James after him. Whenthey got into the room where his father was, they came and stood by hisside a minute, waiting for him to be ready to speak to them. 

Presently, his father laid down his pen, and said, “What, my boys!”

“Is not this money our own?” said Rollo. 

“Yes. ”

“And can we not buy what we have a mind to with it?”

“That depends upon what you have a mind to buy. ”

“But, father, I should think that, if it was our own, we might do _anything_ with it we please. ”

“No, ” said his father, “that does not follow, at all. ”

“Why, father, ” said Rollo, looking disappointed, “I thought every bodycould do what they pleased with their own things. ”

“Whose hat is that you have on? Is it James’s?”

“No, sir, it is mine. ”

“Are you sure it is your own?”

“Why, yes, sir, ” said Rollo, taking off his hat and looking at it, andwondering what his father could mean. 

“Well, do you suppose you have a right to go and sell it?”

“No, sir, ” said Rollo. 

“Or go and burn it up?”

“No, sir. ”

“Or give it away?”

“No, sir. ”

“Then it seems that people cannot always do what they please with theirown things. ”

“Why, father, it seems to me, that is a very different thing. ”

“I dare say it seems so to you; but it is not--it is just the same thing. No person can do _anything they please_ with their property. There arelimits and restrictions in all cases. And in all cases where children haveproperty, whether it is money, hats, toys, or any thing, they are alwayslimited and restricted to such a use of them _as their parents approve_. So, when I give you money, it becomes yours just as your clothes, or yourwheelbarrow, or your books, are yours. They are all yours to use and toenjoy; but in the way of using them and enjoying them, you must be undermy direction. Do you understand that?”

“Why, yes, sir, ” said Rollo. 

“And does it not appear reasonable?”

“Yes, sir, I don’t know but it is reasonable. But _men_ can do anythingthey please with their money, can they not?”

“No, ” said his father; “they are under various restrictions made by thelaws of the land. But I cannot talk any more about it now. When you havefinished your work, I will talk with you about expending your money. ”

The boys went on with their work the next day, and built the causey uphigh enough with stones. They then levelled them off, and began to wheelon the gravel. Jonas made each of them a little shovel out of a shingle;and, as the gravel was lying loose under a high bank, they could shovel itup easily, and fill their wheelbarrows. The third day they covered thestones entirely with gravel, and smoothed it all over with a rake and hoe, and, after it had become well trodden, it made a beautiful, hard causey;so that now there was a firm and dry road all the way from the house tothe watering-place at the brook. 

Calculation. 

On counting up the loads which it had taken to do this work, Rollo’sfather found that he owed Rollo twenty-three cents, and James twenty-one. The reason why Rollo had earned the most was because, at one time, Jamessaid he was tired, and must rest, and, while he was resting, Rollo went onwheeling. 

James seemed rather sorry that he had not got as many cents as Rollo. 

“I wish I had not stopped to rest, ” said he. 

“I wish so too, ” said Rollo; “but I will give you two of my cents, andthen I shall have only twenty-one, like you. ”

“Shall we be alike then?”

“Yes, ” said Rollo; “for, you see, two cents taken away from twenty-three, leaves twenty-one, which is just as many as you have. ”

“Yes, but then I shall have more. If you give me two, _I_ shall havetwenty-three. ”

“So you will, ” said Rollo; “I did not think of that. ”

The boys paused at this unexpected difficulty; at last, Rollo said hemight give his two cents back to his father, and then they should haveboth alike. 

Just then the boys heard some one calling, “Rollo!”

Rollo looked up, and saw his mother at the chamber window. She was sittingthere at work, and had heard their conversation. 

“What, mother?” said Rollo. 

“You might give him _one_ of yours, and then you will both havetwenty-two. ”

They thought that this would be a fine plan, and wondered why they had notthought of it before. A few days afterwards, they decided to buy twolittle shovels with their money, one for each, so that they might shovelsand and gravel easier than with the wooden shovels that Jonas made. 

ROLLO’S GARDEN. 

Farmer Cropwell. 

One warm morning, early in the spring, just after the snow was melted offfrom the ground, Rollo and his father went to take a walk. The ground bythe side of the road was dry and settled, and they walked along verypleasantly; and at length they came to a fine-looking farm. The house wasnot very large, but there were great sheds and barns, and spacious yards, and high wood-piles, and flocks of geese, and hens and turkeys, and cattleand sheep, sunning themselves around the barns. 

Rollo and his father walked into the yard, and went up to the end door, alarge pig running away with a grunt when they came up. The door was open, and Rollo’s father knocked at it with the head of his cane. Apleasant-looking young woman came to the door. 

“Is Farmer Cropwell at home?” said Rollo’s father. 

“Yes, sir, ” said she, “he is out in the long barn, I believe. ”

“Shall I go there and look for him?” said he. 

“If you please, sir. ”

So Rollo’s father walked along to the barn. 

It was a long barn indeed. Rollo thought he had never seen so large abuilding. On each side was a long range of stalls for cattle, facingtowards the middle, and great scaffolds overhead, partly filled with hayand with bundles of straw. They walked down the barn floor, and in oneplace Rollo passed a large bull chained by the nose in one of the stalls. The bull uttered a sort of low growl or roar, as Rollo and his fatherpassed, which made him a little afraid; but his attention was soonattracted to some hens, a little farther along, which were standing on theedge of the scaffolding over his head, and cackling with noise enough tofill the whole barn. 

[Illustration: The Bull Chained by the Nose. ]

When they got to the other end of the barn, they found a door leading outinto a shed; and there was Farmer Cropwell, with one of his men and apretty large boy, getting out some ploughs. 

“Good morning, Mr. Cropwell, ” said Rollo’s father; “what! are you going toploughing?”

“Why, it is about time to overhaul the ploughs, and see that they are inorder. I think we shall have an early season. ”

“Yes, I find my garden is getting settled, and I came to talk with you alittle about some garden seeds. ”

The truth was, that Rollo’s father was accustomed to come every spring, and purchase his garden seeds at this farm; and so, after a few minutes, they went into the house, taking Rollo with them, to get the seeds thatwere wanted, out of the seed-room. 

What they called the seed-room was a large closet in the house, withshelves all around it; and Rollo waited there a little while, until theseeds were selected, put up in papers, and given to his father. 

When this was all done, and they were just coming out, the farmer said, “Well, my little boy, you have been very still and patient. Should not youlike some seeds too? Have you got any garden?”

“No, sir, ” said Rollo; “but perhaps my father will give me some ground forone. ”

“Well, I will give you a few seeds, at any rate. ” So he opened a littledrawer, and took out some seeds, and put them in a piece of paper, andwrote something on the outside. Then he did so again and again, until hehad four little papers, which he handed to Rollo, and told him to plantthem in his garden. 

Rollo thanked him, and took his seeds, and they returned home. 

Work and Play. 

On the way, Rollo thought it would be an excellent plan for him to have agarden, and he told his father so. 

“I think it would be an excellent plan myself, ” said his father. “But doyou intend to make work or play of it?”

“Why, I must make work of it, must not I, if I have a real garden?”

“No, ” said his father; “you may make play of it if you choose. ”

“How?” said Rollo. 

“Why, you can take a hoe, and hoe about in the ground as long as it amusesyou to hoe; and then you can plant your seeds, and water and weed themjust as long as you find any amusement in it. Then, if you have any thingelse to play with, you can neglect your garden a long time, and let theweeds grow, and not come and pull them up until you get tired of otherplay, and happen to feel like working in your garden. ”

“I should not think that that would be a very good plan, ” said Rollo. 

“Why, yes, ” replied his father; “I do not know but that it is a good planenough, --that is, for _play_. It is right for you to play sometimes; and Ido not know why you might not play with a piece of ground, and seeds, aswell as with any thing else. ”

“Well, father, how should I manage my garden if I was going to make _work_of it?”

“O, then you would not do it for amusement, but for the useful results. You would consider what you could raise to best advantage, and then layout your garden; not as you might happen to _fancy_ doing it, but so as toget the most produce from it. When you come to dig it over, you would notconsider how long you could find amusement in digging, but how muchdigging is necessary to make the ground productive; and so in all youroperations. ”

“Well, father, which do you think would be the best plan for me?”

“Why, I hardly know. By making play of it, you will have the greatestpleasure as you go along. But, in the other plan, you will have some goodcrops of vegetables, fruits, and flowers. ”

“And shouldn’t I have any crops if I made play of my garden?”

“Yes; I think you might, perhaps, have some flowers, and, perhaps, somebeans and peas. ”

Rollo hesitated for some time which plan he should adopt. He had workedenough to know that it was often very tiresome to keep on with his workwhen he wanted to go and play; but then he knew that after it was over, there was great satisfaction in thinking of useful employment, and inseeing what had been done. 

That afternoon he went out into the garden to consider what he should do, and he found his father there, staking out some ground. 

“Father, ” said he, “whereabouts should you give me the ground for mygarden?”

“Why, that depends, ” said his father, “on the plan you determine upon. Ifyou are going to make play of it, I must give you ground in a back corner, where the irregularity, and the weeds, will be out of sight. But if youconclude to have a real garden, and to work industriously a little whileevery day upon it, I should give it to you there, just beyond thepear-tree. ”

Rollo looked at the two places, but he could not make up his mind. Thatevening he asked Jonas about it, and Jonas advised him to ask his fatherto let him have both. “Then, ” said he, “you can work on your real gardenas long as there is any necessary work to be done, and then you could goand play about the other with James or Lucy, when they are here. ”

Rollo went off immediately, and asked his father. His father said therewould be some difficulties about that; but he would think of it, and seeif there was any way to avoid them. 

The next morning, when he came in to breakfast, he had a paper in hishand, and he told Rollo he had concluded to let him have the two gardens, on certain conditions, which he had written down. He opened the paper, andread as follows:--

 -------------------------------------

“_Conditions on which I let Rollo have two pieces of land to cultivate_;the one to be called his _working-garden_, and the other his_playing-garden_. 

“1. In cultivating his working-garden, he is to take Jonas’s advice, andto follow it faithfully in every respect. 

“2. He is not to go and work upon his playing-garden, at any time, whenthere is any work that ought to be done on his working-garden. 

“3. If he lets his working-garden get out of order, and I give him noticeof it; then, if it is not put perfectly in order again within three daysafter receiving the notice, he is to forfeit the garden, and all that isgrowing upon it. 

“4. Whatever he raises, he may sell to me, at fair prices, at the end ofthe season. ”

Planting. 

Rollo accepted the conditions, and asked his father to stake out the twopieces of ground for him, as soon as he could; and his father did so thatday. The piece for the working-garden was much the largest. There was arow of currant-bushes near it, and his father said he might consider allthose opposite his piece of ground as included in it, and belonging tohim. 

So Rollo asked Jonas what he had better do first, and Jonas told him thatthe first thing was to dig his ground all over, pretty deep; and, as itwas difficult to begin it, Jonas said he would begin it for him. So Jonasbegan, and dug along one side, and instructed Rollo how to throw up thespadefuls of earth out of the way, so that the next spadeful would come upeasier. 

Jonas, in this way, made a kind of a trench all along the side of Rollo’sground; and he told Rollo to be careful to throw every spadeful wellforward, so as to keep the trench open and free, and then it would be easyfor him to dig. 

Jonas then left him, and told him that there was work enough for him forthree or four days, to dig up his ground well. 

Rollo went to work, very patiently, for the first day, and persevered anhour in digging up his ground. Then he left his work for that day; and thenext morning, when the regular hour which he had allotted to work arrived, he found he had not much inclination to return to it. He accordingly askedhis father whether it would not be a good plan to plant what he hadalready dug, before he dug any more. 

“What is Jonas’s advice?” said his father. 

“Why, he told me I had better dig it all up first; but I thought that, ifI planted part first, those things would be growing while I am digging upthe rest of the ground. ”

“But you must do, you know, as Jonas advises; that is the condition. Nextyear, perhaps, you will be old enough to act according to your ownjudgment; but this year you must follow guidance. ”

Rollo recollected the condition, and he had nothing to say against it; buthe looked dissatisfied. 

“Don’t you think that is reasonable, Rollo?” said his father. 

“Why; I don’t know, ” said Rollo. 

“This very case shows that it is reasonable. Here you want to plant a partbefore you have got the ground prepared. The real reason is because youare tired of digging; not because you are really of opinion that thatwould be a better plan. You have not the means of judging whether it is, or is not, now, time to begin to put in seeds. ”

Rollo could not help seeing that that was his real motive; and he promisedhis father that he would go on, though it was tiresome. It was not thehard labor of the digging that fatigued him, for, by following Jonas’sdirections, he found it easy work; but it was the sameness of it. Helonged for something new. 

He persevered, however, and it was a valuable lesson to him; for when hehad got it all done, he was so satisfied with thinking that it was fairlycompleted, and in thinking that now it was all ready together, and that hecould form a plan for the whole at once, that he determined that foreverafter, when he had any unpleasant piece of work to do, he would go onpatiently through it, even if it was tiresome. 

With Jonas’s help, Rollo planned his garden beautifully. He put doublerows of peas and beans all around, so that when they should grow up, theywould enclose his garden like a fence or hedge, and make it look snug andpleasant within. Then, he had a row of corn, for he thought he should likesome green corn himself to roast. Then, he had one bed of beets and somehills of muskmelons, and in one corner he planted some flower seeds, sothat he could have some flowers to put into his mother’s glasses, for themantel-piece. 

Rollo took great interest in laying out and planting his ground, and inwatching the garden when the seeds first came up; for all this was easyand pleasant work. In the intervals, he used to play on hispleasure-ground, planting and digging, and setting out, just as hepleased. 

Sometimes he, and James, and Lucy, would go out in the woods with hislittle wheelbarrow, and dig up roots of flowers and little trees there, and bring them in, and set them out here and there. But he did not proceedregularly with this ground. He did not dig it all up first, and then forma regular plan for the whole; and the consequence was, that it soon becamevery irregular. He would want to make a path one day where he had set outa little tree, perhaps, a few days before; and it often happened that, when he was making a little trench to sow one kind of seeds, out came awhole parcel of others that he had put in before, and forgotten. 

Then, when the seeds came up in his playing-garden, they came up here andthere, irregularly; but, in his working-garden, all looked orderly andbeautiful. 

One evening, just before sundown, Rollo brought out his father and motherto look at his two gardens. The difference between them was very great;and Rollo, as he ran along before his father, said that he thought theworking plan of making a garden was a great deal better than the playingplan. 

“That depends upon what your object is. ”

“How so?” said Rollo. 

“Why, which do you think you have had the most amusement from, thus far?”

“Why, I have had most amusement, I suppose, in the little garden in thecorner. ”

“Yes, ” said his father, “undoubtedly. But the other appears altogether thebest now, and will produce altogether more in the end. So, if your objectis useful results, you must manage systematically, regularly, andpatiently; but if you only want amusement as you go along, you had betterdo every day just as you happen to feel inclined. ”

“Well, father, which do you think is best for a boy?”

“For quite small boys, a garden for play is best. They have not patienceor industry enough for any other. ”

“Do you think I have patience or industry enough?”

“You have done very well, so far; but the trying time is to come. ”

“Why, father?”

“Because the novelty of the beginning is over, and now you will have agood deal of hoeing and weeding to do for a month to come. I am not surebut that you will forfeit your land yet. ”

“But you are to give me three days’ notice, you know. ”

“That is true; but we shall see. ”

The Trying Time. 

The trying time did come, true enough; for, in June and July, Rollo foundit hard to take proper care of his garden. If he had worked resolutely anhour, once or twice a week, it would have been enough; but he becameinterested in other plays, and, when Jonas reminded him that the weedswere growing, he would go in and hoe a few minutes, and then go away toplay. 

At last, one day his father gave him notice that his garden was gettingout of order, and, unless it was entirely restored in three days, it mustbe forfeited. 

Rollo was not much alarmed, for he thought he should have ample time to doit before the three days should have expired. 

It was just at night that Rollo received his notice. He worked a littlethe next morning; but his heart was not in it much, and he left it beforehe had made much progress. The weeds were well rooted and strong, and hefound it much harder to get them up than he expected. The next day, he dida little more, and, near the latter part of the afternoon, Jonas saw himrunning about after butterflies in the yard, and asked him if he had gothis work all done. 

“No, ” said he; “but I think I have got more than half done, and I canfinish it very early to-morrow. ”

“To-morrow!” said Jonas. “To-morrow is Sunday, and you cannot work then. ”

“Is it?” said Rollo, with much surprise and alarm; “I didn’t know that. What shall I do? Do you suppose my father will count Sunday?”

“Yes, ” said Jonas, “I presume he will. He said, three _days_, withoutmentioning any thing about Sunday. ”

Rollo ran for his hoe. He had become much attached to his ground, and wasvery unwilling to lose it; but he knew that his father would rigorouslyinsist on his forfeiting it, if he failed to keep the conditions. So hewent to work as hard as he could. 

It was then almost sundown. He hoed away, and pulled up the weeds, asindustriously as possible, until the sun went down. He then kept on untilit was so dark that he could not see any longer, and then, finding thatthere was considerable more to be done, and that he could not work anylonger, he sat down on the side of his little wheelbarrow, and burst intotears. 

He knew, however, that it would do no good to cry, and so, after a time, he dried his eyes, and went in. He could not help hoping that his fatherwould not count the Sunday; and “If I can only have Monday, ” said he tohimself, “it will all be well. ”

He went in to ask his father, but found that he had gone away, and wouldnot come home until quite late. He begged his mother to let him sit upuntil he came home, so that he could ask him, and, as she saw that he wasso anxious and unhappy about it, she consented. Rollo sat at the windowwatching, and, as soon as he heard his father drive up to the door, hewent out, and, while he was getting out of the chaise, he said to him, ina trembling, faltering voice, “Father, do you count Sunday as one of my three days?”

“No, my son. ”

Rollo clapped his hands, and said, “O, how glad!” and ran back. He toldhis mother that he was very much obliged to her for letting him sit up, and now he was ready to go to bed. 

He went to his room, undressed himself, and, in a few minutes, his fathercame in to get his light. 

“Father, ” said Rollo, “I am very much obliged to you for not countingSunday. ”

“It is not out of any indulgence to you, Rollo; I have no right to countSunday. ”

“No right, father? Why, you said three days. ”

“Yes; but in such agreements as that, three working days are always meant;so that, strictly, according to the agreement, I do not think I have anyright to count Sunday. If I had, I should have felt obliged to count it. ”

“Why, father?”

“Because I want you, when you grow up to be a man, to be _bound_ by youragreements. Men will hold you to your agreements when you are a man, and Iwant you to be accustomed to it while you are a boy. I should rather giveup twice as much land as your garden, than take yours away from you now;but I must do it if you do not get it in good order before the time isout. ”

“But, father, I shall, for I shall have time enough on Monday. ”

“True; but some accident may prevent it. Suppose you should be sick. ”

“If I was sick, should you count it?”

“Certainly. You ought not to let your garden get out of order; and, if youdo it, you run the risk of all accidents that may prevent your workingduring the three days. ”

Rollo bade his father good night, and he went to sleep, thinking what anarrow escape he had had. He felt sure that he should save it now, for hedid not think there was the least danger of his being sick on Monday. 

A Narrow Escape. 

Monday morning came, and, when he awoke, his first movement was, to jumpout of bed, exclaiming, “Well, I am not sick this morning, am I?”

He had scarcely spoken the words, however, before his ear caught the soundof rain, and, looking out of the window, he saw, to his utterconsternation, that it was pouring steadily down, and, from the wind andthe gray uniformity of the clouds, there was every appearance of a settledstorm. 

“What shall I do?” said Rollo. “What shall I do? Why did I not finish iton Saturday?”

He dressed himself, went down stairs, and looked out at the clouds. Therewas no prospect of any thing but rain. He ate his breakfast, and then wentout, and looked again. Rain, still. He studied and recited his morninglessons, and then again looked out. Rain, rain. He could not help hopingit would clear up before night; but, as it continued so steadily, he beganto be seriously afraid that, after all, he should lose his garden. 

He spent the day very anxiously and unhappily. He knew, from what hisfather had said, that he could not hope to have another day allowed, andthat all would depend on his being able to do the work before night. 

At last, about the middle of the afternoon, Rollo came into the room wherehis father and mother were sitting, and told his father that it did notrain a great deal then, and asked him if he might not go out and finishhis weeding; he did not care, he said, if he did get wet. 

“But your getting wet will not injure you alone--it will spoil yourclothes. ”

“Besides, you will take cold, ” said his mother. 

“Perhaps he would not take cold, if he were to put on dry clothes as soonas he leaves working, ” said his father; “but wetting his clothes would putyou to a good deal of trouble. No; I’d rather you would not go, on thewhole, Rollo. ”

Rollo turned away with tears in his eyes, and went out into the kitchen. He sat down on a bench in the shed where Jonas was working, and looked outtowards the garden. Jonas pitied him, and would gladly have gone and donethe work for him; but he knew that his father would not allow that. Atlast, a sudden thought struck him. 

“Rollo, ” said he, “you might perhaps find some old clothes in the garret, which it would not hurt to get wet. ”

Rollo jumped up, and said, “Let us go and see. ”

They went up garret, and found, hanging up, quite a quantity of oldclothes. Some belonged to Jonas, some to himself, and they selected theworst ones they could find, and carried them down into the shed. 

Then Rollo went and called his mother to come out, and he asked her if shethought it would hurt those old clothes to get wet. She laughed, and saidno; and said she would go and ask his father to let him go out with them. 

In a few minutes, she came back, and said that his father consented, butthat he must go himself, and put on the old clothes, without troubling hismother, and then, when he came back, he must rub himself dry with a towel, and put on his common dress, and put the wet ones somewhere in the shed todry; and when they were dry, put them all back carefully in their places. 

[Illustration: Work in the Rain. ]

Rollo ran up to his room, and rigged himself out, as well as he could, putting one of Jonas’s great coats over him, and wearing an oldbroad-brimmed straw hat on his head. Thus equipped, he took his hoe, andsallied forth in the rain. 

At first he thought it was good fun; but, in about half an hour, he beganto be tired, and to feel very uncomfortable. The rain spattered in hisface, and leaked down the back of his neck; and then the ground was wetand slippery; and once or twice he almost gave up in despair. 

He persevered, however, and before dark he got it done. He raked off allthe weeds, and smoothed the ground over carefully, for he knew his fatherwould come out to examine it as soon as the storm was over. Then he wentin, rubbed himself dry, changed his clothes, and went and took his seat bythe kitchen fire. 

His father came out a few minutes after, and said, “Well, Rollo, have yougot through?”

“Yes, sir, ” said Rollo. 

“Well, I am _very_ glad of it. I was afraid you would have lost yourgarden. As it is, perhaps it will do you good. ”

“How?” said Rollo. “What good?”

“It will teach you, I hope, that it is dangerous to neglect or postponedoing one’s duty. We cannot always depend on repairing the mischief. Whenthe proper opportunity is once lost, it may never return. ”

Rollo said nothing, but he thought he should remember the lesson as longas he lived. 

He remembered it for the rest of that summer, at any rate, and did not runany more risks. He kept his ground very neat, and his father did not haveto give him notice again. His corn grew finely, and he had many a goodroasting ear from it; and his flowers helped ornament the parlormantel-piece all the summer; and the green peas, and the beans, and themuskmelons, and the other vegetables, which his father took and paid for, amounted to more than two dollars. 

Advice. 

“Well, Rollo, ” said his father, one evening, as he was sitting on hiscricket before a bright, glowing fire, late in the autumn, after all hisfruits were gathered in, “you have really done some work this summer, haven’t you?”

“Yes, sir, ” said Rollo; and he began to reckon up the amount of peas, andbeans, and corn, and other things, that he had raised. 

“Yes, ” said his father, “you have had a pretty good garden; but the bestof it is your own improvement. You are really beginning to get over someof the faults of _boy work_. ”

“What are the faults of boy work?” said Rollo. 

“One of the first is, confounding work with play, --or rather expecting thepleasure of play, while they are doing work. There is great pleasure indoing work, as I have told you before, when it is well and properly done, but it is very different from the pleasure of play. It comes later;generally after the work is done. While you are doing your work, itrequires _exertion_ and _self-denial_, and sometimes the sameness istiresome. 

“It is so with _men_ when they work, but they expect it will be so, andpersevere notwithstanding; but _boys_, who have not learned this, expecttheir work will be play; and, when they find it is not so, they get tired, and want to leave it or to find some new way. 

“You showed your wish to make play of your work, that day when you weregetting in your chips, by insisting on having just such a basket as youhappened to fancy; and then, when you got a little tired of that, goingfor the wheelbarrow; and then leaving the chips altogether, and going topiling the wood. ”

“Well, father, ” said Rollo, “do not men try to make their work as pleasantas they can?”

“Yes, but they do not continually change from one thing to another inhopes to make it _amusing_. They always expect that it will be laboriousand tiresome, and they understand this beforehand, and go steadily forwardnotwithstanding. You are beginning to learn to do this. 

“Another fault, which you boys are very apt to fall into, is impatience. This comes from the first fault; for you expect, when you go to work, thekind of pleasure you have in play, and when you find you do not obtain it, or meet with any difficulties, you grow impatient, and get tired of whatyou are doing. 

“From this follows the third fault--_changeableness_, or want ofperseverance. Instead of steadily going forward in the way they commence, boys are very apt to abandon one thing after another, and to try this newway, and that new way, so as to accomplish very little in any thing. ”

“Do you think I have overcome all these?” said Rollo. 

“In part, ” said his father; “you begin to understand something about them, and to be on your guard against them. But you have only made a beginning. ”

“Only a beginning?” said Rollo; “why, I thought I had learned to workpretty well. ”

“So you have, for a little boy; but it is only a beginning, after all. Idon’t think you would succeed in persevering steadily, so as to accomplishany serious undertaking now. ”

“Why, father, _I_ think I should. ”

“Suppose I should give you the Latin grammar to learn in three months, andtell you that, at the end of that time, I would hear you recite it all atonce. Do you suppose you should be ready?”

“Why, father, that is not _work_. ”

“Yes, ” said his father, “that is one kind of work, --and just such a kindof work, so far as patience, steadiness, and perseverance, are needed, asyou will have most to do, in future years. But if I were to give it to youto do, and then say nothing to you about it till you had time to havelearned the whole, I have some doubts whether you would recite a tenthpart of it. ”

Rollo was silent; he knew it would be just so. 

“No, my little son, ” said his father, putting him down and patting hishead, “you have got a great deal to learn before you become a man; butthen you have got some years to learn it in; that is a comfort. But now itis time for you to go to bed; so good night. ”

THE APPLE-GATHERING. 

The Garden-House. 

There was a certain building on one side of Farmer Cropwell’s yard whichthey called the _garden-house_. There was one large double door whichopened from it into the garden, and another smaller one which led to theyard towards the house. On one side of this room were a great manydifferent kinds of garden-tools, such as hoes, rakes, shovels, and spades;there were one or two wheelbarrows, and little wagons. Over these were twoor three broad shelves, with baskets, and bundles of matting, and ropes, and chains, and various iron tools. Around the wall, in different places, various things were hung up--here a row of augers, there a trap, and inother places parts of harness. 

Opposite to these, there was a large bench, which extended along the wholeside. At one end of this bench there were a great many carpenter’s tools;and the other was covered with papers of seeds, and little bundles ofdried plants, which Farmer Cropwell had just been getting in from thegarden. 

The farmer and one of his boys was at work here, arranging his seeds, anddoing up his bundles, one pleasant morning in the fall, when a boy abouttwelve years old came running to the door of the garden-house, from theyard, playing with a large dog. The dog ran behind him, jumping up uponhim; and when they got to the door, the boy ran in quick, laughing, andshut the door suddenly, so that the dog could not come in after him. Thisboy’s name was George: the dog’s name was Nappy--that is, they alwayscalled him Nappy. His true name was Napoleon; though James always thoughtthat he got his name from the long naps he used to take in a certain sunnycorner of the yard. 

But, as I said before, George got into the garden-house, and shut Nappyout. He stood there holding the door, and said, “Father, all the horses have been watered but Jolly: may I ride him to thebrook?”

“Yes, ” said his father. 

So George turned round, and opened the door a little way, and peeped out. 

“Ah, old Nappy! you are there still, are you, wagging your tail? Don’t youwish you could catch him?”

George then shut the door, and walked softly across to the great doorleading out into the garden. From here he stole softly around into thebarn, by a back way, and then came forward, and peeped out in front, andsaw that Nappy was still there, sitting up, and looking at the door veryclosely. He was waiting for George to come out. 

Jolly. 

George then went back to the stall where Jolly was feeding. He went in anduntied his halter, and led him out. Jolly was a sleek, black, beautifullittle horse, not old enough to do much work, but a very good horse toride. George took down a bridle, and, after leading Jolly to ahorse-block, where he could stand up high enough to reach his head, he putthe bridle on, and then jumped up upon his back, and walked him out of thebarn by a door where Nappy could not see them. 

He then rode round by the other side of the house, until he came to theroad, and he went along the road until he could see up the yard to theplace where Nappy was watching. He called out, _Nappy!_ in a loud voice, and then immediately set his horse off upon a run. Nappy looked down tothe road, and was astonished to see George upon the horse, when hesupposed he was still behind the door where he was watching, and he sprangforward, and set off after him in full pursuit. 

He caught George just as he was riding down into the brook. George waslooking round and laughing at him as he came up; but Nappy looked quitegrave, and did nothing but go down into the brook, and lap up water withhis tongue, while the horse drank. 

While the horse was drinking, Rollo came along the road, and George askedhim how his garden came on. 

“O, very well, ” said Rollo. “Father is going to give me a larger one nextyear. ”

“Have you got a strawberry-bed?” said George. 

“No, ” said Rollo. 

“I should think you would have a strawberry-bed. My father will give yousome plants, and you can set them out this fall. ”

“I don’t know how to set them out, ” said Rollo. “Could you come and showme?”

George said he would ask his father; and then, as his horse had donedrinking, he turned round, and rode home again. 

Mr. Cropwell said that he would give Rollo a plenty of strawberry-plants, and, as to George’s helping him set them out, he said that they mightexchange works. If Rollo would come and help George gather hismeadow-russets, George might go and help him make his strawberry-bed. Thatevening, George went and told Rollo of this plan, and Rollo’s fatherapproved of it. So it was agreed that, the next day, he should go to helpthem gather the russets. They invited James to go too. 

The Pet Lamb. 

The next morning, James and Rollo went together to the farmer’s. Theyfound George at the gate waiting for them, with his dog Nappy. As the boyswere walking along into the yard, George said that his dog Nappy was thebest friend he had in the world, except his lamb. 

“Your lamb!” said James; “have you got a lamb?”

“Yes, a most beautiful little lamb. When he was very little indeed, he wasweak and sick, and father thought he would not live; and he told me Imight have him if I wanted him. I made a bed for him in the corner of thekitchen. ”

“O, I wish I had one, ” said James. “Where is he now?”

“O, he is grown up large, and he plays around in the field behind thehouse. If I go out there with a little pan of milk, and call himso, --_Co-nan_, _Co-nan_, _Co-nan_, --he comes running up to me to get themilk. ”

“I wish I could see him, ” said James. 

“Well, you can, ” said George. “My sister Ann will go and show him to you. ”

So George called his sister Ann, and asked her if she should be willing togo and show James and Rollo his lamb, while he went and got the littlewagon ready to go for the apples. 

Ann said she would, and she went into the house, and got a pan with alittle milk in the bottom of it, and walked along carefully, James andRollo following her. When they had got round to the other side of thehouse, they found there a little gate, leading out into a field wherethere were green grass and little clumps of trees. 

Ann went carefully through. James and Rollo stopped to look. She walked ona little way, and looked around every where, but she saw no lamb. Presently she began to call out, as George had said, “_Co-nan_, _Co-nan_, _Co-nan_. ”

In a minute or two, the lamb began to run towards her out of a littlethicket of bushes; and it drank the milk out of the pan. James and Rollowere very much pleased, but they did not go towards the lamb. Ann let itdrink all it wanted, and then it walked away. 

Then James ran back to the yard. He found that George and Rollo had goneinto the garden-house. He went in there after them, and found that theywere getting a little wagon ready to draw out into the field. There werethree barrels standing by the door of the garden-house, and George toldthem that they were to put their apples into them. 

The Meadow-Russet. 

There was a beautiful meadow down a little way from Farmer Cropwell’shouse, and at the farther side of it, across a brook, there stood a verylarge old apple-tree, which bore a kind of apples called _russets_, andthey called the tree the _meadow-russet_. These were the apples that theboys were going to gather. They soon got ready, and began to walk alongthe path towards the meadow. Two of them drew the wagon, and the otherscarried long poles to knock off the apples with. 

As the party were descending the hill towards the meadow, they saw beforethem, coming around a turn in the path, a cart and oxen, with a large boydriving. They immediately began to call out to one another to turn out, some pulling one way and some the other, with much noise and vociferation. At last they got fairly out upon the grass, and the cart went by. The boywho was driving it said, as he went by, smiling, “Who is the head of _that_ gang?”

James and Rollo looked at him, wondering what he meant. George laughed. 

“What does he mean?” said Rollo. 

“He means, ” said George, laughing, “that we make so much noise andconfusion, that we cannot have any head. ”

“Any head?” said James. 

“Yes, --any master workman. ”

“Why, ” said Rollo, “do we need a master workman?”

“No, ” said George, “I don’t believe we do. ”

So the boys went along until they came to the brook. They crossed thebrook on a bridge of planks, and were very soon under the spreadingbranches of the great apple-tree. 

[Illustration: The Harvesting Party. ]

Insubordination. 

The boys immediately began the work of getting down the apples. But, unluckily, there were but two poles, and they all wanted them. George hadone, and James the other, and Rollo came up to James, and took hold of hispole, saying, “Here, James, I will knock them down; you may pick them up and put them inthe wagon. ”

“No, ” said James, holding fast to his pole; “no, I’d rather knock themdown. ”

“No, ” said Rollo, “I can knock them down better. ”

“But I got the pole first, and I ought to have it. ”

Rollo, finding that James was not willing to give up his pole, left him, and went to George, and asked George to let him have the pole; but Georgesaid he was taller, and could use it better than Rollo. 

Rollo was a little out of humor at this, and stood aside and looked on. James soon got tired of his pole, and laid it down; and then Rollo seizedit, and began knocking the apples off of the tree. But it fatigued himvery much to reach up so high; and, in fact, they all three got tired ofthe poles very soon, and began picking up the apples. 

But they did not go on any more harmoniously with this than with theother. After Rollo and James had thrown in several apples, George came andturned them all out. 

“You must not put them in so, ” said he; “all the good and bad onestogether. ”

“How must we put them in?” asked Rollo. 

“Why, first we must get a load of good, large, whole, round apples, andthen a load of small and wormy ones. We only put the _good_ ones into thebarrels. ”

“And what do you do with the little ones?” said James. 

“O, we give them to the pigs. ”

“Well, ” said Rollo, “we can pick them all up together now, and separatethem when we get home. ”

As he said this, he threw in a handful of small apples among the good oneswhich George had been putting in. 

“Be still, ” said George; “you must not do so. I tell you we must not mixthem at all. ” And he poured the apples out upon the ground again. 

“O, I’ll tell you what we will do, ” said James; “we will get a load oflittle ones first, and then the big ones. I want to see the pigs eat themup. ”

But George thought it was best to take the big ones first, and so they hadquite a discussion about it, and a great deal of time was lost before theycould agree. 

Thus they went on for some time, discussing every thing, and each wantingto do the work in his own way. They did not dispute much, it is true, forneither of them wished to make difficulty. But each thought he mightdirect as well as the others, and so they had much talk and clamor, andbut very little work. When one wanted the wagon to be on one side of thetree, the others wanted it the other; and when George thought it was timeto draw the load along towards home, Rollo and James thought it was notnearly full enough. So they were all pulling in different directions, andmade very slow progress in their work. It took them a long time to gettheir wagon full. 

When they got the load ready, and were fairly set off on the road, theywent on smoothly and pleasantly for a time, until they got up near thedoor of the garden-house, when Rollo was going to turn the wagon round soas to back it up to the door, and George began to pull in the otherdirection. 

“Not so, Rollo, ” said George; “go right up straight. ”

“No, ” said Rollo, “it is better to _back_ it up. ”

James had something to say, too; and they all pulled, and talked loud andall together, so that there was nothing but noise and clamor. In the meantime, the wagon, being pulled every way, of course did not move at all. 

Subordination. 

Presently Farmer Cropwell made his appearance at the door of thegarden-house. 

“Well, boys, ” said he, “you seem to be pretty good-natured, and I am gladof that; but you are certainly the _noisiest_ workmen, of your size, thatI ever heard. ”

“Why, father, ” said George, “I want to go right up to the door, straight, and Rollo won’t let me. ”

“Must not we back it up?” said Rollo. 

“Is that the way you have been working all the morning?” said the farmer. 

“How?” said George. 

“Why, all generals and no soldiers. ”

“Sir?” said George. 

“All of you commanding, and none obeying. There is nothing but confusionand noise. I don’t see how you can gather apples so. How many have you gotin?”

So saying, he went and looked into the barrels. 

“None, ” said he; “I thought so. ”

He stood still a minute, as if thinking what to do; and then he told themto leave the wagon there, and go with him, and he would show them the wayto work. 

The boys accordingly walked along after him, through the garden-house, into the yard. They then went across the road, and down behind a barn, toa place where some men were building a stone bridge. They stopped upon abank at some distance, and looked down upon them. 

“There, ” said he, “see how men work!”

It happened, at that time, that all the men were engaged in moving a greatstone with iron bars. There was scarcely any thing said by any of them. Every thing went on silently, but the stone moved regularly into itsplace. 

“Now, boys, do you understand, ” said the farmer, “how they get along soquietly?”

“Why, it is because they are men, and not boys, ” said Rollo. 

“No, ” said the farmer, “that is not the reason. It is because they have ahead. ”

“A head?” said Rollo. 

“Yes, ” said he, “a head; that is, one man to direct, and the rest obey. ”

“Which is it?” said George. 

“It is that man who is pointing now, ” said the farmer, “to another stone. He is telling them which to take next. Watch them now, and you will seethat he directs every thing, and the rest do just as he says. But you areall directing and commanding together, and there is nobody to obey. If youwere moving those stones, you would be all advising and disputingtogether, and pulling in every direction at once, and the stone would notmove at all. ”

[Illustration: There, Said He, See How Men Work. ]

“And do men always appoint a head, ” said Rollo, “when they work together?”

“No, ” said the farmer, “they do not always _appoint_ one regularly, butthey always _have_ one, in some way or other. Even when no one isparticularly authorized to direct, they generally let the one who isoldest, or who knows most about the business, take the lead, and the restdo as he says. ”

They all then walked slowly back to the garden-house, and the farmeradvised them to have a head, if they wanted their business to go onsmoothly and well. 

“Who do you think ought to be our head?”

“The one who is the oldest, and knows most about the business, ” said thefarmer, “and that, I suppose, would be George. But perhaps you had bettertake turns, and let each one be head for one load, and then you will alllearn both to command and to obey. ”

So the boys agreed that George should command while they got the nextload, and James and Rollo agreed to obey. The farmer told them they mustobey exactly, and good-naturedly. 

“You must not even _advise_ him what to do, or say any thing about it atall, except in some extraordinary case; but, when you talk, talk aboutother things altogether, and work on exactly as he shall say. ”

“What if we _know_ there is a better way? must not we tell him?” saidRollo. 

“No, ” said the farmer, “unless it is something very uncommon. It is betterto go wrong sometimes, under a head, than to be endlessly talking anddisputing how you shall go. Therefore you must do exactly what he says, even if you know a better way, and see if you do not get along muchfaster. ”

The New Plan Tried. 

The boys determined to try the plan, and, after putting their first loadof apples into the barrel, they set off again under George’s command. Hetold Rollo and James to draw the wagon, while he ran along behind. Whenthey got to the tree, Rollo took up a pole, and began to beat down somemore apples; but George told him that they must first pick up what wereknocked down before; and he drew the wagon round to the place where hethought it was best for it to stand. The other boys made no objection, butworked industriously, picking up all the small and worm-eaten apples theycould find; and, in a very short time, they had the wagon loaded, and wereon their way to the house again. 

Still, Rollo and James had to make so great an effort to avoid interferingwith George’s directions, that they did not really enjoy this trip quiteso well as they did the first. It was pleasant to them to be more atliberty, and they thought, on the whole, that they did not like having ahead quite so well as being without one. 

Instead of going up to the garden-house, George ordered them to take thisload to the barn, to put it in a bin where all such apples were to go. When they came back, the farmer came again to the door of thegarden-house. 

“Well, boys, ” said he, “you have come rather quicker this time. How do youlike that way of working?”

“Why, not quite so well, ” said Rollo. “I do not think it is so pleasant asthe other way. ”

“It is not such good _play_, perhaps; but don’t you think it makes better_work_?” said he. 

The boys admitted that they got their apples in faster, and, as they wereat work then, and not at play, they resolved to continue the plan. 

Farmer Cropwell then asked who was to take command the next time. 

“Rollo, ” said the boys. 

“Well, Rollo, ” said he, “I want you to have a large number of applesknocked down this time, and then select from them the largest and nicestyou can. I want one load for a particular purpose. ”

A Present. 

The boys worked on industriously, and, before dinner-time, they hadgathered all the apples. The load of best apples, which the farmer hadrequested them to bring for a particular purpose, were put into a smallsquare box, until it was full, and then a cover was nailed on; the restwere laid upon the great bench. When, at length, the work was all done, and they were ready to go home, the farmer put this box into the wagon, sothat it stood up in the middle, leaving a considerable space before andbehind it. He put the loose apples into this space, some before and somebehind, until the wagon was full. 

“Now, James and Rollo, I want you to draw these apples for me, when you gohome, ” said the farmer. 

“Who are they for?” said Rollo. 

“I will mark them, ” said he. 

So he took down a little curious-looking tin dipper, with a top sloping inall around, and with a hole in the middle of it. A long, slenderbrush-handle was standing up in this hole. 

When he took out the brush, the boys saw that it was blacking. With thisblacking-brush he wrote on the top of the box, --LUCY. 

“Is that box for my cousin Lucy?” said Rollo. 

“Yes, ” said he; “you can draw it to her, can you not?”

“Yes, sir, ” said Rollo, “we will. And who are the other apples for? Youcannot mark _them_. ”

“No, ” said the farmer; “but you will remember. Those before the box arefor you, and those behind it for James. So drive along. George will cometo your house, this afternoon, with the strawberry plants, and then he canbring the wagon home. ”

The Strawberry-Bed. 

George Cropwell came, soon after, to Rollo’s house, and helped him make afine strawberry-bed, which, he said, he thought would bear considerablythe next year. They dug up the ground, raked it over carefully, and thenput in the plants in rows. 

After it was all done, Rollo got permission of his father to go back withGeorge to take the wagon home; and George proposed to take Rollo’swheelbarrow too. He had never seen such a pretty little wheelbarrow, andwas very much pleased with it. So George ran on before, trundling thewheelbarrow, and Rollo came after, drawing the wagon. 

Just as they came near the farmer’s house, George saw, on before him, aragged little boy, much smaller than Rollo, who was walking alongbarefooted. 

“There’s Tom, ” said George. 

“Who?” said Rollo. 

“Tom. See how I will frighten him. ”

As he said this, George darted forward with his wheelbarrow, and trundledit on directly towards Tom, as if he was going to run over him. Tom lookedround, and then ran away, the wheelbarrow at his heels. He was frightenedvery much, and began to scream; and, just then, Farmer Cropwell, who atthat moment happened to be coming up a lane, on the opposite side of theroad, called out, “George!”

George stopped his wheelbarrow. 

“Is that right?” said the farmer. 

“Why, I was not going to hurt him, ” said George. 

“You _did_ hurt him--you frightened him. ”

“Is frightening him hurting him, father?”

“Why, yes, it is giving him _pain_, and a very unpleasant kind of paintoo. ”

“I did not think of that, ” said George. 

“Besides, ” said his father, “when you treat boys in that harsh, rough way, you make them your enemies; and it is a very bad plan to make enemies. ”

“Enemies, father!” said George, laughing; “Tom could not do me any harm, if he was my enemy. ”

“That makes me think of the story of the bear and the tomtit, ” said thefarmer; “and, if you and Rollo will jump up in the cart, I will tell it toyou. ”

Thus far, while they had been talking, the boys had walked along by theside of the road, keeping up with the farmer as he drove along in thecart. But now they jumped in, and sat down with the farmer on his seat, which was a board laid across from one side of the cart to the other. Assoon as they were seated, the farmer began. 

The Farmer’s Story. 

“The story I was going to tell you, boys, is an old fable about makingenemies. It is called ‘The Bear and the Tomtit. ’ ”

“What is a tomtit?” said Rollo. 

“It is a kind of a bird, a very little bird; but he sings pleasantly. Well, one pleasant summer’s day, a wolf and a bear were taking a walktogether in a lonely wood. They heard something singing. 

“ ‘Brother, ’ said the bear, ‘that is good singing: what sort of a bird doyou think that may be?’

“ ‘That’s a tomtit, ’ said the wolf. 

“ ‘I should like to see his nest, ’ said the bear; ‘where do you think itis?’

“ ‘If we wait a little time, till his mate comes home, we shall see, ’ saidthe wolf. 

“The bear and the wolf walked backward and forward some time, till hismate came home with some food in her mouth for her children. The wolf andthe bear watched her. She went to the tree where the bird was singing, andthey together flew to a little grove just by, and went to their nest. 

“ ‘Now, ’ said the bear, ‘let us go and see. ’

“ ‘No, ’ said the wolf, ‘we must wait till the old birds have gone awayagain. ’

“So they noticed the place, and walked away. 

“They did not stay long, for the bear was very impatient to see the nest. They returned, and the bear scrambled up the tree, expecting to amusehimself finely by frightening the young tomtits. 

“ ‘Take care, ’ said the wolf; ‘you had better be careful. The tomtits arelittle; but little enemies are sometimes very troublesome. ’

“ ‘Who is afraid of a tomtit?’ said the bear. 

“So saying, he poked his great black nose into the nest. 

“ ‘Who is here?’ said he; ‘what are you?’

“The poor birds screamed out with terror. ‘Go away! Go away!’ said they. 

“ ‘What do you mean by making such a noise, ’ said he, ‘and talking so tome? I will teach you better. ’ So he put his great paw on the nest, andcrowded it down until the poor little birds were almost stifled. Presentlyhe left them, and went away. 

“The young tomtits were terribly frightened, and some of them were hurt. As soon as the bear was gone, their fright gave way to anger; and, soonafter, the old birds came home, and were very indignant too. They used tosee the bear, occasionally, prowling about the woods, but did not knowwhat they could do to bring him to punishment. 

“Now, there was a famous glen, surrounded by high rocks, where the bearused to go and sleep, because it was a wild, solitary place. The tomtitsoften saw him there. One day, the bear was prowling around, and he saw, ata great distance, two huntsmen, with guns, coming towards the wood. Hefled to his glen in dismay, though he thought he should be safe there. 

“The tomtits were flying about there, and presently they saw the huntsmen. ‘Now, ’ said one of them to the other, ‘is the time to get rid of thetyrant; you go and see if he is in his glen, and then come back to whereyou hear me singing. ’

“So he flew about from tree to tree, keeping in sight of the huntsmen, andsinging all the time; while the other went and found that the bear was inhis glen, crouched down in terror behind a rock. 

“The tomtits then began to flutter around the huntsmen, and fly a littleway towards the glen, and then back again. This attracted the notice ofthe men, and they followed them to see what could be the matter. 

“By and by, the bear saw the terrible huntsmen coming, led on by hislittle enemies, the tomtits. He sprang forward, and ran from one side ofthe glen to the other; but he could not escape. They shot him with twobullets through his head. 

“The wolf happened to be near by, at that time, upon the rocks that werearound the glen; and, hearing all this noise, he came and peeped over. Assoon as he saw how the case stood, he thought it would be most prudent forhim to walk away; which he did, saying, as he went. 

“ ‘Well, the bear has found out that it is better to have a person afriend than an enemy, whether he is great or small. ’ ”

 -------------------------------------

Here the farmer paused--he had ended the story. 

“And what did they do with the bear?” said Rollo. 

“O, they took off his skin to make caps of, and nailed his claws up on thebarn. ”

GEORGIE. 

The Little Landing. 

A short distance from where Rollo lives, there is a small, but verypleasant house, just under the hill, where you go down to the stone bridgeleading over the brook. There is a noble large apple tree on one side ofthe house, which bears a beautiful, sweet, and mellow kind of apple, called golden pippins. A great many other trees and flowers are around thehouse, and in the little garden on the side of it towards the brook. Thereis a small white gate that leads to the house, from the road; and there isa pleasant path leading right out from the front door, through the garden, down to the water. This is the house that Georgie lives in. 

One evening, just before sunset, Rollo was coming along over the stonebridge, towards home. He stopped a moment to look over the railing, downinto the water. Presently he heard a very sweet-toned voice calling out tohim, “Rol-lo. ”

Rollo looked along in the direction in which the sound came. It was fromthe bank of the stream, a little way from the road, at the place where thepath from Georgie’s house came down to the water. The brook was broad, andthe water pretty smooth and still here; and it was a place where Rollo hadoften been to sail boats with Georgie. There was a little smooth, sandyplace on the shore, at the foot of the path, and they used to call itGeorgie’s landing; and there was a seat close by, under the bushes. 

Rollo thought it was Georgie’s voice that called him, and in a minute, hesaw him sitting on his little seat, with his crutches by his side. Georgiewas a sick boy. He could not walk, but had to sit almost all day, at home, in a large easy chair, which his father had bought for him. In the winter, his chair was established in a particular corner, by the side of the fire, and he had a little case of shelves and drawers, painted green, by theside of him. In these shelves and drawers he had his books andplaythings, --his pen and ink, --his paint-box, brushes and pencils, --hisknife, and a little saw, --and a great many things which he used to makefor his amusement. Then, in the summer, his chair, and his shelves anddrawers, were moved to the end window, which looked out upon the gardenand brook. Sometimes, when he was better than usual, he could move about alittle upon crutches; and, at such times, when it was pleasant, he used togo out into the garden, and down, through it, to his landing, at thebrook. 

Georgie had been sick a great many years, and when Rollo and Jonas firstknew him, he used to be very sad and unhappy. It was because the poorlittle fellow had nothing to do. His father had to work pretty hard to getfood and clothing for his family; he loved little Georgie very much, buthe could not buy him many things. Sometimes people who visited him, usedto give him playthings, and they would amuse him a little while, but hesoon grew tired of them, and had them put away. It is very hard for anybody to be happy who has not any thing to do. 

It was Jonas that taught Georgie what to do. He lent him his knife, andbrought him some smooth, soft, pine wood, and taught him to makewind-mills and little boxes. Georgie liked this very much, and used to sitby his window in the summer mornings, and make playthings, hours at atime. After he had made several things, Jonas told the boys that livedabout there, that they had better buy them of him, when they had a fewcents to spend for toys; and they did. In fact, they liked the littlewindmills, and wagons, and small framed houses that Georgie made, betterthan sugar-plums and candy. Besides, they liked to go and see Georgie;for, whenever they went to buy any thing of him, he looked so contentedand happy, sitting in his easy chair, with his small and slender feetdrawn up under him, and his work on the table by his side. 

Then he was a very beautiful boy too. His face was delicate and pale, butthere was such a kind and gentle expression in his mild blue eye, and somuch sweetness in the tone of his voice, that they loved very much to goand see him. In fact, all the boys were very fond of Georgie. 

Georgie’s Money. 

Georgie, at length, earned, in this way, quite a little sum of money. Itwas nearly all in cents; but then there was one fourpence which a ladygave him for a four-wheeled wagon that he made. He kept this money in acorner of his drawer, and, at last, there was quite a handful of it. 

One summer evening, when Georgie’s father came home from his work, he hungup his hat, and came and sat down in Georgie’s corner, by the side of hislittle boy. Georgie looked up to him with a smile. 

“Well, father, ” said he, “are you tired to-night?”

“You are the one to be tired, Georgie, ” said he, “sitting here alone allday. ”

“Hold up your hand, father, ” said Georgie, reaching out his own at thesame time, which was shut up, and appeared to have something in it. 

“Why, what have you got for me?” said his father. 

“Hold fast all I give you, ” replied he; and he dropped the money all intohis father’s hand, and shut up his father’s fingers over it. 

“What is all this?” said his father. 

“It is my money, ” said he, “for you. It is ’most all cents, but then thereis _one_ fourpence. ”

“I am sure, I am much obliged to you, Georgie, for this. ”

“O no, ” said Georgie, “it’s only a _little_ of what you have to spend forme. ”

Georgie’s father took the money, and put it in his pocket, and the nextday he went to Jonas, and told him about it, and asked Jonas to spend itin buying such things as he thought would be useful to Georgie; eitherplaythings, or tools, or materials to work with. 

Jonas said he should be very glad to do it, for he thought he could buyhim some things that would help him very much in his work. Jonas carriedthe money into the city the next time he went, and bought him a small honeto sharpen his knife, a fine-toothed saw, and a bottle of black varnish, with a little brush, to put it on with. He brought these things home, andgave them to Georgie’s father; and he carried them into the house, and putthem in a drawer. 

That evening, when Georgie was at supper, his father slyly put the thingsthat Jonas had bought on his table, so that when he went back, aftersupper, he found them there. He was very much surprised and pleased. Heexamined them all very particularly, and was especially glad to have theblack varnish, for now he could varnish his work, and make it look muchmore handsome. The little boxes that he made, after this, of a brightblack outside, and lined neatly with paper within, were thought by theboys to be elegant. 

He could now earn money faster, and, as his father insisted on having allhis earnings expended for articles for Georgie’s own use, and Jonas usedto help him about expending it, he got, at last, quite a variety ofimplements and articles. He had some wire, and a little pair of pliers forbending it in all shapes, and a hammer and little nails. He had also apaint-box and brushes, and paper of various colors, for lining boxes, andmaking portfolios and pocket-books; and he had varnishes, red, green, blue, and black. All these he kept in his drawers and shelves, and made agreat many ingenious things with them. 

So Georgie was a great friend of both Rollo and Jonas, and they often usedto come and see him, and play with him; and that was the reason that Rolloknew his voice so well, when he called to him from the landing, when Rollowas standing on the bridge, as described in the beginning of this story. 

Two Good Friends. 

Rollo ran along to the end of the bridge, clambered down to the water’sedge, went along the shore among the trees and shrubbery, until he came tothe seat where Georgie was sitting. Georgie asked him to sit down, andstay with him; but Rollo said he must go directly home; and so Georgietook his crutches, and they began to walk slowly together up the gardenwalk. 

“Where have you been, Rollo?” said Georgie. 

“I have been to see my cousin James, to ask him to go to the city with usto-morrow. ”

“Are you going to the city?”

“Yes; uncle George gave James and I a half a dollar apiece, the other day;and mother is going to carry us into the city to-morrow to buy somethingwith it. ”

“Is Jonas going with you?”

“Yes, ” said Rollo. “He is going to drive. We are going in our carryall. ”

“I wish you would take some money for me, then, and get Jonas to buy mesomething with it. ”

“Well, I will, ” said Rollo. “What shall he buy for you?”

“O, he may buy any thing he chooses. ”

“Yes, but if you do not tell him what to buy, he may buy something youhave got already. ”

“O, Jonas knows every thing I have got as well as I do. ”

Just then they came up near the house, and Georgie asked Rollo to look upat the golden pippin tree, and see how full it was. 

“That is my branch, ” said he. 

He pointed to a large branch which came out on one side, and which hungdown loaded with fruit. It would have broken down, perhaps, if there hadnot been a crotched pole put under it, to prop it up. 

“But all the apples on your branch are not golden pippins, ” said Rollo. “There are some on it that are red. What beautiful red apples!”

“Yes, ” said Georgie. “Father grafted that for me, to make it bearrosy-boys. I call the red ones my rosy-boys. ”

“Grafted?” said Rollo; “how did he graft it?”

“O, ” said Georgie, “I do not know exactly. He cut off a little branch froma rosy-boy tree, and stuck it on somehow, and it grew, and bears rosy-boysstill. ”

Rollo thought this was very curious; Georgie told him he would give him anapple, and that he might have his choice--a pippin or a rosy-boy. 

Rollo hesitated, and looked at them, first at one, and then at another;but he could not decide. The rosy-boys had the brightest and mostbeautiful color, but then the pippins looked so rich and mellow, that hecould not choose very easily; and so Georgie laughed, find told him hewould settle the difficulty by giving him one of each. 

“So come here, ” said he, “Rollo, and let me lean on you, while I knockthem down. ”

So Rollo came and stood near him, while Georgie leaned on him, and withhis crutch gave a gentle tap to one of each of his kinds of apples, andthey fell down upon the soft grass, safe and sound. 

[Illustration: Georgie’s Apples. ]

They then went into the house, and Georgie gave Rollo his money, wrappedup in a small piece of paper; and then Rollo, bidding him good by, wentout of the little white gate, and walked along home. 

The next morning, soon after breakfast, Jonas drove the carryall up to thefront door, and Rollo and his mother walked out to it. Rollo’s mother tookthe back seat, and Rollo and Jonas sat in front, and they drove along. 

They called at the house where James lived, and found him waiting for themon the front steps, with his half dollar in his hand. 

He ran into the house to tell his mother that the carryall had come, andto bid her good morning, and then he came out to the gate. 

“James, ” said Rollo, “you may sit on the front seat with Jonas, if youwant to. ”

James said he should like to very much; and so Rollo stepped over behind, and sat with his mother. This was kind and polite; for boys all like thefront seat when they are riding, and Rollo therefore did right to offer itto his cousin. 

A Lecture On Playthings. 

After a short time, they came to a smooth and pleasant road, with treesand farm-houses on each side; and as the horse was trotting along quietly, Rollo asked his mother if she could not tell them a story. 

“I cannot tell you a story very well, this morning, but I can give you alecture on playthings, if you wish. ”

“Very well, mother, we should like that, ” said the boys. 

They did not know very well what a lecture was, but they thought that anything which their mother would propose would be interesting. 

“Do you know what a lecture is?” said she. 

“Not exactly, ” said Rollo. 

“Why, I should explain to you about playthings, --the various kinds, theiruse, the way to keep them, and to derive the most pleasure from them, &c. Giving you this information will not be as _interesting_ to you as to heara story; but it will be more _useful_, if you attend carefully, andendeavor to remember what I say. ”

The boys thought they should like the lecture, and promised to attend. Rollo said he would remember it all; and so his mother began. 

“The value of a plaything does not consist in itself, but in the pleasureit awakens in your mind. Do you understand that?”

“Not very well, ” said Rollo. 

“If you should give a round stick to a baby on the floor, and let himstrike the floor with it, he would be pleased. You would see by his looksthat it gave him great pleasure. Now, where would this pleasure be, --inthe stick, or in the floor, or in the baby?”

“Why, in the baby, ” said Rollo, laughing. 

“Yes; and would it be in his body, or in his mind?”

“In his face, ” said James. 

“In his eyes, ” said Rollo. 

“You would see the _signs of it_ in his face and in his eyes, but thefeeling of pleasure would be in his mind. Now, I suppose you understandwhat I said, that the value of the plaything consists in the pleasure itcan awaken in the mind. ”

“Yes, mother, ” said Rollo. 

“There is your jumping man, ” said she; “is that a good plaything?”

“Yes, ” said Rollo, “my _kicker_. But I don’t care much about it. I don’tknow where it is now. ”

“What was it?” said James. “_I_ never saw it. ”

“It was a pasteboard man, ” said his mother; “and there was a stringbehind, fixed so that, by pulling it, you could make his arms and legs flyabout. ”

“Yes, ” said Rollo, “I called him my _kicker_. ”

“You liked it very much, when you first had it. ”

“Yes, ” said Rollo, “but I don’t think it is very pretty now. ”

“That shows what I said was true. When you first had it, it was new, andthe sight of it gave you pleasure; but the pleasure consisted in thenovelty and drollery of it, and after a little while, when you becamefamiliar with it, it ceased to give you pleasure, and then you did notvalue it. I found it the other day lying on the ground in the yard, andtook it up and put it away carefully in a drawer. ”

“But if the value is all gone, what good does it do to save it?” saidRollo. 

“The value to _you_ is gone, because you have become familiar with it, andso it has lost its power to awaken feelings of pleasure in you. But it hasstill power to give pleasure to other children, who have not seen it, andI kept it for them. ”

“I should like to see it, very much, ” said James. “I never saw such aone. ”

“I will show it to you some time. Now, this is one kind ofplaything, --those which please by their _novelty_ only. It is notgenerally best to buy such playthings, for you very soon get familiar withthem, and then they cease to give you pleasure, and are almost worthless. ”

“Only we ought to keep them, if we have them, to show to other boys, ” saidRollo. 

“Yes, ” said his mother. “You ought never to throw them away, or leave themon the floor, or on the ground. ”

“O, the little fool, ” said Rollo suddenly. 

His mother and James looked up, wondering what Rollo meant. He was lookingout at the side of the carryall, at something about the wheel. 

“What is it, ” said his mother. 

“Why, here is a large fly trying to light on the wheel, and every time hislegs touch it, it knocks them away. See! See!”

“Yes, but you must not attend to him now. You must listen to my lecture. You promised to give your attention to me. ”

So James and Rollo turned away from the window, and began to listen again. 

“I have told you now, ” said she, “of one kind of playthings--those thatgive pleasure from their _novelty_ only. There is another kind--those thatgive you pleasure by their _use_;--such as a doll, for example. ”

“How, mother? Is a doll of any _use_?”

“Yes, in one sense; that is, the girl who has it, _uses_ it continually. Perhaps she admired the _looks_ of it, the first day it was given to her;but then, after that, she can _use_ it in so many ways, that it continuesto afford her pleasure for a long time. She can dress and undress it, putit to bed, make it sit up for company, and do a great many other thingswith it. When she gets tired of playing with it one day, she puts it away, and the next day she thinks of something new to do with it, which shenever thought of before. Now, which should you think the pleasure youshould obtain from a ball, would arise from, its _novelty_, or its _use_?”

“Its _use_, ” said the boys. 

“Yes, ” said the mother. “The first sight of a ball would not give you anyvery special pleasure. Its value would consist in the pleasure you wouldtake in playing with it. 

“Now, it is generally best to buy such playthings as you can use a greatmany times, and in a great many ways; such as a top, a ball, a knife, awheelbarrow. But things that please you only by their _novelty_, will soonlose all their power to give you pleasure, and be good for nothing to you. Such, for instance, as jumping men, and witches, and funny little images. Children are very often deceived in buying their playthings; for thosethings which please by their novelty only, usually please them very muchfor a few minutes, while they are in the shop, and see them for the firsttime; while those things which would last a long time, do not give themmuch pleasure at first. 

“There is another kind of playthings I want to tell you about a little, and then my lecture will be done. I mean playthings which give _you_pleasure, but give _other persons_ pain. A drum and a whistle, forexample, are disagreeable to other persons; and children, therefore, oughtnot to choose them, unless they have a place to go to, to play with them, which will be out of hearing. I have known boys to buy masks to frightenother children with, and bows and arrows, which sometimes are the means ofputting out children’s eyes. So you must consider, when you are choosingplaythings, first, whether the pleasure they will give you will be fromthe _novelty_ or the _use_; and, secondly, whether, in giving _you_pleasure, they will give _any other persons_ pain. 

“This is the end of the lecture. Now you may rest a little, and lookabout, and then I will tell you a short story. ”

The Young Drivers. 

They came, about this time, to the foot of a long hill, and Jonas said hebelieved that he would get out and walk up, and he said James might drivethe horse. So he put the reins into James’s hands, and jumped out. Rolloclimbed over the seat, and sat by his side. Presently James saw a largestone in the road, and he asked Rollo to see how well he could drive roundit; for as the horse was going, he would have carried one wheel directlyover it. So he pulled one of the reins, and turned the horse away; but hecontrived to turn him out just far enough to make the _other_ wheel goover the stone. Rollo laughed, and asked him to let him try the next time;and James gave him the reins; but there was no other stone till they gotup to the top of the hill. 

Then James said that Rollo might ride on the front seat now, and whenJonas got in, he climbed back to the back seat, and took his place by theside of Rollo’s mother. 

“Come, mother, ” then said Rollo, “we are rested enough now: please tobegin the story. ”

“Very well, if you are all ready. ”

So she began as follows:--

 The Story of Shallow, Selfish, and Wise. 

 Once there were three boys going into town to buy some playthings: their names were Shallow, Selfish, and Wise. Each had half a dollar. Shallow carried his in his hand, tossing it up in the air, and catching it, as he went along. Selfish kept teasing his mother to give him some more money: half a dollar, he said, was not enough. Wise walked along quietly, with his cash safe in his pocket. 

 Presently Shallow missed catching his half dollar, and--chink--it went, on the sidewalk, and it rolled along down into a crack under a building. Then he began to cry. Selfish stood by, holding his own money tight in his hands, and said he did not pity Shallow at all; it was good enough for him; he had no business to be tossing it up. Wise came up, and tried to get the money out with a stick, but he could not. He told Shallow not to cry; said he was sorry he had lost his money, and that he would give him half of his, as soon as they could get it changed at the shop. 

 So they walked along to the toy-shop. 

 Their mother said that each one might choose his own plaything; so they began to look around on the counter and shelves. 

 After a while, Shallow began to laugh very loud and heartily at something he found. It was an image of a grinning monkey. It looked very droll indeed. Shallow asked Wise to come and see. Wise laughed at it too, but said he should not want to buy it, as he thought he should soon get tired of laughing at any thing, if it was ever so droll. 

 Shallow was sure that he should never get tired of laughing at so very droll a thing as the grinning monkey; and he decided to buy it, if Wise would give him half of his money; and so Wise did. 

 Selfish found a rattle, a large, noisy rattle, and went to springing it until they were all tired of hearing the noise. 

 “I think I shall buy this, ” said he. “I can make believe that there is a fire, and can run about springing my rattle, and crying, ‘Fire! Fire!’ or I can play that a thief is breaking into a store, and can rattle my rattle at him, and call out, ‘Stop thief!’ ”

 “But that will disturb all the people in the house, ” said Wise. 

 “What care I for that?” said Selfish. 

 Selfish found that the price of his rattle was not so much as the half dollar; so he laid out the rest of it in cake, and sat down on a box, and began to eat it. 

 Wise passed by all the images and gaudy toys, only good to look at a few times, and chose a soft ball, and finding that that did not take all of his half of the money, he purchased a little morocco box with an inkstand, some wafers, and one or two short pens in it. Shallow told him that was not a plaything; it was only fit for a school; and as to his ball, he did not think much of that. 

 Wise said he thought they could all play with the ball a great many times, and he thought, too, that he should like his little inkstand rainy days and winter evenings. 

 So the boys walked along home. Shallow stopped every moment to laugh at his monkey, and Selfish to spring his rattle; and they looked with contempt on Wise’s ball, which he carried quietly in one hand, and his box done up in brown paper in the other. 

 When they got home, Shallow ran in to show his monkey. The people smiled a little, but did not take much notice of it; and, in fact, it did not look half so funny, even to himself, as it did in the shop. In a short time, it did not make him laugh at all, and then he was vexed and angry with it. He said he meant to go and throw the ugly old baboon away; he was tired of seeing that same old grin on his face all the time. So he went and threw it over the wall. 

 Selfish ate his cake up, on his way home. He would not give his brothers any, for he said they had had their money as well as he. When he got home, he went about the house, up and down, through parlor and chamber, kitchen and shed, springing his rattle, and calling out, “Stop thief! Stop thief!” or “Fire! Fire!” Every body got tired, and asked him to be still; but he did not mind, until, at last, his father took his rattle away from him, and put it up on a high shelf. 

 Then Selfish and Shallow went out and found Wise playing beautifully with his ball in the yard; and he invited them to play with him. They would toss it up against the wall, and learn to catch it when it came down; and then they made some bat-sticks, and knocked it back and forth to one another, about the yard. The more they played with the ball, the more they liked it, and, as Wise was always very careful not to play near any holes, and to put it away safe when he had done with it, he kept it a long time, and gave them pleasure a great many times all summer long. 

 And then his inkstand box was a great treasure. He would get it out in the long winter evenings, and lend Selfish and Shallow, each, one of his pens; and they would all sit at the table, and make pictures, and write little letters, and seal them with small bits of the wafers. In fact, Wise kept his inkstand box safe till he grew up to be a man. 

 That is the end of the story. 

The Toy-Shop. 

“I wish I could get an inkstand box, ” said Rollo, when the story wasfinished. 

“I think he was very foolish to throw away his grinning monkey, ” saidJames, “I wish I could see a grinning monkey. ”

They continued talking about this story some time, and at length they drewnigh to the city. They drove to a stable, where Jonas had the horse putup, and then they all walked on in search of a toy-shop. 

They passed along through one or two streets, walking very slowly, so thatthe boys might look at the pictures and curious things in the shopwindows. At length they came to a toy-shop, and all went in. 

They saw at once a great number and variety of playthings exhibited toview. All around the floor were arranged horses on wheels, little carts, wagons, and baskets. The counter had a great variety of images andfigures, --birds that would peep, and dogs that would bark, and drummersthat would drum--all by just turning a little handle. Then the shelves andthe window were filled with all sorts of boxes, and whips, and puzzles, and tea-sets, and dolls, dressed and not dressed. There were bows andarrows, and darts, and jumping ropes, and glass dogs, and littlerocking-horses, and a thousand other things. 

When the boys first came in, there was a little girl standing by thecounter with a small slate in her hand. She looked like a poor girl, though she was neat and tidy in her dress. She was talking with theshopman about the slate. 

“Don’t you think, ” said she, “you could let me have it for ten cents?”

“No, ” said he, “I could not afford it for less than fifteen. It cost memore than ten. ”

The little girl laid the slate down, and looked disappointed and sad. Rollo’s mother came up to her, took up the slate, and said, “I should think you had better give him fifteen cents. It is a very goodslate. It is worth as much as that, certainly. ”

“Yes, madam, so I tell her, ” said the shopman. 

“But I have not got but ten cents, ” said the little girl. 

“Have not you?” said Rollo’s mother. She stood still thinking a moment, and then she asked the little girl what her name was. 

She said it was Maria. 

She asked her what she wanted the slate for; and Maria said it was to dosums on, at school. She wanted to study arithmetic, and could not do sowithout a slate. 

Jonas then came forward, and said that he should like to give her fivecents of Georgie’s money, and that, with the ten she had, would be enough. He said that Georgie had given him authority to do what he thought bestwith his money, and he knew, if Georgie was here, he would wish to helpthe little girl. 

Rollo and James were both sorry they had not thought of it themselves;and, as soon as Jonas mentioned it, they wanted to give some of theirmoney to the girl; but Jonas said he knew that Georgie would prefer to doit. At last, however, it was agreed that Rollo and James should furnishone cent each, and Georgie the rest. This was all agreed upon after a lowconversation by themselves in a corner of the store; and then Jonas cameforward, and told the shopman that they were going to pay the additionalfive cents, and that he might let the girl have the slate. So Jonas paidthe money, and it was agreed that Rollo and James should pay him backtheir share, when they got their money changed. The boys were very muchpleased to see the little girl go away so happy with her slate in herhand. It was neatly done up in paper, with two pencils which the shopmangave her, done up inside. 

After Maria was gone, the boys looked around the shop, but could not findany thing which exactly pleased them; or at least they could not find anything which pleased them so much more than any thing else, that they coulddecide in favor of it. So they concluded to walk along, and look atanother shop. 

They succeeded at last in finding some playthings that they liked, andJonas bought a variety of useful things for Georgie. On their way home, the carryall stopped at the house where Lucy lived and Rollo’s mother lefthim and James there, to show Lucy their playthings. 

One of the things they bought was a little boat with two sails, and theywent down behind the house to sail it. The other playthings and books theycarried down too, and had a fine time playing with them, with Lucy andanother little girl who was visiting her that afternoon. 

 -------------------------------------

THE ROLLO SERIES

IS COMPOSED OF FOURTEEN VOLUMES, VIZ. 

 Rollo Learning to Talk. Rollo Learning to Read. Rollo at Work. Rollo at Play. Rollo at School. Rollo’s Vacation. Rollo’s Experiments. Rollo’s Museum. Rollo’s Travels. Rollo’s Correspondence. Rollo’s Philosophy--Water. Rollo’s Philosophy--Air. Rollo’s Philosophy--Fire. Rollo’s Philosophy--Sky. 

***FINIS***