UC-NRLF 
 
 B M 1DM Qfl3 
 
EOLLO AT PLAY; 
 
 OR, 
 
 SAFE AMUSEMENTS. 
 
HE WADED INTO THE LITTLE POND AT THE GARDEN GATE. 
 

 ROLLO AT PLAY 
 
 BY 
 
 JACOB ABBOTT 
 u 
 
 ILLUSTRATED BY CHARLES CO PEL AND 
 
 NEW YORK 
 
 THOMAS Y. CROWELL & CO. 
 PUBLISHERS 
 
BYlPliM.LIPS 
 
 COPYRIGHT, 1897, 
 BY THOMAS Y. CROWELL & COMPANY, 
 
95 
 
 NOTICE TO PARENTS. 
 
 ALTHOUGH this little book, and its fellow, " ROLLO 
 AT WORK," are intended principally as a means of 
 entertainment for their little readers, it is hoped by 
 the writer that they may aid in accomplishing some 
 of the following useful purposes : 
 
 1. In cultivating the thinking powers ; as frequent 
 occasions occur, in which the incidents of the narra 
 tive, and the conversations arising from them, are 
 intended to awaken and engage the reasoning and 
 reflective faculties of the little readers. 
 
 2. In promoting the progress of children in read 
 ing and in knowledge of language; for the diction 
 of the stories is intended to be often in advance of 
 the natural language of the reader, and yet so used 
 as to be explained by the connection. 
 
 3. In cultivating the amiable and gentle qualities 
 of the heart. The scenes are laid in quiet and vir- 
 tuous life, and the character and conduct describee! 
 are generally with the exception of some of the 
 ordinary exhibitions of childish folly character 
 and conduct to be imitated ; for it is generally bet 
 ter, in dealing with children, to allure them to what 
 is right by agreeable pictures of it, than to attempt 
 to drive them to it by repulsive delineations of what 
 is wrong. 
 
 M44188 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 HOLLO AT PLAY, 
 
 STORY 1. HOLLO AT PLAY IN THE WOODS. The Set 
 ting out. Bridge-Building. A Visitor. Difficulty. 
 Hearts wrong. Hearts right again. 
 
 STORY 2. THE STEEPLE-TRAP. The way to catch a 
 Squirrel. The Way to lose a Squirrel. How to keep 
 a Squirrel. Fires in the Woods. 
 
 STORY 3. THE HALO AROUND THE MOON; OR, LUCY S 
 VISIT. A Round Rainbow. Who knows best, a Lit 
 tle Boy or his Father ! Repentance. 
 
 STORY 4. THE FRESHET. Maria and the Caravan. 
 Small Craft. The Principles of Order. Clearing up. 
 
 STORY 5. BLUEBERRYING. Old Trumpeter. Devia 
 tion. Little Mosette. Going up. The Secret out. 
 
 STORY 6. TROUBLE ON THE MOUNTAIN. Boasting. 
 Getting in Trouble. A Test of Penitence. 
 
HOLLO AT PLAY. 
 
 IN THE WOODS. 
 
 THE SETTING OUT. 
 
 ONE pleasant morning in the autumn, 
 when Rollo was about five years old, he was 
 sitting on the platform, behind his father s 
 house, playing. He had a hammer and 
 nails, and some small pieces of board. He 
 was trying to make a box. He hammered 
 and hammered, and presently he dropped 
 his work down and said, fretfully, 
 
 44 O dear me ! " 
 
 " What is the matter, Rollo ? " said Jonas, 
 for it happened that Jonas was going by 
 just then, with a wheelbarrow. 
 
 44 I wish these little boards would not 
 split so. I cannot make my box." 
 
8 HOLLO AT PLAY. 
 
 " You drive the nails wrong ; you put the 
 wedge sides ivitJi the grain." 
 
 " The wedge sides ! " said Hollo ; " what 
 are the wedge sides, and the grain? I do 
 not know what you mean." 
 
 But Jonas went on trundling his wheel 
 barrow ; though he looked around and told 
 Hollo that he could not stop to explain it to 
 him then. 
 
 Hollo was discouraged about his box. 
 He thought he would look and see what 
 Jonas was going to do. Jonas trundled the 
 wheelbarrow along, until he came opposite 
 the barn-door, and there he put it down. 
 He went into the barn, and presently came 
 out with an axe. Then he took the sides of 
 the wheelbarrow off, and placed them up 
 against the barn. Then he laid the axe 
 down across the wheelbarrow, and went 
 into the barn again. Pretty soon he brought 
 out an iron crowbar, and laid that down also 
 in the wheelbarrow, with the axe. 
 
 Then Rollo called out, 
 
 " Jonas, Jonas, where are you going ? " 
 
 " I am going down into the woods, be 
 yond the brook." 
 
 " What are you going to do ? " 
 
IN THE WOODS. 9 
 
 " I am going to clear up some ground." 
 
 " May I go with you ? " 
 
 " I should like it, but that is not for me 
 to say." 
 
 Rollo knew by this that he must ask his 
 mother. He went in and asked her, and she, 
 in return, asked him if he had read Ids les 
 son that morning. He said he had not ; he 
 had forgotten it. 
 
 "Then," said his mother, "you must first 
 go and read a quarter of an hour." 
 
 Rollo was sadly disappointed, and also a 
 little displeased. He turned away, hung 
 down his head, and began to cry. It is not 
 strange that he was disappointed, but it was 
 very wrong for him to feel displeased, and 
 begin to cry. 
 
 " Come here, my son," said his mother. 
 
 Rollo came to his mother, and she said to 
 him kindly, 
 
 "You have done wrong now twice this 
 morning; you have neglected your duty of 
 reading, and now you are out of humor with 
 me because I require you to attend to it. 
 Now it is my duty not to yield to such feel 
 ings as you have now, but to punish them. 
 So I must say that, instead of a quarter of 
 
10 HOLLO AT PLAY. 
 
 an hour, you must wait "half an hour, before 
 you go out with Jonas." 
 
 Rollo stood silent a minute, he per 
 ceived that he had done wrong, and was 
 sorry. He did not know how he could find 
 Jonas in the woods, but he did not say 
 any thing about that then. He only asked 
 his mother what he must do for the half 
 hour. She said he must read a quarter of 
 an hour, and the rest of the time he might 
 do as he pleased. 
 
 So Rollo took his book, and went out and 
 sat down upon the platform, and he began 
 to read aloud. When he had finished one 
 page, which usually took a quarter of an 
 hour, he went in to ask his mother what time 
 it was. She looked at the clock, and told 
 him he had been reading seventeen min 
 utes. 
 
 " Is seventeen minutes more than a quar 
 ter of an hour, or not so much? " asked Rollo. 
 
 " It is more ; fifteen minutes is a quarter 
 of an hour. Now you may do what you 
 please till the other quarter has elapsed." 
 
 Rollo thought he would go and read more. 
 It is true he was tired ; but he was sorry he 
 had done wrong, and he thought that if he 
 
IN THE WOODS. 11 
 
 read more than he was obliged to, his moth 
 er would see that he was penitent, and that 
 he acquiesced in his punishment. 
 
 So he went on reading, and the rest of the 
 half hour passed away very quickly. In 
 fact, his mother came out before he got up 
 from his reading, to tell him it was time for 
 him to go. She said she was very glad he 
 had submitted pleasantly to his punishment, 
 and she gave him something wrapped up in 
 a paper. 
 
 " Keep this till you get a little tired of 
 play, down there, and then sit down on a 
 log and open it." 
 
 Rollo wondered what it was. He took it 
 gladly, and began to go. But in a minute 
 he turned around and said, 
 
 " But how shall I find Jonas? " 
 
 " What is he doing ? " said his mother. 
 
 " He said he was going to clear up some 
 land." 
 
 " Then you will hear his axe. Go down 
 to the edge of the woods and listen, and 
 when you hear him, call him. But you 
 must not go into the woods unless you hear 
 him." 
 
12 HOLLO AT PLAY. 
 
 BEIDGE-BUILDING. 
 
 Rollo went on, down the green lane, till 
 he came to the turn-stile, and then went 
 through into the field. He then followed a 
 winding path until he came to the edge of 
 the trees, and there stopped to listen. 
 
 He heard the brook gurgling along over 
 the stones, and that was all at first ; but 
 presently he began to hear the strokes of 
 an axe. He called out as loud as he could, 
 
 " Jonas ! Jonas ! " 
 
 But Jonas did not hear. 
 
 Then he walked along the edge of the 
 woods till he came nearer the place where 
 he heard the axe. He found here a little 
 opening among the trees and bushes, so that 
 he could look in. He saw the brook, and 
 over beyond it, on the opposite bank, was 
 Jonas, cutting down a small tree. 
 
 So Rollo walked on until he came to the 
 brook, and then asked Jonas how he should 
 get over. The brook was pretty wide and 
 deep. 
 
 Jonas said, if he would wait a few min 
 utes, he would build him a bridge. 
 
IN THE WOODS. 13 
 
 " You cannot build a bridge," said Hollo. 
 
 "Wait a little and see." 
 
 So Hollo sat down 011 a mossy bank, and 
 Jonas, having cut down the small tree, be 
 gan to work on a larger one that stood near 
 the bank. 
 
 After he had cut a little while, Rollo asked 
 him why he did not begin the bridge. 
 
 " I am beginning it," said he. 
 
 Rollo laughed at this, but in a minute Jo 
 nas called to him to stand back, away from 
 the bank; and then, after a few strokes more, 
 the top of the tree began to bend slowly over, 
 and then it fell faster and faster, until it 
 came down with a great crash, directly across 
 the brook. 
 
 " There ! " said Jonas, " there is your 
 bridge." 
 
 Rollo looked at it with astonishment and 
 pleasure. 
 
 " Now," said Jonas, " I will come and help 
 you over." 
 
 " No," said Rollo, " I can come over my 
 self. I can take hold of the branches for a 
 railing." 
 
 So Rollo began to climb along the stem of 
 the tree, holding on carefully by the branches, 
 
14 HOLLO AT PLAY. 
 
 When lie reached the middle of the stream, 
 he stopped to look down into the water. 
 
 " This is a capital bridge of yours, Jonas," 
 said he. " How beautiful the water looks 
 down here ! O, I see a little fish ! He is 
 swimming along by a great rock. Now he 
 is standing perfectly still. O, Jonas, come 
 and see him." 
 
 " No," said Jonas, " I must mind my 
 work." 
 
 After a little time, Hollo went carefully 
 on over the bridge, and sat down on the 
 bank of the brook. But he did not have with 
 him the parcel his mother gave him. He 
 had left it on the other side. 
 
 After he had watched the fishes, and 
 thrown pebble-stones into the brook some 
 time, he began to be tired, and he asked Jo 
 nas what he had better do. 
 
 " I think you had better build a wigwam." 
 
 " A wigwam ? What is a wigwam ? " said 
 Rollo. 
 
 " It is a little house made of bushes such 
 as the Indians live in." 
 
 " O, I could not make a house," said Rollo. 
 
 " I think you could if I should tell you 
 how, and help you a little." 
 
IN THE WOODS. 15 
 
 " But you say you must mind your -work.* 1 
 
 " Yes, I can mind my work and tell 
 you at the same time." 
 Rollo thought he should like to build a 
 wigwam very much. Jonas told him the 
 first thing to be done was to find a good 
 place, where the ground was level. Rollo 
 looked at a good many places, but at last 
 chose a smooth spot under a great oak tree, 
 which Jonas said he was not going to cut 
 down. It was near a beautiful turn in the 
 brook, where the water was very deep. 
 
 Jonas told him that the first thing was to 
 make a little stake, and drive it down in the 
 middle of his wigwam-ground. Then Rollo 
 recollected that he had left his hatchet over 
 on the other side of the brook, together with 
 the parcel his mother gave him ; and he was 
 going over to get them, when Jonas told him 
 he would trim up the bridge a little, and 
 then he could go over more easily. 
 
 So Jonas went upon the bridge, and began 
 to cut away the branches that were in the 
 way, leaving enough on each side to take 
 hold of, and to keep Rollo from falling in. 
 Rollo could then get back and forth easily. 
 
16 ROLLO AT PLAY. 
 
 He held on with one hand, and carried his 
 hatchet in the other. Then he went over 
 again, and brought his parcel, and laid it 
 down near the great oak tree. 
 
 Then he made a little stake, and drove it 
 down in the middle of the wigwam-ground. 
 Then he asked Jonas what he must do next. 
 
 " That is the centre of your wigwam ; now 
 you must strike a circle around it." 
 
 " What ? " said Rollo. 
 
 " Don t you know how to strike a circle ? " 
 said Jonas. 
 
 Rollo said he did not, and then Jonas told 
 him to do exactly as he should say, and that 
 would show him. 
 
 " First," said Jonas, " have you got a 
 string ? " 
 
 Rollo felt in his pockets in vain, but he 
 recollected his little parcel, which was tied 
 with a piece of twine, and held it up to ask 
 Jonas if that would do. Jonas said it would, 
 and told him to take it off carefully, and tie 
 one end of it to his centre stake. 
 
 And Rollo did so. 
 
 " Now," said Jonas, " make another little 
 sharp stake for the marker, and tie the other 
 
IN THE WOODS. 17 
 
 end of the twine to that, near the sharp 
 end." 
 
 Rollo worked busily for some time, and 
 then called out, 
 
 "Jonas, it is done." 
 
 All this time, Jonas was at work in the 
 bushes, at a little distance. He now came 
 to Rollo s wigwam-ground, and took hold of 
 the marker, and held it off as far from the 
 middle stake as it would go, and then began 
 to make a mark on the ground all around 
 the middle stake. Now, as the marker was 
 tied to the middle stake by the string, the 
 mark was equally distant from the middle 
 stake in every part, and that made it ex 
 actly round. Then Jonas laid down the 
 marker, and pulled out the middle stake ; 
 and they looked down and saw that there 
 was a round mark on the ground, about as 
 large as a cart-wheel. 
 
 Then Jonas took the crowbar, and made 
 deep holes all around, in this circle, so far 
 apart that Rollo could just step from one to 
 the other. But Rollo could not understand 
 how he could make a house so. 
 
 44 1 will tell you, ! said Jonas. " You must 
 2 
 
18 HOLLO AT PLAY. 
 
 now go and get some large branches of trees, 
 and trim off the twigs from the lower end, 
 and stick them down in these holes. I will 
 show you how." 
 
 So Jonas took a large bough, and trimmed 
 the large end, and sharpened it a little, and 
 then he fixed it down in one of these holes, 
 in such a manner that the top of it bent 
 over towards the middle of the circle ; then 
 he went back to his work, leaving Hollo to 
 go 011 with the wigwam. 
 
 A VISITOR. 
 
 Rollo put down two or three branches 
 very well, and was very much delighted at 
 seeing it gradually begin to look like a 
 house, when he thought he heard a voice. 
 He listened a moment, and heard some one 
 at a distance calling, " Rol lo ! Rol lo I " 
 . Rollo dropped his hatchet, and looked in 
 the direction that the sound came from, 
 and called out as loud as he could, " What 1 " 
 
IN THE WOODS. 19 
 
 "Where are you? " was heard in re- 
 
 Rollo answered, "Here" and then im 
 mediately clambered along over the bridge, 
 and ran through the woods until he came 
 out into the open field ; and there he saw a 
 small boy, away off at a distance, just com 
 ing through the turn-stile. 
 
 It was his cousin James. It seems that 
 James had come to play with him that day, 
 and Hollo s mother had directed him down 
 towards the woods. 
 
 James came running along towards Rollo, 
 holding up something round and bright, in 
 each hand. They were half dollars. 
 
 " Where did you get them ? " said Rollo. 
 
 " One is for you, and one is for me," said 
 James. " Uncle George sent them to us." 
 
 " What a beautiful little eagle ! " said Rol 
 lo, as he looked at one side of his half dol 
 lar ; " I wish I could get it off and keep it 
 separate." 
 
 " O no," said James, " that would spoil 
 your half dollar." 
 
 " Why, they would know it was a half 
 dollar by the letters and the head on the other 
 
20 EOLLO AT PLAY. 
 
 side. What a pretty tliin eagle ! How do 
 you suppose they fasten it on so strong? " 
 
 James said he thought he could get it off ; 
 so they went and sat down on a smooth log, 
 that was lying on the ground, and laid Rol- 
 lo s half dollar on the log. Then he took a 
 pin, and tried to drive the point of it under 
 the eagle s head, with a small stone. But 
 the eagle would not move. They only made 
 some little marks and scratches on the sil 
 ver, x-" 
 
 " Never mind," said Rollo ; " I will keep 
 it as it is." So he took his half dollar, and 
 they walked along towards the brook. 
 
 They showed their money to Jonas, and 
 told him that they had tried to get the eagle 
 off. He smiled at this. The boys went 
 back soon to the wigwam, and James said he 
 would help Rollo finish it. While they 
 were at work they put their money on a 
 large flat stone, on the bank of the brook. 
 They fixed a great many boughs into their 
 wigwam, weaving them in all around, and 
 thus made a very pleasant little house, leav 
 ing a place for a door in front. When they 
 were tired, they went and opened Rollo s 
 
IN THE WOODS. 21 
 
 little package, and found a fine luncheon in 
 it of bread and butter and pie ; which they 
 ate very happily together, sitting on little 
 hemlock branches in the wigwam. 
 
 DIFFICULTY. 
 
 After their luncheon, the boys began to 
 talk about the best place for a window for 
 the wigwam. 
 
 " I think we will have it this side, tow 
 ards the brook," said James, "and then we 
 can look out to the water." 
 
 " No," said Rollo, " it will be better to 
 have it here, towards where Jonas is work 
 ing, and then we can look out and see him." 
 
 " No," said James, " that is not a good 
 plan ; I do not want to see Jonas." 
 
 " And I do not want to see the water," 
 replied Hollo. " It is my wigwam, and I 
 mean to have the window here" 
 
 So saying, he went to the side towards 
 Jonas, and began to take away a bough, 
 James came there too, and said angrily, 
 
22 ROLLO AT PLAY. 
 
 " The wigwam is mine as much as it is 
 yours, for I helped make it, and I will not 
 have a window here." 
 
 So he took hold of the branch that Hollo 
 had hold of. They both felt guilty and con 
 demned, but their angry feelings urged them 
 on, and they looked fiercely at each other, 
 and pulled upon the branch. 
 
 "Rollo," said James, "let go." 
 
 " James," said Rollo, " I tell you, let my 
 wigwam alone." 
 
 " It is not your wigwam." 
 
 " I tell you it is." 
 
 Just then they heard a noise in the bushes. 
 They looked around, and saw Jonas coming 
 towards them. They felt ashamed, and were 
 silent, though each kept hold of the branch. 
 
 " Now, boys," said Jonas, " you have got 
 into a foolish and wicked quarrel. I have 
 heard it all. Now you may do as you please 
 you may let me settle it, or I will lead 
 you home to your mother, and tell her about 
 it, and let her settle it." 
 
 The boys looked ashamed, but said noth 
 ing. 
 
 " If you conclude to let me settle it, you 
 
IX THE WOODS. 23 
 
 must do just as I say. But I do not pretend 
 that I have any right to decide such a case, 
 unless you consent. So I will take you 
 home, if you prefer." 
 
 The boys both preferred that he should 
 settle it, and promised to do as he should say. 
 
 " Well, then," said he, " the first thing is 
 for you, Hollo, to go over the other side of 
 the brook, and you, James, to stay here, and 
 both to sit down still, until you have had 
 time to cool." 
 
 The boys obeyed, and Jonas went back 
 to his work. 
 
 The boys sat still, feeling guilty and 
 ashamed ; but they were not penitent. They 
 ought to have been sorry for their fault, and 
 become good-natured and pleasant again. 
 But, instead of that, they were silent and 
 displeased, eyeing one another across the 
 brook. Jonas waited some time, and then 
 came and called them both to him. 
 
 "Now," says James, "1 will tell you all 
 about it, and you shall decide who was to 
 blame." 
 
 " I heard it all, and I know which was to 
 blame ; you, James, came here to see Hollo, 
 
24 -HOLLO AT PLAY. 
 
 and found him building a wigwam. It was 
 his wigwam, not yours. He began it with 
 out you, and was going on without you, and 
 when you came, you had no right to assume 
 any authority about it. You ought to have 
 let him do as he wished witli his own wig 
 wam. You were unjust" 
 
 Here Hollo began to look pleased and 
 triumphant, that Jonas had decided in his 
 favor. 
 
 "But," continued Jonas, "you, Hollo, 
 were playing here alone. Your little cousin 
 came to see you ; and you were very glad 
 to have him come. He helped you build, 
 and when he wanted to have the window in 
 a particular way, you ought to have let him. 
 To quarrel with a visitor for such a cause 
 as that, was very ungentlemanly and unkind. 
 So you see ^ou were both very much to 
 blame." 
 
 The boys looked guilty and ashamed, but 
 they did not feel really penitent. They 
 were not cordially reconciled. Neither was 
 willing to give up. 
 
 "But," said Rollo, "how shall we make 
 the window ? " 
 
IN THE WOODS. 25 
 
 " I think you ought not to make any win 
 dow, as you cannot agree about it." 
 
 They wanted to make a window now more 
 than ever, for each wanted to have his own 
 way ; but Jonas would not consent, and, as 
 they had agreed to abide by his decision, 
 they submitted. Jonas then returned to 
 his work, and the boys stood by the side of 
 the brook, not knowing exactly what to do. 
 Jonas told them, when they went away, that 
 he expected that they would have another 
 quarrel, as he perceived that their hearts 
 were still in a bad state. 
 
 HEARTS WROXG. 
 
 The boys sat down on the bank of the 
 brook, and began to pick up little stones and 
 throw them into the water. They began 
 soon to talk of the window again. 
 
 Rollo said, " Jonas thought you were most 
 to blame, I know." 
 
 " No, he did not," replied James. " He 
 blamed you the most ; he said you were un 
 just." 
 
26 ROLLO AT PLAY. 
 
 " I don t care," said Rollo. " You do not 
 know how to build a wigwam. You cannot 
 reach high enough to make a window." 
 
 " I can reach high," said James. " I can 
 reach as high as that," said he, stretching up 
 his hand. 
 
 " And I can reach as high as that" said 
 Rollo, stretching up his hand higher than 
 James did, for he was a little taller. 
 
 James was somewhat vexed to find that 
 Rollo could reach higher than he could, 
 though it was very foolish to allow himself 
 to be put out of humor by such a thing. 
 But boys, when they are ill-humored, and 
 dispute, are always unreasonable and foolish. 
 James determined not to be outdone, so he 
 took up a stick, and reached it up in the air 
 as high as he could, and said, 
 
 " I can reach up as high as that" 
 
 Then Rollo took up a stone, and tossed it 
 up into the air, saying, 
 
 " And I can reach as high as that." 
 
 Now, when boys throw stones into the air, 
 they ought to consider where they will come 
 down ; -but, unfortunately, Rollo did not in 
 this case, and the stone fell directly upon 
 James s head. It was, however, a small stone 5 
 
IN THE WOODS. 27 
 
 and his cap prevented it from hurting him 
 much ; but he was already vexed and out of 
 humor, and so he began to cry aloud. 
 
 Rollo was frightened a little, for he was 
 afraid he had hurt his cousin a good deal, 
 and then he expected too that Jonas would 
 come. But Jonas took no notice of the cry 
 ing, but went on with his work. Now, Jo 
 nas was very kind and careful, and always 
 came quick when there was any one hurt. 
 But this time, he knew by the tone of 
 James s crying, that it was vexation rather 
 than pain that caused it. 
 
 James, finding that his crying did no good, 
 gradually became still; and in a few minutes, 
 as he happened to look around, his eye rested 
 on the stone where they had put their half 
 dollars, and he saw that only one of them 
 was there. 
 
 " 0, Rollo," said he, " one of our half dol 
 lars is gone." 
 
 They went to the stone, and, true enough, 
 one was gone. They looked around, but it 
 was nowhere to be found. Boys that are 
 out of humor with one another, are never at 
 a loss for subjects of dispute ; and Rollo said 
 he believed James had taken it, and James 
 
28 HOLLO AT PLAY. 
 
 charged it upon Rollo. Then there was a 
 dispute who should have the one that was 
 left. James knew it was his ; he said he re 
 membered exactly how his looked ; and Rollo 
 knew it was his, for the head and the stars 
 were very bright on his, and they were very 
 bright on this. James, however, had the 
 half dollar, and would not give it up ; and so 
 Rollo went to Jonas, and told him that 
 James had got his half dollar. 
 
 Jonas came, and heard the whole story 
 trom botli of the boys. James said he knew the 
 one that was left was his, for he remembered 
 exactly how it looked, and he also remem 
 bered exactly the very spot on the stone 
 where he put it down. 
 
 James did not mean to tell a lie, but he 
 was a little angry and excited; and when 
 boys are in that state of mind, they are very 
 apt to say they know not what. 
 
 Jonas looked at both sides of the half dol 
 lar very attentively. 
 
 "Which half dollar was it," said he 9 
 6C that you tried to get the eagle off of? " 
 
 " Mine," said Rollo ; " let me see." 
 
 Jonas held down the half dollar, and 
 showed to Rollo and James the marks and 
 
IN THE WOODS. 29 
 
 scratches made by the pin, proving that this 
 was Hollo s half dollar. James looked 
 ashamed and confounded ; Jonas just waited 
 to hear what he would say. 
 
 HEARTS EIGHT AGAIN. 
 
 James stood still a minute, thinking ; pres 
 ently he said, 
 
 ki Well, Rollo, I suppose my half dollar is 
 lost, but I am glad yours is safe, at any rate." 
 
 k * I am sorry yours is lust," said Rollo, 
 but then I can give you half of what I buy 
 with mine." 
 
 " Where did you put the half dollars ? " 
 said Jonas. 
 
 " On that rock," said Rollo. 
 
 They walked along towards the rock. It 
 was by the edge of the water; Jonas thought 
 that as they had been dragging boughs of 
 trees along near the rock, some little branch 
 might have reached over and brushed off 
 one of the pieces of money into the water. 
 So he walked up to it and looked over. 
 
 In a minute or two, he pointed down, and 
 
80 ROLLO AT PLAY. 
 
 the boys looked and saw something bright 
 and glittering on the bottom. 
 
 "Is that it? " said James. 
 
 "I believe it is," said Jonas. 
 
 Jonas then took off his jacket, rolled up 
 his shirt sleeve, lay down on the rock, and 
 reached his arm down into the water, but it 
 was a little too deep. He could not reach it. 
 
 " I cannot get it so," said he. 
 
 " What shall we do ? " said James. " How 
 foolish I was to put it so near the water I " 
 
 " I think we shall contrive some way to 
 get it," said Jonas. 
 
 He then sat down on the rock and looked 
 into the water. " We can go home and get 
 a long pair of tongs, and get it with them, at 
 any rate," said he. 
 
 " O, yes," said Rollo, " I will go and get 
 them ; " and he ran off towards the bridge. 
 
 " No," said Jonas, " stop ; I will try one 
 plan more." 
 
 So he went and cut a long straight stem 
 of a busn, and trimmed it up smooth, and 
 cut the largest end off exactly square. 
 Then he went to a hemlock tree near, and 
 took off some of the gum, which was very 
 
IN THE WOODS. 
 
 31 
 
 " sticky." He pressed some of this with his 
 knife on the end of the stick. Then he 
 reached it very carefully down, and pressed 
 it hard against the half dollar ; it crowded 
 the half dollar down into the sand, out of 
 sight. 
 
 " There, you have lost it ! " said James. 
 
 " I don t know," said Jonas ; and he began 
 slowly and carefully to draw it up. 
 
 When the end of the stick came up out 
 of the sand, the boys saw, to their great de- 
 
light, that the half dollar was sticking fast 
 on. They clapped their hands, and capered 
 about on the stone, while Jonas gently drew 
 up the half dollar, and put it, all wet and 
 dripping, into James s hands. 
 
 The boys thanked Jonas for getting up 
 the money, and then they asked him to keep 
 both pieces for them until they went home. 
 Then they began to think of the wigwam 
 again. 
 
 " We will make the window as you want 
 it, James," said Rollo ; "I am willing." 
 
 " No," said James, " I was just going to 
 say we would make it your way. I rather 
 think it would be better to make it towards 
 the land." 
 
 " Why can you not have two windows ? " 
 said Jonas. 
 
 " So we can," said both of the boys ; and 
 they immediately went to work collecting 
 branches and weaving them in, leaving a 
 space for a window both sides. Their quar 
 relsome feelings were all gone, and they 
 talked very pleasantly at their work until 
 it was time for them to go home to dinner. 
 
THEY WENT TO WORK COLLECTING BRANCHES AND WEAVING 
 
 THEM IN. 
 
EEE STEEPLE TRAP. 
 
THE STEEPLE TRAP. 
 
 THE WAY TO CATCH A SQUIRREL. 
 
 THE afternoon of the day when Rollo and 
 his cousin James made their wigwam in the 
 woods by the brook, they were at work 
 there again, employed very harmoniously 
 together, in finishing their edifice, when 
 suddenly Jonas, who was at work in the 
 woods at a little distance, heard them both 
 calling to him, in tones of surprise and pleas 
 ure, 
 
 "O, Jonas, Jonas, come here quick 
 quick ! " 
 
 Jonas dropped his axe and ran. 
 
 When he got near them, they pointed to 
 a log. 
 
 " See there ; see ; see there ! " 
 
 " What is it ? " said Jonas. " O, I see 
 it," said he. 
 
 It was a little squirrel clambering up a 
 
36 THE STEEPLE TRAP. 
 
 raspberry-bush, eating the raspberries as he 
 went along. He would climb up by the lit 
 tle branches, and pull in the raspberries in 
 succession, until he got to the topmost one, 
 when the bush would bend over with his 
 weight until it almost touched the log. 
 
 " Let us catch him," said Hollo, very 
 eagerly ; " do let us catch him ; I will go 
 and get our steeple trap." 
 
 Jonas did not seem to be so very much 
 delighted as the boys were. He said ho 
 was certainly a cunning little fellow, but 
 " what should we do with him if we should 
 catch him?" 
 
 " O," said Rollo, " we would put him in a 
 little cage. It would be so complete to 
 have him in a cage ! Do, Jonas, do." 
 
 " But you have not got any cage." 
 
 " We can get one," said James. " We can 
 buy one with our half dollars." 
 
 "Well," said Jonas, "it will do no good 
 to set the trap now, for he will be away be 
 fore we could get back. But I will come 
 down to-night, and set the trap, and perhaps 
 we shall catch him, though I do not exactly 
 like to do it," 
 
 "Why?" said the boys. 
 
THE STEEPLE TEAP. 37 
 
 " O," replied Jonas, " he will not like to 
 be shut up all night, in a dark box, and 
 then be imprisoned in a cage. He had rather 
 run about here, and gather raspberries. 
 Besides, you would soon get tired of him if 
 you had him in a cage." 
 
 " O no," said Hollo, " I should not get 
 tired of him." 
 
 " Did you ever have any plaything that 
 you were not tired of before long ? " 
 
 "Why, no," said Rollo, "but then, a 
 real live squirrel is a different thing. Be 
 sides, you know, if I get tired of him, I need 
 not play with him then." 
 
 " No, but a real live thing must be fed 
 <svery day, and that you would find a great 
 trouble. And then you would sometimes 
 jforget it, and the poor fellow would be half 
 starved." 
 
 " O no," said Rollo ; "I am sure I should 
 not forget it." 
 
 Did you remember your reading-lesson 
 this morning ? " 
 
 " Why, no," said Rollo, looking a little 
 confused. " But I am sure I should not for 
 get to feed a squirrel if I had one." 
 
 " You don t know as much as I thought 
 you did," replied Jonas. 
 
38 THE STEEPLE TRAP. 
 
 "Why?" 
 
 " I thought you knew more about yourself 
 than to suppose you could be trusted to do 
 any thing regularly every day. Why, you 
 would not remember to wash your own face 
 every morning, if your mother did not re 
 mind you. The squirrel is almost as fit to 
 take care of you in your wigwam, as you are 
 to take care of him in a cage." 
 
 Rollo felt a little ashamed of his boasting, 
 for he knew that what Jonas said was true. 
 Jonas said finally, 
 
 " However, we will try to catch him ; but 
 I cannot promise that I shall let you keep 
 him in a cage. It will be bad enough for 
 him to be shut up all night in the box trap, 
 but I can pay him for that the next day in 
 corn." 
 
 So Jonas brought down the box trap that 
 night. It was a long box, about as big as a 
 cricket, with a tall, pointed back, which 
 looked like a steeple ; so Rollo called it the 
 steeple trap. It was so made that if the 
 squirrel should go in, and begin to nibble 
 some corn, which they were going to put in 
 there, it would make the cover come down 
 and shut him iu. They fixed the trap on the 
 
THE STEEPLE TRAP. 39 
 
 end of the log, and Jonas observed, as he sat 
 on the log, that he could see the barn 
 chamber window through a little opening 
 among the trees. Of course he knew that 
 from the barn chamber window he could see 
 the trap, though it would be too far off to see 
 it plain. 
 
 THE WAY TO LOSE A SQUIRREL. 
 
 Early the next morning, James came over 
 to learn whether they had caught the 
 squirrel ; and he and Rollo wanted Jonas to 
 go down with them and see. Jonas said he 
 could not go down then very well, but if he 
 would go and ask his father to lend him his 
 spy-glass he could tell without going down. 
 
 Now Jonas had been a very faithful and 
 obedient boy, ever since he came to live with 
 Rollo s father. He had some great faults 
 when he first came, but he had cured him 
 self of them, and he was now an excellent 
 and trustworthy boy. It was a part of his 
 business to take care of Rollo, and they 
 always let him have what he asked for from 
 
40 THE STEEPLE TRAP. 
 
 the house, as they knew it was for some 
 good purpose, and that it would be well 
 taken care of. So when Rollo went in and 
 asked for the spy -glass, and said that Jonas 
 wanted it, they handed it down to him at 
 once. 
 
 Jonas took the glass, and they all three 
 went up into the barn chamber. 
 
 Jonas opened the glass, and held it up to 
 his eye. The boys stood by, looking on 
 silently. At length, Jonas said, 
 
 " No, we have not caught him." 
 
 " How do you know? " said the boys. 
 
 " O, I can see the trap, and it is not 
 sprung." 
 
 "Is riot sprung?" said James, "what do 
 you mean by sprung ? " 
 
 " Shut. It is not shut. I can see it open, 
 and of course the squirrel is not there." 
 
 " O, he may be in," said Rollo, " just nib 
 bling the corn. Do let us go and see." 
 
 Jonas smiled, and said he could not go 
 then, but he would look through the spy 
 glass again towards noon. He then gave 
 the glass to Rollo, and it was carried back 
 safely into the house. 
 
THE STEEPLE TKAP. 41 
 
 " James soon after went home, and Rollo 
 sat down in the parlor to his reading. After 
 wards he came out, and went to building 
 cities in a sandy corner of the garden. He 
 was making Rome, for his father had told 
 him that Rome was built on seven hills, and 
 he liked to make the seven hills in the sand. 
 He made a long channel for an aqueduct, 
 and went into the house to get a dipper of 
 water to fill his aqueduct, when he met 
 James coming again. So they went in, and 
 got the spy-glass, and asked Jonas to go up 
 and look again. 
 
 Jonas adjusted the glass, held it up to his 
 eye, and looked some time in silence, and 
 then said, 
 
 " Yes, it is sprung, I believe. Yes, it is 
 certainly sprung." 
 
 "O, then we have caught him," said the 
 boys, capering about. " Let us go and see." 
 
 " Perhaps we have caught him," said Jo 
 nas, " but it is not certain ; sometimes the 
 trap gets sprung accidentally. However, 
 you may go and ask your father if he thinks 
 it worth while for me to leave my work 
 long enough to go down and see." 
 
42 
 
 THE STEEPLE TRAP. 
 
 Rollo came back with the permission 
 granted, and they all set off; Rollo and 
 James running on eagerly before. 
 
 When they came to the trap, they found 
 it shut. Jonas took it up, and tipped it one 
 way and the other, and listened. He heard 
 something moving in it, but did not know 
 whether it was any thing more than the corn 
 cob. Then he said he would open the trap 
 a very little, and let Rollo peep in. 
 
THE STEEPLE TRAP. 43 
 
 He did so. Rollo said it looked all dark ; 
 he could not see any thing. Then Jonas 
 opened it a little farther, and Rollo saw two 
 little shining eyes, and presently a nose 
 smelling along at the crack. 
 
 " Yes, here he is, here he is," said Rollo ; 
 " look at him, James, look at him ; see, 
 see." 
 
 They all peeped at him, and then Jonas 
 took the box under his arm, and they re 
 turned home. 
 
 Jonas told the boys he was not willing to 
 keep the squirrel a prisoner very long, but 
 he would try to contrive some way by 
 which they might look at him. Now, there 
 was in the garret, a small fire-fender, which 
 had been laid aside as old and useless. Jo 
 nas recollected this, and thought he could 
 fix up a temporary cage with it. So he took 
 a small box, about as large as a raisin-box, 
 which he found in the barn, and laid it down 
 on its side, so as to turn^the open side to 
 wards the trap, and then moved the trap 
 close up to it. He then covered up all the 
 rest of the open part of the box with 
 shingles, and asked James and Rollo to hold 
 
44 THE STEEPLE TRAP. 
 
 them on. Then lie carefully lifted up the 
 cover of the trap, and made a rattling 
 in the back part of it with the spindle. 
 This drove the squirrel through out of the 
 trap into the box. 
 
 When Jonas was sure that he was in, he 
 took the old fender and slid it down very 
 cautiously between the trap and the box, so 
 as to cover the open part entirely, and make 
 a sort of grated front, like a cage. Then he 
 took the trap away, and there the little nut 
 cracker was, safely imprisoned, but yet 
 fairly exposed to view. 
 
 That is, they thought he was safely im 
 prisoned; but he, little rogue, had no idea 
 of submitting without giving his bolts and 
 bars a try. At first, he crept along, with his 
 tail curled over his back, in a corner, and 
 looked at the strange faces which sur 
 rounded him. "Let us give him a little 
 corn," said Kollo ; "perhaps he is hungry;" 
 and he was just slipping some kernels in be 
 tween the wires of -the fender, when Bunny 
 sprang forward, and, with a jump and a 
 squeeze, forced his slender body between two 
 of the wires that were bent a little apart^ 
 
THE STEEPLE TRAP. 45 
 
 leaped down upon the barn floor, ran along 
 to the corner, np the post, and then crept 
 leisurely along on a beam. Presently, he 
 stopped, and looked down, as if consider 
 ing what to do next. 
 
 The moment he escaped, the boys ex 
 claimed, " O, catch him, catch him," and 
 were going to run after him ; but Jonas said 
 that it would do no good, for they could not 
 catch him again now, and had better stand 
 still and see what he would do. 
 
 He soon began to run along on the beam ; 
 thence he ascended to the scaffold, and made 
 his way towards an open window. He 
 jumped up to the window sill and then dis 
 appeared. The boys all ran around, outside, 
 and were just in time to catch a glimpse of 
 him, running along on the top of the fence, 
 down towards the woods again. 
 
 " Do let us run after him and catch him," 
 said Hollo. 
 
 " Catch him ! " said Jonas, with a laugh, 
 "you might as well catch the wind. No, 
 the only way is to set our trap for him again. 
 I meant to let him go, myself, but he is not 
 going to slip through our fingers in that way, 
 
46 THE STEEPLE TBAP. 
 
 I tell him." So Jonas went down that night 
 and set the trap again. 
 
 For several days after this, the trap re 
 mained unsprung, and the boys began to 
 think that they should never see him again. 
 At last, however, one day, when Rollo was 
 playing in the yard, he saw Jonas coming up 
 out of the woods with the trap under his 
 arm. Rollo ran to meet him, and was de 
 lighted to find that the squirrel was caught 
 again. 
 
 HOW TO KEEP A SQUIRREL. 
 
 Jonas contrived to tighten the wires of 
 the fender, by weaving in other wires so as 
 to secure the little prisoner this time ; and 
 when he was fairly in his temporary cage, 
 the boys were so pleased with his graceful 
 form and beautiful colors, especially the 
 elegant stripes on his back, that they begged 
 hard to keep him, and they made many 
 earnest promises never to forget to feed him. 
 Jonas said, at last, 
 
THE STEEPLE TRAP. 47 
 
 "On the whole, I believe I will let you 
 keep him, but you must do it in my way." 
 
 " What is your way ? " 
 
 " Why, after a day or two, we must carry 
 him back to his raspberry-bush, and let him 
 go. But you may give him a name, and call 
 him yours, and you can carry some corn 
 doAvri there now and then, to feed him with, 
 and then you will see him, occasionally, 
 playing about there." 
 
 James and Rollo did not exactly like this 
 plan at first, but when they considered how 
 much better the little squirrel himself would 
 like it, they adopted it, and Rollo proposed 
 that they should tie a string around his neck 
 for a collar, so that they might know him 
 again. 
 
 " I can get mother to let me have a little 
 pink riband," said he, " and that will be 
 beautiful." 
 
 "It would be a good plan," said Jonas, 
 " to mark him in some way, but he might 
 gnaw off the riband." 
 
 " O no," said James, " he could not gnaw 
 any thing on his own neck." Rollo thought 
 so too, and they both tried to bite their own 
 
48 THE STEEPLE TRAV. 
 
 collar ribands, by way of showing Jonas now 
 impossible it was. 
 
 "I don t know exactly what the limits 
 are of a squirrel s gnawing," said Jonas. 
 "Perhaps he might t3ar it off with his 
 claws." 
 
 "Or he might get another squirrel to 
 gnaw it off for him," said James. 
 
 - i v es," said Jonas, " and there is another 
 difficulty. He might be jumping from one 
 tree to another, and catch his collar in some 
 little branch, and so get hung, without 
 judge or jury." 
 
 " What can we do, then ? " said Hollo. 
 
 " I think," said Jonas, " that the best plan 
 would be to dye the end of his tail black. 
 That would not hurt him any ; and yet, as 
 he always holds his tail up, w T e should see it, 
 and know him." 
 
 The boys both thought this would be ex 
 cellent, and Jonas said he had some black 
 dye, which he had made for dyeing some 
 wood. Jonas was a very ingenious boy, and 
 used to make little boxes, and frames, and 
 windmills, with his penknife, in the long 
 winter evenings, and he had made this dye 
 out of vinegar and old nails, to dye some of 
 his wood with. 
 
THE STEEPLE TRAP. 49 
 
 " I am not certain," said Jonas, " that my 
 dye will color hair ; I never tried it except 
 on wood. Do you think that black would 
 be a pretty color ? " 
 
 " No," said Rollo, " black would not be a 
 very pretty color, but it would do. Yellow, 
 and red, and green, are pretty colors, but 
 black, and brown, and white, are not pretty 
 at all." 
 
 " I have not got any yellow, or red, or 
 green," said Jonas. " I don t know but that 
 I have got a little blue." 
 
 " O, blue would be beautiful," said James. 
 
 Then Jonas walked along into the barn, 
 and Rollo and James followed him. He 
 went up stairs and walked along to the far- 
 thest corner, and there, upon a beam, were 
 several small bottles all in a row. Jonas took 
 down one, and shook it, and said that was 
 the blue. 
 
 He brought it down to the cage ; Rollo 
 went into the house, and brought out an old 
 bowl, and Jonas prepared to pour out the 
 dye into it. They then concluded that they 
 would carry the whole apparatus down into 
 the edge of the woods, and perform the op 
 eration there ; and then the squirrel, when 
 5 
 
50 THE STEEPLE TRAP. 
 
 he was liberated, would easily find his way 
 back to his home. Jonas carried down a 
 pair of thick, old gloves, to keep the squirrel 
 from biting him. 
 
 As they walked along, Rollo proposed 
 that Jonas should dip the squirrel s ears in 
 as well as his tail ; " because," said he, " we 
 may sometimes see him when he is half hid 
 in the bushes, so that only his head is in 
 sight." 
 
 " Besides," said James, " it will make him 
 look more beautiful if his ears and tail are 
 both blue." 
 
 Jonas did not object to this, and after a 
 short time, they reached the edge of the 
 woods. They found a little opening, where 
 the ground was smooth and the grass green, 
 which seemed exactly the place for them. 
 So they put down the cage and the bowl of 
 dye, and Jonas began to put on his glove. 
 
 "Now, boys," said he, "you must be still 
 as moonlight while I do it. If you speak to 
 me, you will put me out ; and besides, you 
 will frighten little Bunny." 
 
 The boys promised not to speak a single 
 word ; and Jonas, after unfastening the fen 
 der from the front of the box, moved it along 
 
THE STEEPLE TRAP. 51 
 
 until there was an opening large enough for 
 him to get his hand in. Rollo and James 
 stood by silently, and somewhat anxiously, 
 waiting the result. 
 
 When the squirrel saw Jonas s hand in 
 truding itself into the box, he retreated to 
 the farther corner, and curled himself up 
 there, with his tail close down upon his 
 back. Jonas followed him with his hand, 
 saying, in a soothing tone, 
 
 " Bunny, Bunny, poor little Bunny." 
 
 He reached him, at length, and put his 
 hand very gently over him, and slowly and 
 cautiously drew him out. 
 
 Rollo and James gave a sort of hysteric 
 laugh, and instantly clapped their hands to 
 their mouths, to suppress it; but they 
 looked at one another, and at Jonas, with 
 great delight. 
 
 Jonas gradually brought the squirrel over 
 the bowl, and prepared to dip his ears into 
 the dye. It was a strange situation for a 
 squirrel to be in, and he did not like it at 
 all; and just at the instant when his ears 
 were going into the dye, he twisted his head 
 around, and planted his little fore teeth 
 directly upon Jonas s thumb. As might 
 
52 THE STEEPLE TKAP. 
 
 have been supposed, teeth which were sharp 
 and powerful enough to go through a wal 
 nut shell, would not be likely to be stopped 
 by a leathern glove ; and Jonas, startled by 
 the sudden cut, gave a twitch with his hand, 
 
 and, at the same instant, let go of the squir 
 rel. Bunny grasped the edge of the bowl 
 with his paws, and leaped out, bringing the 
 bowl itself at the . same instant over upon 
 him, spattering him all over from head to 
 tail with the blue dye. 
 
THE STEEPLE TRAP. 58 
 
 The boys looked aghast for a minute ; 
 but when they saw him racing off as fast 
 as possible, and running up a neighboring 
 tree, Jonas burst into a laugh, which the 
 other boys joined, and they continued it 
 loud and long, till the woods rang again. 
 
 " Well, we have spotted him, at any rate," 
 said Jonas. " We will call him Leopard." 
 
 The boys then looked at Jonas s bite, and 
 found that it was not a very serious one. 
 In fact, Jonas w r as a little ashamed at hav 
 ing let go for so small a wound. However, 
 it was then too late to regret it, and the 
 boys returned slowly home. 
 
 As they were walking home, ( James said 
 that the squirrel s back looked wet, where 
 the dye went upon him, but he did not 
 ^.hink it looked very blue. 
 
 " No," said Jonas, " it does not generally 
 look blue at first, but it grows blue after 
 wards. It will be a bright color enough 
 before you see him again, I will warrant." 
 
 So they walked along home ; the fender 
 was put back in its place in the garret, the 
 bowl in the house, and the box in the barn. 
 Jonas soon forgot that he had been bitten, 
 
54 THE STEEPLE TRAP, 
 
 and the squirrel, as soon as his back was 
 dry, thought no more of the whole affair, but 
 turned his attention entirely to the busi 
 ness of digging a hole to store his nuts in 
 for the ensuing winter. 
 
 FIRES IN THE WOODS. 
 
 All the large trees that Jonas had felled 
 beyond the brook, he cut up into lengths, 
 and hauled them up into the yard, and made 
 a great high wood-pile of them, higher than 
 his head ; but all the branches, and the 
 small bushes, with all the green leaves upon 
 them, lay about the ground in confusion. 
 Hollo asked him what he was going to do 
 with them. He said, after they were dry, 
 he should burn them up, and that they 
 would make a splendid bonfire. 
 
 They lay there drying a good many weeks. 
 The leaves turned yellow and brown, and 
 the little twigs and sticks became gradually 
 dry and brittle. Rollo used to walk down 
 there often, to see how the drying went on, 
 and sometimes he would bring up a few of 
 
THE STEEPLE TRAP. 55 
 
 the bushes, and put them on the kitchen 
 fire, to see whether they were dry enough to 
 burn. 
 
 At last, late in the autumn, one cool after 
 noon, Jonas asked Rollo to go down with 
 him and help him pile up the bushes in 
 heaps, for he was going to burn them that 
 evening. Rollo wanted very much that his 
 cousins James and Lucy should see the fires ; 
 and so he asked his mother to let him go and 
 ask them to come and take tea there that 
 night, and go out with them in the evening 
 to the burning. She consented, and Rollo 
 went. Lucy promised to come just before 
 tea-time, and James came then, with Rollo, 
 to help him pile the bushes up. 
 
 Jonas said that the boys might make one 
 little pile of their own if they wished ; and 
 told them that they must first make a pile 
 of solid sticks and dry rotten logs as large 
 as they could lift or roll, so as to have a 
 good solid fire underneath, and then cover 
 these up with brush as high as they could 
 pile it, so as to make a great blaze, He told 
 them also that they must make their pile 
 where it would not burn any of the trees 
 which he had left standing, for he had left 
 
50 THE STEEPLE TKAP. 
 
 a great many of the large oaks, and beeches, 
 and pines, to ornament tlie ground and 
 make a shade. 
 
 Rollo and James decided to make cheir 
 pile near the brook, between the bridge 
 which Jonas made of a tree, and the old 
 wigwam which they had made some time be 
 fore of boughs. They got together a great 
 heap of solid wood, as large pieces as they 
 could lift, and at one end they put in a 
 great deal of birch bark, Avhich they stripped 
 off, in great sheets, from an old, decayed 
 birch tree, Avhich had been lying on the 
 ground near for half a century. When this 
 was done, they began to pile on the bushes 
 and brush, taking care to leave the end 
 where the birch bark was, open. After they 
 had piled it up as high as they could reach, 
 Rollo clambered up to the top of it, and 
 James reached the long bushes up to him, 
 and he arranged them regularly, with the 
 tops out. So they worked all the afternoon, 
 and by the time they had got their pile done } 
 they found that Jonas had thrown almost 
 all the rest of the bushes into heaps : and 
 then they went home to tea. 
 
 They found Lucy there, and they were 
 
THE STEEPLE TRAP. 57 
 
 all so eager to go to the bonfires, that they 
 did not eat much supper. Their father 
 told them that, as they had so little appe 
 tite, they had better carry down some 
 potatoes and apples, and roast them oy the 
 fires. They thought this an excellent plan, 
 and ran into the store-room to get them. 
 Their mother gave them a basket to put the 
 potatoes and apples into, and a little salt 
 folded up in a paper. They" were then so 
 impatient to go that their parents said they 
 might set off with Jonas, and they them 
 selves would come along very soon. 
 
 So Jonas and the three children walked on. 
 Rollo carried the basket, and James a laii- 
 tern ; and Jonas, as he went along, made, 
 with his penknife, some flat, wooden spoons, 
 to eat their potatoes with. They came to 
 the bridge, and all got safely over, though 
 Lucy was a little afraid at first. 
 
 They played around there a few minutes, 
 as the twilight was coming on; and, soon 
 after, they saw Rollo s father and mother 
 coming down through the trees, on the. 
 ether side of the brook. They stopped on 
 that side, as Rollo s mother did not like to 
 
58 THE STEEPLE TRAP. 
 
 come across the bridge. Pretty soon they 
 called out to Jonas to light the fires. 
 
 Jonas then took a large piece of birch 
 bark, and touched the corner of it to the 
 lamp in the lantern, and when it was well 
 on fire, he laid it carefully on the ground. 
 The bark began to blaze up very bright, 
 sending out volumes of thick smoke and 
 dense flame, writhing, and curling, and 
 snapping, as it lay on the ground. The 
 light shone brightly on the grass and sticks 
 around. 
 
 "There," said Jonas, "that will burn 
 some time ; now you may light your torches 
 from that." 
 
 "Torches?" said Hollo, "we have not 
 got any torches." 
 
 " Have not you made any torches ? O, 
 well, I will make you some in a minute." 
 
 So he took out his knife, and selected 
 three long slender stems of bushes, and 
 trimmed them up, and cut off the tops. 
 Then he made a little split in the top end, 
 and slipped in a piece of birch bark. Then 
 he handed them to the children, one to each, 
 and said, "There are your torches; now 
 
THE STEEPLE TRAP. 59 
 
 you can light your fires without burning 
 your fingers." 
 
 So they took their torches, and held the 
 ends over the flame of the piece of birch 
 bark, which, however, had by this time 
 nearly burned out. Lucy s took fire, but 
 Rollo s and James s did not, at first; and 
 as they pressed their torches down more 
 and more to make them light, they only 
 smothered what little flame was left, and 
 put it out. 
 
 " O dear me ! " said Rollo. 
 
 Lucy had gone a little way towards a 
 pile ; but when she saw what was the mat 
 ter, she came back and said, " Here, light 
 it by mine." So the boys held their torches 
 over hers until they were all three in a 
 bright blaze. They then carried them 
 along, waving them in the air, and lighting 
 pile after pile, until the whole forest seemed 
 to be in a flame. 
 
 The children stood still a few moments, 
 gazing on the fires, and on the extraordi 
 nary effect which the light produced upon 
 the objects around. It was a singular 
 scene. Flashing and crackling flames rose 
 high from the heaps which were on fire, and 
 
GO THE STEEPLE TRAP. 
 
 shed a strong but unsteady light on the 
 trees, the ground, and the banks of the 
 brook, and penetrated deep into the forest 
 on every side. Rollo called upon James and 
 Lucy to look at his father and mother, who 
 were across the brook ; they stood there 
 under the trees, almost invisible before, but 
 UOAV the bright light shone strongly upon 
 their faces and forms, and cast upon them a 
 clear and brilliant illumination, which was 
 strongly contrasted with the dark depths of 
 the forest behind them. 
 
 The children were silent, and stood still 
 for a few minutes, gazing on the scene with 
 feelings of admiration and awe. They ex 
 pected to have capered about and laughed, 
 but they found that they had no disposition 
 to do so. The enjoyment they felt was not 
 of that kind which leads children to caper 
 and laugh. They stood still, and looked 
 silently and soberly on the flashing flames, 
 the luiid light, the bright red reflections on 
 the Avoods, the banks, and the Avater, and 
 on the volumes of glowing smoke and sparks 
 Avhich ascended to the sky. 
 
 Before long, however, the light fuel upon 
 the top of the piles Avas burned up, and there 
 
THE STEEPLE TRAP. 61 
 
 remained great glowing heaps of embers, and 
 logs of wood still flaming. These the boys 
 began to poke about with loner poles that 
 Jonas had cut for them, to make them burn 
 brighter, and to see the sparks go up. Pres 
 ently they heard their father calling them. 
 
 The boys all stopped to listen. 
 
 " We are going home," said he ; " we shall 
 take cold if we stand still here. You may 
 stay, however, with Jonas, only you must 
 not sit down." 
 
 So Rollo s father and mother turned away, 
 and walked along back towards the house, 
 the light shining more and more faintly upon 
 them, until they were lost among the trees. 
 
 " Why do you suppose we must not sit 
 down?" said Lucy. 
 
 " Because," said Jonas, " they are afraid 
 you will take cold. As long as you run 
 about and play around the fires, you keep 
 warm." 
 
 " O, then we will run about and play fast 
 enough," said James. " I know what I am 
 going to do." 
 
 So he took a large flat piece of hemlock 
 bark, which he found upon the ground, and 
 began tearing off strips of birch bark from 
 the old tree, and piling them upon it. 
 
62 THE STEEPLE TRAP. 
 
 " What are you going to do ? " said Lucy 
 
 " O, I am going to play steam-boat on 
 fire," said lie ; and he took up the .piece of 
 bark with the little pile of combustibles 
 upon it, and carried it down to the edge of 
 the brook. Then he went back and got his 
 torch stick, and put a fresh piece of birch 
 bark in the split end, and lighted it, and 
 and then came back to the brook, walking 
 slowly lest his torch should go out. 
 
 Lucy held his torch for him Avhile he 
 gently put his steam-boat on the water ; and 
 then he lighted it with his torch, and pushed 
 it out. It floated down, all blazing as it was, 
 to the great delight of the three children, 
 and astonishment of all the little fishes in 
 the brook, who could not imagine what the 
 blazing wonder could be. 
 
 The children followed it along down the 
 brook, and began to pelt it with stones, and 
 soon got into a high frolic. But as they were 
 very careful not to hit one another with the 
 stones, nor to speak harshly or cross, they 
 enjoyed it very much. When at last the 
 steam-boat was fairly pelted to pieces, and 
 the blackened fragments of birch bark 
 were scattered over the water, and floating 
 
THE STEEPLE TRAP. 63 
 
 away down the stream, they began to think 
 of roasting their com and potatoes, which 
 they did very successfully over the remains 
 of the fires. When they had nearly finished 
 eating, Hollo suddenly exclaimed, 
 
 " O, I will tell you what we will do ; we 
 will^go and set our wigwam on fire ! " 
 
 Rollo pointed to the wigwam. James and 
 Lucy looked, and observed that it had been 
 dried and browned in the sun, and Rollo 
 thought it was no longer good for any thing 
 as a wigwam, but would make a capital bon 
 fire. He proposed that they should all go 
 into it and sit down, and put a torch near 
 the side so as to set it on fire, as if acciden 
 tally. They would go on talking as if they 
 did not see it, and when the flames burst out, 
 they would jump up and run out, crying, 
 Fire ! as people do when their houses get on 
 fire. 
 
 Lucy said she should not like to do that. 
 She should be afraid, she said. The sparks 
 would fall down upon her and burn her. So 
 the boys gave that plan up. Then James 
 proposed that they should make believe that 
 they were savages, going to set fire to a town. 
 The wigwam was to be the town. They 
 
64 THE STEEPLE TKAP. 
 
 would take their torches, and all go and set 
 it on fire in several places. 
 
 " But, then, /could not help," said Lucy r 
 "for women do not go to war." 
 
 " O yes they do, if they are savages," said 
 James. " We play that we are savages, you 
 see." 
 
 So it was all agreed to. They lighted 
 their torches, and marched along, waving 
 them in the air, until they came to the wig 
 wam, and then they danced around it, sing 
 ing and shouting as they set it on fire in 
 many places on all sides. The flames spread 
 rapidly, and flashed up high into the air, 
 and soon there was nothing left of the poor 
 wigwam but a few smoking and blackened 
 sticks lying on the ground. 
 
 The children then crept along over the 
 bridge, and went towards home. There 
 were still great beds of burning embers re 
 maining, and in some places the remains of 
 logs and stumps were blazing brightly. And 
 that night, when Hollo went to bed, he lay 
 looking out the window which was towards 
 the woods, and saw the light still shining 
 among the trees, and the smoke slowly rising 
 from the fires, and floating away through 
 the air. 
 
THE HALO ROUND THE MOON,- 
 
 OK, 
 
 LUCY S VISIT. 
 
67 
 THE HALO ROUND THE MOON; 
 
 OB, 
 
 LUCY S VISIT. 
 
 "A BOUND RAINBOW." 
 
 ABOUT six miles from the house where 
 Rollo lived, there was a mountain called 
 Benalgon, which was famous for bears and 
 blueberries. There were no bears on it, but 
 there were plenty of blueberries. The rea 
 son why it was so famous for bears, when in 
 fact there were none there, was because 
 the boys and girls that went there for blue 
 berries every year, used to see black logs 
 and stumps among the trees and bushes of 
 the mountain, and they would run away 
 very hastily, and insist upon it, when they 
 got down the mountain, that they had seen 
 a bear. 
 
 Now, Hollo s father and mother, together 
 
68 THE HALO EOUND THE MOON; 
 
 with his Uncle George, formed a plan for go. 
 ing up this mountain after blueberries, and 
 they were going to take Rollo and his cousin 
 Lucy with them. Uncle George and cousin 
 Lucy were to come in a chaise to Rollo s 
 house immediately after breakfast, and Rollo 
 was to ride with them, and his father and 
 mother were to go in another chaise. 
 
 Rollo got his little basket to pick his blue 
 berries in, all ready the night before, and he 
 got a string to tie around his neck, intend 
 ing to hang his basket upon it, so that he 
 could have both his hands at liberty, and 
 pick faster. He also thought he would take 
 all the heavy things out of his pocket, so 
 that he could run the faster, in case he 
 should see any bears. He put them all on 
 a window in the shed. The things were a 
 knife, a piece of chalk, two white pebble 
 stones, and a plummet. When he got them 
 all out, he asked Jonas, who was splitting 
 wood in the shed, if he would not take care 
 of them for him, till he came back. 
 
 " Why, yes," said Jonas, " I will take care 
 of them if you wish ; but what are you go 
 ing to leave them for ? " 
 
OR, LUCY S VISIT. 60 
 
 " O, so that I can run faster," said Rollo. 
 
 u Run faster?" I do not think you will 
 run much, up old Benalgon, unless he holds 
 his back down lower than when I went up." 
 
 Rollo did not mean that he was going to 
 run up the mountain, but he did riot ex 
 plain what he did mean, for he thought that 
 Jonas would laugh at him, if he told him he 
 was afraid of the bears. So he said, 
 
 "Jonas, don t you wish you were going 
 with us?" 
 
 " I should like it well enough, but I must 
 stay at home and mind my work." 
 
 " I wish you could go. I will go and ask 
 my father if he will not let you." 
 
 Rollo ran into the house with great haste 
 and eagerness, leaving all the doors open, 
 and calling out, "Father, father," as soon as 
 he had begun to open the parlor door. 
 
 " Father, father," said he, running up to 
 him, " I wish you would let Jonas go with 
 us to-morrow." 
 
 Now Rollo s father had come home but a 
 short time before, and was just seated quiet 
 ly in his arm-chair, reading a neAVSpaper, 
 and Rollo came up to him, pulling down the 
 
70 THE HALO ROUND THE- MOON; 
 
 paper with his hands, and looking up into 
 his father s face, so as to stop his reading at 
 once. Heedless boys very often come to ask 
 favors in this way. 
 
 His father gently moved him back and 
 said, 
 
 " No, my son, it is not convenient for Jo 
 nas to go to-morrow. Besides, I am busy 
 now, and cannot talk with you ; you must 
 go away." 
 
 Rollo turned away disappointed, and went 
 slowly back through the kitchen. His moth 
 er, who was there, and who heard all that 
 passed, as the doors were open, said to him, 
 as he walked by her, " What a foolish way 
 that was to ask him, Rollo ! You might have 
 known it- would have done no good." 
 
 Rollo did not answer, but he went and 
 sat down on the step of the door, and was 
 just beginning to think what the foolishness 
 was in his way of asking his father, when a 
 little bird came hopping along in the yard. 
 He ran in to ask his mother to give him 
 some milk to feed the bird with. She 
 smiled, and told him milk was good for kit 
 tens, but not for birds ; and she gave him 
 
OR, LUCY S VISIT. 73 
 
 some crumbs of bread. Rollo threw the 
 crumbs out, but they only frightened the 
 little thing away. 
 
 That night, when Rollo went to bed, his 
 father said, that when lie was all ready, he 
 would come up and see him. When he 
 came into his chamber, Rollo called out to 
 him, 
 
 " O, father, look out the window, and 
 see what a beautiful ring there is round 
 the moon." 
 
 " So there is," said his father ; " I am 
 rather sorry to see that." 
 
 " Sorry, father ! why ? It is beautiful, 
 I think." 
 
 " It does look pretty, but it is a sign of 
 rain to-morrow." 
 
 " Of rain ? O no, father ; it is a kind 
 of a rainbow. It is a round rainbow. 1 
 am sure it will be pleasant to-morrow." 
 
 " Very well," said his father, " we shall 
 see in the morning." Then he sat down 
 on Hollo s bed-side some time, talking with 
 him on various subjects, and then heard 
 him say his prayers. At length he took 
 the light, and bade Rollo good night. 
 
72 THE HALO BOUND THE MOON; 
 
 Rollo s eye caught another view of th*? 
 moon as his father was going, and he said, 
 
 "O, father, just look at the moon once 
 more ; that is a rainbow ; I see the colors. 
 I expect it will grow into a large one, such 
 as you told me was a sign of fair weather. 
 I will watch it." 
 
 "Yes," said his father, "you can watch 
 it as you go to sleep." 
 
 So Hollo laid his face upon his pillow in 
 such a way that he could see the moon 
 through the window; and he began to 
 watch the bright circle around it, but be 
 fore it grew any bigger, he was fast asleep. 
 
 WHO KNOWS BEST, A LITTLE BOY OR HIS 
 FATHER ? 
 
 The next morning, Rollo awoke early, 
 and he was very much pleased to see, as 
 soon as he opened his eyes, that the sun 
 was shining in at the windows. He was 
 not only pleased to find that the prospect 
 was so good for a pleasant ride, but his 
 vanity was gratified at the thought that it 
 
on, LUCY S VISIT. 73 
 
 had turned out that he knew better about 
 the weather than his father. He began to 
 dress himself, as far as he could without 
 help, and was preparing to hasten down to 
 his father, to tell him that it was going to 
 be a pleasant day. When he was nearly 
 dressed, he was surprised to observe that 
 the bright sunlight on the wall was gradu 
 ally fading away, and at length it wholly dis 
 appeared. He went to look out the window 
 to see what was the cause. He found that 
 there was a broad expanse of dark cloud 
 covering the eastern sky, excepting a nar 
 row strip quite low down, near the horizon. 
 When the sun first rose, it shone brightly 
 through this narrow zone of clear sky ; but 
 now it had ascended a little higher, and 
 gone behind the cloud. 
 
 " Never mind," said Rollo to himself. 
 "The cloud is not so very large after all, 
 and the sun will come out again above it 
 when it gets up a little higher." 
 
 Rollo came down to breakfast, and he 
 went out into the yard every two or three 
 minutes, to look at the sky. The cloud 
 seemed to extend, so that the sun did not 
 come out of it, as he expected, but still he 
 
74 THE HALO ROUND THE MOOX ; 
 
 thought it was going to be pleasant. Chil 
 dren generally think it is going to be pleas 
 ant, whenever they want to go away, 
 
 His father thought it was probably going 
 to rain, and that at any rate it was very 
 doubtful whether Uncle George would come* 
 However, he said they should soon see, and, 
 true enough, just as they were rising from 
 the breakfast table, a chaise drove up to 
 the door, and out jumped Uncle George 
 and cousin Lucy. 
 
 Lucy was a very pleasant little blue-eyed 
 girl, two or three years older than Hollo. 
 She had a small tin pail in her hand, with a 
 cover upon it. 
 
 " Good morning, Rollo," said she. " Have 
 you got your basket ready ? " 
 
 "Yes," said Rollo; "but I am afraid it 
 is going to rain." 
 
 While the children were saying this, 
 Uncle George said to Rollo s father, 
 
 " I suppose we shall have to give up our 
 expedition to-day. I am in hopes we are 
 going to have some rain." 
 
 " In hopes," thought Rollo ; " that is very 
 strange when we want to go a blueberry- 
 ing." 
 
OR, LUCY S VISIT. 75 
 
 Rollo s father and mother and his uncle 
 looked at the clouds all around. They con 
 cluded that there was every appearance of 
 rain, and that it would be best to postpone 
 their excursion, and then went into the 
 house. Hollo was very confident it would 
 not rain, and \vas very eager to have them 
 go. He asked Lucy if she did not think 
 it was going to be pleasant, but Lucy 
 was more modest and reasonable than he 
 was, and said that she did not know; she 
 could not judge of the weather so well as 
 her father. 
 
 Hollo began by this time to be consid 
 erably out of humor. He said he knew it 
 was not going to rain, and he did not see 
 why they might not go. He did not believe 
 it would rain a drop all day. 
 
 Lucy just then pointed down to a little 
 dark spot on the stone step of the door, 
 where a drop had just fallen, and asked 
 Rollo what he called that. 
 
 " And that, and that, and that," said 
 she, pointing to several other drops. 
 
 Rollo at first insisted that that was not 
 rain, but some little spots on the stone. 
 
 Then Lucy reached out her hand and 
 said, 
 
76 THE HALO ROUND THE MOON; 
 
 " Hold out your hand so, Rollo, and you 
 will feel the drops coming down out of the 
 sky." 
 
 Hollo held out his hand a moment, but 
 then immediately withdrew it, saying, im 
 patiently, that he did not care ; it was not 
 rain ; at any rate it was only a little sprink 
 ling. 
 
 Lucy observed that Rollo was getting 
 very much out of humor, and she tried to 
 please him by saying, 
 
 "Rollo, I would not mind. If it does 
 rain, I will ask my father to let me stay and 
 play with you to-day, and we can have a 
 fine time up in your little room." 
 
 " No, we cannot," said Rollo ; " and be 
 sides, they will not let you stay, I know. 
 I went yesterday to ask my father to let 
 Jonas go with us to-day, and he would 
 not." 
 
 It was certainly very unreasonable for 
 Rollo to imagine that his father and uncle 
 would be unwilling to have Lucy stay just 
 because it had not been convenient to let 
 Jonas go with them. But when children 
 are out of humor, they are always very 
 unreasonable. 
 
OR, LUCY S VISIT. 77 
 
 "Why would not he let Jonas go?" 
 asked Lucy. 
 
 " I do not know. Mother said it was be 
 cause I did not ask him right." 
 
 "How did you ask him?" 
 
 " O, I interrupted him. He was reading." 
 
 " O, that is not the way. I never inter 
 rupt my father if I want to ask him any 
 thing." 
 
 " Suppose he is busy, and you want to 
 know that very minute ; what do you do ? " 
 
 " I Avill show you. Come with me and I 
 will ask him to let me stay with you to-day." 
 
 So Lucy and Rollo walked in. When 
 they came to the parlor door, they saw that 
 their parents were sitting on the sofa talk 
 ing about other things. 
 
 Rollo stopped at the door, but Lucy went 
 in gently. She walked up to her father s 
 side, and stood there still. 
 
 Her father took no notice of her at first, 
 but went on talking with Rollo s father. 
 Lucy stood very patiently until, after a few 
 minutes, her father stopped talking, and said, 
 
 " Lucy, my dear, do you want to speak to 
 me?" 
 
 " Yes, sir," said Lucy, " I wanted to ask 
 
78 THE HALO BOUND THE MOON : 
 
 you if you were willing to let me stay here 
 to-day and play with Rollo, if you do not go 
 to the mountain." 
 
 " I do not know," said her father, hesi 
 tating, and patting Lucy on the head 
 " that is a new idea ; however, I believe I 
 have no objection." 
 
 Lucy ran back joyfully to Rollo, and after 
 a short time, her father went home. Rollo, 
 however, did not feel in any better humor, 
 and all Lucy s endeavors to engage him 
 in some amusement, failed. She proposed 
 building with bricks, or going up into his 
 little room, and drawing pictures on their 
 slates, or getting his story-books out and 
 reading stories, and various other things, 
 but Rollo would not be pleased. 
 
 Rollo ought, now, when he found that he 
 must be disappointed about his ride, to have 
 immediately banished it from his mind al 
 together, and turned his thoughts to other 
 pleasures; but like all ill-humored people, 
 he would keep thinking and talking, all the 
 time, about the thing which caused his ill- 
 humor. So he sat in a large back entry, 
 where he and Lucy were, looking out at the 
 door, and saying a great many, ill-natured 
 
on, LUCY S VISIT. 79 
 
 things about the weather, and his father s 
 giving up the ride just for a little sprinkling 
 of rain that would not last half an hour. He 
 said it was a shame, too, for it to rain that 
 day, just because he was going to ride. 
 
 Just then, his father spoke to him from 
 the window, and called him in. 
 
 He and Lucy went in together into the 
 parlor. 
 
 " Hollo," said his father, " did you know 
 you were doing very wrong ? " 
 
 Rollo felt a little guilty, but he said rather 
 faintly, " No, sir, I was not doing any thing." 
 
 " You are committing a great many sins, 
 all at once." 
 
 Rollo was silent. He knew his father 
 meant sins of the heart. 
 
 " Your heart is in a very wicked state. 
 You are under the dominion of some of the 
 worst of feelings ; you are self-conceited, un 
 grateful, undutiful, unjust, selfish, and," lie 
 added in a lower and more solemn tone, 
 " even impious." 
 
 Rollo thought that these were heavy 
 charges to bring upon him ; but his father 
 spoke calmly and kindly, and he knew that 
 
80 THE HALO ROUND THE MOON; 
 
 he could easily show that what he said was 
 true. 
 
 "You are self-conceited vainly imagin 
 ing that you, a little boy of seven years old, 
 can judge better that your father and moth 
 er, and obstinately persisting in your opin 
 ion that it is not going to rain, when the 
 rain has actually commenced, and is falling 
 faster and faster. You are ungrateful, to 
 speak reproachfully of me, and give me pain, 
 by your ill-will, when I have been planning 
 this excursion, in a great degree, for your 
 enjoyment, and only give it up because I 
 am absolutely compelled to do it by a storm ; 
 undutifid, in showing such a repining, un 
 submissive spirit towards your father; 
 unjust, in making Lucy and all of us suffer, 
 because }^ou are unwilling to submit to these 
 circumstances that we cannot control; sel 
 fish, in being unwilling that it should rain 
 and interfere with your ride, when you know 
 that rain is so much wanted in all the fields, 
 all over the country ; and what is worse than 
 all, impious, in openly rebelling against God, 
 and censuring the arrangements of His provi 
 dence, and pretending to think that they are 
 made just to trouble you." 
 
OR, LUCY S VISIT. 81 
 
 When he had said this, he paused to hear 
 what Rollo would say. He thought that if 
 he was convinced of his sin, and really peni 
 tent, he would acknowledge that he was 
 wrong, or at least be silent; but that if, 
 on the other hand, lie were still unsubdued, 
 he would go to making excuses. 
 
 After a moment s pause, Rollo said, "I 
 did not know that there was need of rain in 
 the fields." 
 
 "Did not you?" said his father. "Did 
 not you know that the ground was very dry, 
 and that unless we have rain soon, the crops 
 will suffer very much?" 
 
 " No, sir," said Rollo. 
 
 " It is so," said his father ; " and this rain, 
 which you are so unwilling to have descend, 
 is going down into the ground all over the 
 country, and into the roots of all the plants 
 growing in the fields, carrying in the nourish 
 ment which will swell out all the corn and 
 grain, and apples and pears. In a few days 
 there will be thousands and thousands of 
 dollars worth of fruit and food more than 
 there would have been without this rain ; 
 and yet you are very unwilling to have it 
 
82 THE HALO ROUND THE MOON; 
 
 come, because you want to go and get a 
 few blueberries ! " 
 
 Hollo was confounded, and had not a word 
 to say. 
 
 / Now, Hollo," continued his father, 
 " all the rest of us are disposed to be good 
 humored, and to acquiesce in God s deci 
 sion, and try to have a happy day at 
 home, and we cannot have it spoiled by 
 your wicked repinings. So you must go 
 away by yourself, until you feel willing 
 to submit pleasantly and with good humor. 
 Then you may come back, but be sure not 
 to come back before." 
 
 REPENTANCE. 
 
 Now there was in Rollo s house a small 
 back garret, over a part of the kitchen 
 chamber, which had one small window in it, 
 looking out into the garden. This garret 
 was not used, and Rollo s father had put a 
 little rocking-chair there, and a small table 
 with a Bible on it, and hung some old maps 
 about it, so as to make it as pleasant a little 
 
OB, LUCY S VISIT. 8& 
 
 place as he could, and there he used to send 
 Hollo when he had done any thing very 
 wrong, or when he was sullen and ill-natured, 
 that he might reflect in solitude, and either 
 return a good boy, or else stay where his 
 bad feelings would not trouble or injure 
 others. His father had put in marks, too, 
 at several places in the Bible, where he 
 thought it would be well for him to read at 
 such times ; as he said that reading suitable 
 passages in the Bible would be more likely 
 to bring him to repentance, than any other 
 book. 
 
 Rollo knew that when his father told him 
 to go away by himself, he meant for him to 
 go into this back garret. So he turned 
 round and walked out of the room. As he 
 passed up the back stairs, the kitten came 
 frisking around him, but he had no heart to 
 play with her, and walked on. . He then 
 turned and went up the narrow, steep stairs 
 that led to the garret ; they were rather 
 more like a ladder than like stairs. Rollo 
 ascended them, and then sat down in the 
 little rocking-chair. The rain was beating 
 against the windows, and pattering on the 
 roof which was just over his head. 
 
84 THE HALO ROUND THE MOON. 
 
 / It is sometimes but a little thing which 
 turns the whole current of the thoughts and 
 feelings. In Hollo s case, at this time, it 
 
 was but a drop of water* For after having 
 sat some time in his chair, his heart remain 
 ing pretty nearly the same, a drop of water, 
 which, somehow or other, contrived to get 
 through some crevice in the boards and 
 shingles over his head, fell exactly into the 
 back of his neck. The first feeling it oc- 
 
OR, LUCY S VISIT. 85 
 
 casioued was an additional emotion of im 
 patience and fretfulness. But he next be 
 gan to think how unreasonable and wicked 
 it was to make all that difficulty, just be 
 cause his father was preventing his going 
 out to stay all day in the rain, when a single 
 drop falling upon him vexed and irritated 
 him. 
 
 He also looked out of the window tow 
 ards the garden, and the dry ground, and 
 all the trees and garden vegetables seemed 
 to be drinking in the rain with delight. 
 That made him think of the vast amount of 
 good the rain was doing, and he saw his 
 own selfishness in a striking point of view. 
 In a word, Hollo was now beginning to be 
 really penitent. The tears came into his 
 eyes ; but they were tears of real sorrow for 
 sin, not of vexation and anger. 
 
 He took up his little Bible, to read one of 
 the passages, as his father had advised him. 
 He happened to open at a mark which his 
 father had put in at the parable of the 
 prodigal son. The first verse which his eye 
 fell upon, was the verse, " I will arise and go 
 to my father." Hollo thought that that was 
 
80 THE HALO HOUND THE MOON; 
 
 exactly the thing for him to do to go and 
 confess his fault to his father. 
 
 So he laid down his little Bible, wiped the 
 tears from his eyes, and went down stairs. 
 He met his father in the entry. He went 
 up to him, and took his hand, and said, 
 
 "Father, I am really very sorry I have 
 been so naughty ; I will try to be a good boy 
 now." 
 
 His father stooped down and kissed him. 
 " I am very glad to hear it, Hollo," said he. 
 "Now you may go and find Lucy. I be 
 lieve she is up in your mother s chamber." 
 
 Hollo went off quite happy in pursuit of 
 Lucy. He found her sitting on a cricket 
 in his mother s room, looking over a little 
 picture-book. Hollo ran laughing up to her, 
 and said, 
 
 " What have you got, Lucy ? " 
 
 " One of your little picture-books. Will 
 you lend it to me to carry home ? " 
 
 Hollo said he would, and then they began 
 to talk about what they should do. It 
 rained very fast, and they could not go out 
 of doors ; and, after proposing several things, 
 which, however, neither of them seemed to 
 
OR, LUCY S VISIT. 87 
 
 like, they turned to Hollo s mother, and 
 asked her what they had better do. 
 
 " I always find," said his mother, " that 
 when I am disappointed of any pleasure, 
 it is best not to try to find any other pleas 
 ure in its place, but to turn to duty." 
 
 The children did not understand this 
 very well, and they were silent. 
 
 " What I mean," she continued, " is this : 
 When we have just been disappointed of 
 any pleasure which we had set our hearts 
 upon, it is very difficult to find any thing 
 else that we can have in its place, that will 
 look as pleasant as the one we had lost. 
 You see that you are not satisfied with any 
 thing you propose to one another. Now, I 
 find that the best way, in such cases, is to 
 give up pleasure altogether, and turn to 
 some duty ; and after performing the duty 
 a short time, peace and satisfaction return 
 to the mind again, and we get over the 
 effects of the disappointment in the quick 
 est and pleasantest way." 
 
 Rollo and Lucy looked at one another 
 rather soberly. They did not seem to know 
 what to say. 
 
88 THE HALO ROUND THE MOON; 
 
 "I presume, however, you will not do 
 this," continued his mother. 
 
 "Why?" saidRollo. 
 
 "Because," said his mother, "it requires 
 a good deal of resolution, at first, to turn to- 
 duty when you have just been setting your 
 heart on pleasure." 
 
 - O, we have got resolution enough," said 
 Hollo. 
 
 " What duty do you think we had better 
 do ? " asked Lucy. 
 
 " If I were you," replied Hollo s mother, 
 T should first of all sit down and have a 
 good reading lesson." 
 
 Hollo and Lucy hesitated a little, but 
 they concluded to take their mother s ad 
 vice at last, and went to Hollo s little 
 library, and chose a book, and then went 
 down to the back entry, and sat down 
 there, on a long cricket, and began to 
 read. 
 
 At first, it was rather hard to do it, for it 
 did not look very pleasant to either of them 
 to sit down and read, just at the time 
 when they expected to be gathering blue 
 berries on the mountain. Hollo said, when 
 
OR, LUCY S VISIT. 89 
 
 they were opening the book and finding the 
 place, that, if they had gone, they should, 
 by that time, have just about arrived at the 
 foot of the mountain. 
 
 " Yes," said Lucy, " but we must not 
 think of that now. Besides, just see how 
 it rains. It would be a fine time now to go 
 up a mountain, wouldn t it ? " 
 
 Rollo looked out of the open door, and 
 saw the rain pouring down into the yard, 
 and felt again ashamed to recollect how he 
 had insisted that it was not going to rain. 
 
 Lucy said it was beautiful to see it pour- 
 ing down so fast. "Look," said she ; "how 
 it streams down from the spout at the cor 
 ner of the barn ! " 
 
 "Yes," said Rollo, "and see that little 
 pond out by the garden gate. How it is 
 all full of little bubbles ! It will be a beau 
 tiful pond for me to sail boats in, when the 
 rain is over. I can make paper-boats and 
 pea-boats ! " 
 
 "Pea-boats?" said Lucy; "what are 
 pea-boats? " 
 
 " O ! they are beautiful little boats," said 
 he. " Jonas showed me how to make them, 
 
90 THE HALO BOUND THE MOON; 
 
 We take a pea-pod, a good large full pea- 
 pod, and shave off the top from one end to 
 the other, and then take out the peas, and 
 it makes a beautiful little boat. I Avish we 
 had some ; I could show you." 
 
 " Let us make some when we have done 
 reading, and sail them. Only that pond 
 will all go away when the rain is over." 
 
 "O no," said Hollo, "I will put some 
 ground all around it, and then the water 
 cannot run away." 
 
 " Yes, but it will soak down into the 
 ground." 
 
 "Will it?" said Hollo. "Well, we can 
 sail our boats on it a little while before it 
 is gone." 
 
 " But it is so wet," said Lucy, " we can 
 not go out to get any pea-pods." 
 
 "I did not think of that," said Rollo. 
 " Perhaps Jonas could get some for us, with 
 an umbrella." 
 
 "/ could go with an umbrella," said 
 Lucy, " just as well as not." 
 
 The children saw an umbrella behind 
 the door, and they thought they would go 
 both together, and they actually laid down 
 
on, LUCY S VISIT. 91 
 
 their book, spread the umbrella, and went 
 to the door. It then occurred to them that 
 it would not be quite right to go out, with 
 out leave ; so Rollo went to ask his mother. 
 
 His mother said it Avas not suitable for 
 young ladies to go out in the rain, as their 
 shoes, and their dress generally, were thin, 
 and could not bear to be exposed to wet ; 
 but she said that Rollo himself might take 
 off his shoes and stockings, and go out alone, 
 when the rain held up. 
 
 " But, mother," said he, " why cannot I 
 go out now, with the umbrella? " 
 
 " Because," she replied, " when it rains 
 fast, some of the water spatters through the 
 umbrella, and some will be driven against 
 jon by the wind." 
 
 " Well, I will wait, and as soon as it rains 
 but little, I will go out. But must I take 
 off my shoes and stockings?" 
 
 " Yes," said his mother, " or else you will 
 get them wet and muddy. And before you 
 go, you must get a dipper of water ready in 
 the shed, to pour on your feet, and wash 
 them, when you get back ; and then wait till 
 they are entirely dry, before you put on 
 
92 THE HALO ROUND THE MOON; 
 
 your shoes and stockings again. If you 
 want the pea-pods enough to take all that 
 trouble, you may go for them." 
 
 Rollo said he did want them enough for 
 that, and lie then went back and told Lucy 
 what his mother had said, and they con 
 cluded to read until the rain should cease, 
 and that then Rollo should go out into the 
 garden. 
 
 They began to read ; but their minds were 
 so much upon the pea-pod boats, that the 
 story did not interest them very much. Be 
 sides, children cannot read very well aloud, 
 to one another; for if they succeed in call 
 ing all the words right, they do not generally 
 give the stops and the emphasis, and the 
 proper tones of voice, so as to make the 
 story interesting to those that hear. Some 
 boys and girls are vain enough to think that 
 they can read very well, just because they 
 can call all the words without stopping to 
 spell them ; but this is very far from being 
 enough to make a good reader. 
 
 Rollo read a little way ; and then Lucy read 
 a little way ; but they were not much inter- 
 ested, and thinking that the difficulty might 
 
OR, LUCY S VISIT. 93 
 
 be in the book, they got another, but with 
 no better success. At last Rollo said they 
 would go and get their mother to read to 
 them. So they went together to her room, 
 and Rollo said that they could not get along 
 very well in reading themselves, and asked 
 her if she would not be good enough to read 
 to them. 
 
 " Why, what is the difficulty^? " said she. 
 
 " O, I do not know, exactly : the story is 
 not very interesting, and then we cannot 
 read very well." 
 
 " In what respect will it be better for me 
 to read to you?" she asked. 
 
 " Why, mother, you can choose us a pret 
 tier story ; and then we should understand 
 it better if you read it." 
 
 " I suppose you would ; but I see you have 
 made a great mistake." 
 
 " What mistake ? " said both the children 
 at once. 
 
 Why is it that you are going to read at 
 all ? " 
 
 " Wh}-, you advised us to, mother." 
 
 " Did I advise you to do it as a duty or as 
 a pleasure? " 
 
94 THE HALO ROUND THE MOON; 
 
 " As a duty, mother ; I recollect now, 5 
 said Rollo. 
 
 "Yes, well, now the mistake you have 
 made is, that you are looking upon it only 
 as a pleasure, and instead of doing it faith 
 fully, in such a way as will make it most 
 useful to you, you are forgetting that alto 
 gether, and only intent upon having it in 
 teresting and pleasant. Is it not so ? " 
 
 "Why- yes," said Rollo, hesitating, 
 and looking down ; and then turning round 
 to Lucy, he said, " I suppose we had better 
 go and read the story ourselves." 
 
 " Do just as you please," said his mother ; 
 " I have not commanded you to read, but 
 only recommended it; and that not as a 
 way of interesting you, but as a way of 
 spending an hour usefully as a preparation 
 for an hour of enjoyment afterwards. You 
 can do as you please, however ; but if you 
 attempt to read at. all, I advise you to do it 
 not as play but as a lesson. 
 
 " Well, come, Rollo," s,aid Lucy, " let us 
 go." 
 
 So the children ran back to the entry, 
 and sat down to their story, taking pains to 
 
OR, LUCY S VISIT. 95 
 
 read carefully as if their object was to learn 
 to read ; and though they did not expect it, 
 they did, in fact, have a very pleasant time. 
 The rest of the adventures of Hollo and 
 Lucy, during this day, must be reserved foi 
 another story. 
 
THE FBESHET. 
 
THE FRESHET. 
 
 THE story that Rollo and his cousin Lucy 
 began to read together, in the back entry, 
 looking out towards the garden, that rainy 
 day when they were disappointed of the 
 excursion up the mountain, commenced as 
 follows : 
 
 MARIA AND THE CARAVAN. 
 
 Maria Wilton lives in the pretty white house 
 which stands just at the entrance of the wood, where 
 the children find. the blackberries so thick in the 
 berrying season. It is not as large or elegant a 
 house as many that we pass on a walk through the 
 village ; but yet, with its neatly-painted front, and 
 blooming little garden, its appearance is quite as 
 inviting as that of many a more splendid mansion. 
 Certain it is, at least, that there is not a more pleas 
 ant or happy dwelling in the town. Neatness and 
 good order regulate all the arrangements of the 
 family, and where such is the case, it is almost need- 
 
100 
 
 THE FUESHET. 
 
 less to add that peace and harmony characterize the 
 intercourse of the inmates. It is seldom that confu 
 sion or uproar, or disputes or contentions, are known 
 among the Wiltons. 
 
 But it was of Maria that I was intending to speak 
 more particularly, her kind, and yielding, and con 
 ciliating manners towards her brothers and sisters. 
 Maria was not the oldest of the children. She was 
 not quite nine, and her sister Harriet was as much 
 as eleven, and her brother George still older. And 
 yet, her influence did more to maintain peace and 
 good feeling in the family group, than would have 
 been believed by a person who had not observed her. 
 In every case where only her own wishes or inclina 
 tions were concerned, Maria was ready to give up to 
 George or Harriet ; because, as she said, they were 
 older than herself ; and again, she was quite as ready 
 to yield to little Susan and Willie, because they 
 were younger. Her brothers and sisters, in their 
 turn, were far less apt to contend for any privilege 
 or advantage, than they would have been, if she had 
 shown herself more tenacious of her own rights. 
 
 Mr. Wilton used, occasionally, to go into the city, 
 a few miles distant, upon business. He usually 
 went in a chaise, taking one of the children with 
 him. The excursion was, to them, a very pleasant 
 one ; and all anticipated, with a great deal of pleas 
 ure, their respective turns to ride with their father. 
 It happened that the day when it fell to Maria s 
 turn, was to be the close of an exhibition of animals, 
 which had been for a short time in the city. Maria s 
 eye brightened with pleasure as her father mentioned 
 
THE FRESHET. 101 
 
 this circumstance at the dinner tabl e, and" inquired 
 if she would like to visit the caravan. 
 
 " O, father ! " exclaimed George eagerly, as he laid 
 down his knife and fork ; " a caravan ! Mayn t I 
 go?" 
 
 " You cannot both go," replied his father ; " and I 
 believe it is Maria s turn to go into town with me." 
 
 " Well," said George, " but I don t believe Maria 
 would care anything about seeing it ; " and his eye 
 glanced eagerly from his father to Maria, and then 
 from Maria to his father again. 
 
 "How is it, Maria?" said Mr. Wilton. "Have 
 you no wish to visit the caravan ? " 
 
 Maria did not answer directly, while yet her coun 
 tenance showed very plainly what her wishes really 
 were. " Is there an elephant there, father ? " she, at 
 length, rather hesitatingly inquired. 
 
 " There probably is," replied her father. 
 
 " An elephant ! " repeated George with something 
 of a sneer; "who has not seen an elephant? I 
 would not give a farthing to go, if there was nothing 
 better than an elephant to be seen." 
 
 " What should you care so much to see ? " inquired 
 Mr. Wilton. 
 
 " Why, I would give anything to see a leopard or 
 a camel." 
 
 " A leopard or a camel ! " repeated his father in 
 the same tone in which George had made his rude 
 speech. " I am sure I wouldn t give a farthing to see 
 either a camel or a leopard." 
 
 " No," said George, " because you have seen them 
 both ; but I never did." 
 
102 TKE FRESHET. 
 
 . ; Neither has -Maria seen an elephant," returned 
 Mr. Wilton ; " so what is the difference ? " 
 
 George looked a little mortified at the overthrow 
 of his argument. But still his eagerness for the 
 gratification was not to be repressed. " I shouldn t 
 think a girl need to care about going to see a parcel 
 of wild beasts," he remarked rather petulantly, as he 
 gave his chair a push, upon rising from the table. 
 
 " O, George, George," expostulated his father, " I 
 did not think you were either a selfish or a sullen 
 boy." 
 
 " No, father, and he is not," said Maria, approach 
 ing her father, and taking his hand ; " but he wants 
 to go very much, and I do not care so much about it. 
 So he may go, and I will stay at home." 
 
 " You are a good girl," said her father ; " but I 
 shall not consent to any such injustice. So go and 
 get ready as quick as possible." 
 
 " But, father, I had really a great deal rather that 
 George should go," insisted Maria. 
 
 " But I cannot think that George would really, on 
 the whole, prefer to take your place," said Mr. Wil 
 ton, turning to George. 
 
 " No, sir," replied George, who, restored by this 
 time to a sense of propriety and justice, was stand 
 ing ready to speak for himself. " No, sir, Maria is 
 very kind ; but I do not wish to take her place. I 
 am very sorry indeed that I said anything about it. 
 I certainly shall not consent to take your place, 
 Maria," he said, perceiving that she was ready to 
 entreat still further. 
 
THE FRESHET. 103 
 
 " O ! but I do wish you would," said Maria. But 
 just here her mother interposed. " If Maria would 
 really prefer to give up her place to her brother," 
 said Mrs. Wilton, " I certainly shall like the arrange 
 ment very much, for I am to be particularly engaged 
 this afternoon; and, as Harriet is to be absent, I 
 shall be very glad of some of Maria s assistance in 
 taking care of the baby." 
 
 " O ! well," said Maria, brightening up, " then I 
 am sure I will not go ; so run, George, for father is 
 almost ready to start." 
 
 Thus the matter was amicably settled. George 
 went with his father, and Maria remained at home 
 to help take care of little Willy. 
 
 Maria loved her little brother very much, and she 
 never seemed tired of taking care of him, even when 
 he was ever so fretful or restless. She would leave 
 her play, at any moment, to run and rock the baby, 
 or to hold him in her lap ; for, even if she felt in 
 clined, at any time, to be a little out of patience for 
 a moment, she would recollect how many hours she 
 had herself been nursed, by night and by day, and 
 she was glad of an opportunity to relieve her mother 
 of some of her care and fatigue. Her cousin, Ellen 
 Western, called one afternoon, to ask her to accom 
 pany a party of little girls, who were going to gather 
 berries in the wood near Maria s house. It hap 
 pened that Maria had been left with the care of 
 Willy, just as her cousin called; and it happened, 
 too, that Willy was that afternoon unusually fretful 
 and difficult to please. If Ma^ia left him for a 
 
104 THE FRESHET. 
 
 moment, or if she did not hold him exactly in the 
 posture which suited him, or if she had not precisely 
 the thing ready which he wanted at the moment, he 
 would act just as all babies of nine or ten months 
 sometimes take it into their heads to act. With all 
 her patience and good humor, she hardly knew how 
 to manage him; and especially after having been 
 obliged to reject so agreeable an invitation as the 
 one her cousin brought, she found her task a little 
 irksome. 
 
 She could hardly repress an occasional expression 
 of impatience, as she tried in vain to please the 
 wayward little fellow. But her patience and good 
 humor were very soon restored ; and, as she reflected 
 that she was doing her mother a great deal of good 
 by staying at home with Willy, she felt quite willing 
 to dismiss all thoughts of the berrying expedition. 
 The girls, however, did not forget her. It was pro 
 posed by one of the party, when Ellen had stated 
 the reason why Maria could not join them, that each 
 should contribute some portion of her berries to be 
 carried to her on their way home. All agreed very 
 readily to the plan, and each took pains to select the 
 largest and the ripest of her berries for Maria s 
 basket. The gratification afforded Maria by this 
 little token of kind remembrance, more than com 
 pensated for the self-denial which she had practised. 
 It is almost always the case when persons cheerfully 
 submit to any privation, for the sake of other per 
 sons, or because it is duty, that they are amply 
 .rewarded for it. They enjoy, at least, the con- 
 
THE FRESHET. 105 
 
 sciousness of doing right, which is one of the very 
 highest sources of pleasure. Maria would, at any 
 time, have been satisfied with only this reward; but 
 it very often happened, very unexpectedly, that 
 something more was in store for her. This was the 
 case upon the time when she gave up her ride, and 
 her visit to the caravan for the sake of her brother. 
 I have not said that it was absolutely Maria s duty 
 to yield to her brother, in this case ; perhaps it 
 would have been perfectly right for her to have 
 maintained her own claims ; and yet, there is no 
 doubt that she felt a great deal happier for the 
 sacrifice she had made. 
 
 But we were going to speak of some further re 
 ward that her amiable behavior, in this instance, 
 procured her. As her father opened a package 
 which he had brought on his return, he silently 
 placed in her hands a beautiful copy of a newly 
 published work, upon the fly-leaf of which she found 
 written, "Maria Wilton a reward for her kind 
 and obliging manners towards her brothers and 
 sisters." 
 
 SMALL CRAFT. 
 
 When they had finished the story, Lucy 
 shut the book, saying, "Maria was a good 
 girl, was not she, Rol}o ? " 
 
THK FI;I;SIII;T. 
 
 fck Yes," s;iid Uollo, "she \v;i.s an excellent 
 girl. I would have done jus!, so. Would 
 not you, Lucy ? " 
 
 "I ought !o, I know," sjiid Lucy, - l but 
 perhaps I should not." 
 
 " I should, I am sure," said Ivollo. 
 
 Lucy was a polite girl, ;ind she did not 
 contradict Rollo, Ihou^li she r(;col| ( -c,lcd how 
 much selfishness he h;id shown (hat morn 
 ing; ;md it did not seem to her very likely 
 lh;i( he would luive heen willing to miike 
 ;u iv very ^rcat sa,ci-ilice to oblige others. 
 
 "My father says that we cannot tell \vh;it 
 we should do until we are tried," said Lucy. 
 
 lt Well, I knmr \ should h;ive heen U illiu^ 
 to st;iy ;ii home, if 1 h;id Ix-eu Maria," re 
 plied luillo. 
 
 kfc ln(, oidy think, thai would he prefer 
 ring another person s pleasure rather than 
 ymir own." 
 
 "Well, I xhoH/i/ prefer another pj-rson s 
 pleasure ra.lher < han my own." 
 
 Hollo was beginning to get a. lit tie excited 
 and vexed. IVople who boast of excellences 
 whieh I hey do not, possess, are vury apt to be 
 unre:isoiialle and angry when any body 
 
TMK FKI-.SIIKT. 107 
 
 *eems to doubt whether their boastings arc 
 l rue. lie was thus going on, insisting upon 
 it that lie should have acted as Maria had 
 doue,aud was just saving that he should pre 
 fer auot her JXTSOU S pleasure rather than his 
 own, when Jonas came into the entry from 
 the kitchen, with an armful of wood, which 
 he was carrying into the parlor. 
 
 "When is it, Hollo," said Jonas, - that 
 you prefer another person s pleasure to your 
 
 own?" 
 
 "Ahva\s," said Kollo, with an air of self- 
 conceit and consequence. 
 
 Jonas smiled, and went on with his \\ood. 
 
 It is always better for bo\s to he modest 
 and bumble-minded. They appear ridicu 
 lous to others when they are boasting what 
 tjrcat things (hey can do; and when they 
 boast what </<t,nl things they do they arc \cr\ 
 likely to be just on the eve of doing exactly 
 the opposite. 
 
 In a moment Jonas came hack out of 
 the parlor, and said, as he passed through, 
 
 Goes hut little \\avs; " 
 
 a short piece of versification which all bo\s 
 and girls would do well to remember. 
 
108 THE FRESHET. 
 
 Now it happened that, all this time, Rol 
 lo s mother was sitting in a little bed-room, 
 which had a door opening into the entry 
 where Lucy and Rollo had been reading, 
 and she heard all the conversation. She 
 knew that though Rollo was generally a 
 good boy, and was willing to know his faults, 
 and often endeavored to correct them, still 
 that he was, like all other boys, prone to 
 selfishness and to vanity, and she thought 
 that she must take some way to show him 
 clearly what the truth really was, about his 
 disinterestedness. 
 
 In a few minutes, therefore, she went out 
 of the room, and took from the store closet 
 an apple and a pear. They were both good, 
 but the pear was particularly fine. It was 
 large, mellow, and juicy. She then went 
 back to her seat, and called, " Rollo." 
 
 Rollo came running to her. 
 
 "Here," said she, "is an apple and a pear 
 for you." 
 
 " Is one for me and one for Lucy ? " said 
 he. 
 
 " That is just as you please. I give them 
 both to you. You may do what you choose 
 with them." 
 
THE FRESHET. 109 
 
 Hollo took the fruit, much pleased, and 
 walked slowly back, hesitating what to do. 
 He thought he must certainly give one to 
 Lucy, and as he had just been boasting that 
 he preferred another s pleasure to his OAVII^ 
 he was ashamed to offer her the apple ; and 
 yet he wanted the pear very much himself. 
 
 If he had had a little more time, he would 
 have hit upon a plan which would have re 
 moved all the difficulty at once, by dividing 
 both the apple and the pear, and giving to 
 Lucy half of each. But he did not think of 
 this. In fact, his mother knew that, as he 
 was going directly back to Lucy, he would 
 not have much time to think, but must act 
 according to the spontaneous impulse of his 
 heart. 
 
 But, though he did not think of dividing 
 the apple and the pear, he happened to hit 
 upon a plan, which occurred to him just as 
 he was going back into the entry, that he 
 thought would do. 
 
 He held the fruit behind him ; the apple 
 in one hand, and the pear in the other. 
 Lucy saw him coming, and said, 
 
 " What have you got, Hollo ? " 
 
110 THE FRESHET. 
 
 "Which will you have, right hand or 
 left ? " said he in reply. 
 
 "Right." 
 
 Rollo held forward his right hand, and, 
 lo ! it was the pear. But he could not bear 
 to part with it, and he brought forward the 
 other, and said, 
 
 " No, you may have the apple." 
 
 "No," said Lucy, "the pear is fairly mine; 
 you asked me which I would have, and I 
 said the right." 
 
 "But I want the pear," said Rollo; "you 
 may have the apple. Mother gave them 
 both to me." 
 
 " I want the pear, too," said Lucy, " it is 
 mine, and you must give it to me." 
 
 Just then a voice called from the bed 
 room, 
 
 " Children ! " 
 
 "What, mother?" said Rollo. 
 
 " I want you both to come here." 
 
 Rollo and Lucy would both have been 
 ashamed of their contention, were it not 
 that the pear looked so very rich and temp 
 ting, that they were both very eager to 
 have it. 
 
THE FRESHET. Ill 
 
 "What is the difficulty?" said Hollo s 
 mother, as soon as they stood before her. 
 
 " Why, Lucy wants the pear," said Rollo, 
 " and you gave them both to me, and said I 
 might do as I pleased with them. I am 
 willing to give her the apple." 
 
 " Yes, but he offered me my choice," said 
 Lucy, " right hand or left, and I chose the 
 right, and now he ought to give it to me." 
 
 " And are you willing that I should decide 
 it ? " said the lady. 
 
 "Yes, mother," and "Yes, aunt," said 
 Rollo and Lucy together. 
 
 "You have both done wrong; not very 
 wrong, but a little wrong ; and I think nei 
 ther ought to have the whole of the pear. 
 So I shall divide the pear and the apple 
 both between you ; and I will tell you how 
 you have done wrong. 
 
 "You, Rollo, by asking her which she 
 would have, implied that you would leave 
 it to chance to decide, and that you would 
 let her have her fair chance. Then you 
 ought to have submitted to the result. If 
 she had chosen the left hand, she ought to 
 have been content. If she had got the apple, 
 
112 THE FRESHET. 
 
 you would have had the credit of giving her 
 an equal chance with you, and she ought, 
 therefore, to have had the full benefit of the 
 chance. 
 
 "And then you, Lucy, did wrong; for, 
 although Rollo asked you to choose, he did 
 not actually promise you your choice, and, 
 as he was under no obligation to give you 
 either, you ought not to have insisted upon 
 his fulfilling his implied promise. Is it not 
 so?" 
 
 The children both saw and admitted that 
 it was. 
 
 " The best way, I think," she continued, 
 "would have been for you, Rollo, to have 
 given the pear to Lucy, as she was your vis 
 itor, and a young lady, too. Then she would 
 have given you half in eating it. However, 
 you were not very much in the wrong, 
 either of you. It was a sort of a doubtful 
 case. But I hope you see from it, Rollo, 
 what I wanted to teach you, that you are 
 no more inclined to prefer other persons 
 pleasure to your own, than other children 
 are. Remember Jonas s couplet hereafter. 
 I think it is a very good one. Now go and 
 
THE FRESHET. 113 
 
 get a knife, and cut the fruit ; and see, it 
 does not rain but little; you can go and get 
 your pea-pods now." 
 
 Away went the children out into the 
 kitchen after a knife. Rollo wanted to cut 
 the apple and pear himself, and Lucy made 
 no objection ; and we must do him the justice 
 to say that he gave rather the largest half of 
 each to Lucy. Then they went out into the 
 shed, Rollo taking with him a dipper of water 
 to wash his feet when he came back from the 
 garden. Rollo then took off his shoes, and 
 gave Lucy his share of the fruit, to keep for 
 him, and then sallied forth into the yard, 
 holding the umbrella over his head, as a few 
 drops of rain were still falling. 
 
 He waded into the little pond at the gar 
 den gate, and then turned round to look at 
 Lucy and laugh. He began, too, to caper 
 about in the water, but Lucy told him to 
 take care, or he would fall down, and they, 
 could not wash his clothes, as they could his 
 feet, with their dipper of water. 
 
 So he went carefully forward till he came 
 to the peas, and gathered as many as he 
 wanted, and then returned. 
 8 
 
114 THE FRESHET. 
 
 As he was coming back, he saw Jonas in 
 the barn. Jonas called out to him to ask 
 what he had got. 
 
 " I have been to get some pea-pods," said 
 he, " to make boats with." 
 
 " Where are you going to sail them ? " 
 said Jonas. 
 
 " O, in this little pond, when it is done 
 raining." 
 
 " But you had better have a little pond 
 now, in the shed." 
 
 " How can we ? " said Hollo. 
 
 " You might have it in a milk-pan." 
 
 " So we can. Could you come and get it 
 for us?" 
 
 " Yes, in a few minutes by the time you 
 get your boats made." 
 
 Hollo and Lucy were much pleased with 
 this, and they sat down, one on each side of 
 the milk-pan pond, and sailed their boats a 
 long time. He cut small pieces of the ap 
 ple and of the pear for cargo, and Rollo put 
 in the stem of the pear for the captain of his 
 boat. Each one was good humored and 
 obliging, and the time passed away very 
 pleasantly, until it was near dinner-time. 
 
THE FRESHET. 115 
 
 When they came in to dinner, they observed 
 that it was raining again very fast. 
 
 THE PRINCIPLES OF ORDER. 
 
 " Father," said Rollo, at the dinner table, 
 "do you think it will rain all the after 
 noon?" 
 
 " It looks like it," replied his father, 
 " but why ? Do you not enjoy yourselves 
 in the house ? " 
 
 " O, yes, sir," said Rollo, " we have had a 
 fine time this morning ; but Lucy and I 
 thought that, if it did not rain this after 
 noon, we might go out in the garden a 
 little." 
 
 " It may clear up towards night ; but, if 
 it does, I think it would be better to go 
 down to the brook and see the freshet, than 
 to go into the garden." 
 
 "The freshet? Will there be a freshet, 
 do you think?" 
 
 " Yes, if it rains this afternoon as fast as it 
 
116 THE FRESHET. 
 
 does now, I think the brook will be quite 
 high towards night." 
 
 Hollo was much pleased to hear this. He 
 told Lucy, after dinner, that the brook 
 looked magnificently in a freshet ; that the 
 banks were brimming full, and the water 
 poured along in a great torrent, foaming 
 and dashing against the logs and rocks. 
 
 " Then, besides, Lucy," said he, " we can 
 carry down our little boats and set them a 
 sailing. How they wDl whirl and plunge 
 along down the stream ! " 
 
 Lucy liked the idea of seeing the freshet, 
 too, very much ; though she said she was 
 afraid it would be too wet for her to go. 
 Hollo told her never to fear, for his father 
 would contrive some way to get her down 
 there safely, and they both went to the back 
 entry door again, looking out, and wishing 
 now that it would rain faster and faster, as 
 they did before dinner that it would cease 
 to rain. 
 
 "But," said Lucy, "what if it should not 
 stop raining at all, to-night ? " 
 
 " O, it will," said Rollo, " I know it will. 
 Besides, if it should not, we can go down 
 
THE FRESHET. 117 
 
 to-morrow morning, you know, and then 
 there will be a bigger freshet. O, how full 
 the brook will be by to-morrow morning ! " 
 
 And Rollo clapped his hands, and capered 
 with delight. 
 
 " Yes," said Lucy soberly, " but I must 
 go home to-night." 
 
 " Must you ? " said Rollo. " So you must. 
 I did not think of that." 
 
 "But I think," continued he, "that it 
 will certainly clear up to-night. I will go 
 and ask father if he does not think so too." 
 
 They both went together back into the 
 parlor to ask the question. 
 
 "I cannot tell, my children, whether it 
 will or not. I see no indications, one way 
 or the other. I think you had better forget 
 all about it, and go to doing something 
 else ; for if you spend all the afternoon in 
 watching the sky, and trying to guess 
 whether it will clear up or not, you cannot 
 enjoy yourselves, and may be sadly disap 
 pointed at last." 
 
 "Why, we cannot help thinking of it, 
 father." 
 
 "You cannot, if you stand there at the 
 
118 THE FKESHET. 
 
 back door, doing nothing else ; but, if you 
 engage in some other employment, you will 
 soon forget all about it." 
 
 " What do you think we had better do ? * 
 said Lucy. 
 
 "I think you had better go up and put 
 your room and your desk all in order, Hollo ; 
 Lucy can help you." 
 
 " But, father, I have put it in order a great 
 many times, and it always gets out of order 
 again very soon, and I cannot keep it neat." 
 
 "That is partly because you do not put it 
 in order right. You do not understand the 
 principles of order." 
 
 " What are the principles of order?" said 
 Lucy. 
 
 " There are a good many. I will tell you 
 some of them, and then you may go and ap 
 ply them in arranging Rollo s things. 
 
 " One principle is to have the things that 
 are most frequently used in the most acces 
 sible place, so that they can be taken out 
 and returned to their proper places easily. 
 
 " Anether good principle for you is to dis 
 tinguish between the things which you wish 
 to use and those you only wish to preserve. 
 
THE FRESHET. 119 
 
 The former ought to be in sight, and near 
 at hand. The latter may be packed away 
 more out of view. 
 
 "Another principle is to avoid having 
 your desk and room encumbered with 
 things of little or no value, as stones you 
 have picked up, and papers, and sticks. 
 The place to keep such things is in the barn 
 or shed, not in your private room. 
 
 " Then you must arrange your things 
 systematically, putting things of the same 
 nature together. Once I looked into your 
 desk, after you had put it in order, and I 
 found that, in the back side of it, you had 
 piled up books, and white paper, and pic 
 tures, and a slate, and a pocket-book or two, 
 all together. You thought they were in 
 order, because they were in a pile. Now, 
 they ought to have been separated and ar 
 ranged; all the white paper by itself in 
 front, where you can easily get it to use ; 
 the pictures all by themselves in a port 
 folio ; and the books should be arranged, 
 not in a pile, but in a row, on their edges, 
 so that you can get out any one without 
 disturbing the others. Those are some of 
 the principles of order." 
 
120 THE FKESHET. 
 
 "Well, come, Rollo," said Lucy. " Let us 
 go and see your things, and try to put them 
 in order light." 
 
 Rollo went ; but, as he left the room, he 
 turned around to ask his father if he would 
 not come with them, and just show them a 
 little about it. His father said he could 
 not come very well then ; but if they would 
 try and do as well as they could, he would 
 come and look over their work, after it was 
 done, and tell them whether it was right or 
 not. 
 
 Rollo and Lucy went up into Rollo s 
 room; and, true enough, they found not a 
 little confusion there. But they went to 
 work, and soon became very much inter 
 ested in their employment. A great many 
 of the things were new to Lucy ; and, as 
 they went on arranging them, they often 
 stopped to talk and play. In this way sev 
 eral hours passed along very pleasantly ; 
 and when, at last, they had got them nearly 
 arranged, Rollo went to the window to 
 throw out some old stones that he concluded 
 not to keep any longer, when he exclaimed 
 aloud, 
 
 " O, Lucy, Lucy, come here quick." 
 
THE FRESHET. 
 
 121 
 
 Lucy ran. Hollo pointed out to the west 
 ern horizon, and said, " See there." 
 
 There was a broad band of bright, golden 
 sky all along the western horizon clear 
 and beautiful, and extending each way as 
 far as they could see. The dark clouds 
 overhead reached down to the edge of this 
 clear sky, where they hung in a fringe of 
 gold, and the dazzling rays of the sun were 
 just peeping under it. The rain had ceased. 
 
122 THE FRESHET. 
 
 Rollo and Lucy gazed at it a moment, 
 and then ran down stairs as fast as they 
 could go, calling out, 
 
 "It is clearing away ! It is clearing 
 away ! Father, it is clearing away. We 
 can go and see the freshet." 
 
 CLEARING UP. 
 
 They went out upon the steps to look at 
 the sky. A few drops of rain were still 
 falling, but the clouds appeared to be break 
 ing in several places, and the tract of golden 
 sky in the west was rising and extending. 
 The air was calm, and the golden rays of 
 the sun shone upon the fields and trees, and 
 upon the glittering drops that hung from 
 the leaves and branches. Rollo and Lucy 
 both said it was beautiful. 
 
 They went in and urged their father to 
 go with them down to the brook to see the 
 
 o 
 
 freshet; but he said they must wait till 
 after tea. " It is too wet to go now," said 
 he. 
 
 "But, father," said Rollo, "I do not 
 
THE FRESHET. 123 
 
 think it will be any better after tea. The 
 ground cannot dry in half an hour." 
 
 " No," said his father, " but the water 
 will run off of the paths a great deal, so that 
 we can get along much better." 
 
 " Well, but then it will run off from the 
 brook a great deal, too, and the freshet will 
 not be so high." 
 
 " It is a little different with the brook," 
 his father replied, "for that is very long, 
 and the water comes a great way, from 
 among the hills. Now, while we are taking 
 tea, the water will be running into the brook 
 back among the hills, faster than it will run 
 away here, so that it will grow higher and 
 higher for some hours." 
 
 Hollo had no more to say, but he was 
 impatient to go. He and Lucy went out 
 and stood on the steps again. The clouds 
 were breaking up and flying away in all 
 directions, and large patches of clear blue 
 sky appeared everywhere, giving promise of 
 a beautiful evening. 
 
 " Hark ! " said Rollo ; " what is that ? " 
 
 Lucy listened. It was a sort of roaring 
 sound down in the woods. Rollo at first 
 thought it was a bear growling. 
 
124 THE FRESHET. 
 
 " Do you think it is a bear ? " said he to 
 Lucy, with a look of some concern. 
 
 " A bear ! no," said Lucy, laughing ; 
 " that is not the way a bear growls % It is 
 the freshet." 
 
 " The freshet ! " said Hollo. 
 
 " Yes ; it is the water roaring along the 
 brook." 
 
 Hollo listened, and he immediately per 
 ceived that it was the sound of water, and 
 he jumped and capered with delight, at 
 thinking how fine a sight it must be. 
 
 At the tea-table, Rollo s father explained 
 the plan he had formed for their going. He 
 said it was rather a difficult thing to go and 
 see a freshet without getting wet espe 
 cially for a girl. He and Rollo, he said, 
 could put on their good thick boots, but 
 Lucy had none suitable for such a walk, as 
 it would probably be very wet and muddy 
 in some places, 
 
 " What shall we do then ? " said Rollo. 
 
 " I believe I shall let Jonas go down, and 
 draw Lucy in his wagon," said his father. 
 " How should you like that, Lucy ? " 
 
 Lucy said she would like it very well, 
 
THE FRESHET. 125 
 
 and after tea they went out to the garden- 
 yard door, where they found Jonas with his 
 wagon all ready. This wagon was one which 
 Jonas had made to draw Rollo upon. It was 
 plain and simple, but strong and convenient, 
 and perfectly safe. They helped Lucy into 
 it, and she sat down on the little seat. Rollo, 
 with his boots on, took hold behind to push, 
 and Jonas drew. Rollo s father walked be 
 hind, and thus they set off to view the 
 freshet. 
 
 They moved along carefully through the 
 yard, and then turned by the gate, and 
 went into the field. The path led them by 
 the garden fence for some distance, and 
 they went along very pleasantly for a time, 
 until at length they came to a large pool of 
 water covering the whole path. There were 
 high banks on each side, so that the wagon 
 could not turn out. 
 
 "What shall we do now?" said Rollo. 
 
 " I can go right through it," said Jonas ; 
 "it is not deep." 
 
 " And we can go along on the bank, by 
 the side," said Rollo. 
 
 " Very well," said his father, " if you are 
 not afraid, Lucy." 
 
126 THE FRESHET. 
 
 Lucy did feel a little afraid at first, but 
 she knew that if her Uncle was willing that 
 she should go, there could not be any dan 
 ger ; so she made no objection. Besides, 
 she knew that as Jonas was to walk along 
 before her, she could see how deep it was, 
 and there could not be any deep places 
 without his finding it out before the wagon 
 went into them. 
 
 Jonas was barefoot, and did not mind 
 wetting his feet; so he waded in, drawing 
 the wagon after him. It was about up to 
 his ankles all the way. Lucy looked over 
 the side of the wagon, and felt a little fear 
 as she saw the wheels half under water; 
 but they went safely through. 
 
 Presently they began to descend a path 
 which led them into the woods. They heard 
 the roaring of the water, which grew louder 
 and louder as they drew nigh, and then 
 Hollo suddenly stopped and said, 
 
 " Why, father, it is raining here in the 
 woods now." 
 
 Lucy listened, and they heard the drops 
 of rain falling upon the ground all around 
 them; and yet, looking up, they saw that 
 the sky was almost perfectly clear. Pres- 
 
THE FRESHET. 127 
 
 ently they thought that this was only the 
 drops falling off from the leaves of the trees. 
 
 Rollo said he meant to see if it was so, 
 and he ran out of the path, and took hold of 
 a slender tree with a large top of branches 
 and leaves, and, looking up to see if any 
 drops would come down, he gave it a good 
 shake ; and true enough, down came a per 
 fect shower of drops all into his face and 
 eyes. At first he was astonished at such an 
 unexpected shower-bath, but he concluded, 
 on the whole, to laugh, and not cry about 
 it ; and he came back wiping his face, and 
 looking comically enough. All the party 
 laughed a little at his mishap, and then 
 went on. 
 
 in a few minutes more, they came in sight 
 of the foaming brook. The water was very 
 high ; in some places, the banks were over 
 flowed, and the current swept along furi 
 ously, dashing against the rocks, and whirl 
 ing around the projecting points. 
 
 The children stopped, and gazed upon the 
 scene a little while, and then Rollo said he 
 was going to sail his boats, which he had 
 brought in his pocket. 
 
 Just then Jonas saw a plank which was 
 
128 THE FKESHET. 
 
 lying partly on the bank and partly in the 
 water, a little up the stream. It had been 
 placed across the brook some distance above 
 for a bridge ; but the freshet had brought it 
 away, and it had drifted down to where it 
 then was. 
 
 Jonas said he would find a place for Lucy 
 to stand upon with it. So he went and 
 pushed off this plank, and let it float down 
 to where the children were standing ; and 
 then he drew it up upon the shore, and laid 
 it along, so that Lucy could stand upon it 
 safely, and launch the pea-pod boats. 
 
 These boats were soon all borne away 
 rapidly down the stream, out of sight, and 
 then they threw in sticks and chips, and 
 watched them as they sailed away, and 
 whirled around in the eddies, or swept down 
 the rapids. Thus they amused themselves 
 a long time, and then slowly returned 
 home. 
 
THE BOATS WERE soox ALL BORNE AWAY. 
 
BLUEBERBYim 
 
131 
 
 BLUEBERRYINGo 
 
 OLD TRUMPETER. 
 
 HOLLO S mother advised him, when he 
 went to bed the evening before the day fixed 
 upon for the blueberrying, to rise early the 
 next morning, and take a good reading les 
 son before breakfast. She said he would 
 enjoy himself much more, during the day, if 
 he performed all his usual duties before he 
 went. Rollo accordingly arose quite early, 
 and, when he came in to breakfast, had the 
 satisfaction of telling his father that he had 
 read his morning lesson, and prepared his 
 basket, and was all ready to go. 
 
 He wanted Jonas to go too, and, as the 
 last time when he asked his father s permis 
 sion that he should go, he lost his request 
 by asking it in an improper manner, he de 
 termined to be careful this time. 
 
 So he was silent at breakfast time while 
 
132 BLUEBERR YING, 
 
 his father and mother were talking, and 
 theft, watching an opportunity when they 
 seemed disengaged, he asked his father if 
 Jonas might not go with them. 
 
 " I do not think he can very well, for 
 there is no room for him. Both the chaises 
 will be full." 
 
 " But could not he ride on Old Trum 
 peter?" said Rollo. 
 
 Old Trumpeter was a white horse, that 
 had served the family some time, but was 
 now rather old, and not a very good travel 
 ler. 
 
 Hollo s father hesitated a moment, and 
 then said, perhaps he might. "You may go 
 and tell him that we are going, and that if 
 he thinks Old Trumpeter will do to carry 
 him, he may go. He will be of great help 
 to us, if we should get into any difficulty." 
 
 Rollo thought of the bears that he ex 
 pected to see on the mountain, and ran to 
 tell Jonas. Jonas was glad to go. So he 
 went and gave Old Trumpeter some oats, 
 and got the saddle and bridle ready. He 
 also got out a pair of saddle-bags that he 
 always used on such occasions, and put into 
 
BLUEBERBYING. 
 
 them a hatchet, a clipper, a box of matches, 
 and some rope. On second thoughts, he 
 concluded it would be best to put these 
 things into the chaise-box, and to put the 
 saddle-bags on his horse empty, as he might 
 want them to bring something home in. 
 
 After breakfast, Lucy and her father, 
 Hollo s uncle George, drove up to the door, 
 for they were going too ; and in a short 
 time you might have seen all the party driv 
 ing away from the door Hollo s father and 
 mother in the first chaise, uncle George, and 
 Hollo, and Lucy, in the second, and Jonas 
 on Old Trumpeter behind. 
 
 They rode on for a mile or two, and then 
 turned off of the main road into the woods, 
 and went on by a winding and beautiful 
 road until they came in sight of a range of 
 mountains, one of which seemed very high 
 and near. 
 
 "Is that Benalgon?" said Hollo. 
 
 " I do not know," said his uncle ; " I have 
 never been to it before ; but I suppose Jonas 
 can tell." 
 
 " I will call him," said Hollo. So he 
 turned around, and kneeled upon the seat, 
 
134 BLUEBERRYING. 
 
 so that he could look out behind the chaise, 
 for the back curtain was up. Lucy did 
 the same, but Jonas was not to be seen. 
 They looked a little longer, and presently 
 saw him coming along around a curve in 
 the road. They beckoned to him, and as 
 he rode up, they saw he had a bush in his 
 hand. He came up to the side of the chaise, 
 and handed it to Hollo. It was a large 
 blueberry bush, covered with beautiful ripe 
 blueberries. Hollo took them, and admired 
 them very much ; and at first he was going 
 to divide them between Lucy and himself ; 
 but they concluded, on the whole, to send 
 them forward to his mother. Jonas told 
 them the mountain before them ^vas Benal- 
 gon, and rode on to carry the blueberry 
 bush to the other chaise. Presently he 
 came back, bringing it with him, except a 
 small sprig which Rollo s mother had taken 
 off. The rest she had sent back to the chil 
 dren. 
 
 " Well, Jonas," said uncle George, when 
 he got back, " I do not see but that Old 
 Trumpeter is strong enough to carry you 
 yet." 
 
BLTJEBERRYHSTG. 135 
 
 "O yes, sir," said Jonas, "he is strong 
 enough to carry half a dozen like me." 
 
 "O, uncle George," said Rollo, "let him 
 carry me too with Jonas. I can ride be 
 hind." 
 
 " Very well ; if you want to ride with him 
 a little while, you may, if Jonas is willing." 
 
 Jonas was, and Rollo got out, and climbed 
 up upon a stump, by the side of the road. 
 Jonas drove up to the stump, and Rollo 
 clambered up behind him, with a switch in 
 his hand. 
 
 "Now, Jonas," said he, "whenever you 
 want him to go any faster, you just speak 
 to me, and I will touch him up with my 
 switch." 
 
 Jonas said he would, and they jogged 
 along behind the chaise. Lucy kneeled up 
 on the cushion, and looked out behind, talk 
 ing with Rollo. 
 
 DEVIATION. 
 
 They -went on so very quietly for some 
 time, until Jonas said there was a turn in 
 the road on before them, where there was a 
 
13G BLUEBERRYING. 
 
 foot-path that led across a ravine, by a nearer 
 way than the chaise-road, and proposed that 
 Rollo should ask leave for Jonas and him 
 self to go across on horse-back, and wait for 
 the chaises, when they should come out on 
 the main road. 
 
 So they rode up to the chaise, and Rollo 
 put the question to his uncle George. 
 
 His reply was that he could not say any 
 thing about it ; Rollo must go and ask his 
 father. 
 
 " Would you go ? " said Jonas. 
 
 " Yes," said Rollo. 
 
 "Well, touch up Old Trumpeter then." 
 
 So Rollo applied his switch, and the horse 
 trotted on fast. Rollo had hard work to 
 hold on, but he clasped his arm tight around 
 Jonas s waist, and succeeded in keeping his 
 seat. 
 
 Rollo s father and mother were riding 
 some distance before them, but they saw 
 Jonas coining up, and rode slowly, that he 
 might overtake them. 
 
 " Well, Rollo," said his father, " how do 
 you like riding double ? " 
 
 " Very much," said Rollo ; " and we want 
 you to let Jonas and I cut across by the 
 
BLUEBERRYING. 137 
 
 horse-path through the valley, and wait for 
 you at the mill." 
 
 "Is there a horse-path across here, Jo 
 nas?" 
 
 " Yes, sir," said Jonas. 
 
 "Is it a good path?" 
 
 "It is rather rough, sir, through the 
 woods and bushes ; but it is a pretty good 
 road." 
 
 Hollo s father sat hesitating a moment, 
 and then said 
 
 " You may go, if you choose, but I advise 
 you not to." 
 
 "Why do you advise us not to?" said 
 Hollo. 
 
 " Why, you may get into some difficulty, 
 and so we get separated." 
 
 "Yes, but," said Rollo, "it is not near so 
 far across, and we shall have time to get 
 through to the mill long before you come 
 along." 
 
 " Very well, you may do as you please." 
 
 "Jonas, what would you do? Would 
 you go, or not ? " 
 
 "I think I would not go, if your father 
 thinks we had better not." 
 
 "I want to go very much," said Rollo 
 
138 BLUEBERBYING. 
 
 " Very well," said his father ; " you are 
 willing to go with him, I suppose, Jonas, 
 are you not ? " 
 
 " O yes, sir," said Jonas. 
 
 "Well," said Rollo, "let us go. We will 
 be very careful, father, not to get into any 
 difficulty." 
 
 So the two chaises rode on, and Jonas and 
 Rollo, in a few minutes, turned off by a 
 narrow path that struck into the woods- 
 Just as they were bending down their heads 
 to pass under a great branch of a tree, Rollo 
 looked along, and saw Lucy waving her 
 handkerchief to him, as the chaise which 
 she was in disappeared by a turn of the 
 road. 
 
 Rollo at first felt a little uneasy to think 
 that he had deserted his cousin, as it were. 
 He thought that he should not have liked 
 it exactly, if she had gone off, and left him 
 alone so in the chaise. However, it was 
 now too late to repent, and his attention 
 was attracted by the wild and romantic scene 
 around him. The path descended obliquely, 
 by a rough, wet, and stony way, through 
 a dark forest. He heard the sighing of 
 the wind in the tops of the tall trees, and 
 
BLUEBERKYING. 139 
 
 the mellow notes of forest birds far off, and 
 high, which came rich and sweet to his ear 
 with a peculiar expression of solitude and 
 loneliness. 
 
 The boys rode on, and the path became 
 more and more slippery, stony, and steep. 
 Rollo clung tight to Jonas, and began to be 
 somewhat afraid. He would have proposed 
 to go back, but he was ashamed to do it. 
 After a little time, he asked Jonas whether 
 the path was as bad as that all the way. 
 
 " As bad as this ! " said Jonas. " We call 
 this very good. I will show you the bad 
 road pretty soon." 
 
 Rollo looked frightened, but said nothing. 
 
 "The road seems more wet than common 
 to-day," said Jonas, " I suppose on account 
 of the rain yesterday ; and I declare," said 
 he, "I am afraid we shall find the brook 
 up." 
 
 "The brook up ! " said Rollo. 
 
 " Yes why did not I think of that be 
 fore ? However, we must go on now." 
 
 " Why ? " said Rollo. " Why cannot we 
 go back?" 
 
 " O, because we should be too late ; be 
 sides, there is no danger, only we may have 
 to wade a little." 
 
140 BLUEBEKBYING. 
 
 As they went on, the mud in the road 
 grew deeper and deeper; and presently Old 
 Trumpeter s legs sunk far down among roots 
 and mire. Rollo began to feel more and 
 more alarmed, and heartily wished that he 
 had taken his father s advice. 
 
 Soon after, they came to a place where 
 the path, for some distance before them, 
 was full of water, deep and miry. Jonas 
 said he thought that they had better go out 
 upon one side ; so he made the horse step 
 over a log, and go in among the trees 
 and bushes. The branches brushed and 
 scratched Rollo unmercifully, though he 
 bent down, and leaned over to this side and 
 that, continually, to escape them. He asked 
 Jonas why this path had not dried as well 
 as the main road, where the chaises had 
 gone ; and Jonas told him that the sun and 
 the wind were the great means of drying 
 the open road, but that this narrow and 
 secluded path was shaded from the sun, and 
 sheltered from the wind ; and that the 
 water consequently remained a long time 
 among the moss, and roots, and mire. 
 
 After a time, they got back into the path 
 again; and, going on a little farther, they 
 
BLUEBEEEYIXG. 141 
 
 came down to the margin of the brook. 
 They found that it was " up," as Jonas had 
 feared. At the place where- the path went 
 down and crossed the brook, a deep cut had 
 been worn in the two opposite banks, and 
 this was filled with water, and above and 
 below the stream rushed on in a torrent. 
 Jonas hesitated a moment, and then asked 
 Hollo if he thought he could hold on, while 
 they were riding through. Rollo said he 
 was afraid it was so deep as to drown them. 
 Jonas then said that he might get off and 
 stand upon a rock by the side of the path, 
 while he rode through, first, to see how it 
 was, and that then he would come back for 
 him. 
 
 So Rollo got off, in fear and trembling, and 
 stood on the rock, while Jonas urged his 
 horse into the water. Old Trumpeter did 
 not much like this kind of travelling, but 
 Jonas half persuaded and half compelled 
 him to go through. When he was in the 
 middle, the water came up so high, that 
 Jonas was obliged to lift up his feet to 
 keep them from being wet. Presently, how 
 ever, it became more shoal, as the horse 
 walked slowly along ; and at last he fairly 
 
142 BLUEBERRYING. 
 
 reached the dry ground, and stood dripping 
 011 the bank. 
 
 Rollo was glad to see that the water was 
 no deeper, but was still afraid to go over. 
 He told Jonas he could not go over there, 
 and that he must go back with him. 
 
 " No," said Jonas, " that would not be 
 right." 
 
 " Why," said Rollo, " we can ride fast, 
 and overtake them." 
 
 " Not very soon," said Jonas. " If we go 
 back now, they will get to the mill before 
 us, and then will be very anxious and un 
 happy, thinking that something has hap 
 pened to us; and perhaps your father will 
 come through here after us. Now it was 
 your own plan coming across here, and you 
 ought not to make other people suffer by it. 
 Your father advised you not to come." 
 
 " I know it," said Rollo ; " what a foolish 
 boy I was ! I shall certainly be drowned." 
 
 " O no," said Jonas, " there is no real 
 danger, or I should not make you go ; " and 
 so saying, he came back slowly through the 
 water. " See," said he, " it is not very 
 deep." 
 
BLUEBERKYING. 143 
 
 LITTLE MOSETTE. 
 
 After some further persuasion, Rollo got 
 on behind him, and they began to make their 
 way slowly through the water again. Old 
 Trumpeter staggered along, but not very 
 unsteadily on the whole, until he got a little 
 past the middle, when he blundered upon a 
 stone on the bottom, which he could not 
 see, and fell doAvn 011 his knees. Jonas 
 caught up his feet, in an instant, and Rollo 
 had his already drawn up behind him, and 
 they both grasped the saddle convulsively. 
 The horse happened to regain his feet again 
 in a moment, so that they contrived to hold 
 on ; and in a few minutes they were drawn 
 out safely upon the shore, without even get 
 ting their feet wet. 
 
 " Well, Old Trumpeter," said Jonas, "you 
 have done pretty well for you, and you have 
 got the mire washed off your legs, at any 
 rate. But, Rollo, what is that ? " 
 
 He pointed back, as he said this, to a lit 
 tle tuft floating round and round in a small 
 eddy, made by a turn of the brook, just 
 above where they had crossed. He turned 
 
144 
 
 BLUEBERRYING. 
 
 his horse towards it. " It is a bird s nest, 
 said he. 
 
 "So it is," said Rollo, "and I verily be 
 lieve there is a little bird in it." 
 
 Jonas jumped off of the horse, handed the 
 bridle to Rollo, and took up a long stick ly 
 ing on the ground, and very gently and 
 cautiously drew the nest in to the shore. 
 He took it up with great care, and brought 
 it to Rollo. 
 
BLUEBEERYING. 145 
 
 There was a little bird in it, scarcely 
 fledged. Jonas said he believed it was a 
 robin, and that it must have been washed 
 off from its place on some bush, by the 
 freshet in the brook. The bottom of the 
 nest was soaked through by the water, as if 
 it had been floating some time ; and the lit 
 tle bird kept opening its month wide. The 
 poor little thing was hungry, and heard 
 Jonas and Rollo, and thought they were its 
 mother, come to give it something to eat. 
 
 " What shall we do with him ? " said 
 Rollo. 
 
 " He will die if we leave him here," said 
 Jonas, " for he has lost his mother now. I 
 think we had better carry him home, if we 
 can, and feed him, till he is old enough to 
 
 %" 
 
 " He is hungry," said Rollo ; "let us feed 
 him now." 
 
 " We have not got any thing to feed him 
 with. Perhaps I can catch a fly, or a grass 
 hopper." 
 
 " O, that will not do," said Rollo, " you 
 might as well kill him as kill a grasshop 
 per." 
 
 10 
 
146 BLUEBERRYING. 
 
 Jonas could not reply to this, and they 
 concluded to carry nest and all carefully to 
 the mill, and show it to Rollo s father there. 
 But how to carry it was the difficulty. If 
 either of them undertook to hold it in one 
 hand, he was afraid the bird might be jolted 
 out ; and neither of them had but one hand 
 to spare for Rollo must have one hand to 
 hold on with, and Jonas one to drive. At 
 last Jonas took off his cap, and placed it 
 bottom upwards on the saddle before him, 
 and put the nest, with the bird in it, in that, 
 and then drove carefully along. The road 
 grew much smoother and better after they 
 had passed the brook; and, after going on a 
 short distance farther, they came in sight of 
 the mill. 
 
 They had been detained so long that the 
 chaises had reached the mill before them ; 
 and the party in the chaises were looking 
 out down the path where they expected the 
 boys were to come out, watching for them 
 with considerable interest. 
 
 " There they come at last," said Lucy, as 
 she perceived a movement among the 
 bushes, and saw Old Trumpeter s white 
 head coming forward. 
 
BLUEBERRYING. 147 
 
 "Yes," said Hollo s mother, "but they 
 have met with some accident. Jonas has 
 lost his cap." 
 
 By this time the boys had emerged from 
 the bushes, and were coming along the path 
 slowly, Jonas bareheaded, and Rollo hold 
 ing on carefully. Lucy saw that Jonas was 
 holding something before him 011 the saddle, 
 and wondered what it was. Hollo s mother 
 said she was afraid they had got hurt. 
 
 As soon as they came within hearing, 
 Hollo heard his father s voice calling out to 
 him, 
 
 " Rollo, what is the matter ? Have you 
 got into any difficulty ? " 
 
 " Yes, sir," said Rollo ; " we had some 
 difficulty, and I should be sorry I did not 
 take your advice, only then we should not 
 have found this little bird." 
 
 "What bird?" said they all. 
 
 By this time they had come up near the 
 chaises, and Jonas carefully lifted the bird s 
 nest out of his cap, and held it so that they 
 could all see it, while Rollo told them the 
 story. They all looked much pleased, but 
 Lucy seemed in delight. She wanted to 
 
148 BLTJEBEKKYING. 
 
 have it go in their chaise, and asked Rollo 
 to let her hold the nest in her lap. 
 
 Rollo did not answer very directly, for 
 he was busy looking at the bird, seeing 
 him open his mouth, and wishing he had 
 something to give him to eat. 
 
 "Father," said he, "what shall we feed 
 him with? Jonas was going to catch a 
 grasshopper, but I thought that would not 
 be right." 
 
 "Why not?" said uncle George. 
 
 "Because," said Hollo, "he has as good 
 a right to his life as the bird. Has he not, 
 father?" 
 
 "Not exactly," said his father; "a bird 
 is an animal of much higher grade than a 
 grasshopper, and is probably much more 
 sensible of pain and pleasure, and his life is 
 of more value ; just as a man is a much 
 higher animal than a bird. It would be 
 right to kill a bird to save a man s life, even 
 if he were only an animal ; and so it would 
 be right to destroy a grasshopper or a worm, 
 to save a robin." 
 
 " But I read in a book once," said Lucy, 
 " that when we tread on a worm, he feels as 
 much pain in being killed as a giant would." 
 
BLTJEBERRYING. 149 
 
 " I do not think it is true," said he. " I 
 think that there is a vast diversity among 
 the different animals, in respect to their 
 sensibility to pain, according to their struc 
 ture, and the delicacy of their organization. 
 I think a crew of a fishing-vessel might 
 catch a whole cargo of mackerel, and not 
 cause as much pain as one of their men 
 would suffer in having his leg bitten off by 
 a shark." 
 
 " Well, father," said Hollo, "do you think 
 we had better give him a grasshopper ? " 
 
 " O no," said Lucy, u a grasshopper would 
 not be good to eat, he has got so many el 
 bows sticking out. Let us give him some 
 blueberries." 
 
 "O yes," said Rollo, "that would be beau 
 tiful." 
 
 So he slid down off of Old Trumpeter s 
 back, and ran to the side of the road, to see 
 if he could not find some blueberries. 
 
 He brought a few in his hand, and his 
 father took them, saying that he would feed 
 the bird for him. He squeezed out the pulp 
 of the berries, and then made a chirping 
 sound, when the bird opened his mouth, and 
 
150 BLUEBERRYING. 
 
 he fed him with the soft pulp, and threw 
 away the skins. After giving the bird two 
 or three berries in this way, they put him 
 back into the nest, and gave the nest to 
 Lucy to hold in her lap, and all the party 
 prepared to go on. 
 
 They rode along about a mile farther, and 
 then came to the place where they must 
 leave the horses, and prepare to ascend the 
 mountain on foot. They unharnessed them, 
 so that they might stand more quietly, and 
 then fastened them to trees by the side of 
 the road. 
 
 While they were thus taking care of their 
 horses, Rollo and Lucy were standing by, 
 with Hollo s mother looking at the bird. 
 
 "What are } T OU going to do with him, 
 Rollo?" said his mother. 
 
 " Why, I should like to carry him home, 
 and keep him, if you are willing." 
 
 "I am, on one condition." 
 
 "What is that?" 
 
 " You must keep him in a cage with the 
 door always open, so that, as soon as he is 
 old enough to fly away, he may go if he 
 
BLUEBERRYING. 151 
 
 " Then he will certainly fly away, and \\Q 
 shall lose him forever," said Lucy. 
 
 " That is the only condition," replied 
 Rollo s mother. 
 
 " But why, mother," said he, " why maj 
 we not keep him shut up safe ? " 
 
 "If I were to tell you the reasons now, 
 they would not satisfy you, you are so eager 
 to keep him. I think you had better deter 
 mine to comply with the condition, good- 
 humoredly, and say no more about it, but 
 try to think of a name for him." 
 
 "Well, mother, what do you think would 
 be a good name ? " 
 
 " I do not know : you and Lucy must 
 think of one." 
 
 Just then uncle George finished tying his 
 horse, and came along to where the children 
 were standing, and, hearing their conversa 
 tion, and finding that Lucy and Rollo were 
 perplexed about a name, he told them he 
 thought they might, not improperly, call 
 him Noah, as, like Noah, by floating in a 
 sort of ark, he was saved from a flood. 
 
 " I think he was more like Moses than 
 Noah,* said Lucy. 
 
 " Why ? " said her father. 
 
152 BLUEBEHEYIKG. 
 
 44 Because Moses was a little thing when 
 they found him, and then the ark of bul 
 rushes was something like a bird s nest. I 
 think you had better name him Moses, Rol- 
 lo," said she. 
 
 Hollo seemed a little at a loss : he said 
 he thought he was a good deal like Moses, 
 but then he did not think that Moses was a 
 very pretty name for a bird. 
 
 "Do you think it is, mother?" said he. 
 
 " I do not know but that it Avould do very 
 well. You might alter it a little ; call him 
 Mosette, if you think that would be any bet 
 ter for a bird s name." 
 
 Rollo and Lucy repeated the name Mo 
 sette to themselves several times, and con 
 cluded that they should like it very much. 
 By this time, the horses were all ready, and 
 Jonas recommended that they should hide 
 Mosette away somewhere, until they re 
 turned from the mountain, for it would be 
 troublesome to them, and somewhat danger 
 ous to the bird, to carry him up and down. 
 
 The children approved of this plan, though 
 they were rather unwilling to part with the 
 bird, at all. They went just into the bushes 
 and found a very secret place, by the corner 
 
BLUEBERRYING. 153 
 
 of a large rock, where the shrubs and wild 
 flowers grew thick, so that it would be en 
 tirely out of sight. 
 
 GOING UP. 
 
 They then set forward, the children in 
 advance of the rest. Jonas walked with 
 Rollo and Lucy, and lie had round his waist 
 a broad leather belt, which he always wore 
 on such occasions, and which had, on one 
 side, his hatchet and knife, and on the other 
 a sort of bag or pocket, containing several 
 things, such as matches, a little dipper, &c. 
 
 Hollo s father and mother, and his uncle 
 George, walked along behind them. The 
 way was, for some distance, a sort of cart- 
 path, too steep and rough for a chaise, but 
 hard and dry, and pretty comfortable walk 
 ing. Rollo and Lucy asked Jonas if he 
 would not tell them a story, as they went 
 along, to beguile the way. 
 
 Jonas began a story, about a boy that 
 lived a long time on a mountain alone, but 
 he had not proceeded far, before they heard 
 
154 BLUBBER RYING. 
 
 a voice behind, calling them. They looked 
 back, and saw that Hollo s father was beck 
 oning them to stop. 
 
 They waited till he came up, and he told 
 them he wanted to give them their orders 
 for the day ; and they were rules, he said, 
 which ought to be observed on all berrying 
 expeditions, by children. 
 
 "First" said he, "always keep in sight 
 of me. For this purpose, watch me all the 
 time, when we are stopping, and keep be 
 fore, rather than behind, when Ave are walk 
 ing. 
 
 " Second. Take no unnecessary steps, but 
 keep in the right path, and walk slowly and 
 steadily there, so as to save your strength. 
 Otherwise you will get tired out very soon. 
 
 " Third. Do not touch any flower or 
 berry that you see, except blueberries, with 
 out first showing them to one of us." 
 
 The children listened to these rules, and 
 promised to obey them, and then walked 
 on. They tried to walk slowly and stead 
 ily, listening to Jonas s story. They turned 
 off, after a time, into a narrower and steeper 
 path, and ascended, stepping from stone to 
 stone. The trees and bushes hung over 
 
BLUEBERRYING. 155 
 
 their heads, making the walk shady and 
 cool. 
 
 After slowly ascending in this way, for 
 some time, they came out of the woods into 
 an opening of rocky ground, and patches of 
 blueberry bushes. They saw, also, at some 
 distance before them, three or four boys, sit 
 ting upon a rock, with pails and baskets in 
 their hands, talking and laughing loud. 
 They did not take much notice of them, but 
 walked on quietly. They were going on 
 directly towards them, but Hollo s father 
 called them, and pointed for them to turn 
 off to the right, round a rocky precipice 
 which was in that direction. 
 
 The children were turning accordingly, 
 when they heard a shout from the boys be 
 fore them, " Hallo, come this way, and 
 we will show you where the blueberries are." 
 
 " Father," said Rollo, as he stopped and 
 turned round to his father, " the boys say 
 they will show us the blueberries, out that 
 way : shall we go and see ? " 
 
 "No," said his father in a low voice, so 
 that the boys did not hear. " No : go the 
 way I told you." 
 
156 BLUEBERRYING. 
 
 They went along, and presently got round 
 the precipice out of sight of the boys again. 
 They walked slowly until their parents over 
 took them. 
 
 " Father," said Rollo, " why could you 
 not let us go out with those boys? They 
 said they were thickest out there." 
 
 " Because," said he, " I presume they are 
 not good boys, and I do not want you to 
 have any thing to do with them." 
 
 " But, father, they must be good boys, or 
 they would not want to show us the blue 
 berries. If they were bad, selfish boys, they 
 would want to keep all the good places to 
 themselves." 
 
 If Rollo had only asked his father, in a 
 modest manner, how it could be that the 
 boys were bad, when they wanted to show 
 him the best place for blueberries, it would 
 have been very proper ; but his manner of 
 speaking showed a silly confidence in his 
 own opinion, which was very wrong. His 
 father, however, did not attempt to reason 
 with him, but only said, 
 
 " I think they are bad boys, for I over 
 heard them using bad language ; and I wish 
 you to have nothing to do with them." 
 
BLUBBER-EYING. 157 
 
 He then found a good place for them to 
 begin to gather their berries. It was a 
 beautiful spot of open ground, between the 
 thick woods on one side, and a broken, rocky 
 precipice on the other. 
 
 Uncle George took Jonas forward alone, 
 until they were out of sight, and presently 
 returned without him. Rollo asked where 
 Jonas was gone, and his uncle told him that 
 that was a secret at present. They heard, 
 soon after, the strokes of his hatchet in the 
 woods, on before them, but could not im 
 agine what he could be doing, 
 
 Thus things went on very pleasantly, and 
 they gathered a large quantity of berries. 
 There was, indeed, in the course of the day, 
 a serious difficulty between Rollo and the 
 bad boys; and there is an account of it 
 given in the next story of "TROUBLE ON 
 THE MOUNTAIN." With this exception, 
 every thing went on well until about noon, 
 when Rollo observed that Jonas had been 
 missing a long time. 
 
158 BLUEBERRYING. 
 
 THE SECRET OUT. 
 
 "Where is Jonas, all this time?" said 
 Rollo to Lucy. 
 
 Lucy said that he had been busy, a long 
 time, doing something over beyond some 
 rocks, but she did not know what, for her 
 father told her she must not go to see. 
 Rollo wondered what the secret was, and 
 he was just going to ask his father to let 
 him go and see what Jonas was doing, when 
 they saw him coming out from the bushes. 
 He came up to Rollo s father, and told him 
 that it was all ready. Then Rollo s father 
 called to all the company, and told them it 
 was time to stop gathering berries, and they 
 might take up their baskets and follow him. 
 
 The baskets and pails were heavy and 
 full, and the whole party walked along, 
 carrying them carefully towards the place 
 where Jonas had come from. Rollo s father 
 led the way. They entered into a little 
 thicket, and passed through it by a narrow 
 path. They came out presently into a sort 
 of opening, on a brow of the mountain. On 
 one side they could look down upon a vast 
 
BLUEBERRYIXG. 159 
 
 extent of country, exhibiting a beautiful 
 variety of forests, rivers, villages, and farms. 
 On the other side was a rocky precipice, 
 rising abruptly to a considerable height, 
 and then sloping off towards the summit of 
 the mountain. They walked along a few 
 steps on a smooth surface of the rock, be 
 tween patches of grass and blueberry bushes, 
 until Lucy and Rollo ran forward to a brook 
 which came foaming down the precipice, 
 and then, after tumbling along over rocks a 
 little way, took another foaming leap down 
 the mountain, and was lost among the trees 
 below. 
 
 The party all stepped carefully over this 
 brook, and then walked along up the bank 
 on the opposite side until they came to the 
 precipice. Here they were surprised and 
 pleased to see a large bower built, in front 
 of a little sort of cavern or recess in the 
 rock. Jonas had built it of large limbs of 
 trees and bushes, which he had leaned up 
 against the rock, in such a manner as to en 
 close a large space within. There was an 
 opening left round on the farther side, next 
 the rock, and they all went round and went 
 in Rollo first, then Lucy, then the others. 
 
160 BLUEBERTIYING. 
 
 They found that smooth and clean logs and 
 stones were arranged around the sides of the 
 bower ; and in the middle, on a carpet of 
 leaves, was very abundant provision for a 
 rustic dinner. 
 
 There was bread, and butter, and ham, 
 and gingerbread, and pie, and glasses for 
 water from the brook. Rollo and Lucy won 
 dered how all those things could have got 
 up the mountain. Presently, however, they 
 recollected that, when they were coming up, 
 Jonas had two covered baskets to bring, 
 and they thought, at the time, that they 
 seemed to be heavy. 
 
 Thus the day passed away, and towards 
 evening they came down the mountain. 
 Some remarkable things happened when 
 they were coming down, which will be re 
 lated in the story called " TROUBLE ON THE 
 MOUNTAIN." 
 
TROUBLE ON THE MOUNTAIN. 
 
163 
 
 TROUBLE ON THE MOUNTAIN. 
 
 BOASTING. 
 
 "How pleasant it is here ! " said Rollo to 
 his cousin Lucy, as they were gathering 
 blueberries high up on old Mount Benalgon, 
 the day they went up with Rollo s father 
 and mother, and uncle ; " and how thick 
 the blueberries are, Lucy ! " 
 
 " Yes," said Lucy, " they are very thick, 
 I think ; and how far we can see now, we 
 are up here so high ! I wish we were up on 
 that great high rock." 
 
 Rollo looked where Lucy pointed, and he 
 saw, away above them, a rocky summit pro 
 jecting out from the mountain. The front 
 of the rock was ragged and precipitous, but 
 it was flat and mossy upon the top, and firs 
 and other evergreen trees grew there, some 
 of them hanging over the edge. 
 
164 TROUBLE ON THE MOUNTAIN. 
 
 " I wish I could get up there," said Lucy. 
 
 "I wish I could too," said Rollo. "I 
 should like to climb up one of those trees 
 which hangs over, and then I could look 
 down." 
 
 "O, Rollo," said Lucy, "you would not 
 dare to climb up one of those trees." 
 
 "Yes, I should dare to," said Rollo. 
 
 Rollo was sometimes a proud, boasting 
 boy, pretending that he could do great 
 things, and talking very largely. This was 
 one of his greatest faults ; and whenever he 
 seemed to be in this boasting mood, he 
 almost always got into some difficulty after 
 it. There is a text in the Bible that was 
 proved true, very often, in Rollo s case. It 
 is this " Pride cometh before destruction, 
 and a haughty spirit before a fall." Rollo 
 had a sad fall this day, though it was not 
 from that high rock. It was a different sort 
 of a fall from that, as we shall presently see. 
 
 " Lucy," said he again, " I do not believe 
 but that I could get up upon that rock 
 myself. I can climb rocks." 
 
 " O no, you could not," said Lucy. 
 
 " Why, yes, I see a way." 
 
TROUBLE ON THE MOUNTAIN. 165 
 
 " Which way ? " 
 
 U O, round by that great black log. 
 There is a path there through the bushes." 
 
 "O no," said Lucy, "you could not get 
 up there. But there are some boys at that 
 log ; what boys are they ? " 
 
 Hollo looked. They were some boys 
 which they had seen coming up the moun 
 tain, and Rollo s father had warned him 
 not to go near them. They had wanted 
 Rollo to go with them before, but his father 
 had forbidden it. Rollo wanted to go, and 
 now he was glad to see them again; but 
 Lucy was sorry. 
 
 GETTING IN TROUBLE. 
 
 The blueberries were very thick and 
 large, and the bottoms of the baskets were 
 soon covered with them. Each one picked 
 where he found them most plenty. 
 
 Rollo and Lucy kept pretty near together, 
 talking, and gradually strayed away to some 
 distance from the rest of the party. After 
 
166 TEOUBLE ON THE MOUNTAIN. 
 
 a little while, Rollo looked up and saw the 
 three boys pretty near them. As soon as 
 Lucy saw them so near, she moved along 
 towards their parents; and Rollo ought to 
 have done so too, but he remained where he 
 was, and presently one of the boys came up 
 to him. 
 
 "Why did you not come up where we 
 were ? " said he. " They were thicker out 
 there." 
 
 "My father would not let me," said 
 Rollo. 
 
 " O, come along," said the boy ; " he will 
 not care. Besides, he will not know it. He 
 is busy picking by himself. He does not 
 mind where you are." 
 
 Rollo thought this was not exactly the 
 way that a good boy would speak of obey 
 ing a father, but he wanted very much to 
 see the place where the berries were so 
 much thicker. 
 
 "How far is it?" said he to the boy. 
 
 " O, it is only a little way just around 
 that rock." 
 
 By this time the other two boys came up, 
 and they talked with Rollo a little while, 
 and endeavored to persuade him to go. He 
 
TROUBLE ON THE MOUNTAIN. 167 
 
 said finally that he would go and ask his 
 father. So he left his basket, and went and 
 asked his father if he might just go with 
 those boys round the rock. He said the 
 blueberries were much thicker around there, 
 and also that he had been talking with the 
 boys, and he was sure they were good boys. 
 
 "No, Rollo," said his father, decidedly, 
 44 1 cannot think that any boys that use 
 bad language can be good boys, or safe com 
 panions for you. I had rather you would 
 keep with us. If they speak to you, answer 
 them civilly ; but the less you have to say to 
 them or do with them, the better. In fact, 
 I had rather you would not go back to them 
 at all." 
 
 " I must," said Rollo, "to get my basket." 
 
 He accordingly returned to his basket, 
 and told the boys that his father preferred 
 that he should stay where he was. 
 
 The biggest boy of the three was a ragged 
 and dirty-looking boy ; the others called him 
 Jim, and he talked with Rollo a good deal. 
 Rollo s conscience reproved him for not leav 
 ing them, and going back to his father ; but 
 he wanted to stay and hear their talk, and 
 
168 TROUBLE ON THE MOUNTAIN. 
 
 he quieted his conscience by saying to him 
 self that his father told him to treat them 
 civilly. At first the boys were careful what 
 they said to Rollo ; but at length Jim grew 
 more and more bold. He used language 
 which Rollo knew was wrong, and he told 
 Rollo that he was a fool to stick so close to 
 his father ; that he was big enough to find 
 his way alone all over the mountain, if he 
 was of a mind to. 
 
 All this Rollo was silly enough to believe, 
 and, as his father only required him to keep 
 in sight, he thought he would show the boys 
 that he was not so much afraid as they 
 thought he was ; and so he gradually moved 
 off farther and farther from his parents, as 
 he went on gradually filling up his basket. 
 Lucy, in the meantime, went nearer and 
 nearer to them, and in a short time was 
 safely gathering her blueberries by her 
 aunt s side. 
 
 Things went on so for an hour. Rollo s 
 mother asked his father whether he had not 
 better call Rollo to them. 
 
 " No," said he ; "I have told him his duty 
 once, plainly, and now, if he does not do it, 
 
TROUBLE ON THE MOUNTAIN. 169 
 
 lie must take the consequences. I believe 
 I shall leave him to himself.* 
 
 The boys went on talking to one another 
 and to Rollo, telling various stories about 
 their running away from school, stealing 
 apples, and such things. Rollo was much 
 interested in listening to them, though he 
 knew, all the time, that he was doing wrong. 
 But he had not the courage to leave them 
 abruptly, as he ought to have done, and 
 go back to his father. 
 
 Rollo took a great deal of pains with the 
 berries he picked ; he chose the largest and 
 ripest, and was very careful not to get in 
 any sticks and leaves. His basket was small, 
 and he intended, as soon as he got it full, to 
 carry it carefully to his mother, and pour 
 his berries into her large tin pail. He was 
 succeeding finely in this, but then he had 
 insensibly strayed away so far from his 
 father, that now he was entirely out of his 
 sight. 
 
 At length, as Jim was sitting on a log to 
 rest himself, as he said, he saw a little bird 
 alight on the branch of a black stump near. 
 
 "Hush," said he, "there is a Bob-a-link 
 See how I will fix him." 
 
170 TROUBLE OX THE MOUNTAIN. 
 
 So saying, he picked up a stone, and was 
 going to throw it. 
 
 Hollo begged him not to kill that pretty 
 li ttle bird ; but he paid no attention to what 
 Rollo said. He threw the stone with all his 
 force ; but fortunately it did not hit the 
 bird. It struck the limb that the bird was 
 perched upon, and shivered it to fragments, 
 and the bird flew away, terrified. 
 
 "Now, what did you do that for?" said 
 Hollo ; "you might have hit him." 
 
 " Hit him ! " said he ; " I meant to hit 
 him, to be sure." 
 
 " But what good does it do to kill little 
 birds? I found one this morning, and I 
 would not kill him for any thing." 
 
 " Where did you find him ? " said Jim. 
 
 Rollo then told the boys all about his 
 finding a little bird, in its nest, floating in 
 the brook, and about their naming him 
 Mosette ; as is described in the story called 
 " BLUEBERRYING " ; and Jim said, if he had 
 found him, he would have put him on a 
 fence, for a mark to fire stones at. " I would 
 have made him peep, I tell you," said he. 
 
 Rollo said he would not have him killed on 
 
TROUBLE OX THE MOUNTAIN. 171 
 
 any account. He was going to carry him 
 home, and feed him, and tame him. 
 
 " But where is he now ? " said Jim. 
 
 " O, we hid him behind a stone, down at 
 the foot of the mountain, where our horses 
 are tied." 
 
 "But how can you find him again? " said 
 Jim. 
 
 " O," said Rollo, " we know ; it was be 
 hind the corner of a stone, just in the 
 bushes, where we tied the horse." 
 
 Jim winked at the other boys when Rollo 
 said this, though Rollo did not see it. He 
 was vexed with Rollo, because he reproved 
 him for stoning the bird. 
 
 " I would set him up for a mark, if I had 
 him," said Jim. " I wish I had been there 
 when you found him ; I would have taken 
 him away from you." 
 
 " No, you would not have taken him 
 away. Jonas would not let you." 
 
 "Jonas! who is Jonas? and what do you 
 think I care for Jonas ? " said he. 
 
 He then came up to Rollo, and looked 
 into his basket, and saw it nearly full of 
 large ripe blueberries. 
 
172 TROUBLE OX THE MOUNTAIN. 
 
 " And I believe," said he, " that you have 
 stolen some of my berries out of my basket, 
 while I have been sitting here." 
 
 "No, I have not," said Hollo. "I have 
 not touched your basket." 
 
 " You have," said Jim, fiercely, " and I 
 will have them back again. Besides, I put 
 some into yours, while you went to your 
 father. So half the berries in your basket 
 are mine." 
 
 This was a lie ; but bad boys like Jim will 
 always lie, when they have anything to gain 
 by it. He came up to Rollo, and began to 
 pull his basket away from him. Rollo 
 struggled against him, and began to cry. 
 But Jim was too strong for him ; he tipped 
 his basket over, poured a great many of the 
 berries into his own basket, and the rest 
 were spilled over on the ground. Then, 
 angry at Rollo s screams and cries, he tram 
 pled on all the berries that were on the 
 ground, and was beginning to run away. 
 Rollo caught hold of the skirt of his coat, 
 screaming all the time for his father. Jim 
 turned round, and struck Rollo with his 
 fist, knocked him down, and then he and 
 the other boys set off, as fast as they could 
 
TROUBLE ON THE MOUNTAIN. 
 
 173 
 
 run, through the bushes ; and they disap 
 peared, just as Hollo s father and Jonas came 
 hastening to his aid. 
 
 They raised Rollo up, and his father took 
 him in his arms to carry him away, He 
 saw that there had been some serious diffi 
 culty with the bad boys, but he did not ask 
 Rollo anything about it then ; for he knew 
 that he could not talk intelligibly till he 
 
174 TROUBLE ON THE MOUNTAIN. 
 
 had done crying. Hollo laid his head down 
 on his father s shoulder, as he walked along, 
 and sobbed bitterly. 
 
 A TEST OF PENITENCE. 
 
 His father carried him back to where his 
 mother and uncle were, who were coming 
 towards him looking anxiously. 
 
 They presently got pretty near them, 
 Rollo still continuing to cry. His father 
 then said to him, 
 
 " Rollo, be still a moment. I want to 
 speak to you." 
 
 When he first took Rollo up, he did not 
 command him to be still, for he knew that 
 it would do no good. He was then so over 
 whelmed with pain and terror, that he could 
 not help crying ; and his father never com 
 manded impossibilities. By this time, how 
 ever, the pain, and the immediate terror, 
 had so far subsided, that his father knew he 
 could now control himself, and Rollo knew 
 that he must obey. He accordingly stopped 
 crying aloud, and tried to listen to his 
 father. 
 
TROUBLE ON THE MOUNTAIN. 175 
 
 "Rollo," said his father, "I pity you very 
 much. I warned you against this bad com 
 pany, and now I perceive you have got into 
 some difficulty with them ; but I cannot 
 hear your story about it till we get home. 
 It is your own fault that has brought you 
 into trouble; and now you must not extend 
 your trouble over all our party, and spoil 
 our happiness as you have your own. I 
 must go and put you by yourself, until you 
 get entirely composed and pleasant, and 
 then you may join us again." 
 
 "But, father," said Rollo, beginning to 
 cry afresh at the thought of the boys treat 
 ment of him, "they came up to me, and - 
 and " 
 
 " Stop, Hollo," said his father. " Be still. 
 You cannot tell the story intelligibly now, 
 and if you could, I should not be willing to 
 listen to it. You must not say any thing 
 about it, unless you are questioned, until 
 we get home." 
 
 By this time they came up pretty near 
 the place where the rest of the party were ; 
 but his father did not take him there. He 
 turned aside, and, putting Rollo down, he 
 
176 TROUBLE ON THE MOUNTAIN. 
 
 led him along to a smooth log, which lay 
 among some old trees, close by, and told 
 him to sit there until he was entirely com 
 posed and pleasant again, and then to come 
 to him, or go to picking berries again, just 
 as he pleased. 
 
 Hollo sat on the log for some time, with 
 his empty basket by his side, mourning over 
 his sorrows. Lucy came to him, and endea 
 vored to console him. She begged him not 
 to cry ; and she poured out half of her own 
 berries into his basket, and told him that 
 they could soon fill it full again, if he 
 would come with her to a good thick place 
 she had found. Rollo became gradually 
 quiet and composed, and walked along with 
 Lucy. 
 
 Lucy had indeed found a place where 
 the berries were very thick and large, and 
 Rollo determined to be as industrious as 
 possible. They worked away very busily 
 for half an hour, and Rollo gradually recov 
 ered his spirits. 
 
 His mother watched him from time to 
 time, and when she saw that he was good- 
 humored again, she said to his father, 
 
TROUBLE ON THE MOUNTAIN. 177 
 
 "Rollo seems to be picking his berries 
 very pleasantly. I rather think he is sorry 
 for his conduct." 
 
 "Yes, I see he is getting good-humored 
 again, but I am afraid he is not truly peni 
 tent. It is easier to forget a sin, than to be 
 sorry for it. It is very easy, however, for 
 us to ascertain." 
 
 " How can we ascertain ? " asked his 
 mother. 
 
 " Why, if you should go and ask him 
 about it, if he is really penitent, he will be 
 troubled most to think of his disobedience 
 in going into the bad company ; but if he is 
 not penitent, he will not think of that, but 
 only go to scolding about the bad boys." 
 
 "That is true," said she. "I have a great 
 mind to go and try him." 
 
 Hollo s father thought it would be a good 
 plan, and she, accordingly, walked along 
 towards Rollo slowly, gathering berries as 
 she went. 
 
 Rollo saw her coming, and said, " Here is 
 mother, Lucy ; let us go and give her our 
 berries." 
 
 So saying, he carried his basket up to her 
 very pleasantly, and said, " Here, mother ; 
 12 
 
178 TROUBLE ON THE MOUNTAIN. 
 
 see, here are all these berries I have been 
 picking for you." 
 
 " Ah," said she, " did you pick all these 
 for me ? " 
 
 " E h no," said he, " not all ; Lucy 
 gave me some." 
 
 " Well, Lucy, I am very much obliged to 
 you, and I am glad to see that you, Rollo, 
 are pleasant again ; I am sorry you went 
 and got into difficulty with those boys." 
 
 " They came and took away my berries," 
 said he, "and struck me that great, ugly 
 Jim." 
 
 The feelings of vexation and anger against 
 the bad boys began to rise again in Hollo s 
 mind, the moment he began to talk about 
 them, and he was just going to cry. His 
 mother stopped him, saying, 
 
 " You need not tell me about him any 
 more. I see how it is." 
 
 " How what is ? " said Rollo. 
 
 " How it is about your being sorry. Your 
 father told me that if you were truly peni 
 tent for what had happened about those 
 boys, I should find you, when I came to 
 talk with you about it, grieved for your own 
 fault, and if you were not penitent, you 
 
TROUBLE ON THE MOUNTAIN. 179 
 
 would only be angry at theirs. I see which 
 it is." 
 
 Rollo was silent a moment. He felt the 
 truth and justice of the distinction; but, 
 like all boys who are not sorry for the 
 wrong they have done, he could not resist 
 the temptation to try to justify himself by 
 throwing the blame on others. So he be 
 gan to tell her something more about that 
 "cross old Jim," but she interrupted him, 
 and told him she did not wish to hear any 
 thing about that " cross old Jim." He was 
 not her boy, she said, and she had nothing 
 to do with him or his faults. 
 
 She then went to talking about other 
 things, and helped Rollo begin to fill his 
 basket again. He showed her where the 
 berries were thickest, and led her round 
 behind a rock to show her a beautiful wild 
 flower that he had found. He said he did 
 not bring it to her, for his father had told 
 him not to touch any flowers or berries that 
 they did not know, for fear they might be 
 poisonous. 
 
 After a little while, Rollo s mother left 
 him and Lucy together, and went back to 
 where his father and uncle were. 
 
180 TROUBLE ON THE MOUNTAIN. 
 
 "Well," said they, "how did you find 
 Rollo?" 
 
 " Pleasant, but not penitent" said she. 
 
 Lucy and Rollo went on gathering berries 
 some time after Rollo s mother left him, in 
 silence. Rollo felt rather unhappy, but he 
 was not subdued. His heart was still proud 
 and urihumbled; and, after a time, he said 
 to Lucy, 
 
 "It seems to me very strange that my 
 mother does not think those boys were to 
 blame any for doing so." 
 
 "She does think they were to blame, 
 Rollo, I know." 
 
 "No, she does not. She will not hear 
 me say any thing about them." 
 
 Lucy did not answer, because she knew 
 it would do no good to dispute with Rollo, 
 while he was so unreasonable. Rollo ought 
 to have been willing to have seen his fault, 
 and to have felt truly sorry for it ; but he 
 was not, and so Lucy thought it was better 
 not to talk with him about it at all. If he 
 had been truly sorry, and had gone and 
 told his father so, and asked his forgive 
 ness, he would have been happy again. 
 
 But, as it was, he was not happy. The 
 
TROUBLE ON THE MOUNTAIN. 181 
 
 recollection of his disobedience and sin, 
 would remain in his mind ; and, though 
 he tried to talk, and laugh, and play, as 
 usual, his mind was not much at ease. In 
 fact, he was secretly glad when the time 
 arrived for going home. 
 
 The party all gathered together on a 
 smooth piece of ground, about the middle 
 of the afternoon, to make their arrange 
 ments for going down the mountain. They 
 put their baskets, filled beautifully with 
 blueberries, together on the grass, while 
 they sat on the stones and logs around, to 
 rest a little before walking down. 
 
 Then Hollo s father arranged the order 
 of march. Jonas was to go first, with two 
 of the heaviest baskets of berries. Next 
 came Lucy, with her little baskets two- 
 thirds full, and with leaves and some beau 
 tiful pieces of moss she had found, put in 
 upon the top. Then came Hollo s mother 
 leaning on his uncle s arm. His uncle had 
 a basket of berries in his other hand. Fi 
 nally, Rollo and his father walked together 
 behind, with each a basket in his hand. 
 
 Thus they walked along down the steep 
 path, until they began to enter the bushes. 
 
182 TROUBLE ON THE MOUNTAIN. 
 
 Hollo s father had made this arrangement 
 so that he might have an opportunity to 
 talk with him about the difficulty with the 
 boys, for he thought, on the whole, it would 
 be better to talk with him now than to wait 
 till they got home. 
 
 After they had walked along a little way, 
 Hollo s father asked him whether he had a 
 good time blueberrying. 
 
 " Why, yes, sir," said Rollo, "pretty good." 
 
 "Have you seen any thing more of those 
 boys?" 
 
 " No, sir." 
 
 " Your mother went to talk with you, and 
 said you did not seem very sorry for your 
 fault." 
 
 " Why, father," said Rollo, " I did not do 
 any thing to the boys at all. It was all 
 their fault entirely." 
 
 "I don t suppose you did do any thing 
 wrong towards them, but you committed a 
 great fault in respect to me." 
 
 "What fault?" said Hollo. 
 
 "Disobedience." 
 
 "Why, father, how? You did not tell 
 me to stay close by you. " 
 
 "And is a boy guilty of disobedience 
 
TROUBLE OX THE MOUNTAIN. 183 
 
 only when he does what his father forbids 
 in words ? " 
 
 " I suppose so," said Rollo. 
 
 " What is disobedience ? " asked his father. 
 
 " Why, it is doing what you tell me not 
 to do ; is it not? " 
 
 " That is not a sufficient definition of it ; 
 for suppose you were out there in the 
 bushes, and I was to beckon you to come 
 here, and you should not come, would not 
 that be disobedience ? " 
 
 " Why, yes, sir." 
 
 " And yet I should not tell you to come." 
 
 " No, sir." 
 
 " And so, if I were to shake my head at 
 you when you were doing any thing wrong, 
 and you were to continue doing it, that 
 would be disobedience." 
 
 Rollo admitted that it would. 
 
 " So that it is not necessary that I should 
 tell you in words what my wishes are : if 
 I express them in any way so that you 
 plainly understand it, that is enough. The 
 most important orders that are given by 
 men, are often given without any words." 
 
 " How, father ? " 
 
184 TROUBLE ON THE MOUNTAIN. 
 
 k Why, at sea, sometimes, where there is 
 a great fleet of ships, and the admiral, who 
 commands them all, is in one of them. Now, 
 if he wants all the fleet to sail in any way ; 
 or if he wishes to have some one vessel come 
 near to his, or go back home, or go away to 
 any other part of the world ; or if he wants 
 any particular person in the fleet to come 
 on board his vessel, he does not send an 
 order in tvords; he only hoists flags of a 
 particular kind upon the masts of his vessel, 
 and they all obey them. 
 
 " Now, suppose," continued he, " one of 
 the ships did not sail as he wished, and when 
 he called the captain to account for it, he 
 should say that he was not guilty of dis 
 obedience, because he did not tell him to 
 sail so." 
 
 Hollo laughed, and said he thought that 
 would not be a very good excuse. 
 
 " Well, it is just such an excuse as yours. 
 I did not positively command you not to 
 go near the boys, or not to have any con 
 versation with them at all, though I ex 
 pressed my Avish that you would not, so 
 that you could not help understanding it." 
 
TROUBLE ON THE MOUNTAIN. 185 
 
 Rollo could not deny that this was so. 
 
 " But that is not the only case of disobe 
 dience. For you did one thing which was 
 contrary to my express command in words." 
 
 Rollo looked concerned, and said he was 
 sure he did not know it. 
 
 " I told you not to go out of my sight." 
 
 " Well, but, father," said Rollo eagerly, 
 in reply, " I am sure I did not mean to. I 
 was picking berries so busy, I did not ob 
 serve where I was." 
 
 " I know you were, and that was the dis 
 obedience ; for when I command you to 
 keep in sight of me, that means that you 
 must take good care that you do mind 
 where you are. Suppose I were to tell 
 Jonas that he might go and take a walk, 
 but that he must be sure to come back in 
 half an hour, and he should go, and pay no 
 attention to the time, and so not come back 
 until three quarters of an hour ; would that 
 be obedience ? " 
 
 " No, sir ; but it would not be so bad as 
 it would be if he should stay away when 
 he knew that the time was out." 
 
 " No, it would not be so wilful an act of 
 disobedience, but it would be disobedience, 
 
186 TROUBLE ON THE MOUNTAIN. 
 
 notwithstanding. You see, Rollo," he con 
 tinued, "when I tell you or any boy to 
 come back in half an hour, there are two 
 things implied in the command first, that 
 you should notice the time, and, secondly, 
 that you should come back when the time is 
 out. Now, you may disobey the command 
 by neglecting either of these." 
 
 " Yes, sir," said Rollo, " I see we may, but 
 I did not think of it before." 
 
 "No, I presume you did not," said his 
 father ; " but I want you to understand it, 
 and remember it after this forever. You 
 have disobeyed, to-day, in two ways, in 
 which boys are very apt to disobey, when 
 they do not mean to do it wilfully. I will 
 tell you what the principles are, again, so 
 that you can remember and tell me when I 
 ask you. 
 
 " 1. Boys must take care to comply with 
 their parents directions, if they are ex 
 pressed in any way whatsoever ; and, 
 
 " 2. When directed to do any thing in a 
 particular time or way, they must see to it 
 themselves, that they notice and keep in 
 mind the circumstances which they are re 
 quired to attend to." 
 
TROUBLE ON THE MOUNTAIN. 187 
 
 Rollo said he would try to remember it, 
 and as he seemed attentive and docile, his 
 father did not talk with him any more about 
 his fault at that time. Besides, they came 
 now to some very rough places in the path, 
 and Hollo s father had to lift Lucy over 
 them. 
 
 Lucy spilled some of her berries in one 
 place, and Rollo was going to help her pick 
 them up, but Jonas said they had better 
 leave them for the birds, and walk on. 
 
 " So we will, Lucy," said Rollo, " and I 
 rather think that Mosette is hungry by this 
 time." 
 
 " Yes," said Jonas, " and what are you 
 going to do with Mosette ? " 
 
 " O, put him in a cage, and bring him up 
 tame," said Rollo. "I mean to teach him 
 to eat out of my hand. I shall treat him 
 very kindly, though he is my little pris 
 oner." 
 
 "I would give him the liberty of the 
 yard, if I were you," said some one behind, 
 laughing. 
 
 Rollo looked around. It was his uncle 
 George, walking close behind him. 
 
 " What is the liberty of the yard ? " said 
 Rollo. 
 
188 TROUBLE OX THE MOUNTAIN. 
 
 " Why, when men intend to treat a pris 
 oner kindly, they leave the prison door 
 open, and let him walk about the yard ; and 
 this is called letting him have the liberty of 
 the yard ; and sometimes they let them go 
 over half the town." 
 
 " Do you think I had better do so with 
 Mosette ? " said Hollo. 
 
 " Yes," said his uncle George ; " leave 
 his cage open, and let him go where he 
 pleases." 
 
 " O, he would fly entirely away," said 
 Hollo. 
 
 " Perhaps not, if you should feed him 
 well and treat him very kindly. He might 
 like his cage better than any nest." 
 
 " I shall treat him as kindly as I can," 
 said Rollo ; " only think, Jonas, that Jim 
 said, if he had found him, he should have 
 set him up upon the fence for a mark to fire 
 stones at ! " 
 
 " Jim said so ?" said Jonas, "how did Jim 
 know any thing about it ? " 
 
 Why e h why I told him," 
 said Rollo. 
 
 " What did you tell him for ? " 
 
 " O, because," said Rollo, " we were talk 
 ing, and I told him." 
 
TROUBLE ON THE MOUNTAIN. 189 
 
 " I hope you did not tell him where we 
 hid Mosette, behind the rock." 
 
 Why yes," said Rollo, " I believe I did." 
 
 "Then I am afraid you will never see 
 poor Mosette again," said Jonas. 
 
 "Why," said Rollo, "you don t think 
 that he would go and get him." 
 
 " I don t know," said Jonas, " what he 
 would do ; but I should not have wanted to 
 tell such a boy any thing about him." 
 
 Rollo began to be alarmed. He went back 
 to his father, and asked him to let him and 
 Jonas go on before the rest, to see if their 
 bird was safe. His father told him he might 
 go. " But," said he, " I am afraid you have 
 lost your bird ; when a boy allows himself to 
 get into bad company, he does not know how 
 many troubles he plunges himself into." 
 
 Rollo and Jonas ran on, and soon disap 
 peared among the trees. Rollo found it 
 hard to keep up, as the road was not very 
 smooth, though they had got down the steep 
 est part of the mountain. Jonas kept hold 
 of Rollo s hand, and went on running and 
 walking alternately, until they got down to 
 the end of the trees and bushes, and then 
 
190 TROUBLE ON THE MOUNTAIN. 
 
 they came out in sight of the place where 
 the horses were tied. 
 
 It was fortunate for poor Mosette, and 
 for Rollo too, that they did thus run on be 
 fore, for it happened that Jim, and the boys 
 with him, had come down the mountain by 
 another road, and were just going up to the 
 place as Jonas and Rollo came out of the 
 woods. 
 
 " There they are," said Jonas. " You stay 
 here ; I must run on." And he let go of 
 Hollo s hand, sprang forward, and ran with 
 all his might. Rollo tried to follow, but 
 soon stopped and looked on. 
 
 Jim and his boys did not see Jonas com 
 ing, and they went to work looking around 
 the bushes and stones after Mosette. In a 
 few minutes, one smaller boy came out from 
 the bushes, close by the place where Rollo 
 rscollected the nest was hid, with something 
 in his hand, and Rollo could distinctly hear 
 him calling out, 
 
 "Here he is, Jim I have got him, Jim." 
 
 Just that moment, Jonas came running 
 up among the boys, calling out, 
 
 " Let that bird alone ! Let that bird 
 alone ! " The boys, terrified at this unex- 
 
TROUBLE ON THE MOUNTAIN. 191 
 
 pected onset, started and ran in every di 
 rection. The boy who had the nest, dropped 
 it upon the ground, and dodged back into 
 the bushes. Jonas took it up carefully, put 
 little Mosette, who had fallen out, back in 
 the nest, and walked out into the road to 
 meet Rollo, who was coming down as fast as 
 he could come, on the other side. 
 
 They saw Jim and his comrades no more, 
 and Rollo said he believed he should never 
 again want to have any thing to do with bad 
 boys. 
 

 
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