ROLLO S TRAVELS, 
 
 THE EOLLO SEEIES 
 
 18 COMPOS ET> OF FOURTEEN VOLUMES, TIZ. 
 
 Rollo Learning to Talk. 
 Hollo Learning to Read. 
 Rollo at Work. 
 Rollo at Play. 
 Rollo at School. 
 Rollo s Vacation. 
 Hollo s Experiments, 
 
 Rollo s Museum. 
 Rollo s Travels. 
 Rollo s Correspondence 
 Rollo s Philosophy Water 
 Rollo s Philosophy Air. 
 Rollo s Philosophy Fire. 
 Rollo s Philosophy Sky. 
 
 A NEW EDITION, REVISED BY THE AUTHOR 
 
 BOSTON: 
 
 PHILLIPS, SAMPSON, AND COMPANY. 
 

 Entered, according to Act of Congrew, in the Tew 1855, by 
 
 PHILLIPS, SAMPSON, & CO., 
 I* Ik 9 Clerk s Office of the District Court of the District of Massachuretta 
 
A 32 
 NOTICE. 
 
 THE parent, who may in a leisure 
 moment take up this volume, will find, 
 that in this, as in its predecessors, there 
 are many pages in which there is no 
 direct effort made to convey moral in 
 struction. It does not follow from this, 
 however, that the perusal of the pages 
 may not exert a considerable influence, 
 ot a salutary character, upon the mind 
 of the child. A boy is injured by bad 
 company, and benefited by good, even 
 though the associate may not attempt 
 to teach directly what is right or 
 wrong ; and Rollo is presented to his 
 youthful friends as a companion, rather 
 than a teacher. They are to be bene 
 fited, not so much by listening to in 
 structions, as by catching the spirit of 
 docility and gentleness which exhibits 
 itself in his conduct and character. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 Page. 
 GENERAL ORDERS 7 
 
 THE RAIN 22 
 
 THE EVENING RIDE 29 
 
 JONAS S COMPASS 42 
 
 GETTING ADRIFT 56 
 
 THE ENGINE 70 
 
 A NIGHT AT SEA 87 
 
 FOG 98 
 
 THE STORY OF MOPES AND HIS SHIP 10 
 
 AN EXPEDITION 123 
 
 THE MORNING SONG 137 
 
 TESTIMONY 148 
 
 THE WAGON RIDE 14 
 
 THE TRAVELLERS BENIGHTED 174 
 
 THE EN1J OF THE JOUKNEY 183 
 
HOLLO S T1UVELS. 
 
 GENERAL ORDERS. 
 
 ROLLO S father was going to take a jour 
 ney, and he was considering whether it 
 would not be a good plan to take Rollo 
 with him. 
 
 " You will find such a boy a great deal 
 of trouble," said his mother. 
 
 "True," replied his father; "I expect 
 that." 
 
 " And the expense will be considerable," 
 
 she added. 
 
 " Yes," said Mr. Holiday, " there will be 
 some additional expense. They generally 
 charge half price for a boy." 
 
 " But I should like very much to have 
 him go," said Mrs. Holiday, " if you think 
 it is best." 
 
 Mr. Holiday said nothing more for some 
 
8 
 
 GENERAL ORDERS. 
 
 mimtes. He was taking some clothes out 
 of his drawers and putting them upon a 
 table. His large black travelling trunk was 
 by the side of the table, and Hollo s mother 
 was putting the things carefully into it. 
 
 After a few minutes more, Mr. Holiday 
 said, 
 
 " I believe I will take him. He will bring 
 some additional care upon me ; but then he 
 is generally considerate and obedient, and 
 I don t think he will make me any unneces 
 sary trouble. Then he will be company for 
 me, and perhaps, sometimes, may be even 
 of a little service." 
 
 "Yes," said his mother, "I think he 
 will." 
 
 " Now, if he was a disobedient and trou 
 blesome boy," said Mr. Holiday, "or if I 
 thought he would be ill-humored or fretful 
 when things go wrong, I should not think 
 of taking him." 
 
 " I think myself he will be good-humored 
 and docile," said Mrs. Holiday. 
 
 " And, then, the journey will be of some 
 advantage to him," said his father. " He will 
 see a great many new things ; and, what is 
 better still he will be placed in some 
 
GENERAL ORDERS. 5 
 
 situations ; and so he may iearn lessoas of 
 wise conduct, and presence of mind, and 
 circumspection. I think, on the whole, I 
 will take him." 
 
 " Well," said Hollo s mother, " I will get 
 his clothes, and put them up in his little 
 black trunk." 
 
 They said nothing to Hollo himself, about 
 this plan, until the evening. His mother 
 went on, however, with her preparations, 
 and got his tiunk all packed and ready. 
 But Hollo himself heard nothing about the 
 plan until they sat down to tea. 
 
 " What time to-morrow are you going, 
 father?" said Hollo, as he was pouring out 
 some milk from a pitcher, into his little mug. 
 
 " About four o clock," said his father. 
 
 "If it does not rain," said Hollo. 
 
 " Whether it rains or not," said his father. 
 " I have nothing to do with the rain. And I 
 have concluded to take company with me." 
 
 " Who ? " said Hollo. 
 
 " You," replied his father. 
 
 " Me ! " said Hollo-, putting down his mug, 
 and looking at his father with astonishment 
 and pleasure. 
 
 " Yes, you. Should you like to go ? " 
 
10 GENERAL ORDERS. 
 
 " Certainly," said Hollo. " 1 never was 
 in a steamboat in my life." 
 
 " Nor in a great hotel." 
 
 "No, sir," said Rollo. 
 
 " I think that you will make, on the 
 whole, a pretty good traveller, and I think 
 you may be of some service to me, besides 
 keeping me company." 
 
 Rollo s father had another reason for 
 taking Rollo, more important than either of 
 these ; and that was to gratify his little son 
 with the pleasures of the journey, and to af 
 ford him opportunities of improvement. But 
 he did not say much about this, nor about 
 the additional expense, because he did not 
 wish Rollo to feel that he was a burden to 
 him. Rollo was very much pleased with 
 the plan, and determined to be as useful, and 
 as good company, as he could be, all the 
 way. 
 
 " I ll go and pack my trunk immediately 
 after supper," said Rollo. 
 
 11 It is packed already," replied his mother 
 
 "Who packed it?" 
 
 " I," added his mother. " That is, I have 
 put in all the clothes you will want. If you 
 have any things that you want to take your- 
 
OENERAL ORDERS. lj 
 
 self, for any of your own purposes, you 
 can get them ready this evening, and I will 
 put them up in the morning." 
 
 After tea, Hollo s father took his seat by 
 the window, and called Hollo to him, to give 
 him, as he said, his general orders. 
 
 " The first rule I wish to give you, for 
 your conduct on your travels, Rollo," said 
 his father, " is, always keep a quiet mind. 
 
 " Yes, sir," said Rollo. 
 
 " Travellers break this rule by fretting 
 and worrying themselves. There are three 
 things, in respect to which travellers make 
 themselves restless and uneasy time, dan 
 ger, and hardships." 
 
 " What is worrying against time ? " asked 
 Rollo. 
 
 "It is an uneasy, restless eagerness to get 
 along faster than we are going," replied his 
 father. " A traveller in this state of mind is 
 all the time watching the mile-stones, or ask 
 ing how far he has come, and wishing to 
 go faster. When he has decided upon mak 
 ing a journey, he is in a hurry to have the time 
 come for him to set oif ; and, in every stage 
 of his journey, he is always looking forward, 
 and eagerly wishing to be farther along. 
 
GENERAL ORDERS. 
 
 Now, you must try to keep a quiet mind 
 about time and distance. Do not look for 
 ward much. Give yourself up to the pleas 
 ures of the present hour, and let the horses 
 go on in their own way." 
 
 " Yes, sir," said Rollo, " I will." 
 " Then travellers worry themselves about 
 danger," continued his father. " You must 
 avoid that. Do not let your imagination run 
 upon dangers and disasters. Boys are not so 
 much exposed to this as older persons. Some 
 whom I have known are always apprehend 
 ing some accident or trouble ; picturing to 
 themselves, as they ride along, upsettings in 
 coaches, or explosions in steamboats, or run 
 ning off the track in the cars. They are 
 always looking out at the window in search 
 of hills or steep banks, or listening to the 
 clanking of the engine, to hear if something 
 s not going wrong. Now, you must banish 
 all these things from your mind as complete 
 ly as possible. At all events, never talk 
 about them. You cannot at first control 
 your imagination entirely ; but if you steadily 
 exert yourself to keep your mind on other 
 objects, you will soon learn to do so." 
 
 " / can t help thinking of those things. 
 
GENERAL ORDERS. 13 
 
 sometimes," said Hollo s mother, who was 
 listening to the conversation, while she was 
 putting up the cups and saucers at the table. 
 
 "Perhaps not," said his father; "such 
 thoughts are partly voluntary and partly in 
 voluntary. It is only so far as they are vol 
 untary, that is, so far as we willingly allow 
 our minds to dwell upon these dangers, that 
 we are in fault. And if we put a stop to all 
 this voluntary uneasiness and dread, the rest 
 will soon cease of itself, and we shall travel 
 with a quiet mind. It is a great deal better 
 to occupy our thoughts with other things, 
 and leave the horses to the driver, the boiler 
 to the engineers and firemen, and the winds 
 and waves to God." 
 
 " / think that is the best way," said 
 Rollo. 
 
 " Then there is the worrying of ourselves 
 against inconveniences and hardships. That 
 you will be tempted to do. There is no 
 avoiding inconveniences and hardships in 
 travelling, and the best way is to bear them 
 good-naturedly and patiently. Never com 
 plain unless you expect to do some good by 
 complaining. So you understand now what 
 I mean by keeping a quiet mind." 
 
14 GENERAL ORDERS. 
 
 " Yes, father," said Rollo ; "and now for 
 the next rule." 
 
 But Hollo s father, instead of giving him 
 another rule, took out his watch, and said 
 that he could not talk any more with him 
 then, for he had some letters to write. So 
 he said that he would give him the rest of 
 his instructions some time on the way. 
 
 When his father had gone, Rollo asked 
 his mother what she would recommend to 
 him to take in addition to his clothes. 
 
 "Let me think," said she; "a pen 
 cil ; you will want a pencil, perhaps. You 
 may see soitie thing that you will want to 
 draw." 
 
 "Yes, mother, I will take my pencil." 
 
 " And your little pocket inkstand, and a 
 steel pen ; and I think it would be well to 
 have a little book to write a journal in, and 
 one or two sheets of paper, folded up in the 
 form of a letter, to carry in your pocket ; so 
 as to be convenient when you want to write 
 a letter in some situation where you cannot 
 got .access to your trunk." 
 
 " And some wafers in a little box," said 
 Rollo. 
 
 "Yes," replied his mother; "you can 
 
GENERAL ORDERS. 15 
 
 go and get those ready, and then, perhaps, 
 you will think of some other things." 
 
 Rollo accordingly went out to collect his 
 \mting and drawing materials : when they 
 were ready, he took his knife, and finding 
 that it was dull, he went out to get Jonas to 
 sharpen it for him. Jonas was Very much 
 pleased to hear of Hollo s intended journey, 
 and he said that he would put his knife in 
 first rate order for him. He also told him he 
 would lend him his little pocket compass, so 
 that he could always tell which way was 
 north, in all his travels. 
 
 This pocket compass of Jonas s was origi 
 nally a part of a watch-key. Somebody gave 
 it to Jonas after the tube had got worn out, 
 so that it was spoiled for a watch-key. Jonas 
 had contrived to grind off the tube, and also 
 the little ring upon the opposite side, which 
 was made to fasten the key to the chain, 
 and so it was smooth arid round like a little 
 pocket compass. It had lost its resemblance 
 to a watch-key, altogether. 
 
 Rollo was very glad to have this compass. 
 Jonas ground the knife while Rollo was busy 
 in the house looking up his other things. 
 When the knife was ready, Jonas went in 
 
16 GENERAL ORDERS. 
 
 pursuit of Rollo to give it to him. He fo\nd 
 him in the back chamber seated on the floor, 
 with a small kite by his side, and coils of 
 kite tail all around him. He was trying to 
 untangle the tail, as he called it. 
 
 "Of I would not work upon my kite 
 now," said Jonas, "if I were you. I would 
 be getting ready." 
 
 " I am getting ready," said Rollo. " I am 
 going to carry my kite." 
 
 " O, no," said Jonas, " you can t carry 
 your kite." 
 
 "Yes I can," said Rollo ; "it is very 
 light." 
 
 " Yes, and it s very bulky." 
 
 "Bulky?" said Rollo. 
 
 " Yes," said Jonas ; "that is, it takes up a 
 great deal of room." 
 
 " O, no," said Rollo; "it is very flat and 
 thin." 
 
 " Besides, it is too long to go into the 
 trunk," persisted Jonas. 
 
 "It is too long for my trunk," said Rollo, 
 "but then it will go into father s." 
 
 " I don t believe it will," said Jonas. 
 
 " I mean to go and measure," said Rollo. 
 
 So he left his kite upon the floor, aft 
 
GENERAL ORDERS. 17 
 
 tak.ng the length of it, with a twine, and 
 went and measured the length of his father s 
 trunk. It was a small kite, and he found to 
 his great joy that it would go in. 
 
 His mother asked him what he was doing ; 
 and so he told her of his plan of carrying 
 his kite. She told him that he could not 
 do that. 
 
 "Why not?" said Rollo. 
 
 " O, because," replied his mother, " you 
 will not have any good time to raise it while 
 you are gone ; and it is riot worth while." 
 
 " O yes, mother," said Rollo ; " I can raise 
 it with Horatio." 
 
 Horatio was a boy whom he expected to 
 visit in the course of his journey. 
 
 " But then it will be very likely to get 
 broken or lost. / would not take it, if I 
 were you." 
 
 Rollo s mother made a mistake. She was 
 assigning false reasons. The real reason 
 why Rollo ought not to take his kite was, 
 that it would be an inconvenient and trouble 
 some thing to carry ; but instead of assigning 
 this reason, or, what would have been better 
 still, giving no reason at all, but simply tell 
 ing him that he could not be allowed to 
 
IS 
 
 GENERAL ORlERS. 
 
 carry it, she attempted to persuade him to 
 give it up, by urging arguments which were 
 really not of much weight; and so Rollo 
 was not satisfied with them, but was only 
 the more eager to have the kite go. 
 
 " Well," said his mother at length, " go 
 and ask your father." 
 
 So Rollo went down stairs into the back 
 parlor, and found his father writing there, at 
 a table. He went and stood up by the side 
 of the table, waiting for an opportunity to 
 speak to him. 
 
 When his father had finished the sentence 
 that he was writing, he looked up and said, 
 
 "Well, Rollo." 
 
 " I wanted to ask you, sir, if I might take 
 my kite with me." 
 
 His father hesitated. 
 
 " It will just go into your trunk ; I have 
 measured it." 
 
 His father reflected a moment, and then 
 shaking his head, slowly said, 
 
 " No, Rollo, I think it will not be best." 
 
 "Why not, father? It is very light ; and 
 then it is so thin that it will not take up 
 much room." 
 
 "I cannot tell you the reason now," said 
 
GEXE lAL ORDERS. 
 
 19 
 
 his father. "I will explain it all to you in 
 the steamboat." 
 
 He looked pleasantly and smiled, while he 
 said this, but Rollo looked very thoughful 
 and sad. 
 
 " I wish I might take it," said he, at the 
 same time beginning slowly to draw back. 
 
 11 It is not best," said his father. " I 
 think I can convince you that it is not, when 
 we get on board the boat, though I do not 
 suppose I could do it now." 
 
 " Why not now, as well as then? " asked 
 Rollo. 
 
 " Because now your mind is under a bias. 
 You are very desirous of taking the kite, 
 and so you are not in a proper state of mind 
 to give the arguments a fair consideration ; 
 so that, if I was at leisure, I should not think 
 that it would do any good to tell you the 
 reasons now." 
 
 Rollo slowly moved towards the door, but 
 he looked very disconsolate and sad. 
 
 " Rollo," said his father, as Rollo was 
 opening the door. 
 
 "What, sir?" said Rollo. 
 
 " Is this a great disappointment to you ? " 
 
 " Yes, shy" said Rollo, : pretty great." 
 
40 GENERAL ORDERS. 
 
 " And it is going to make you a little ill- 
 humored and sullen, I suppose." 
 
 Rollo held down his head, but did not 
 answer. 
 
 " I wish you to gc up stairs," continued 
 his father, "and put your kite away, and 
 then stay in your room out of sight, until you 
 are perfectly good-humored and pleasant 
 again. And if you think you shall not be 
 so for some time, you may go to bed. I 
 think you will get over it before morning." 
 
 So Rollo shut the door, and walked slowly 
 away. He, however, began soon to reflect 
 how foolish and how ungrateful he was, 
 when his father had made arrangements foi 
 taking him on a long and pleasant journey, 
 to make himself miserable, and give his fa 
 ther and mother trouble because it was not 
 convenient to carry his kite. 
 
 Accordingly his countenance brightened 
 up, and he went back to his father s room. 
 He opened the door a little, and peeped in, 
 with a smiling face, and waited for his fathei 
 to look up from his writing. As soon as his 
 father raised his eyes, he said, 
 
 " Father, on the whole, 1 don t care much 
 about my kite." 
 
GENERAL ORDERS. &\ 
 
 " Very well," said his father, " I am glad 
 to hear it ; and I am very glad you came 
 back to tell me." 
 
 His father considered his coming back, in 
 that way, with a smiling face, as a tacit con 
 fession that he had done wrong, and a prom 
 ise to dD so no more. 
 
22 
 
 THE RAIN. 
 
 THE sun rose pleasantly the next morning, 
 but it became cloudy before noon. Rollo 
 watched the clouds with great eagerness. 
 Although his father had said that the weather 
 would make no difference in respect to their 
 going, yet Rollo had known so many short 
 rides and expeditions to be broken up by the 
 weather, that he had a vague idea that the 
 rain would keep them at home. After din 
 ner he asked his father to come to the door, 
 and see if he thought it was going to ram. 
 His father accordingly went. 
 
 They stood upon the platform, and looked 
 All around. 
 
 a I think it will rain," said he. " The wind 
 is east, and clouds are gathering all over the 
 sky." 
 
 " And shall you certainly go if it rains ? " 
 
 " Yes," said his father, " I presume we 
 -hall." 
 
 "If it rains very fast indeed ? " asked 
 ttclk. 
 
THE 11AIN. 22 
 
 " Unless it rains so fast as to prevent the 
 stage going. We shall go if the stage does." 
 
 Rollo was glad to hear this; but yet he 
 wished himself safely in the coach. His un 
 easiness increased, when, about half an hour 
 afterwards, it actually began to rain. The 
 wind shifted a little to the southward, and 
 large patches of dark, watery clouds began tc 
 scud over the sky towards the north-west. 
 Now and then bright openings appeared be 
 tween these patches, and Rollo was very sure 
 that it was going to clear off. But in a few 
 minutes more, another vast mass of dense 
 cloud would advance majestically from the 
 southward, and pour down torrents of rain. 
 
 Four o clock came, but the stage did not 
 appear. The trunks were all packed, and 
 Rollo s father sat quietly in his arm-chair, 
 reading a newspaper. Rollo, however, was 
 uneasy and restless. He went and looked at 
 the clock, and then he went and looked at 
 the clouds. 
 
 " Mother," said he, " why does not the 
 stage come ? " 
 
 " Why, it is not quite time y^t," said she j 
 " is it ? " 
 
 rl Yes, mother ; it is past four o clock." 
 
24 
 
 THE RAIN. 
 
 " Is it ? " said she. " I did not suppose it 
 was so late." So she looked up at the clock 
 and smiled. 
 
 " Why, it is only about a minute past four," 
 said she. "It seems to me you are a little 
 impatient, Hollo. You are forgetting your 
 father s instruction about being impatient 
 and restless." 
 
 " Why, mother," said Hollo, " we have not 
 begun our journey yet. If we were only 
 fairly in the stage, I should be quiet and con 
 tented ; but I am afraid that the stage wi 11 
 not come." 
 
 " Why shouldn t it come ? " said she. 
 
 " Perhaps something has happened to it," 
 said Rollo. 
 
 " I think it probable that the rain has made 
 the roads muddy ; and that may delay it a lit 
 tle." 
 
 "How much do you think it will delay 
 it ? " said Rollo. 
 
 " Perhaps half an hour. But you had bet 
 ter not stand here watching and waiting for 
 it. Go and find Nathan and play horses with 
 him ; or amuse yourself in any way, and for 
 get all about your journey. Tht.n the coach 
 will come before you think of it." 
 
THE RAIN. 25 
 
 Hollo concluded to take his mother s ad 
 vice, and he went off in pursuit of Nathan. 
 He wandered through one or two rooms ; and 
 at length he found his sister Mary seated at 
 her little writing-desk in aback parlor, finish 
 ing a letter. Her sealing-wax, and little glass 
 seals in a box, and a taper, with its bronze 
 stand, were upon the table, by her side. 
 
 " Sister," said Hollo, " may I look at your 
 seals ? " 
 
 " Yes," said Mary. 
 
 Mary knew, from Hollo s general habits 
 and character, that he would be careful to 
 put them back properly in their places, in 
 the box. 
 
 Rollo began to examine the seals, and 
 amused himself for a few minutes looking at 
 the devices, and endeavoring to read the re 
 versed letters. While he stood there, he 
 heard a noise in the entry ; and presently Na 
 than came in riding the yardstick for a horse. 
 He had a whip, with a long lash, to whip his 
 horse with. Rollo was too busy to take 
 much notice of him ; but he drove up to 
 Mary, who had just finished her letter, and, 
 putting out his hand as if to shake hands 
 with her, he said, 
 
THE RAIN. 
 
 " How do you, sir ? How do you do, sir i 
 Are you pretty well, sir ? " 
 
 Mary had just finished her letter ; and she 
 looked up to Nathan, smiling, and said, 
 
 " Pretty well, I thank you, sir ; where are 
 you travelling, sir ? " 
 
 Nathan answered her, and then stood qui 
 etly by to see Mary fold and address her let 
 ter. Then Mary put his yardstick away in 
 the corner, and took him up in her lap, and 
 began to talk with him. 
 
 " Where have you been playing, Na 
 than ? " said she. 
 
 " I have been in the kitchen, with Doro 
 thy." 
 
 " What have you been doing there ? " 
 
 " Playing," said Nathan. 
 
 " And have you been a good boy? " 
 
 " Why, yes, " said Nathan, hesita 
 ting ; " I have been a pretty good boy ; but 
 I haven t been a very good boy." 
 
 " Have you been doing any thing wrong ? " 
 asked Mary, seriously. 
 
 " Why, yes," said Nathan, whipping his 
 own knees gently with his whip j " a little 
 wrong, only a little wrong." 
 
THE RAIN. 27 
 
 " What what was it that you did ? " 
 
 Why eh, wliy eh ," said Nathan. 
 " Dorothy says she is going to tell my 
 mother." 
 
 " Is she ? " said Mary ; " but I think you 
 had better tell yourself. When people do 
 wrong, if they are sorry for it, they are will 
 ing to confess it." 
 
 " Well, I am sorry," said Nathan. 
 
 11 Then tell me what it was that you did 
 that was wrong." 
 
 Why eh, why eh," said Nathan, 
 looking around, " well, if you will tell me 
 what is on that little seal." 
 
 "No," said Mary, "I can t tell you any 
 thing about the little seal, until you have 
 confessed to me what yon have done that is 
 wrong." 
 
 "Well," said Nathan, "eh e h, let 
 me think." 
 
 " No," said Mary, " you know now very 
 well ; it is not necessary for you to think. 
 You can tell me now, if you wish to tell me 
 You would tell me if you were sorry." 
 
 " I am sorry," said Nathan ; (l I am, truly. 
 
 "I guess not," said Mary. 
 
 " I am," said Nathan. 
 
28 THE RAIN. 
 
 " If you were sorry, you wr , , be willing 
 to confess what you had done" 
 
 " Well, I am trying to tb^tf," said Na 
 than. 
 
 Then, after a moment s pause, he looked 
 up into Mary s face, and said, gently and 
 timidly, 
 
 " I rather think you had better go and ask 
 Dorothy." 
 
 Mary could hardly help smiling to observe 
 how difficult Nathan found it to confess his 
 faults ; and yet it gave her a decided feeling 
 of pain to observe his evident want of proper 
 penitence for having done what his con 
 science told him was wrong. She gently put 
 Nathan down, and let him go away. He 
 felt guilty, and accordingly walked slowly 
 out of the room, his little hands, with the 
 whip in them, being clasped behind him, and 
 the lash trailing along upon the floor. 
 
 Just at this moment, Rollo heard the sound 
 of wheels ; and at the same moment a voice 
 called out to him that the stage had come. 
 
2.9 
 
 THE EVENING RIDE. 
 
 THE stage driver strapped the trunks upon 
 he rack, behind the stage, upon several oth 
 ers which had been placed there before, and 
 covered the whole with a large, painted can 
 vass, to keep off the rain. Rollo stood at the 
 door while this operation was going forward, 
 and he saw, through the window in the side 
 of the stage, several persons who occasional 
 ly looked out to see what new passengers 
 were coming. When the trunks were ready, 
 Rollo and his father shook hands with all 
 the members of the family, whom they 
 were leaving, and bade them good by. The 
 driver opened the coach door, and they got 
 in. Rollo s father took his place upon the 
 back seat, where there was just room for 
 him, and Rollo himself sat upon the middle 
 seat, between two men, with his back to 
 wards his father. He wanted to sit by the 
 window, but this was the only place that 
 was left. He was, however, glad to be fair- 
 
30 THE EVENING RIDE. 
 
 Iy in the stage ; and when the driver took 
 his seat upon the box, and started the horses 
 along, he felt perfectly satisfied. 
 
 His satisfaction, however, did not continue 
 very long. On account of the rain, it was 
 necessary to keep all the curtains down, and 
 the glasses up, so that the stage was very 
 close and rather dark. Rollo could not see 
 out at all. Then, besides, his seat was not 
 very comfortable. There was a great strap, 
 which passed behind his seat, for persons to 
 lean upon. It was just high enough to come 
 opposite to the shoulders of a man, and of 
 course was too high for a boy. It carne op 
 posite to Hollo s head, and if he leaned his 
 head at all upon it, it made his neck ache. 
 He wished very much that he had a seat in 
 the corner by the side of his father ; but 
 both corners were occupied. 
 
 He got along, however, pretty well for the 
 first hour. The second hour it was harder, 
 and in the third, he became very much fa 
 tigued, and was very uncomfortable. He 
 thought that, after all, there was not much 
 pleasure in travelling. His father and the 
 other persons in the stage talked together, 
 but Hollo did not understand much that they 
 
TFIK EVENING RIDE. O I 
 
 said, and he did not feel much interest in 
 what he did understand. He almost began 
 to wish himself at home again, playing 
 horses with Nathan. 
 
 But he did not complain. He remem 
 bered his father s instructions, and bore the 
 fatigue and hardship as patiently as he 
 could ; still his countenance exhibited a cer 
 tain appearance of distress, and then there 
 was something in his movements which 
 rendered it evident to any one who might 
 observe him, that he was not very comforta 
 ble. His father, however, did not observe 
 it, for he was directly behind him ; and so 
 he went on without any relief. 
 
 At length the afternoon passed away, and, 
 about half past six o clock, his father leaned 
 a little forward, and told him that they had 
 only about a mile farther to go before they 
 would reach the town where they were to 
 take supper. Rollo was rejoiced to hear 
 this intelligence, and in a few minutes after 
 wards he began to observe houses on each 
 side of the way, dimly seen through the 
 windows of the coach, as they passed rapid 
 ly along. This made Rollo think that they 
 were coming into a village ; and in fact, aftei 
 
THE EVENING RIDE. 
 
 a few minutes more, the coach wheeled 
 around through a wide street, and drew up 
 in front of what seemed to Rollo to be a 
 large hotel. 
 
 There was a piazza in front of the hotel, 
 with a bench under it, near the side of the 
 house. The rain was dripping down from 
 the roof of the piazza upon the steps before 
 it. A dog stood at the top of the steps, 
 looking out towards the stage, to see what 
 passengers had come. An old man was sit 
 ting upon the bench, leaning forward upon 
 a staff. The driver took off the trunks from 
 the rack behind the stage, and put them 
 under the piazza. Rollo ran up the steps 
 of the piazza, and began to pat the dog s 
 head. 
 
 The dog growled at him, and snapped a 
 little, as if he was going to bite. Rollo then 
 left him, and went and sat down upon the 
 bench, not far from the old man, and watched 
 the operations. 
 
 The driver took off all the trunks, and 
 then mounted the box, and drove away. 
 Rollo knew thai he had gone to change the 
 horses. A few minutes after he had gone, 
 Rollo heard a bell ringing in the house. 
 
THE EVENING RIDE. 33 
 
 The sound seemed to come nearer and 
 nearer, and at last a man appeared at the 
 door with a great bell in his hand, which he 
 was ringing violently. Hollo wondered what 
 it was for. 
 
 His father immediately afterwards ap 
 peared at the door, saying, 
 
 "Come, Rollo." 
 
 " Where ? " said Rollo. At the same time 
 he arose and began to walk along after his 
 father. 
 
 " To supper," replied his father. 
 
 "And are you going to leave our trunks 
 out here upon the piazza?" 
 
 " Yes," said his father, " they will take 
 care of them." 
 
 They walked along through the entry, 
 together with several other persons who 
 came from the different rooms. They at 
 last entered a large apartment, where there 
 was a long table set, and a great many peo 
 ple were taking their seats at it. The wh >le 
 scene was very new and very interesting to 
 Rollo There was a waiter, and tea-pots, 
 and coffee-pots, at a side-table, and upon the 
 principal table ttrere were plates of beefsteak, 
 
 
84 THE EVENING RIDE. 
 
 x 
 
 and warm rolls, and toast, and cake, and 
 many other things. 
 
 " O, what a great supper-table ! " said 
 Hollo to himself, as he came in. 
 
 But he had not much time to examine 
 the scene, for his father walked immediately 
 around to the farther side of the table, and 
 took his seat, and placed Hollo by the side 
 of him. A moment after he was seated, a 
 small waiter was suddenly pushed in be 
 tween him and his father, by somebody, 
 behind. Hollo looked around, wondering 
 what that meant. 
 
 "Tea, or coffee?" said the man with the 
 waiter. 
 
 " Coffee," said Mr. Holiday ; and at the 
 same time he took up the cup and saucer 
 which was by the side of his plate, and put. 
 it upon the waiter. 
 
 Hollo, not being much acquainted with 
 the customs of the public houses, had 
 thought that the best way for him to do 
 would be to observe his father, and follow 
 his example. So he took up his cup, and 
 put it upon l he waiter, and said, at the same 
 time, 
 
THE EVENING RIDE. 33 
 
 "Milk and water for me." 
 
 The waiter was just big enough to hold 
 two cups, and the man went away with it. 
 In a short time he returned, and brought a 
 cup of milk and water for Rollo, and another 
 of coffee for his father. Rollo took his cup 
 carefully, and during the rest of the time 
 that he sat at table, he was quiet and still. 
 When he had any thing to say to his father, 
 he would speak in a low tone of voice, so as 
 not to disturb the others ; and when he ob 
 served that any person wanted the milk or 
 the sugar, he would pass them. Although 
 the people around him were strangers, whom 
 he had never seen before, and whom he 
 thought it probable that he should never see 
 again, yet he observed that his father treat 
 ed them all in a polite and gentlemanly 
 manner, and he knew that it was proper 
 that he should do so too. 
 
 Now it happened that a man sat opposite 
 to him, at the table, who had been opposite 
 to him in the coach. While Rollo had been 
 sitting upon the middle of the middle seat, 
 this man sat upon the end of the front seat, 
 in the corner of the coach. He observed 
 thai Rollo was an unobtrusive and gentle 
 
3(5 THE EVENING 
 
 boy, and just before the supper was ended 
 he accosted Hollo thus : 
 
 " Well, my boy, how do you get along f 
 Can you stand it three hours longer ? " 
 
 " Have we got to ride three hours long 
 er ? " said Rollo, in a desponding tone. 
 
 " Yes," said his father, " about three 
 hours, before we stop for the night." 
 
 Rollo s neck ached, and his limbs were 
 stiff, and he almost wished himself at home. 
 The rain was driving against the windows 
 too, and it was growing dark ; arid he did 
 not understand how the driver could find his 
 way so as to avoid the stones and ditches. 
 He was afraid the stage would get upset ; 
 and on the whole he began to conclude that 
 travelling was much more pleasant in antici 
 pation than in reality. He wished himself 
 at home. 
 
 Just then the door opened, and a man with 
 a whip in his hand appeared, saying, 
 
 " Stage is ready, gentlemen." 
 
 The passengers immediately arose and 
 walked out to the stage. They got in, one 
 after another, and when at length it became 
 Hollo s turn, the man who had spoken to 
 Rollo at the table, said to him, 
 
 
THE EVENING RIDE. 37" 
 
 4< Take the seat in the corner, my boy ; 
 that will be easier for you. I ll sit on the 
 middle seat myself. " 
 
 Rollo accordingly took the seat, and found 
 it very comfortable indeed. He could lean 
 back into the corner which was formed by 
 the back of the coach and the side. It was 
 a beautiful seat. The man seemed pleased 
 to see Rollo so well established, and Rollo 
 thanked him for his kindness. The horses 
 set off, and the stage rumbled along the road, 
 through the mud and rain. 
 
 Rollo was very much pleased with his 
 new seat. He leaned back into the corner, 
 and found a very comfortable position, where 
 he could rest himself very well. He began 
 to think about home and Thanny, and to 
 wonder what sort of a place they should 
 come to at the end of their route for the 
 night. It began to grow dark, and the wind 
 and rain continued to drive against the front 
 and side of the coach, close to Rollo s ear. 
 The passengers were silent, arid Rollo soon 
 became lost in thought. In a few minutes, 
 at least in what appeared to be a few minutes 
 to Rollo, he suddenly found that there was a 
 movement in the stage, as if something 
 
OO THE EVENING RIDE. 
 
 extraordinary was going on. Rollo arou&ed 
 himself and sat up. He found that it was 
 quite dark. The stage too seemed to be 
 standing still. He wondered how it came to 
 be still. He did not notice when it stopped. 
 One of the men was getting out. A strong 
 light, as from a lantern, was shining in at 
 the coach door. 
 
 The light glanced upon his father s face, 
 and Rollo saw that his father was rising 
 from his seat. 
 
 " What is the matter, father ? " said Rollo. 
 
 " Nothing ; only that we have got to the 
 end of our journey." 
 
 " The end of our journey ! " said Rollo, 
 with astonishment. " You said we had got 
 to ride three hours." 
 
 " We have been riding about three hours," 
 said his father, " since supper." 
 
 " Why, father ! " said Rollo. 
 
 " You have been asleep," said his father. 
 
 "No, sir, I have not," said Rollo. 
 
 Rollo had no time to say any thing more, 
 for his father just then got out of the stage, 
 and Rollo fo lowed. It was wrong for him 
 to contradict his father so directly, even if 
 be had been sure that he was right and his 
 
THE EVENING RIDE. 
 
 father mistaken. He did feel sure ; but 
 boys very often feel sure that they are right, 
 when in fact they are wrong, and there is 
 perhaps nothing that they are more likely to 
 be mistaken about, than in thinking that 
 they have not been asleep, when they have 
 been. 
 
 Rollo recollected that he felt a little sleepy 
 when he first found that they were getting 
 out of the stage ; but he was sure that he had 
 not been really asleep, and he wondered 
 what his father could mean by saying that 
 he had travelled three hours. He, however, 
 stepped down out of the stage. 
 
 When down, he observed that he was be 
 fore a large hotel, in a great town. There 
 was a piazza before the door, somewhat sim 
 ilar to the one where they had stopped to 
 supper. Rollo walked slowly up the steps 
 of the piazza. There were persons walking 
 to and fro, and lights in the house ; and the 
 passengers who had got out of the stage 
 were talking about their baggage. 
 
 " Out of the way, boy," said a rough voice 
 Dehind Rollo. Rollo hastily moved away, 
 looking around at the same time. A man in 
 a green apron was coming up the steps, 
 
40 THE EVENING RIDE. 
 
 loaded with carpet bags, cloaks, and other 
 baggage. Rollo followed him with his eyes. 
 The man carried the baggage in, and piled 
 it up upon a heap of trunks which was lying 
 in the entry. Rollo looked for his, and he 
 saw the end of it, in the middle of the heap. 
 It was covered up with the other trunks and 
 baggage, and Rollo was quite concerned lest 
 it should get lost, or carried away with the 
 others. 
 
 While Rollo was looking at the trunks, 
 his father came up to them. The man in 
 the green apron was with him. 
 
 " That is one," said Rollo s father, point 
 ing, with the end of his umbrella, to his own 
 trunk, which was at the bottom of the heap. 
 
 The man in the green apron pulled it out. 
 
 "And there was another small one." he 
 continued. 
 
 " Here it is," said Rollo, pointing to his 
 own trunk. 
 
 The man took up the large trunk, and 
 hove it upon his shoulder ; and then, with 
 the little one in his other hand, he began to 
 go up stairs. Rollo s father followed with 
 a lamp, saying, 
 
 "Come, Rollo." 
 
THE EVENING RIDE. 41 
 
 Rollo went up after his father. They 
 came to a large chamber, with two beds in 
 it, and some other furniture. The man put 
 the trunks down, and went down stairs. 
 Rollo s father put his umbrella and cloak 
 near the trunks. 
 
 " Is this where we are going to sleep? * 
 said Rollo. 
 
 " Yes," said his father. " What do you 
 think of it ? " 
 
 " I like it pretty well," said Rollo ; and he 
 began to look around the room, and to exam 
 ine the pictures which hung over the mantel 
 piece. 
 
 While his father was unlocking his trunk, 
 Rollo looked out at the window. It was 
 dark, but he could see lights here and there 
 at the win dows of the houses opposite. The 
 stage-coach had been driven away from the 
 door, and the street was still, excepting that 
 now and then footsteps were heard upon 
 the paved side-walk, or a carriage rumbled 
 slowly by. 
 b* 4* 
 
42 
 
 JONAS S COMPASS. 
 
 THE next morning Hollo was awakened 
 by a very loud ringing in the entries of the 
 hotel. The sound came nearer and nearer, 
 as the bell-ringer advanced up the stairs and 
 along the passage ways. Hollo started up. 
 It was bright daylight. The sun was shi 
 ning in upon the floor, and one of the first 
 objects which caught Hollo s eye, was his 
 father sitting at a table near the window, 
 writing. 
 
 11 Why, father !" said Hollo, " are you 
 up?" 
 
 " Yes," replied his father, " I have been 
 up this hour." 
 
 k What is that bell for ? " asked Hollo. 
 
 " It is for people to get up." 
 
 " Then I suppose / had better get up." 
 
 " Yes, if you want some breakfast." 
 
 Hollo arose, and began to dress himself. 
 
 " Father," said he, " I wish you had 
 waked me up when you got up." 
 
JONAS S COMPASS. / 3 
 
 " I thought you would prefer sleeping. 
 You were pretty tired last night." 
 
 " But, father," said Hollo, in a complain 
 ing tone, " 1 wanted to write in my jour 
 nal." 
 
 His father did not make any reply to this, 
 hut went on with his writing. Rollo thought 
 it would have been such a fine thing if he 
 had got up and written in his journal, at the 
 hotel, before breakfast, that he could not 
 conceal his disappointment and chagrin. He 
 looked ill-humored and sullen, and at length 
 said again, 
 
 " Father, did not you know that I wanted 
 to write in my journal ? " 
 
 " Rollo," said his father, " you are doing 
 very wrong." 
 
 " Why, sir ? " said Rollo. He was sitting 
 upon the floor, and beginning slowly to put 
 on one of his stockings. 
 
 " In the first place, you are doing wrong 
 by interrupting me in my writing. In the 
 :iext place, you are doing wrong by showing 
 a discontented, dissatisfied mind, at some 
 thing which is past, arid cannot he helped, 
 That is being a bad traveller." 
 
44 JONAS S COMPASS. 
 
 Rollo had nothing to say in reply to this 
 reproof. 
 
 " Besides," added his father, " the arrange 
 ment which you are dissatisfied with, is one 
 that I made for no other reason than because 
 I supposed it would be the most agreeable to 
 you ; and this is an aggravation of the fault." 
 
 Rollo saw that his ill-humor was entirely 
 unreasonable, but he did not on that account 
 cease to feel ill-humored. To see that we 
 feel wrong, and to begin to feel right, are 
 two very different things, as Rollo, like all 
 other children, had occasion frequently to 
 experience. 
 
 Roilo sat upon the floor, drawing on his 
 stockings, with no very pleasant air. His 
 father resumed his writing, but his mind had 
 been diverted from his subject, so that he 
 could not now go on advantageously with 
 his work ; and besides, he felt unhappy that 
 his son had so soon forgotten his instruc 
 tions. 
 
 He accordingly began to put up his pen 
 and paper, and returned them to his trunk. 
 He went to the window, and observed how 
 bright and pleasant the morning was, and 
 was sad to think how much the prospect of 
 
JONAS S COMPASS. 45 
 
 enjoyment, for the day was marred by Rol- 
 io s unhappy state of mind. He went to 
 Rollo, and began to help him in his dressing. 
 Rollo s good humor gradually returned. He 
 did not say in words that he was sorry for 
 his misconduct, but his father observed, from 
 his looks and the tone of his voice, that he 
 was making an exertion to be contented and 
 submissive again. 
 
 " Father," said he, at length, " you did 
 not give me all the instructions you were 
 going to give me. Couldn t you tell me 
 something more now ? " 
 
 " Yes," said his father. " 1 believe I 
 gave you some rules in respect to your in 
 ward spirit of mind. Now, I will tell you 
 about your conduct towards those around 
 you in travelling. It is a good rule, in trav 
 elling, to be polite to all strangers, but fa 
 miliar with none. I mean by that, that you 
 must treat every body with frankness, good- 
 humor, and civility, and in all public places. 
 However rough and coarse other people may 
 be, you must always be polite and gentle 
 manly in your deportment. But then you 
 must be careful not to form sudden intima 
 cies with strangers, nor trust much to theii 
 
46 JONAS S COMPASS. 
 
 professions, nor admit them to your confi 
 dence, or to familiarity." 
 
 While Hollo s father was saying this, he 
 took out his watch, and told Hollo that he 
 should have to finish his explanation some 
 other time, for it was now time to go down 
 stairs, for it was nearly the hour for break 
 fast. Hollo was ready, and so they went 
 down. 
 
 They came into a large parlor, where sev 
 eral ladies and gentlemen were assembled. 
 Some were seated upon a sofa, some were 
 standing by the windows, and others were 
 walking to and fro. Hollo s father walked 
 to a window, and took a seat, Hollo him 
 self standing by his side. 
 
 " Father, where is the breakfast ? " whis 
 pered Hollo. 
 
 " It is in another room. It is not quite 
 ready yet." 
 
 " And who are all these people ? " said 
 Hollo. 
 
 " They are travellers," replied his father, 
 " waiting for their breakfast." 
 
 Hollo looked around the room, to observe 
 the travellers. They all looked just like 
 people at home. A few were talking in 
 
JONAS S COMPASS. 47 
 
 groups, two or three together, but others sat 
 by themselves, with a thoughtful expression 
 of countenance. There was one boy in the 
 room, who appeared to be about as old as 
 Thanny. He was a plump, Buddy-cheeked, 
 little fellow, with curls of hair hanging 
 all over his face. A portly-looking lady, 
 dressed in silks and laces, who seemed to be 
 his mother, was leading him about. The 
 boy had a picture-book in his hand. 
 
 Hollo was just beginning to ask his father 
 to let him go and speak to that boy, when a 
 pair of folding doors, at the end of the room, 
 which Rollo had not before particularly ob 
 served, suddenly opened, and displayed a 
 large apartment beyond, in which a long 
 breakfast table was set, covered with cups 
 and saucers, plates, smoking coffee urns, 
 plates of beef steak and of hot rolls. At the 
 same instant a man entered through the fold 
 ing doors, and said, bowing to the company, 
 
 " Ladies and gentlemen, breakfast is 
 ready." 
 
 The company drew off into the breakfast 
 room, and took their seats at the table. Rol 
 lo sat by the side of his father. The child, 
 whom he had noticed in the parlor, was 
 
48 JONAS S COMPASS. 
 
 seated directly opposite to him, and he was 
 continually begging his mother to give him 
 cake, and sugar, and preserves. Hollo ob 
 served him, and was careful not to follow his 
 example. He asked for nothing, but took 
 whatever his father offered him. 
 
 When the company went out of the break 
 fast room, after the breakfast was ended, as 
 Rollo was going up stairs, following his 
 father, he heard the voice of the child be 
 hind him. He looked round, and held out 
 his hand to him. 
 
 " Run along, Archie," said the boy s 
 mother, "and walk with that beautiful lit 
 tle boy." 
 
 Rollo felt a little pleased at being called a 
 beautiful little boy, and he thought that the 
 lady must be a very kind and excellent lady. 
 He took hold of the child s hand, and said, 
 as they went up the stairs together, 
 
 " Is your name Archie ? " 
 
 " Yes," said Archie. " What is your 
 name ? " 
 
 " My name is Rollo." 
 
 " / came in the steamboat," said Archie. 
 
 " Did you ? " said Rollo. " / came in the 
 stage." 
 
49 
 
 When they reached the head of the stairs, 
 Archie s mother went towards the door of 
 her room, holding her hand out to Archie to 
 follow. 
 
 " Come, Archie/ said she. 
 
 " No, mother, I shan t come," said Archie. 
 " I am going to stay and play with this boy." 
 
 " Well," said Archie s mother, with a 
 smile, " you may stay. That is a good lit 
 tle boy, I know, and you may stay here 
 upon the stairs, and play with him, a little 
 while, if you wish it." 
 
 So Rollo, instead of following his father 
 into his room, remained at the head of the 
 stairs, talking with Archie. Rollo took out 
 his things from his pocket, and showed them 
 to him, and Archie was so good-natured and 
 pleasant, that Rollo began to think that he 
 was a very good boy. He forgot that even 
 bad boys are good-natured and pleasant, 
 when they have what pleases them ; and 
 that, on the other hand, no boy can be good, 
 who disobeys his mother. 
 
 At last, however, Rollo thought that he 
 ought to go into his father s room, and so he 
 began to put his things back into his pocket. 
 c 5 
 
50 
 
 When he had got them pretty nearly all in 
 he began to look around, and say, 
 
 " And now where s my compass ? " 
 
 It was the little compass which Jonas had 
 given him, which he had taken out to show 
 to Archie, and now it was gone. 
 
 " Haven t you got it, Archie ? " said he. 
 
 "No," said Archie. 
 
 Rollo saw that Archie s hand was shut up, 
 and looking at it attentively, he could see 
 the edge of the compass between his fingers. 
 
 He seized hold of his hand, saying, " You 
 have got it ; and you must give it to me." 
 
 Archie began to scream. He pulled and 
 tried to get away. His mother came run 
 ning to the door, to see what was the mat 
 ter. 
 
 " Archie ! " said she, " Archie, my dear ! 
 What is the matter ? " 
 
 " I will have it," said Archie. 
 
 " He has got my compass," said Rollo. 
 
 " Why, Archie ! give him his compass," 
 said the lady. 
 
 11 1 won t," said Archie. " Tisn t his 
 compass." 
 
 " Yes it is," said Rollo; "or rather it s 
 
JONAS S COMPASS. 51 
 
 Jonas s, \vhich is; the same thing ; for lie lent 
 it to me." 
 
 Rollo continued to hold Archie s hand, 
 and Archie tried to pull it away. 
 
 " Give it to him, this instant," said Ar 
 chie s mother, sternly. 
 
 " I won t," said Archie, and he began to 
 scream again. 
 
 " O dear, what shall I do ? " said Ar 
 chie s mother. " Rollo, my dear, let him have 
 it, that s a good boy. Jonas won t care." 
 
 At this instant Archie succeeded in getting 
 his hand free ; he scrambled up, and away 
 he ran to his mother s room. She followed 
 him hastily, and shut the door. Rollo looked 
 after them a moment, with an expression of 
 amazement in his countenance, and then the 
 tears began to come fast into his eyes. 
 
 He sat a few minutes, not knowing what 
 to do. At length he arose, brushed away his 
 tears, and went, with a slow and melancholy 
 step, into his father s room. The door had 
 not been shut, and his father had heard all 
 that had passed. 
 
 " Father," said Rollo, " I ve lost Jonas s 
 compass. What shall I do ? That old. ugly 
 Archie has carried it away." 
 
52 JONAS S COMPASS. 
 
 " You are out of humor, Hollo." 
 
 " Well, father, he has stolen my compass. r> 
 
 11 1 can t talk with you now about it, for 
 you are vexed and angry ; so that you hardly 
 know what you are saying. Go and sit by 
 the window, and see what is passing by, un 
 til you get quiet in mind, and then I will 
 talk with you about it." 
 
 R olio s father then went on with his work 
 of arranging his articles in his trunk. 
 
 In about ten minutes, Hollo came to his 
 father, and said, 
 
 " Father, can t I help you pack your 
 trunk ? " 
 
 " Why, I don t know. I am afraid you 
 cannot pack the things tight enough." 
 
 " Why must trunks be packed so very 
 tight ? " said Hollo. 
 
 " To prevent the things shaking about. If 
 they shake about,. the hard and heavy things 
 will spoil the others." 
 
 " How ? " said Roilo. 
 
 " By rubbing against them, and wearing 
 holes in them. Once I heard of a man who 
 put a little bag of dollars into his trunk, 
 without securing it properly ; he travelled a 
 hundred miles with it, over a "rough road; 
 
53 
 
 and, at the end of his journey, he found that 
 the dollars had worn their way out of the 
 bag, and cut his clothes, in that corner of 
 the trunk, almost to pieces." 
 
 Rollo was silent a few minutes, thinking 
 of the dollars ; and at length his father said, 
 
 " Have you got over your vexation about 
 the loss of the compass, Rollo ? " 
 
 " Yes, sir, the vexation ; but I am very 
 sorry." 
 
 " I am not," said his father. 
 
 " Not sorry ! " said Rollo, with surprise. 
 
 " No." 
 
 " Why not, sir ? " said Rollo. 
 
 " Because the lesson you learned by it is 
 worth more than the compass." 
 
 " I don t know what you mean, father." 
 
 " Why, I cautioned you against familiarity 
 with strangers ; and now you see the neces 
 sity of being on your guard." 
 
 " But, father, I didn t know that Archie 
 was such a bad boy." 
 
 " No, I know you didn t. But you knew 
 he was a stranger. What I warned you 
 against, was sudden familiarity with stran 
 gers, not with bad boys." 
 
 Rollo did not answer. 
 
54 JONAS S COMPASS. 
 
 " But you must not think I blame you 
 Rollo, for what you did. Perhaps yju were 
 a little in fault, for not coming in with me, 
 or at least not asking my leave to stay and 
 play with Archie. Still that was a very 
 slight error; and, in showing him your play 
 things, I have no doubt you were actuated 
 by feelings of kindness and good-will. So 
 that I don t consider that you were to blame, 
 and have been justly punished, but only that 
 you have learned something by painful ex 
 perience, which you could not thoroughly 
 learn in any other way ; and I am glad it is 
 well over just as I was glad when you had 
 fairly got through having the whooping 
 cough." 
 
 " I wish 1 could have learned it," said 
 Rollo, " without losing my compass." 
 
 11 Every body has to lose something, by 
 the selfishness and injustice of others, and 
 you will do very well if you escape with 
 losing only such a compass. I have known 
 young men to lose large sums of money, by 
 trusting to strangers, or by sudden familiarity 
 with them. I hope you will be on yonr 
 guard now, and so avoid more serious 
 
JONAS S COMPASS. 55 
 
 Rollo was sitting upon a carpet bag, dur 
 ing this conversation ; and now, while his 
 father was strapping up his trunk, after hav 
 ing said these words, he remained a few 
 moments apparently lost in thought. At 
 length he said again, 
 
 " But, father, there is one trouble ; the 
 compass was Jonas s, and so the loss comes 
 upon him ; and it ought to come upon me." 
 
 "I was thinking of that myself," said 
 his father ; " and I can remedy that diffi 
 culty, by going with you, and buying him 
 another." 
 
 "And then that wilKbring the loss upon 
 
 you" 
 
 " O, I don t care any thing about that," 
 replied his father ; " for, in fact, I should 
 like to buy Jonas anothei compass, a bet 
 ter one than the one you have lost. So you 
 see we need not be troubled about the affair 
 at all. You were not to blame. It was 
 only your childish inexperience ; and you 
 have learned something about a kind of 
 smooth-faced selfishness and injustice, which 
 is very common in the world, that you 
 could not have learned in any other way 
 So I am rather glad of the whole affair." 
 
56 JONAS S COMPASS. 
 
 Hollo s father then took his watch out of 
 his pocket, and said that it was time to go 
 out and do some of his business. 
 
 " What business ? " said Rollo. 
 
 " O, I have got a great many little pur 
 chases to make," replied his father, " and 
 among the rest, Jonas s new compass." 
 
 Rollo went with his father, and they spent 
 nearly all the morning in the shops ; but, af 
 ter all, they had to put off buying the com- 
 pass until after dinner. 
 
57 
 
 GETTING ADRIFT. 
 
 HOLLO and his father were going away in 
 the steamboat, that afternoon. The, steam 
 boat was to start at five o clock, and about 
 three Hollo s father said that it was time to 
 go and get their trunks ready. 
 
 They were both in a jeweller s shop when 
 he said this. They had been buying Jonas s 
 new compass. The compass had been se 
 lected and paid for, and the man who kept 
 the shop had wrapped it up neatly in a 
 brown paper, and given it to Hollo, to put 
 into his pocket. So that their business at 
 the shop was done, only Hollo was looking 
 about to see the curious things which were 
 in the glass cases, and upon the shelves. 
 
 He would have liked to have staid a little 
 longer ; but he followed his father very 
 cheerfully, when he was told that it was 
 time to go. When he got out into the 
 street, however, he asked his father what 
 o clock it was. 
 
58 GETTING ADRIFT. 
 
 " About three," replied his father. 
 
 " And what time does the boat go ? " 
 
 "At five. 1 
 
 " Then it is two hours before we must be 
 at the boat," said Hollo ; "and why need we 
 leave the shop so soon ? " 
 
 " I ordered the carriage to come at four," 
 said his father ; "and it will take us nearly 
 an hour to get to the hotel, settle the bill 
 and pack, lock, and strap our trunks, and get 
 all ready." 
 
 " I should not think it would take a whole 
 hour," said Rollo. 
 
 " No, it need not take a whole hour ; but 
 t wanted to make ample allowance, so that 
 we can take it leisurely, and preserve a quiet 
 mind. A great deal of the comfort of trav 
 elling consists in keeping always a quiet 
 mind, so as never to be hurried and wor 
 ried." 
 
 " Yes, sir," said Rollo. 
 
 " And then I don t think it will take us 
 an hour to get to the boat from the hotel. It 
 is not more than half a mile. But then the 
 coachman may not be exactly punctual, and 
 it will take him some time to strap on the 
 trunks ; and we may be delayed by some 
 
GETTING ADRIFT. 5$ 
 
 unforeseen occurrence. Besides, I like to 
 get to the boat half an hour before the time 
 for starting, and then I can get my baggage 
 all safely arranged, before the confusion." 
 
 " The confusion ? " said Rollo. 
 
 "Yes," said his father; " the last fifteen 
 minutes before the boat sails, is a time of 
 confusion, as you will see. Wise travellers, 
 now, take pains to avoid all scenes of hurry 
 and confusion, as much as possible, so as to 
 keep their minds calm and quiet. To secure 
 this, there are two things necessary." 
 
 " What two things ? " said Rollo. 
 
 " Plenty of time, and plenty of money." 
 
 " Travellers can always take plenty of 
 time," said Rollo, " I suppose ; but perhaps 
 they can t always get plenty of money.". 
 
 " Then let them take a shorter journey." 
 
 " But perhaps their business requires that 
 Ihey should take a long journey," said Rollo. 
 
 11 O, business !" said his father. "lam 
 speaking rather of journeys for pleasure. At 
 any rate they can generally make a sufficient 
 allowance for time. We can, certainly, this 
 afternoon." 
 
 By this time they arrived at the hotel. 
 Rollo s father went to the bar and paid his 
 
60 GETTING ADRIFT. 
 
 bill, and then they both prepared their trunks 
 to go on board the boat. The coachman 
 came about five minutes after the time ap 
 pointed ; and then it took about five minutes 
 more to get the trunks fastened upon the 
 rack behind the coach, so that it was about 
 half past four when they reached the steam 
 boat wharf. 
 
 " Why. father ! " said Hollo, how nar 
 row the sea is ! " - 
 
 " The sea? " repeated his father ; " this 
 is not the sea." 
 
 " What is it, then ? " said Hollo. 
 
 " A river," replied his father 
 
 " I thought we were going to sail upon 
 the sea," replied Rollo. 
 
 " So we are, by and by. We shall sail 
 down the river, to its mouth, and then come 
 out to the sea." 
 
 " We are going down that way, then," 
 said Rollo, pointing along towards the -to\vn 
 they came from. 
 
 "No," replied his father; "down is that 
 way." And he pointed in the opposite di 
 rection. 
 
 " Then the water is all running up" said 
 Rollo. 
 
GETTING ADRIFT. 61 
 
 " What makes you think so ? " said his 
 father. 
 
 " O, I can see the bubbles and sticks 
 sailing along." 
 
 While they were talking in this way, the 
 men who belonged on board the boat were 
 taking off their trunks, and carrying them on 
 board. Rollo and his father followed, walk 
 ing over upon a broad plank. There were 
 several people coming and going. A great 
 fire was burning under the boiler, and men 
 were putting in more wood. The steam was 
 hissing out of the waste steam-pipe. There 
 was another plank, which led to the boat, 
 near the bows, and they were rolling a great 
 many heavy boxes and barrels in, over it. 
 Rollo followed his father around, until he 
 was confused and lost among the multipli 
 city of doors, and staircases, and passages, 
 and heaps of baggage. In one place, he 
 found a monstrous great boat, hanging from 
 iron chains, by the side of the ladies cabin. 
 
 At length, after Rollo s father had attend* 
 ed to the bagga-ge, he took Rollo up a nar 
 row staircase, which led to a high place, 
 which Rollo called the roof, but which his 
 father said was the promenade deck. It was 
 
62 GK . ..-* ADRIFT. 
 
 flat and smooth like a floor, and it had a long 
 seat, with railing, extending all around it. 
 There were stools and settees upon it, and 
 our two travellers took two of the stools, and 
 drew them up to one end of the boat, and 
 seated themselves there. Rollo observed a 
 stout pole standing upright by the side of 
 him. He looked up to see what was at the 
 top of it. He saw a large flag floating in the 
 wind, with stars and stripes upon it. 
 
 Rollo sat here with his father, for several 
 minutes, examining all the surrounding ob 
 jects with great interest and attention. It 
 was a pretty broad river, with sloops and 
 boats passing up and down upon the water. 
 The steamboat wharf was about half a mile 
 below the town, and at a little distance be 
 low it, there was a pleasant, sandy beach, 
 with a small boat lying upon it. There 
 were several children in the boat, but it 
 would not sail, for about half of it rested 
 upon the sand. 
 
 Rollo sat watching the children in the 
 boat. While he was observing them, a plain- 
 looking woman, with two children, came up 
 upon the promenade deck. The woman led 
 the two children to a scat, and then she went 
 
GETTING ADRIFT. 63 
 
 back again to look after her baggage One 
 of them was a girl, and .the other a boy. The 
 girl was the oldest, and the boy was about as 
 big as Rollo. When their mother left them, 
 she told them not to go away from that seat, 
 until she came again. 
 
 They sat there a minute or two, and then 
 Rollo asked his father if he might go and 
 see them. His father said, yes. 
 
 " But remember the rale," said his father, 
 in a low tone. " Be civil to all strangers, but 
 familiar with none." 
 
 " Yes, sir," said Rollo, " I will." 
 
 So he ran along, and began to talk with 
 the boy. He found that his name was 
 Thomas ; and that he and his sister and 
 mother were going in the steamboat, with 
 Rollo. 
 
 They looked over the railing at the boys 
 in the boat, and saw them trying to push it 
 off. The boys untied a rope, by which the 
 boat was fastened to a stake, upon the shore, 
 and then, with a long pole which they had, 
 they could push the stern one way and 
 another, through the water. The bows all 
 the time stuck fast in the sand. 
 
 At length the boys spied Rollo and 
 
64 GETTING ADRIFT. 
 
 Thomas looking at them ; and they called 
 out to them to come and sail too. 
 
 "No," said Thomas; " you will get adrift 
 pretty soon, and then away you ll go." 
 
 " No," replied one of the boys, " we can t 
 get adrift, for the bows are aground." 
 
 < And, besides," said another boy, " if we 
 do, we can push in ashore again, with our 
 long pole." 
 
 " I mean to go and sail," said Thomas. 
 
 "No," replied his sister; "mother said 
 we must not go away from here." 
 
 " But, I will go and ask her," said 
 Thomas. 
 
 " You can t find her," rejoined the girl. 
 
 " O, yes," said he, "I can ; she is down 
 below." 
 
 " But she said you must not go away from 
 here." 
 
 " I don t care," -said Thomas ; " 1 mean 
 to go and ask her." 
 
 Hollo was at first inclined to go and ask 
 his father to let him go too ; but he imme 
 diately reflected that to go down with all 
 those boys, to paddle about in the boat, 
 would be quite too much of the nature of a 
 sudden intimacy with strangers, to make it 
 
GETTING ADRIFT. 05 
 
 at all probable that his father would approve 
 of it. He therefore sat still upon the seat, 
 resting his arm over the railing ; and look 
 ing down towards the boat, he awaited the 
 result. 
 
 " Father," said he presently, " what is it 
 that makes the water run up the river ? " . 
 
 " Because," replied his father, " the tide 
 is rising. The tide rises in the sea, and that 
 makes the water flow back in all the rivers 
 which empty into the sea, to some distance 
 from their mouths. That is the case here, 
 now. The tide is rising in the sea, and so 
 the water flows back, and is running up the 
 river." 
 
 " I don t see how it can run up" said 
 Rollo. 
 
 " It is not running up, strictly speaking. 
 It is really running down ; that is, it is de 
 scending, all the time, though it flows in the 
 direction which we ordinarily call up the 
 river. But there is, after all, no running 
 up, for the tide rises at sea, so as to make 
 the water there higher than it is in the river, 
 and so it flows down into the river ; and 
 that makes the river, near the mouth, higher 
 .:* 6* 
 
66 GETTING ADRIFT. 
 
 than it is farther back, and then the water 
 flows down into that pait of the channel 
 which is farther back." 
 
 "O, there goes Thomas," said Hollo, 
 " I didn t think his mother would have lot 
 him go." 
 
 The truth was, his mother had not given 
 him leave to go. He was not able to find 
 her. She had gone into the ladies cabin , 
 and so, when he descended from the prome 
 nade deck, although he found a great many 
 people coming and going, his mother was 
 nowhere to be seen. He waited here a few 
 moments, looking about for her, and then he 
 concluded to go without leave. He satisfied 
 himself partly by thinking that he would 
 come back in a minute, and that his mother 
 would not see him, and partly by the idea 
 that she could not possibly have any objec 
 tion. 
 
 Thomas accordingly stepped cautiously 
 over the broad plank, then made his way 
 between the boxes and barrels which were, 
 upon the wharf, and thence descended to the 
 shore ; and the boys making room for him, 
 he stepped over into the boat. The boat 
 
GETTING ADRIFT. 67 
 
 was a little unsteady, as a considerable por 
 tion of it was afloat ; he staggered along, 
 however, to a seat and sat down. 
 
 Rollo could not help wishing that he was 
 there too, though he had too much good 
 sense to ask his father. The boy with the 
 long pole stood at th : stern of the boat, 
 which was out upon the water, and pushed 
 it first away over to one side, and then back 
 to the other, thus giving the boys each time 
 what they called a little sail. They were 
 all little boys, or they would have known 
 better than this, for the rising of the tide, 
 and the heaving of the stern, in this manner, 
 to and fro, were gradually working the boat 
 off from the beach ; and at length it cleared 
 itself just as the boy was giving a vigorous 
 push with his pole, and it accordingly glided 
 off slowly into the current. 
 
 " O dear me ! " cried out Thomas, " we 
 are going off! we re going off! O dear me ! " 
 
 He ran at the same instant towards the 
 bow of the boat, which was towards the 
 shore ; and the other little boys crowded 
 there too. 
 
 " Push her back, Joe," called out another 
 bov, addressing the one who had the pole; 
 
68 GETTING ADKIFT. 
 
 if why don t you push her back ? You 
 fool ! " 
 
 The truth was, Joe was trying to push 
 her back, but when he pushed on one side 
 the boat only turned to the other, moving 
 out more and more into the current. The 
 other boy went angrily to him, to take the 
 pole away, and at the same moment, 
 Thomas, who was really frightened, and 
 saw that they were only going farther and 
 farther from the shore, jumped off as far as 
 he could towards the sand. He saw, before 
 he leaped, that the distance was too great 
 for him to leap over entirely, but the crisis 
 was urgent, and justified, he thought, a des 
 perate measure. He came down into the 
 water where it was about up to his knees. 
 The water dashed up into his face and half 
 blinded him. He, however, had sufficient 
 possession of his faculties to stagger on to 
 wards the shore, which he reached by a few 
 steps, drenched with the water, terrified, and 
 overwhelmed with self-reproach and guilty 
 fears. 
 
 In the mean time the boat drifted on, 
 borne by the tide, and the boys sat upon 
 the thwarts crying, or stood looking at the 
 
GETTING ADRIFT. 69 
 
 shore in silent despair. The men and boys 
 upon the wharf, and on the decks of the 
 steamboat, looked upon them as they went. 
 Some pitied them; but others mocked and 
 derided them. At length, however, some 
 body had compassion upon them so far as 
 to go off in another boat, and to bring tho.n 
 all back safe to the shore. 
 
THE ENGINE 
 
 HOLLO saw no more of Thomas, and in 
 fact he thought very little more about him 
 at that time, for the crowd and movement in 
 and about the boat had now greatly in 
 creased, and he was very much interested in 
 watching what was going on. Carriages 
 and carts were pouring in upon the wharf in 
 a continued stream, bringing passengers and 
 baggage ; apple and orange women were 
 moving to and fro, offering fruit to all pur 
 chasers ; and boys, with newspapers, a pen 
 ny a piece, damp from the press, walked 
 about trying to sell them, or stood near the 
 plank to intercept the new comers. Rollo 
 was very glad that he and his father had ar 
 rived in such good season. 
 
 Just then a bell rang violently. Hollo s 
 father told him that it was the first bell. In 
 ten minutes more there was another, which 
 made a tolling sound. " All ashore ! " shout 
 ed out a man below. Then there was a 
 
THE EKGINE. / J 
 
 great bustle upon the plank, made by the 
 fruit women and boys, and all other persons 
 who were not to go in the boat, hurrying 
 across the plank to the wharf. The cables 
 which confined the steamboat to the great 
 posts upon the corner of the wharf were then 
 cast off, and the ends fell into the water, and 
 were drawn in by the hands on board the 
 boat, and neatly coiled. The great paddle 
 wheels began to revolve ; the loud and al 
 most deafening hissing of the steam sudden 
 ly ceased; and the boat swept majestically 
 around out into the river. " We are going 
 off," said Rollo, " we are going off," clapping 
 his hands with delight. 
 
 It is remarkable that he used the same 
 words that Thomas had used, just before, 
 when the boat was adrift ; though he spoke 
 them with a feeling of the greatest interest 
 ind pleasure, while in Thomas s case, they 
 were expressions of the utmost anxiety and 
 terror. So much does our happiness or our 
 misery depend upon our being in the way 
 of duty. 
 
 For, in fact, Thomas was in no more 
 danger in drifting away in the boat, than 
 Kollo was now in the steamboat. The water 
 
72 THE ENGINE. 
 
 was smooth, and the tide was setting in, so 
 I hat they could not drift out to sea. Then 
 there were plenty of people all around, who, 
 though they might tease and deride them at 
 first, would certainly go and get them before 
 long. So that Thomas s fear and anxiety 
 were owing to his sense of guilt, and not to 
 any real danger. 
 
 Hollo was much pleased to see the trees 
 and banks moving, or rather apparently mov 
 ing, as the boat glided by. There was one 
 great oak, which stood upon a headland or 
 promontory, where the boat passed very near 
 the shore. Rollo could hardly convince him 
 self that this oak was not actually moving, 
 though he knew very well that a tree could 
 not move, when it was planted in the solid 
 ground. 
 
 After sailing on in this way a few minutes ; 
 Rollo exclaimed, 
 
 " O, father, here comes a vessel ; how 
 fast it sails! and it is sailing stern foremost." 
 
 The vessel which Rollo pointed to, swept 
 swiftly along the side of the steamboat, and 
 disappeared behind the wheel-house, for, at 
 this time, Rollo and his father were sitting 
 upon the trunks, by the side of the ladies 
 
THE ENGINE. 
 
 73 
 
 cabin, upon the main deck. Rollo wanted 
 to know what made the vessel go so fast, 
 without any sails. His father did not answer 
 him. He seemed to be looking at some 
 thing upon the shore beyond, or else lost in 
 thought. 
 
 " Father " said Rollo, again, laying his 
 hand upon his father s knee, " what made 
 that vessel go so fast, without any sails ? " 
 
 " She was not going," replied his father. 
 
 " O, father ! " said Rollo. 
 
 * k She appeared to you to be in motion ; 
 but the motion is really in the steamboat. 
 The vessel was at rest." 
 
 " But how do you know, father ? The 
 steamboat might be moving, and the vessel 
 too." 
 
 " Yes ; but I noticed certain almost infal 
 lible indications that the vessel was at rest. 
 You judged from appearances, and so did 1 ; 
 though the appearances which I observed 
 were more safe grounds for judgment than 
 yours." 
 
 " What were the appearances which you 
 judged from, father? " said Rollo. 
 
 " In the first place," his father replied 
 rt the fact that there were no sails s] ruaj 
 
74 
 
 THE ENOINE. 
 
 proved that she was still ; for without sails 
 she could not, move, unless she was drifting 
 with the tide; and if she had got adrift, in 
 any way, the men on board would not have 
 been so quiet and easy, but would have been 
 at work to secure her, to prevent her going 
 ashore. Did not you see the captain standing 
 there very contented and easy, with his foot 
 upon a barrel, and his chin upon his hand ? " 
 
 u Was that the captain ? " said Rollo. 
 
 " Yes, I suppose so ; or the mate. But 
 there was another appearance, more conclu 
 sive still,, indicating that the vessel was at 
 rest." 
 
 " What was it ? " said Rollo. 
 
 " It was a dark line issuing from the bows 
 and running down into the water. You, 
 perhaps, did not notice it ; but my eye caught 
 it at once, as that is the place where the ca 
 ble is to be seen, when a vessel is at anchor. 
 I observed that the cable was straight and 
 tense, as if the vessel was pulling upon it 
 pretty hard. So I saw at once that she was 
 confined securely, and still, just as you 
 would see that a horse was not travelling, if 
 you got only a single glimpse of the halter 
 bv which he was tied to the post/ 
 
THE ENGINE. 75 
 
 Just at this moment Hollo s attention was 
 aroused by hearing a sudden burst of sound 
 down by the side of the steamboat; and 
 volumes of white steam began to pour up 
 from the water. Rollo started up ; he 
 thought the boiler had burst. He looked at 
 his father, wondering why he did not run. 
 But his father was sitting still and quiet as 
 ever, and so Rolio felt a little relieved, and 
 instead of running away he contented him 
 self with asking, 
 
 " What is that ? " 
 
 " Only letting off a little steam." 
 
 " O," said Rollo. 
 
 He took his seat, but in a moment he said 
 again, 
 
 " O, father, let us go and see the engine." 
 
 " Well," replied his father, u I will go 
 and show you the engine, if you wish to 
 see it." 
 
 Rollo accordingly took his father s hand, 
 and they walked along towards the middle 
 of the steamboat. They passed by a place 
 where there was a sort of window open, and 
 a great crowd of men before it. 
 
 " What are those men doing ? " said Rollo 
 
/O THE ENGINE. 
 
 " They are paying their fare," said his 
 father. 
 
 " How much must you pay for me ? " 
 said Rollo. 
 
 " About half price, I suppose," replied his 
 father. 
 
 " I should think you ought to pay more 
 than half price for me," said Rollo ; " I Jim 
 pretty heavy." 
 
 His father made no reply to this, but 
 moved on slowly, leading Rollo by the hand, 
 between the crowd and a great pile of boxes. 
 
 "What is in all these boxes?" asked 
 Rollo. 
 
 " I don t know," said his father. " Some 
 sort of merchandise, I suppose." 
 
 " O, father," exclaimed Rollo, " what is 
 that?" 
 
 He spoke in a tone of great surprise, and 
 pointed directly before him. It was a large, 
 round beam of iron, which extended across 
 the passage where they were walking, about 
 as high as Rollo s shoulders ; and it was 
 slowly revolving, round and round. Rollo 
 could only see the middle of it, for the two 
 ends passed into the two opposite partitions, 
 

THE ENGINE. 79 
 
 and of course were concealed from view. 
 Rollo stopped, and looked a little afraid of 
 this ponderous piece of machinery. 
 
 i{ What is it, father?" said he. 
 
 " That is the main shaft," answered his 
 father ; and he walked up and put his hand 
 upon it. The heavy axle kept turning on 
 steadily under his hand, just as before. 
 
 " What is it for? " said Rollo. 
 
 11 Why, this end," replied Hollo s father, 
 pointing to the end which extended out 
 towards the side of the boat, " this end is 
 fastened to the middle of the great paddle- 
 wheel, at the side of the steamboat, and it 
 carries the wheel round in the water, and the 
 paddles strike the water, and that makes the 
 boat go along." 
 
 Rollo looked upon the revolving axle a 
 moment in silence, and with an expression 
 of wonder upon his countenance. At length 
 lie said, 
 
 " And where does the other end go ? " 
 
 " It goes into the engine room," replied 
 his father, u and is connected with the ma 
 chinery." 
 
 " I wish I could see," said Rollo. 
 
 " Come," replied his father, " we will go 
 
80 THE ENGINE. 
 
 and look into the engine room." And he 
 and Rollo walked along. 
 
 They came to a door, which was open, 
 and Rollo looked in. He saw a great deal 
 of complicated machinery. He could not 
 understand it at all. 
 
 " What makes the great shaft go round? " 
 isked Rollo. 
 
 " The crank," replied his father. 
 
 " What is the crank ? " 
 
 Then his father pointed him to the place 
 where the end of the main shaft came 
 through the wall into the engine room, and 
 he saw that there was a crank, somewhat 
 like the crank of a grindstone, which went 
 round and round, carrying the main shaft 
 with it. There was a great, heavy iron 
 beam, which descended from above, and the 
 lower end was fastened to the crank, and 
 went up and over, and then down and back, 
 as the crank went round. 
 
 " And what makes the crank go round?" 
 asked Rollo. 
 
 " The pitman," replied his father. 
 
 " What is the pitman?" 
 
 " It is that great beam which comes down 
 from above, and carries the crank." 
 
THE ENGINE. 81 
 
 Rollo looked at the heavy pitman, which 
 rose and descended, and swept round majes 
 tically, carrying the crank with prodigious 
 power. 
 
 " And what makes the pitman go?" said 
 Rollo. 
 
 " The beam," said his father. 
 
 " What is the beam ? " said Rollo. 
 
 " You see it there," said his father, point 
 ing up. It was a large iron frame, coming 
 almost to a point at each end, and poised in 
 the centre upon a pivot, upon which it 
 moved up and down, like a see-saw, one end 
 up and the other down. The pitman was 
 attached to one end ; and so, when that end 
 of the beam rose, the pitman was drawn up, 
 and it drew up the crank with it, and when 
 it went down, it carried the crank down 
 over the other side, and so made it con 
 stantly revolve. 
 
 " Yes," said Rollo, " but now what makes 
 the beam go ? " 
 
 " The piston rod," replied his father. 
 
 " What is the piston rod ? " 
 
 " It is that long, bright, oily-looking iron 
 rod, which is fastened to the other end of 
 the beam." 
 
82 THE ENGINE. 
 
 Rollo looked at the piston rod. It was 
 about as large round as a man s arm at the 
 shoulder it hung down from the beam, at 
 the end opposite to the one where the pit 
 man was fastened. When the piston rod 
 went up, it pushed up that end of the beam, 
 and when it came down, it pulled it down, 
 and so kept the beam in motion. Hollo ob 
 served that when it descended, it went into 
 a small hole, just big enough to admit it, in 
 the top of a great, round thing, shaped some 
 what like a hogshead, only it was taller, and 
 the sides were straight. The piston rod 
 went down, the whole length, into this hole, 
 and then came up again looking bright and 
 oily. 
 
 " And what makes the piston rod move 
 up and down?" said Rollo. 
 
 " The piston," said his father. 
 
 " What is the piston ? " said Rollo. 
 
 " It is out of sight, in that great, round 
 thing which is called the cylinder. It is 
 fastened to the end of the piston rod. and is 
 round and flat, and just broad enough to fill 
 the whole breadth of the cylinder, inside. 
 When this piston goes up, it makes the 
 piston rod, which is fastened to the upper 
 
THE ENGINE. S3 
 
 side of it. go up, and when it comes down, it 
 draws the piston rod down. * 
 
 " And what makes the piston move up and 
 down ? " said Rollo. 
 
 " The steam in the cylinder. The hot 
 steam is forced in with prodigious power, 
 first under the piston, and that drives the 
 piston up, and then it is let out below, and 
 more steam is forced in above the piston, and 
 that drives it down ; and so the steam, being 
 first driven in above and then below, makes 
 the piston rise and fall." 
 
 "And what makes the steam go into the 
 cylinder first above the piston, and then be 
 low," said Rollo. 
 
 " The valve apparatus," said his father. 
 
 "What is the valve apparatus?" said 
 Rollo. 
 
 Then his father pointed to some compli 
 cated apparatus which stood pretty near the 
 cylinder. The parts of it kept moving up 
 and down ; first one part, then the other. 
 Rollo looked at it a moment -with a perplexed 
 expression of countenance. He despaired of 
 understanding such hopeless intricacy. His 
 father told him that that valve apparatus 
 was to let the steam in riarht. into the cylin- 
 
84 THE ENGINE. 
 
 der, first under the piston to drive it up, and 
 then above the piston to drive it down. 
 
 " And where does the steam come from ? " 
 sn.id Rollo, at length, after a long pause. 
 
 "It comes from the great steam pipe 
 which conducts it from the boiler." 
 
 " Where is the steam pipe ? " asked Rollo. 
 
 "His father pointed to a large pipe or 
 trunk, which came up from below, and 
 branched off into the valve apparatus, to 
 supply it with steam. 
 
 " Now," said he, " we will go and see the 
 fire room." 
 
 " The fire room ? " said Rollo. 
 
 "Yes," replied his -father, "where they 
 make the fire under the boiler." 
 
 They accordingly walked along the pas 
 sage-way a few steps, and came to another 
 door, which opened into the fire room. Two 
 men were there, shovelling coal in the 
 mouths of a great, burning, fiery furnace 
 Above the furnace was the end of the boil 
 er, made of iron, and rivetted with mon 
 strous, round-headed rivets. There were 
 stop-cocks and pipes here and there in the 
 boiler, and the steam hissed from all the 
 ioints. 
 
I HE ENGINE. 85 
 
 " So now, Hollo," said his father, "you 
 understand something about the steam en 
 gine." 
 
 " Yes, sir," said Hollo. 
 
 "You see," continued his father, "that 
 the firemen make great fires under the boiler. 
 This boils the water very fast. The steam 
 expands and presses with prodigious force, 
 but the boiler is made tight and strong all 
 around, and it cannot get away." 
 
 " Except through the steam pipe," said 
 Rollo. 
 
 " Yes," said his father, " except through 
 the steam pipe. It crowds through this 
 pipe, and the valve apparatus admits it into 
 the cylinder below the piston ; so it crowds 
 the piston up with great force. Then the 
 valve apparatus changes, and lets the steam 
 in above the piston, and so it crowds it 
 down. The piston rod works the beam, and 
 the beam works the pitman, and the pitman 
 turns the crank, and the crank carries round 
 the main shaft, and the main shaft makes 
 the paddle wheels revolve, and they make 
 the boat go. And thus it is that the hoi 
 steam, expanding and pressing with great 
 force against the piston, in the cylinder, firs! 
 
86 THE ENGINK. 
 
 above and then below, crowds it up and 
 down and drives the boat through the 
 ivater. 
 
 Rollo gazed at the firemen. They looked 
 pale and smutty, and the fire glared upon 
 the ; r countenances. In a few minutes his 
 fathei said lie must gc and settle his fare. 
 
87 
 
 A NIGHT AT SEA. 
 
 ABOUT an hour or two after the boat left 
 the wharf, Rollo and his father went down 
 into the cabin. The cabin was a very long 
 room, with curtains on each side. 
 
 " How do yon like it, Rolio ? " said Mr. 
 Holiday. 
 
 " Pretty well, sir," said Rollo ; " only it is 
 rather dark." 
 
 11 They cannot have many windows in a 
 sea-boat," said his father. 
 
 "Why not?" asked Rollo. 
 
 " Because, perhaps, the sea would dash 
 
 Behind the curtains, at the sides of the 
 cabin, were places to sleep in. Rolio s father 
 called them bertks. They were like boxes, 
 made in the wall, one over the other, Avith a 
 bed in each one. Rolio s father looked 
 along, examining the fronts of several of 
 them. 
 
58 
 
 A NIGHT AT SEA. 
 
 * What are you looking for, father ? " said 
 Rollo. 
 
 " To find my berth ; it is No. 39." 
 
 Rollo helped his father find No. 39. The 
 numbers were printed in small gilded letters 
 under each berth. No. 39 was one of the 
 lower berths, pretty well aft. Rollo s father 
 said he chose it there, because it would be 
 more away from the noise of the engine. 
 After they had found No. 39, Rollo wanted 
 to know where his berth was. 
 
 " You haven t got any separate berth," 
 said his father ; " and I am going to let you 
 sleep in mine." 
 
 " But why don t / have a berth, too ? " 
 asked Rollo. " Don t they ever give them 
 to any boys ? " 
 
 " Yes ; boys have berths in this steam 
 boat," replied his father, " unless there are 
 men enough to occupy them all ; and as men 
 pay full price, and boys only half price, it is 
 right that men should have the berths." 
 
 " Should I have a berth, then," asked 
 Rollo, " if you paid full price for me ? " 
 
 " Yes," replied his father ; " but the fare 
 is five dollars ; and half of it is how much ? * 
 
A NIGHT AT SEA. 89 
 
 fl Two dollars and a half," answered 
 fcollo. 
 
 * Yes. So, if I paid full fare for the sake 
 of getting you a berth, I should pay two 
 dollars and a half for a place to sleep in for 
 one night ; which is a great deal more than 
 it would be wise to give ; for, after all, the 
 berths are hard and uncomfortable, and it is 
 about as easy to sleep upon this seat." 
 
 He pointed, as he said this, to a narrow 
 seat, handsomely painted, which passed 
 along the side of the cabin, just before the 
 berths, and about level with the lower tier. 
 Rollo thought it looked like rather a hard 
 place to sleep upon. 
 
 " I can spread down my cloak," said his 
 father, " and then put my carpet bag at the 
 head for a pillow ; and I dare say I shall get 
 along -very well." 
 
 "But, father," said Rollo, "/ ought to 
 sleep upon the seat." 
 
 " Why, no," replied his father ; " as you are 
 not accustomed to sleeping on board a steam 
 boat, and I am, I thought I would let you 
 have the berth." 
 
 "No, father," said Rollo, " I had rather 
 d* 8* 
 
90 A NIG JIT AT SKA. 
 
 take the seat ; boys can sleep easier 
 men, you know." 
 
 His father acquiesced in this arrangement, 
 and just as they had done talking about it, 
 two colored men came in at the forward end 
 of the gentlemen s cabin, and began to pull 
 out some tables. The tables were what they 
 call extension tables. They looked, when 
 Rollo and his father came into the cabin, 
 like square tables, standing in a row, at 
 equal distances up and down the cabin. The 
 men took hold of opposite ends of one of the 
 tables, and pulled it open ; for it was made 
 so that the frame would draw out a long dis 
 tance. They then covered over the frame 
 with mahogany boards, which were all ready, 
 so as to make quite a long table of what was 
 before a small, square one. In the same 
 manner they pulled out all the other tables, 
 and joining the ends together, they made a 
 very long table indeed, extending all up and 
 down the cabin. 
 
 " What is all that for ? " asked Rollo. 
 
 "That is the table for supper," replied 
 his father. 
 
 Rollo sat and watched them while thp,y sel 
 
A NIGHT AT SEA. C JJ 
 
 the supper-table. His father, in the mean 
 time, took a newspaper out of his pocket, 
 and went towards the stern windows foi 
 light, and began to read. 
 
 Hollo was much interested in the process 
 of setting the (able. It took a great while. 
 When it was all ready, there suddenly ap 
 peared a large number of ladies, coming 
 down a flight of stairs, near where his father 
 was sitting. The stairs led from the ladies 
 cabin. They were coming down to supper. 
 
 After the ladies were seated, Rollo heard 
 a bell ringing upon deck, and immediately 
 afterwards crowds of men came down the 
 main stairway, and seated themselves also at 
 the table. Hollo and his father joined them, 
 and had a good supper. 
 
 They rambled about the boat an hour or 
 two after supper. At length Hollo began to 
 stagger a little, when walking ; and once he 
 almost tumbled over against some trunks. 
 His father told him that it was the motion of 
 the boat, caused by the swell of the sea, 
 which made him staler. 
 
 S O 
 
 " Are we out at sea, now ? " said Rollo. 
 ; Yes," said his father ; " we are just s;o- 
 ing out, I suppose. " 
 
92 A NIUHT AT SEA. 
 
 " Let us go and see," said Rollo. 
 
 So Rollo and his father went up on the 
 p/oinenade deck again, and Rollo looked 
 around. It was now evening, but the stars 
 were bright in the sky, and he could see 
 pretty well. The boat was in a large bay, 
 standing out to sea. Rocky shores were 
 dimly visible at a distance, and there was an 
 island, \vith a long, sandy beach upon the 
 right hand. The surface of the water was 
 gently roughened by the evening breeze, 
 and a large brig was slowly coming on, to 
 meet the steamboat, as Rollo thought, in 
 order to pass between them and the island. 
 
 11 There s a ship, coming," said Rollo. 
 
 " No," said his father, " it is a brig, 
 going." 
 
 " Going ? " said Rollo. " No, father, it is 
 coming this way." 
 
 " It appears to be coming this way, but 
 that is because we are going so much faster 
 than she is. You may know that she is 
 going the same way that we are, by the 
 direction of the bows, which point the same 
 way with ours ; and then the sails, too, are 
 filled from this side, and that must blow he? 
 along the way we are going." 
 
A NIGHT AT SEA. 93 
 
 " But, father, " said Rollo, " the wind is 
 blowing this way ; " and he waved his hand 
 back towards the stern of the steamboat, to 
 indicate that the wind was blowing against 
 them. 
 
 " It seems to be," replied his father; "but 
 really the wind is blowing the other way, 
 only we go so much faster, than this little 
 evening breeze, that we make a wind, as 
 they say, against us." 
 
 By this time the steamboat had come up 
 nearly abreast of the brig, and Rollo per 
 ceived quite a ripple of water, under the brig s 
 bows, which proved, beyond doubt, that the 
 brig was going in the same direction, in fact, 
 though the appearance that the motion was 
 the other way, was so strong, that Rollo 
 thought his reason contradicted his eyes, and 
 he hardly knew which to believe. 
 
 Rollo had to take hold of a round, slender 
 post, to keep himself steady, when the boat 
 rose and fell over the great swells of the sea; 
 and as the motion was increasing, his father 
 thought that they had better both go to bed. 
 
 They accordingly went from the prome 
 nade deck down to the main deck, and 
 thence along the passage-ways to the stair- 
 
94 
 
 A NIGHT AT SEA. 
 
 case, which led below to the gentlemen s 
 cabin. Hollo s father pulled his carpet bag 
 out from among the baggage, and when they 
 had got down to their berth, he pulled out his 
 wrapper, and arranged the rest of the things 
 in the carpet bag in such a way as to make 
 as soft a pillow of it as possible. Rollo in 
 sisted upon sleeping on the seat himself, and 
 letting his father have the berth. His father 
 made the seat as comfortable as possible, by 
 spreading down his surtout, doubled once or 
 twice, for a bed, and his carpet bag for a pil 
 low, and he took one of the blankets from 
 the berth, to cover him up with. 
 
 After they were both fairly fixed in theii 
 quarters for the night, Mr, Holiday asked 
 Rollo how he liked his place. 
 
 "Pretty well, sir; I like it very well, 
 only the carpet bag feels rather prickly." 
 
 " So it is," said his father, putting his 
 hand out to feel of the carpet bag. " It is 
 rather rough for your cheek to lie upon. 
 However, I will remedy that difficulty." 
 
 He accordingly reached out to his dressing- 
 box, which he had put upon a little shelf at 
 the lower end of his berth, before he went 
 to bed, and took out of it a large silk hand- 
 
A NIGHT AT SEA. 95 
 
 kerchief, neatly folded. Rollo lifted up his 
 head, and his father spread the handkerchief 
 over the, carpet bag, and then Rollo laid his 
 head down again. 
 
 " There," said he, with a tone of satisfac 
 tion, " that will do finely. It feels very soft 
 and smooth. 
 
 " Now, father," he continued, " if you 
 would just be so good as to tell me a story, 
 just while I am going to sleep." 
 
 " Can t you go to sleep without a story ? " 
 said his father. 
 
 " No, sir, because there is such a loud 
 noise." 
 
 " What noise do you mean?" replied his 
 father. 
 
 The reason why Rollo s father did not 
 know what noise he meant, was because 
 there were a great many men all about the 
 cabin, some talking and laughing, some read 
 ing and writing at tables, and some getting 
 into the berths, which ranged up and dowr 
 the sides of the cabin. Besides this, the en 
 gine made a noise, and the whole boat treia 
 bled from the rapid strokes of the paddles 
 upon the water, as the wheels revolved. 
 
96 
 
 A NIGHT AT SEA. 
 
 " That thumping and rumbling noise, r 
 said Rollo. 
 
 " That is the engine," replied his father, 
 " and the concussion of the paddles upon 
 the water." 
 
 " It goes a great deal louder than it did 
 before we went to bed," said Rollo. " I 
 suppose we are going very fast now." 
 
 " No, it is not really any louder," replied 
 his father, " only it seems louder to you, 
 because your head is upon the pillow, and 
 that conducts the sound to your ear." 
 
 " Upon the carpet bag, you mean," said 
 Rollo. 
 
 "Yes," replied his father, that is your 
 pillow just now." 
 
 "Well, father," said Rollo, "couldn t you 
 tell me a little story ? " 
 
 " Not very well, just now, for I want to 
 go to sleep ; but I can give you a little 
 advice." 
 
 " Well, sir," said Rollo, " advice will do." 
 
 His father then began to give Rollo some 
 good advice, and he talked with him for 
 some time. Their heads were very near 
 together, Rollo s on the carpet bag, and his 
 
A J.IGTT7 AT SEA. 97 
 
 father s in the berth. So they talked in a 
 low tone of voice, and nobody else could 
 hear. Rollo himself found it very difficult 
 to get asleep, he was so much disturbed by 
 the many voices in the cabin, and by the 
 noise of the engine, which seemed to him to 
 grow louder and louder. At length, how 
 ever, he fell asleep. 
 e 9 
 
FOG 
 
 A GOOD many hours passed away, during 
 which Hollo was entirely unconscious of 
 every thing which took place around him. 
 At last, however, he was awakened by some 
 strange sensation. He lifted his head up 
 from the carpet bag, and looked around. 
 The cabin was nearly empty. Clothes were 
 lying about upon the seats, and near the 
 curtains of the berths. There were one or 
 two tables, which had solitary lamps burn 
 ing upon them, and at one, a man was seat 
 ed, leaning his forehead upon his arms, which 
 were folded upon the table. 
 
 Rollo looked around and listened. He 
 observed that the heavy thumping and rum 
 bling of the engine had ceased, and the 
 steamboat seemed to be gliding smoothly 
 through the water. He could, in fact, heai 
 the washing of the water against the sides 
 of the boat, where his father s berth came. 
 
 Roilo could not think what could be the 
 
ron 99 
 
 matter. Just at that moment, his father 
 pushed away the little white curtain of his 
 berth, and looked out upon Rollo. 
 
 " Rollo," said he, "are you awake ? " 
 
 " Yes, sir," said Rollo; "what is the 
 matter ? " 
 
 vt The engine has stopped." 
 
 " What for ? " asked Rollo. 
 
 " I don t know ; there is some difficulty, 
 probably. Perhaps something is out of 
 order." 
 
 " Well, father, hadn t we better go and 
 see what is the matter?" 
 
 " No," replied his father ; " I think not. 
 We cannot do any good, and our wisest 
 course is to lie quiet, and try to go to sleep 
 again." 
 
 " But, father, perhaps the boiler has 
 burst," said Rollo. 
 
 " No," replied his father, " for then we 
 should have heard the report." 
 
 " Perhaps the vessel has sprung aleak," 
 added Rollo. 
 
 "They would come and tell us, if any 
 thing had taken place, which it is important 
 for us to know." 
 
 While Rollo and his father had been talk- 
 
100 FOG. 
 
 ing thus, there had been a movement in 
 several of the berths, and one or two men 
 had got up and gone upon deck. Just as 
 Hollo s father had answered Hollo s last 
 suggestion, a man came down the stairway, 
 only partly dressed, but with his cloak over 
 his shoulders, and slippers upon his feet. As 
 he came down, a head and a pair of shoul 
 ders appeared between the curtains of a 
 berth, near the bottom of the stairs. 
 
 " What is the matter, sir? " said the man 
 in the berth. 
 
 " Fog," replied the other. " We have 
 stopped to sound." 
 
 Rollo did not understand what was meant 
 by stopping to sound. He had heard of 
 bells being rung, as a signal to vessels in 
 fogs, and he thought it probable that the 
 steamboat had stopped to ring a bell, to warn 
 other vessels which might be in the way, 
 that the steamboat was coming. He accord 
 ingly listened, expecting every moment to 
 hear the bell ring. 
 
 He peeped between his father s curtains, 
 but he thought he seemed to be asleep, and 
 he would not disturb him. So he lay still, 
 listening and waiting for the bell, but it did 
 
FOG. 101 
 
 not ring, and he gradually fell asleep again 
 himsell. 
 
 He had, however, scarcely commenced his 
 dreams, before he was suddenly awakened 
 again. He started up. The thump and 
 rumble of the ponderous engine had com 
 menced, and it was that that awaked him. 
 
 11 Ah, we are going again," said Rollo to 
 himself. 
 
 At the same moment he saw his father 
 looking out again, between the curtains. 
 
 " Rollo," said he. 
 
 " What, father," replied Rollo. 
 
 " We are going again." 
 
 " Yes, sir," said Rollo ; " I had just got 
 asleep, arid the engine has waked me up." 
 
 " So had I," replied his father ; " but, now 
 we are going again, we will go to sleep, and 
 try to sleep till morning." 
 
 " Yes, sir," replied Rollo, " we will." 
 
 So Rollo and his father went to sleep 
 again. 
 
 It was not long, however, before Rollo 
 
 was again disturbed. He looked around 
 
 again, and listened, and he observed that the 
 
 engine had stopped once more ; and that the 
 
 9* 
 
102 FOG. 
 
 sudden cessation of the noise had awakened 
 him. 
 
 " This is very strange," thought he. 
 " The engine wakes me when it stops, and 
 it wakes me when it sets agoing. I wonder 
 why I don t sleep sounder when it gets still." 
 
 Pretty soon the engine was started again, 
 and then Rollo once more went to sleep. 
 This time he slept two hours, for during al) 
 this time the engine kept steadily agoing. 
 At length, however, it suddenly ceased ; and 
 the boat glided smoothly through the water. 
 Rollo aroused himself again, and looked to 
 wards the staircase. The lamps burned 
 dimly, and a faint gray light was shining 
 down the stairway. Rollo thought it was 
 beginning to be morning. 
 
 He lay still, however, being unwilling to 
 disturb his father ; but it was not long be 
 fore his father awoke, and then Rollo waited 
 to get up. His father gave him permission, 
 and he dressed himself and went up upon 
 deck. He was careful not to go to any 
 places where he did not see that people 
 were accustomed to go. There were some 
 other parts of the deck which he wanted tr 
 
FOG. 103 
 
 walk upon, where it seemed to him perfectly 
 safe ; but he did not see other persons there, 
 and so he did not know but that there might 
 bo some hidden danger. 
 
 He found that there was a very thick fog. 
 He could see the water a little way around 
 the vessel, and that was all. The air was 
 still, and the water, at least the little of it 
 that he could see, was smooth, and the 
 steamboat was moving on through it much 
 more slowly than it had done the night be 
 fore. 
 
 There were several men standing or walk 
 ing about the decks. Some looked pale, 
 and some looked sleepy. As Rollo stood 
 trying to look over the water, he heard one 
 of them say to another, 
 
 " There, they are getting ready to sound ; 
 let us go and see." 
 
 Just then he heard a little bell. Immedi 
 ately the engine stopped. The steamboat 
 glided more and more slowly through tlm 
 water, and in a few minutes it almost ceased 
 to move. 
 
 Rollo looked around in the direction where 
 the men went, and he saw two or three men 
 landing near the bows of the boat. Oie ol 
 
104 
 
 FOG. 
 
 them had a heavy piece of lead in his hand. 
 There was a long line fastened to it. This 
 line passed along over the wheel-house, and 
 a man near the stern of the vessel had hold 
 of it there. Only he did not have hold of 
 the end of the line, as Rollo saw that there 
 was a great deal of loose line lying upon the 
 deck. 
 
 " All clear, there ? " called out the man 
 with the lead, in a loud voice. 
 
 " All clear," answered the man at the 
 line. 
 
 The man who had the lead then hove it 
 out as far as he could, into the water. It fell 
 in with a heavy plash, and as the steam 
 boat was still moving slowly along, it soon 
 brought the place where the lead went into 
 the water, opposite the man who held the 
 line. 
 
 As the lead sank down into the water, it 
 drew the line out through the man s hands, 
 gradually taking up the slack of the line 
 which was lying upon the deck. At length 
 the lead reached the bottom. The man per 
 ceived it at once, by its ceasing to draw the 
 line through his hand. He then pulled up 
 the line again, and observed how many di- 
 
FOG. 105 
 
 visions of it it had taken to reach the bot 
 tom. He found that the water was ten 
 fathoms deep. 
 
 " Ten" he said in a loud voice, calling 
 to the captain. 
 
 " Very well," said the captain, turning to 
 the pilot u then we can stand on for half 
 an hour longer." 
 
 The pilot, hearing this, went into a little 
 round room, near the bows of thB vessel, 
 which had large glass windows all around 
 the front side, where he was accustomed to 
 stand when he was steering. There was a 
 curious-looking wheel in it, with handles all 
 around the circumference, and there was a 
 rope passing two or three times round the 
 axle of the wheel. The ends of this rope 
 passed along the sides of the vessel to the 
 stern, and were there fastened to the rudder, 
 so that, by turning the wheel one way or 
 another, the rudder could be managed, and 
 the boat steered. This little house, or room, 
 was made to shut up close, so as to defend 
 the pilot from the cold and bleak winds, and 
 the rain ; and it was placed in an elevated 
 situation, and had a front of glass, in ordei 
 
LOG FOG. 
 
 that the pilot might see all that was before 
 him. 
 
 When the pilot got into this place, lie 
 pulled a little handle, and Rollo then heard 
 the sound of a little bell again. Immediately 
 the engine gave out a heavy groan, and 
 struggled on. Rollo thought it did not like 
 to go to work again very well. 
 
 Out on the end of the bowsprit Rollo ob 
 served a* man, half sitting, half lying, and 
 holding on by the ropes. 
 
 " He ll fall," said Rolio, speaking to him 
 self, as he stood near the pilot s house. 
 
 " No, he will not fall," answered a voice 
 near him. 
 
 Rollo looked around, and saw his fathei 
 standing by his side. 
 
 " Why, father," said he, " have you got 
 up?" 
 
 " Yes," replied his father. " How do we 
 get along ? " 
 
 " O, pretty well," said Rollo ; " we have 
 been sounding, and the water is ten fathoms 
 deep; and we are going to stand on for half 
 an hour. How much is a fathom, father?" 
 
 " Six feet." 
 
FOG. 107 
 
 " Six. Ten times six is sixty. Then it 
 is sixty feet deep. And what did the cap 
 tain mean by standing on ? " 
 
 " Why, going along, on our way, towards 
 the shore." 
 
 " Well, father," continued Hollo, " what 
 is that man out on the bowsprit for ? He has 
 been there a great while." 
 
 " He is the lookout, I suppose," said his 
 father. " He is watching ahead, to get the 
 first glimpse of any thing which might be 
 approaching in the fog." 
 
 " But, father, they know that they are a 
 good way from the shore, because the water 
 is so deep." 
 
 " Yes, but we might come across a ves 
 sel." 
 
 Rollo and his father talked together a little 
 while, and then they went and found a com 
 fortable place among the trunks and carpet 
 bags, upon one side of the ladies cabin, and 
 sat down. They wrapped themselves up in 
 a cloak, for the morning was cool. 
 
 They had hardly got established, before 
 the man who had held the line when they 
 sounded before, came with it again, and took 
 Q position just opposite to them. In a minute 
 
108 FOG. 
 
 the boat stopped again, and the lead was 
 thrown. Rollo wanted to get up and see, 
 but his father told him that, as they were so 
 comfortably established, they had better keep 
 still, under the cloak. 
 
 The man let the line run out, until the 
 lead struck the bottom, and then he drew it 
 up again. He called out Seven. 
 
 " Seven fathoms," said Rollo. " Now it 
 isn t so deep ; we are getting near the 
 shore." 
 
 " How much longer can you stand in ? " 
 said Rollo s father, addressing the man with 
 the line, who was then coiling it up. 
 
 " Not very long ; perhaps half an hour." 
 
 The man went away with his lead and 
 line, and Rollo asked his father how long it 
 would be before breakfast. 
 
 His father thought it would be more than 
 an hour. 
 
 "Then, father," said Rollo, "I wish you 
 would tell me a story now : you know you 
 could not tell me one last night." 
 
 " Well," said his father, " I will. I will 
 tell you the story of Moses and his ship." 
 
109 
 
 THE STORY OF MOSES AND HIS SHIP 
 
 ONE day, just before Moses was going to 
 school, he saw a boy, a good deal smaller 
 than he was. coming along the road, with 
 something which looked white in his hand. 
 He stopped at the gate of his father s house, 
 and saw that it was one of his playmates, 
 named John. He watched him as he walked 
 along, and when he came up, he saw that 
 the white thing he held in his hand was a 
 little vessel. His father had made it for him. 
 It was made of a thin, flat piece of board, 
 and had an upright stick for a mast, and upon 
 the mast was fastened a handsome, paper 
 sail. It was this which looked so white. 
 
 When Moses saw this vessel, he wished it 
 was his, and he asked John t^o give it to him ,- 
 but John would not. After talking about it 
 a little while, he told John he would give 
 him some powder, if he would give it to 
 him. John had seen gunpowder flash, when 
 10 
 
Ill) MOSES AND HiS SHIP. 
 
 dropped into the fire, and he thought that he 
 should like to have some to play with. 
 
 But John did not feel easy.. His conscience 
 warned him that it would be wrong to take 
 the gunpowder. He knew that his father 
 would not like to have him play with so dan 
 gerous a thing. Conscience warned him not 
 to do it, but he did not regard her. After 
 hesitating a little, he said he would. 
 
 Before this, when he was walking along 
 the street, with his little vessel in his hand, 
 he felt happy, because he was doing right. 
 Now he began to feel uneasy and unhappy 
 because he was going to do wrong. 
 
 Moses took the little vessel and went into 
 the house to put it away, and to got his pow 
 der. He, too, felt guilty and unhappy, for 
 he had no powder to give to John, and his 
 plan was to get the vessel dishonestly. He 
 carried it into the house, and hid it behind a 
 barrel in a back room, feeling guilty and 
 ashamed all the-time. There was a feeling 
 in his heart that told him he was going to do 
 something very wrong, and warned him not 
 to do it. But he did not hoed the warning. 
 
 He went into the parlor, opened his father s 
 secretary, took down the sand-box, and 
 
MOSES AND HIS SHIP. Ill 
 
 poured out some of the black sand into a lit 
 tle paper, and then folded up the paper, put 
 back the box, and shut the secretary again. 
 
 All the time that he was doing this he felt 
 guilty and unhappy. Conscience was re 
 monstrating with him. He felt that he was 
 guilty of a great sin, in thus taking what be 
 longed to his father without leave, and also 
 of another, in defrauding his playmate. Still 
 he went on. 
 
 He went out to the gate, and found John 
 there ; and he gave him the paper of sand. 
 He hoped that John would put it directly 
 into his pocket, and go away, without asking 
 him any questions. But John slowly and 
 carefully opened the paper. 
 
 He looked at the black sand a minute, and 
 then he said, " Is that powder? I did not 
 know it looked like that." "Yes," said 
 Moses, faintly. 
 
 The reason why John did not know that 
 it was not poAvder, was partly because he 
 was a little boy, and did not know exactly 
 IIOAV powder ought to look, and partly be 
 cause he felt guilty and unea&y himself; and 
 so. his mind being somewhat disturbed, he 
 could not think so well about the powder. 
 
112 
 
 MOSES AND HIS SHIP. 
 
 John then folded up the sand, and put it 
 into his pocket, and both the boys walked 
 along to school. But their peace and hap 
 piness were gone. They felt guilty, and 
 anxious, and afraid ; guilty, because they 
 both knew that they had done very wrong ; 
 anxious, because they could not drive the 
 thoughts of their guilt from their minds ; 
 and afraid, because they thought that some 
 thing would take plaoe which would expose 
 them. 
 
 All that day John found that having the 
 powder, which he had expected would have 
 been a source of great pleasure to him, was, 
 in reality, a source of great uneasiness and 
 pain. His thoughts would keep going all 
 the time towards the pocket where he kept 
 it, and he suffered more than would be paid 
 for by seeing the most splendid fireworks 
 which were ever made. 
 
 When he went home that night, he felt 
 worse, ratner than better. As he sat down 
 by the fire, in the evening, after tea, with his 
 father and mother, he felt more guilty and 
 more anxious than ever. Conscience re 
 proved him more and more. He was afraid 
 too. He could not help thinking that his 
 
MOSES AND HIS SHIP. 113 
 
 powder might, by some accident, get on fire 
 while it was in his pocket ; and he was very 
 sorry indeed that he had ever touched it. 
 
 He became so uneasy and unhappy at last, 
 that he determined not to keep his powder 
 any longer. What he ought to have done, 
 was to carry it at once to his father, and 
 confess his fault, and ask his father to for 
 give him : then he would have been happy 
 again. 
 
 Instead of this, however, he determined 
 to go and throw the powder away. So he 
 left the room, went out to the back door, 
 took the paper out of his pocket, and threw it 
 away. He listened and heard it fall down 
 in a corner of the yard, among some Lushes 
 which were growing there. He came back 
 into the house, relieved a little, and thinking 
 that he had now got rid of his trouble, and 
 that he never would try again to make him 
 self happy by taking what he knew his 
 father did not wish him to have. 
 
 But John soon found that he was not 
 much relieved by throwing the; powder 
 away. He was unhappy still ; and that 
 night, when he went to bed, he could not go 
 to sleep. Conscience reproved him more 
 
114 MOSES AND HIS SHIP. 
 
 and more loudly, in the stillness and darkness 
 of the night. He was afraid too. Some 
 times he imagined that his powder would 
 take fire there in the yard, and burn the 
 house down. The wall looked light a little 
 over his head, and he thought there must be 
 something on fire in the yard to shine upon 
 it. At last he covered his head up with the 
 bed-clothes, partly to keep himself from see 
 ing the light, and partly because he was 
 afraid of something else, though he did not 
 know what. 
 
 At last he got to sleep ; but he was, even 
 in his sleep, restless and unhappy. He 
 dreamed that the house was on fire, and that 
 there was gunpowder in it, and that he 
 should be blown up. Then he waked in 
 great distress, and stared about wildly. 
 Doing wrong very often makes children 
 have dreadful dreams. Yes, and men too. 
 
 About midnight John waked up again, 
 and when he thought of his sin and all the 
 unhappmess it had caused him, he began to 
 cry, though he did not cry loud. He wished 
 that he had confessed his fault to his father 
 before he came to bed, and he determined to 
 do it the first thing in the morning* 
 
MOSES AND HIS SHIP. I 15 
 
 Now, it happened that just at this time 
 John s father, who slept in the same room, 
 was awake ; and, listening a few minutes, he 
 could hear John moving a little in his bed, 
 as if he was awake too. So his father said, 
 
 "John." 
 
 And John said, 
 
 "What, sir." 
 
 His father perceived, when he spoke, that 
 he was weeping. So he kindly asked him 
 what was the matter. 
 
 John tried to answer, but he could not 
 speak. He sobbed aloud. 
 
 Then John s father pitied him very much, 
 for he knew that he had done something 
 wrong, and was unhappy on that account. 
 He always treated his little boy kindly, even 
 when he had been guilty of some fault; and 
 now he asked him, in a gentle and soothing 
 tone, to come to his father s bed-side ; and 
 then he put his arm round his neck, as he 
 stood, and kindly asked him what was the 
 matter. So John told him fully all that he 
 had done. 
 
 " Well," said his father, "I am very glad 
 you have told me. You could not have 
 been happy again without it. Perhaps you 
 
116 MOSES AND HIS SHIP. 
 
 thought, at the time you took the powder, 
 that it was not very wrong, for I had not 
 positively forbidden it. But it was very 
 wrong ; for although I had not positively 
 forbidden it, you supposed that I should not 
 approve of it j and it is in fact disobedience 
 for children to do any thing which they 
 think their parents do not wish them to do. 
 That is what made you unhappy. It was 
 conscience reproving you for doing what 
 you knew was wrong. 
 
 " But now, if you are sincerely sorry, I 
 forgive you, and God will forgive you, and 
 you may go back to your bed, and forget it 
 all, and go to sleep. You need not be 
 afraid about the powder. I will take care 
 of it in the morning, and you need not think 
 about it any more." 
 
 So John went back to his bed with a 
 light heart, and lay down again. His 
 father observed that he was still, and a few 
 minutes afterwards, he rose up a little, and 
 looked down to the trundle-bed where John 
 was lying, to see whether he was asleep. 
 The moon shone into the room a little, and 
 he could see that John was lying with his 
 hand under his head upon the pillow, his 
 
MOSES AND HIS SHIP 
 
 117 
 
 cheek resting upon his hand. His eyes 
 were shut, and he breathed regularly. His 
 father saw that he was asleep, and his coun 
 tenance was quiet and peaceful, showing 
 that he was not disturbed by any more 
 frightful dreams. 
 
 Now, we must go back to Moses, and see 
 what became of him. When he came home 
 from school that afternoon, he went on fast, 
 to avoid walking home with John. The 
 sight of John made him feel guilty and 
 ashamed. He went home quick too, in 
 order to get his vessel, and carry it down 
 behind his father s house, to a little brook 
 there, and see it sail. He thought he should 
 have a fine time. Poor boy ! How he was 
 deceived ! A boy cannot be happy in sailing 
 the handsomest little vessel that ever was 
 made, if his conscience is disturbed, and is 
 reproaching him with his guilt. 
 
 When Moses got home, he went and 
 brought out his vessel from its hiding-place, 
 and walked with it, alone, through the 
 garden. But something within him seemed 
 to say, " This is not your vessel. You 
 have no right to it. You have been dis 
 honest and wicked. Carry it back. Carry 
 it back." 
 
\ 18 MOSES AND HIS SHIP. 
 
 Still, however, he went on, though the 
 farther he went, the more uneasy and 
 wretched he became ; until, at last, he was 
 on the point of giving up the sail, and going 
 back. But just then he saw the smooth 
 water of the brook before him, among the 
 trees, and he thought the little vessel would 
 glide over it so beautifully, that he forced 
 himself on. 
 
 He took no pleasure in the sail. He felt 
 guilty when he went down to the brink ; 
 he felt guilty when he stooped down and 
 placed the vessel on the water, and he felt 
 guilty when he saw it floating along slowly 
 from the shore. He felt guilty and miser 
 able, and he wished again and again that he 
 had never seen the little vessel. Still he 
 thought that, now it was there, he might as 
 well see it sail ; so he took up a long stick 
 and pushed it away. 
 
 It gave him so little pleasure that he 
 determined to give it up altogether; but still 
 he would not do what he ought to have 
 done, which was to take the boat, carry it 
 back to John, and confess his fraud. He 
 could not bear to do this ; and yet he found 
 that keeping the boat himself would giva 
 
MOSES AND HIS SHIP. 12) 
 
 only pain, and so he concluded to abandon 
 it, that is, to leave it to sail off down the 
 stream, and be lost. He stood on the bank 
 watching it as it slowly sailed away ; con 
 science all the time reproving him, and sayr 
 ing, " It is wrong for you to let it sail away. 
 It is not your vessel ; you have no right to 
 it ; and you have no right to let it sail away 
 and be lost." 
 
 Still he did not heed conscience. He 
 saw John s vessel sail slowly down until it 
 became entangled among the rushes, far 
 down the stream ; and then he turned away, 
 and went slowly home. 
 
 But though the vessel was out of sight, 
 the thoughts of it he could not get out of hts 
 mind. He tried to think of something else, 
 but the recollection of his guilt would force 
 itself upon him. That night, when he went 
 to bed and shut his eyes, it seemed as if he 
 could still see the little vessel lying deserted 
 among the flags and rushes ; and little John, 
 too, -seemed to stand before him, looking just 
 as he did when he took the black sand, and 
 asked him if it was really powder. It was 
 a long time before he could go to sleep ; and 
 then he had frightful dreams. 
 
122 MOSES AND HIS SHIP. 
 
 The next day, too, he was ashamed to 
 meet or to see John. Conscience reproached 
 him continually with his fault, and made 
 him miserable. He knew that he ought to 
 go and get the vessel ; and bring it back to 
 the rightful owner, and he ought to confess 
 his dishonesty and falsehood ; but he would 
 not. He was too proud to do it. So he 
 went on day after day, feeling guilty and 
 miserable. 
 
 And now, Rollo, for the moral of the 
 story. Never do what you know is wrong. 
 You will gain no enjoyment by it, which will 
 repay you for the sufferings of self-reproach, 
 and the loss of peace of mind. God has 
 given you your conscience, and you ought 
 always to obey its voice ; and if you 
 should do wrong, immediately go and con 
 fess it, and resolve to do so no more. 
 
123 
 
 AN EXPEDITION. 
 
 tf 
 JUST as Hollo s father had finished his 
 
 story, the engine stopped, and immediately 
 afterwards two or three rough-looking men, 
 with tarpaulin hats, came along to the part 
 of the boat where he and Rollo were sitting, 
 and began to do something about the great 
 boat which Rollo had observed, when he 
 first came on board, hanging in chains by 
 the side of the ladies cabin. It seemed 
 very large to Rollo, though in fact it was 
 not very large. The chains were suspended 
 from great iron cranes, rough and rusty, and 
 the men contrived to heave round the cranes, 
 and so swing the boat over the side of the 
 steamboat ; and then they let it down into 
 the water. One of the men was in the boat 
 when they let it down. 
 
 " What are they going to do ? " said 
 Rollo. 
 
 "I don t know, * said his father; " we 
 shall see." 
 
124 AN EXPEDITION. 
 
 Rollo and his father were pretty near the 
 men and the boat, but the rattling of the 
 ropes in the pulleys, and the sour. J. of the 
 voices of the various passengers about the 
 decks, prevented any one from hearing their 
 conversation. 
 
 " Couldn t you ask them ? " said Rollo. 
 
 i( I might, but they are busy, and it dis 
 turbs seamen to have the passengers continu 
 ally asking them questions. We had better 
 observe for ourselves." 
 
 In the mean time a young man, well 
 dressed, and with an intelligent expression 
 of countenance, came along, with a curious 
 looking instrument in his hand. It looked 
 like a round box with a glass top. The men, 
 who had let down the boat, climbed down 
 and got into it. Rollo was afraid that they 
 would fall into the water, but they did not. 
 
 " Sometimes," said Rollo s father, " they 
 let down the boat in order to send a passen 
 ger ashore ; but that does not seem to be the 
 object now." 
 
 " Why not ? " said Rollo. 
 
 " Because I don t see any passenger or 
 any baggage." 
 
 " Perhaps that man is a passenger, and he 
 
AN EXPEDITION. 125 
 
 has no baggage except his little box. I wish 
 he would let me see what is in it." 
 
 The young man looked over the side, at 
 the sailors in the boat. They were getting 
 out the oars. One man, upon the deck of 
 the steamboat, was holding the enct of a 
 rope, which was fastened to the bows of the 
 boat. 
 
 " He does not look like a passenger," said 
 Hollo s father, in reply to what Hollo had 
 said ; and, besides, there is no shore in sight 
 where they might land him." 
 
 " Well, father, then what are they going 
 to do ? " 
 
 " I know, 1 suppose," said his father ; 
 "but I would rather not tell you ; I want to 
 see if you can find out yourself, by observing 
 the movements." 
 
 " What course shall I steer, sir ? " said the 
 young man, looking around and upwards. 
 Rollo looked up, and saw the captain stand 
 ing upon the wheel-house, where he was 
 observing what took place on board the 
 boat. 
 
 " About north-north-east," said the cap 
 tain. " Pull in, for a quarter of an hour 01 
 
126 AN EXPEDITION. 
 
 so, and then you had better return, unless 
 you hear the breakers." 
 
 " What does he mean by the breakers ? " 
 said Hollo. 
 
 " The waves dashing upon the rocks and 
 the shore." 
 
 " Why, father," said Rollo, " there are not 
 any waves this morning." 
 
 " There is always a swell upon the sea, 
 which makes more or less noise upon the 
 rooks." replied his father. 
 
 " John," said the young man, addressing 
 one of the sailors on board the boat, " take 
 this compass a moment." 
 
 " Is that a compass? " asked Rollo. 
 
 " Yes," answered his father. " I suppose 
 it is what they call a boat-compass. That 
 is to let him know which way to steer." 
 
 When the sailor had taken the compass, 
 the young man got down into the boat, and 
 took his place near the stern. He adjusted 
 the tiller, and took his seat by it. 
 
 11 Cast off," said he. 
 
 The man who held the rope, which con 
 fined the boat to the side of the steamboat, 
 cast it off, and one of the men in the nat 
 took it in. 
 
AN EXPEDITION 127 
 
 " Give way," said the young man at tlu 
 helm ; and the sailors pushed the boat ofl 
 with their oars, and immediately commenced 
 rowing. The young helmsman held his 
 tiller in one hand, and his compass in the 
 other, and away they went into the fog. 
 The boat soon grew dim, and disappeared, 
 though Rollo could hear the sound of the 
 oars for some time after he ceased to see the 
 boat. At length, however, the sound died 
 away, and the steamboat lay floating quietly 
 upon the water, with no sounds, to break the 
 silence, but the voices and footsteps of the 
 passengers, and a low, hissing noise some 
 where about the engine. 
 
 " I know what they are going for," said 
 Rollo. 
 
 " What ? " asked his father. 
 
 " To see if they can find the shore," re 
 plied Rollo. 
 
 " Yes," replied his father ; " that is it, I 
 suppose." 
 
 After sitting a few minutes, Rollo and his 
 father rose from their seats, and went away 
 to another part of the vessel. The air felt 
 warmer. It looked lighter overhead. Pres 
 ently tho great bell of the steamboat, which 
 
128 AN EXPEDITION. 
 
 was hung up over the engine, was rung 
 violently. 
 
 " What is that for ? " said Hollo. 
 
 " I don t know," said his father. 
 
 They walked on towards the bows of the 
 boat. The firemen and engineers were 
 standing idly about, talking and laughing. 
 Rollo saw a door open into another small 
 room, where there was a fire. He looked in. 
 There was a great cooking range there, and 
 several colored men cooking. 
 
 " O, here is the kitchen," said Rollo ; 
 " and they are getting the breakfast." 
 
 They went along a little farther, and came 
 to the bows of the boat. A man, whom 
 Rollo had seen before, keeping a lookout 
 upon the bowsprit, was still there. Other 
 people were standing about, looking off into 
 the fog, and trying to get a glimpse of the 
 land, whenever it lightened up a moment. 
 A few minutes afterwards, the bell rang 
 again a minute or two, and then stopped. 
 
 Rollo looked around at the man who was 
 pulling the rope, and said he wished he knew 
 what he was ringing so for. His father told 
 him that he might go and ask him. 
 
 So Rolln went up a little ladder, which 
 
AN EXPEDITION. 129 
 
 led from the forward part of the boat, up to 
 where the man was standing to ring, and 
 said to him, 
 
 " Will you please to tell me, sir, what that 
 bell w as for ? " 
 
 " The bell ? " said the man, who was just 
 coming away. " O, the bell is to call the 
 dolphins to town-meeting." 
 
 The man smiled sarcastically, when he 
 said this. Rollo stared for a moment, with 
 astonishment, but as soon as he had a mo 
 ment to reflect, he perceived that the man 
 was not in earnest, and he turned away and 
 went back down the ladder. He felt rather 
 mortified, and his father perceived that there 
 was an expression of disappointment in his 
 countenance. 
 
 " Well. Rollo," said his father, " and what 
 iid he say ? " 
 
 " He would not tell me," said Rollo. 
 
 "Wouldn t he tell you?" asked his 
 father. " Why not ? " 
 
 " I don t know, sir. He said it was to 
 call the dolphins to a town-meeting, and I 
 know it wasn t." 
 
 Rollo nodded his head, as he said this, 
 with a determined air, as if he was very 
 
130 AN EXPEDITION. 
 
 positive that it could not really be to .-all 
 dolphins to a town-meeting. His father 
 smiled. 
 
 " I suppose they have a great many fool 
 ish questions asked them by the passengers, 1 
 said he, " and they get tired of answering 
 them. So I will tell you myself." 
 
 " Well, sir, -what is it for ?" 
 
 " It is to guide the boat back to us when 
 she returns. When they send a boat ashore 
 in the fog, they generally ring a bell occa 
 sionally, or make some other sound, per 
 haps they fire guns, so that the boatman 
 may hear it when he gets back pretty near, 
 and so find his way to the steamboat again." 
 
 " But, father," said Rollo, " they can tell 
 by their compass." 
 
 " So they can, very nearly ; but some 
 times the wind or the current drifts them 
 about so that they cannot come back ex 
 actly to the point they set out from. They 
 can come pretty near to it, and then, if they 
 should not happen to come near enough to 
 see the ship or the steamboat, the bell will 
 guide them." 
 
 " Yes," said Rollo, " I understand ; and J 
 think it is an excellent plan." 
 
AN EXPEDITION. 131 
 
 As Rollo said this, he happened to turn 
 round so as to loS off upon the water ; and 
 he suddenly exclaimed, " O, father ! look 
 there ! " 
 
 His father turned in the direction to which 
 Rollo pointed, and saw that the fog had 
 risen from off the surface of the water, in 
 one place, so as to make a sort of opening, 
 and they could look through it to a consid 
 erable distance. In the middle of the open 
 ing there was a vessel, lying motionless upon 
 the glassy surface of the water, with her 
 sails hanging lifeless against the masts. 
 There was a small boat out before the ves 
 sel, and some men in it, rowing. Rollo 
 could hear the distant sounds of the oars, 
 but the boat did not appear to be moving for 
 ward at all. 
 
 "Father," said Rollo, "they pull hard, 
 but they don t get along any." 
 
 " They are towing the vessel," replied his 
 father." 
 
 " Towing ? " repeated Rollo. 
 
 " Yes," replied his father. " There is a 
 rope leading from the boat to the bows of the 
 vessel, and they are endeavoring to pull the 
 vessel forward ; so they advance very slow." 
 
132 AN EXPEDITION. 
 
 " But I can t see any rope," said Rollo. 
 
 "NoJ replied his father, "it hangs down 
 in the water." 
 
 "I can hear the oars," said Rollo. 
 
 " Yes," said his father, "sound conies 
 very far over the water in a still morning." 
 
 By this time the fog, which was slowly 
 moving along, had once more enveloped the 
 vessel and the boat, and hidden them from 
 view. Rollo looked all around the horizon. 
 The fog looked lighter, and the air felt 
 warmer, but there was no decided opening. 
 He saw a large, bright place in the eastern 
 part of the sky. His father told him that it 
 was the sun, and he thought that it would 
 probably clear off soon. 
 
 "Father," said Rollo, "I should think 
 that we might hear the oars of our boat, 
 when it gets back pretty near the ship, 
 before we can see it." 
 
 " Yes," replied his father, " I think we 
 may." 
 
 " I mean to go over to the other side and 
 listen." 
 
 So Rollo went over to the other side of 
 the steamboat, which was the side that the 
 boat went off from. His father followed 
 
AN EXPEDITION. 133 
 
 hrtn. They found that a great many people 
 had now got up, and were walking about the 
 deck. Ladies and children, in considerable 
 numbers, sat around the door of the ladies 
 cabin. Hollo and his father leaned over the 
 bulwarks, and listened, but they could not 
 hear any sound upon the water like the 
 strokes of oars. Rollo thought it was be 
 cause there were so many people talking 
 about the decks. 
 
 In the mean time the fog continued to 
 rise and to break away here and there, until 
 at length the sun suddenly blazed through, 
 and at the same moment the pilot, who was 
 constantly looking all around, got a distinct 
 view of the land, nearly ahead. 
 
 " What land is that ? " said the captain. 
 
 " It looks like the land along to the 
 north ard of Beacon Head," said the pilot. 
 
 " Yes," he added, in a minute, " there s 
 Beacon Head just coming into view." 
 
 As he said this he was standing with the 
 captain upon the wheel-house, and Rollo 
 could hear and see them. So Rdllo looked 
 in the direction to which the pilot pointed, 
 and he just got a glimpse of a light-house, 
 standing upon a promontory which projected 
 
134 AN EXPEDITlOiN. 
 
 a little from the shore. The fog, however 
 slowly floated over it, and concealed it all 
 again, almost immediately, from their view. 
 
 " Now," said the pilot, " if our boat was 
 back, we might run right in." 
 
 " Yes," said the captain ; " at any rate, 
 we ll fire up. 11 
 
 "Fire up!" said Rollo to his father. 
 " What does that mean ? " 
 
 " It means, build up the fires under the 
 boilers, so as to have the steam all ready." 
 
 " Well, but, father," said Rollo, looking a 
 little alarmed, " then the steamboat will go 
 off and leave the little boat behind." 
 
 " No," said his father. 
 
 " Why, yes, father," said Rollo, " the steam 
 will crowd into the cylinder, first above the 
 piston, and then below, so as to make it 
 move up and down, and that will drive the 
 piston rod, and the piston rod will drive the 
 beam, and the beam the r.rank, and the 
 crank the paddle-wheels, and the paddle- 
 wheels will carry the boat along through 
 the water. / think they had better not fire 
 up till they are ready to go." 
 
 " No," replied his father, " they will nol 
 let the steam get into the cylinder." 
 
AN EXPEDITION. 135 
 
 " How can they help it ? " said Rollo. 
 
 " There is a stop cock in the great steam 
 pipe which leads from the boiler to the 
 engine, and they can keep this stop cock 
 shut, and then none of the steam can get 
 into the engine until they are ready to have 
 the boat go forward." 
 
 " Then the steam will have to stay in the 
 boiler, and it will keep increasing there till 
 the boiler will burst," said Rollo. 
 
 " No," replied his father, " because there 
 is a waste steam pipe to let it off by." 
 
 " Is there ? " said Rollo. 
 
 " Yes," replied his father. 
 
 " That is a good plan," said Rollo. 
 
 " But then," continued Rollo, after think 
 ing a moment, " why does riot the steam 
 leak off through the waste steam pipe all the 
 time ? " 
 
 " Because," said his father, " they have a 
 valve, loaded with weights, pressing down 
 upon the opening, so as 10 keep it in, except 
 when they want to let it off, or when the 
 steam gets to be so hot and powerful that it 
 would endanger the boiler. It then raises 
 the weights itself, aod that lifts the valve, 
 and the surplus steam escapes. So if tluj 
 
136 AN EXPEDITION. 
 
 boat does not get back before tbey get the 
 steam up, they will raise this valve, end let 
 the steam off." 
 
 " I am glad of that," said Rollo. 
 
 But the boat did get back before the steam 
 was up ; and accordingly Rollo heard, before 
 a long time, a loud, hissing sound bursting 
 from the steam pipe. It made so much 
 noise that they could not talk very well. 
 The fog, however, continued to grow lighter, 
 and to rise here and there from the water. 
 Large openings appeared in different parts of 
 the sky. The sun shone out now and then, 
 and the passengers frequently got glimpses 
 3f the land through the openings of the fog. 
 Many of them walked about restless and dis 
 contented, wondering why the captain did 
 not proceed. They found a great deal of 
 fault with him. not knowing that the boat 
 was out. The captains of steamboats very 
 jfton get severely censured by fretful passen 
 gers, who know very little about the circum 
 stances of the case to which their censure is 
 applied. 
 
137 
 
 THE MORNING SONG 
 
 * 
 
 AT length the loud hissing of fhe steam 
 
 suddenly stopped, and, at the same moment, 
 Hollo began to hear the strokes of oars across 
 the water in the fog. The sound seemed to 
 come from astern of the steamboat. The 
 boat had not gone in that direction, and 
 Hollo was surprised to hear the sound of oars 
 there. 
 
 " Father," said he, " 1 hear the oars ; but 
 I think it must be some other boat." 
 
 " Why ? " said his father. 
 
 " Because it is coming up another way." 
 
 " No," said his father, " it is our boat 
 probably ; perhaps she has drifted astern, 
 or perhaps the steamboat may have swung 
 round." 
 
 " O. father ! " said Rollo, " no : if the 
 whole steamboat had swung round, we 
 should have known it." 
 
 " I don t think we should have noticed it, 
 /* 11 * 
 
13S THE MORNING SONU. 
 
 unless we could have seen the land, or some 
 fixed object." 
 
 The idea of the steamboat s swinging 
 around, without its being noticed by the 
 people actually on. board of it, was perfectly 
 inadmissible to Roilo s mind. While he 
 was pondering upon it, however, the sound 
 of the oars grew more and more distinct as 
 they came nearer, and at length he began to 
 see a dark, shapeless mass in the fog, which, 
 as it approached, gradually assumed the 
 form of the boat, and the oarsmen soon 
 pulled it up alongside. The instant that the 
 foremost oarsman sprung out upon the deck 
 of the steamboat, a little bell jingled in the 
 engine room, the great piston rod slowly 
 hove itself upwards, the paddle-wheels re 
 volved, and the water by the sides of the 
 ooat were lashed into foam. 
 
 The little boat was dragged through the 
 water, while two men, who remained in it, 
 were hooking two iron hooks into rings in 
 the bottom of the boat. The hooks were 
 fastened to strong ropes, .which were sus 
 pended from the great iron cranes. The 
 men on board then pulled the boat up until 
 it was entirely out of the water, airl then. 
 
THE MORNING SONG. 
 
 when it was high enough, they swung i( 
 in over the side, and snugly deposited it 
 again in its place by the side of the ladies 
 cabin. Rollo then observed that the steam 
 boat was ploughing her way swiftly through 
 the water. 
 
 " The steamboat had swung around," 
 said Hollo s father. 
 
 " How do you know, sir ? " said Rollo. 
 
 His father pointed forward to the sky, and 
 there, nearly over the bows; Rollo saw the 
 sun, shining indistinctly through the fog. 
 
 " When we first saw the sun, it was 
 away here," said his father, pointing off to 
 the right, "and the small boat went off to the 
 left. Now, the sun is ahead, which shows 
 that the steamboat swung around towards 
 the right, until she pointed directly towards 
 the sun ; of course the small boat, in coming 
 back, would come up astern." 
 
 " Yes, sir," said Rollo. 
 
 " And now," added his father, " we are 
 swinging back again." 
 
 He pointed at the sun as he said this, and 
 Rollo observed that it appeared to be moving 
 pretty swiftly around, towards the right, into 
 its old place. So Rollo knew that the boat 
 
140 THE MORNING SONG. 
 
 was coming back into its former course. It 
 was, however, in the mean time, moving 
 swiftly forward, and Rollo was very glad to 
 be again fairly under way. 
 
 In a few minutes a boy came along, ring 
 ing a bell violently, which Hollo s father 
 said was for breakfast, and so they both 
 went below. 
 
 About the middle of breakfast time, Rollo 
 was saying to his father that he was very 
 glad they had got clear of the fog, when 
 suddenly the engine stopped. 
 
 " There ! " said Rollo. 
 
 " More fog, I suppose," said his father, 
 smiling. 
 
 Rollo listened, and heard voices upon 
 deck. 
 
 " Father," said he, " I think something 
 must be the matter." 
 
 " Well, suppose you go and see." 
 
 So Rollo took up his hat, which he had 
 safely deposited under his seat at the table, 
 and hastily went up the stairs. He found 
 that the air was rather thick again, and he 
 heard loud voices away forward, and appa 
 rently upon the promenade deck. He accord 
 ingly ran up the promenade deck stairs, and 
 
THE MORNING SONG. 141 
 
 iheie he saw, almost exactly before the 
 steamboat, a great, black-looking vessel, 
 drifting down sideways directly upon them. 
 The men in the vessel and those in the 
 steamboat were hallooing to each other, 
 giving directions to avoid a collision. 
 
 " Put your helm hard up," shouted the 
 pilot to the helmsman of the schooner. 
 
 " Hard up it is," cried out the helmsman, 
 in reply. 
 
 The two ponderous masses, in the mean 
 time, pressed heavily on towards one another, 
 one gradually going to one sideband the 
 other to the other. The little jingling bell 
 was rung, and the engine was started, but 
 the wheels went backwards. This stopped 
 in some measure the steamboat s way. Still 
 the schooner was gradually approaching. At 
 least so it seemed to Hollo. But the fact 
 was, the schooner was going forward in the 
 same direction with the steamer, only the 
 steamer was going the fastest, and so slowly 
 coming up with the schooner. As the latter, 
 however, gradually diminished her speed, 
 and as they were both moving with nearly 
 the same velocity at last, and in the same 
 direction, there would have been no great 
 
142 THE MORNING SONG. 
 
 danger, if they had actually come into con 
 tact. But they did not come into contact. 
 They approached very near, and for a minute 
 or two sailed along, side by side, close 
 together. They, however, soon began to 
 recede again, and then the engine was again 
 put in motion in the right direction, and the 
 steamboat began to advance swiftly once 
 more. In a few minutes the schooner was 
 at some distance astern. 
 
 Hollo had been somewhat frightened, and 
 he now went down stairs in haste, to tell his 
 father what a narrow escape they had had. 
 
 " Well, Rolio," said his father, as he ad 
 vanced to his place at the table, " we seem 
 to be going again." 
 
 " Yes, sir," said Rollo ; " but you don t 
 know what a terrible escape we have had." 
 
 " Ah ! " said his father, in a tone of indif 
 ference, helping himself at the same time to 
 another piece of toast. 
 
 " Yes, sir," said Rollo, with a face full of 
 terror ; " we almost ran against a great 
 schooner." 
 
 " Indeed ! " said his father ; " well, I am 
 glad it was not the fog. I should be sorry 
 if we had got into the fog again." 
 
THE MORNING SONG. 
 
 143 
 
 " Come up on deck with me, father, and 
 you can see the schooner now." 
 
 11 No," said his father, very coolly, c? I pre 
 sume there is no danger that we shall rim 
 foul of her again, and we had better finish 
 our breakfast." 
 
 Rollo was very much surprised to find his 
 father so unmoved at his story of their dan 
 ger. He had expected that he would have 
 left the table immediately, and have gone up 
 to see the schooner, by which, as he thought, 
 they came so near being dashed to pieces. 
 But so far from this, his father did not seem 
 to care any thing at all about it. 
 
 Rollo sat down to finish his breakfast. His 
 father went on talking with a gentleman 
 who sat next him. It was not long, how 
 ever, before he heard the little bell again, 
 and immediately the engine stopped. 
 
 " There, father," said Rollo, " we re going 
 to rim against another schooner." 
 
 " I hope not," said his father, quietly. 
 
 " Please, sir, to let me go and see." 
 
 " Yes, if you wish," said his father ; 
 " but I rather advise you to sit still where 
 you are." 
 
 Rollo had already taken up his hat, and 
 
144 THE MORNING SONG. 
 
 risen from his seat. He said that he had 
 rather go, if his father was willing. He 
 accordingly went off in great haste, and ran 
 up the stairs. He found the boat completely 
 surrounded by fog. He went to the upper 
 deck, and walked along forward. Several 
 men were standing there, and among them 
 the pilot and the captain. 
 
 " We shall not hear any breakers, now, we 
 are so far inside, I suppose," said the captain. 
 
 "No," replied the pilot; "but it will 
 lighten up a little presently, and then we can 
 move on slowly. He could see the land 
 soon enough from the bowsprit, if it was not 
 quite so thick." 
 
 Rollo looked out to the end of the bow 
 sprit and saw the lookout still there. On 
 closer inspection, however, he perceived that 
 it was not the man who was there at first. 
 He supposed that the first one had got tired, 
 and that they had accordingly changed him. 
 
 In a few minutes the air became some 
 what clearer, and the engine began to move 
 again. It went, however, very slowly. They 
 had not advanced more than a quarter of a 
 mile, before the lookout man called out 
 suddenly for them to stop the engine. 
 
THE MORNING SONG. 145 
 
 The engine was instantly stopped. 
 
 The lookout gazed steadily forward into 
 the fog before him. 
 
 " Back water, said he, turning round a 
 moment, and then looking forward, as before. 
 
 The little bell jingled, and then the great 
 paddle-wheels began slowly to revolve back 
 wards. 
 
 Do you see the land ? " said the pilot. 
 
 1 No," said he, " but hark ! " 
 
 All the people were immediately silent 
 and breathless, and they heard a little bird 
 singing directly ahead. In a moment after 
 wards, a dark spot began to appear in the fog 
 before them, which grew gradually more 
 and more distinct. Rollo knew it was the 
 land. The boat had now ceased to advance 
 Cowards it, but as the fog was slowly clear 
 ing away, the land soon became distinctly 
 visible. 
 
 "If it had not been for that bird s morn- 
 mg song," said a passenger, " perhaps we 
 should have run ashore." 
 
 The land appeared to be an island, arid 
 the engine was put in motion, and the steam 
 boat steered around it. In the mean time, 
 g 13 
 
146 T\fE MORNING SONG, 
 
 larger and brighter openings appeared here 
 and there in the fog. The sun broke forth 
 once or twice in great splendor. The fog 
 gradually rose from the surface of the water, 
 or receded ; and it floated in vast, fleecy 
 masses in the air. Large patches of blue sky 
 appeared, and distinct and well-defined shores 
 began to come into view here and there, all 
 around. Rollo soon perceived that they 
 were in a bay, with a multitude of islands 
 all around them ; and when he went back 
 again down stairs, the boat was running on 
 merrily over the glassy water. 
 
 He found them all getting up from break 
 fast. Rollo did not care, for he said he did 
 not want any more. His father, however, 
 gave him a little cake, which he carried up 
 upon deck, to eat there. 
 
 "Now," said his father, "it is time to 
 look out our baggage? 
 
 " Why?" said Rollo. 
 
 " Because," said his father, " we are going 
 to leave the boat pretty soon." 
 
 " A nt we going to the end of the vcyage 
 with the steamboat?" said Rollo. 
 
 " No," replied his father, " they are going 
 
THE MORNING SONG. 147 
 
 to leave us at a landing about five miles 
 ahead." 
 
 " Then how shall we get along the rest 
 of the way? " said Hollo. 
 
 " We are going in the stage," said his 
 father, " I expect." 
 
 As his father said this, he was busy put 
 ting his own and Hollo s baggage together. 
 Presently they went up upon the promenade 
 deck. They saw a small village at some 
 distance before them, upon the shore. As 
 they gradually approached it, they perceived 
 a wharf, and several people standing upon 
 it, and one or two carts and wagons. The 
 steamboat advanced until she was pretty 
 near to the wharf, and then the engine was 
 stopped. One of the sailors threw a rope 
 ashore. A man standing there caught it. 
 By this rope a heavy cable, with a loop in 
 it, was drawn to the wharf, and the loop was 
 passed over a gieat post. The other end of 
 the cable was then pulled upon hard, by four 
 or five sailors on board, and thus the head of 
 the steamboat was drawn slowly up to the 
 wharf. The plank was then put across, 
 and Rollo and his father, with their baggage, 
 and also several other passengers, passed 
 over it safe to land. 
 
148 
 
 TESTIMONY. 
 
 HOLLO and his father walked up to a 
 small tavern which stood in a solitary place, 
 not very far from the landing. A man took 
 up their baggage in a wheelbarrow. Here 
 they found that, there <vas no stage going in 
 the direction where they were travelling ; but 
 the inn-keeper told them that by going four 
 or five miles they would come to the great 
 stage-road, and that there they might take 
 the next stage when it should come along ; 
 which the man said he believed would be 
 that very day. 
 
 " At what time ? " asked Hollo s father. 
 
 "About 11 o clock." 
 
 " Then we shall just have time to get 
 there. Now, how can we get a convey 
 ance ? " 
 
 The inn-keeper said he had a wagon, but 
 it was gone away. He expected it back 
 every minute, for it had only gone two or 
 three miles away ; and as soon as it should 
 return the travellers might have it. 
 
TESTIMONY. 149 
 
 " Is not there some other wagon or chaise 
 in the place ? " said Hollo s father. 
 
 " No," replied the inn-keeper, " excepting 
 Squire Williams s, and his has gone a jour 
 ney." 
 
 " How much should you charge for your 
 wagon ? " asked Mr. Holiday. 
 
 " O, I don t know," said the inn-keeper, 
 with a swaggering air, walking about the 
 bar-room. " I sha n t charge you any more 
 than is fair. We can settle it when we get 
 there." 
 
 " How far is it ? " said Mr. Holiday. 
 
 " O, five miles, about." 
 
 "Well," said Hollo s father, "I am sony 
 the wagon isn t here, for we ought to set 
 out immediately. But come, Rollo, we will 
 go out and see what we can find. 
 
 " I may possibly find some mode of con 
 veyance," he added, addressing the tavern- 
 keeper, " and at any rate, I will keep a look 
 out, and see your wagon when it comes 
 back." 
 
 As Rollo and his father walked away from 
 the door, Rollo asked where they were going. 
 
 " I am going to see if I can t find another 
 wagon," replied his father. 
 
J50 TESTIMONY. 
 
 But the man told you/ said Hollo, 
 " that there was not another wagon in the 
 place." 
 
 " But I don t believe him," said his father. 
 
 " Don t believe him?" exclaimed Rollo 
 "Why not, sir?" 
 
 " Because I don t know what his character 
 is, and his appearance is rather against him. 
 So I am going to inquire for myself." 
 
 " But, father, I should not think you ought 
 to conclude that the man told a lie, just from 
 his appearance." 
 
 "Did -I say I thought he told a lie?" 
 asked his father. 
 
 " You said you did not believe him." 
 replied Rollo. 
 
 " Well," rejoined his father, " that is a 
 different thing." 
 
 "Why, father?" said Rollo. 
 
 " At least I meant a different thing. I 
 neither believe, nor disbelieve. I have no 
 means of judging, and so I keep my judg 
 ment in suspense. He tells me there is no 
 other wagon in the place. Now, men gen 
 erally tell the truth, unless they have an 
 interest in falsehood ; and he has an interest 
 in preventing oin finding another wagon, for 
 
TESTIMONY. 151 
 
 he wants us to hire his. Then his appear 
 ance is not much in his favor ; and so 1 am 
 in doubt whether I ought to receive his tes 
 timony or not." 
 
 " But, father," rejoined Rollo, not con 
 vinced, " I should think that not believing 
 what he says is just the same as believing 
 he told a lie." 
 
 11 1 suppose it is, with you. When you 
 don t believe a thing, you positively disbe 
 lieve it. You have not learned yet to hold 
 your judgment in suspense, for better evi 
 dence. But I have ; and 1 presume you 
 will, before you are as old as I am." 
 
 " How do you mean, sir ? " said Rollo. 
 
 "Why, let me think," said his father. 
 " Do you believe that mother is in the parlor 
 now ? " 
 
 " I don t know any thing about it," said 
 Rollo, "whether she is or not." 
 
 " Then of course," replied his father, 
 "you cannot be said to believe that she is in 
 the parlor." 
 
 "No, sir," said Rollo. 
 
 " And do you believe that she is not in 
 the parlor? 
 
152 TESTIMONY. 
 
 "No, sir, I don t know," said Rollo 
 emphatically. 
 
 " Well, now," rejoined his father, " the 
 philosophy of it is just this. You have no 
 evidence at all, in respect to mother s being 
 in the parjor, or riot being in the parlor, just 
 at this time, and so your mind holds itself in 
 suspense. It neither believes nor disbelieves, 
 but waits for evidence. This is a very 
 common condition for the mind to be in. 
 Even the minds of boys hold themselves 
 in suspense, when there is no evidence 
 whatever. But when there is a little evi 
 dence, although it may be very unsatis 
 factory, and even when there is only a little 
 appearance of evidence, they are very apt to 
 jump to a decision, right or wrong, and to 
 believe or disbelieve very confidently ; 
 while sensible men, who have had experi 
 ence, and profited by it, disregard the insuf 
 ficient evidence, and still hold their minds 
 in suspense." 
 
 "That is the best way, I think," said 
 Rollo. 
 
 " Now in this case," continued his father, 
 although appearances are against the man. 
 
TESTIMONY. 153 
 
 there is no sufficient evidence to justify me 
 in deciding against him, nor is there suffi 
 cient to induce me to place confidence in 
 his testimony. So I neither believe nor 
 disbelieve. I am going out to this little 
 store to inquire ; and I am really uncertain 
 whether the answer will confirm, or contra 
 dict, what the man told me. Now we are 
 coming to the store, and cannot talk any 
 more about it. Will you remember what 1 
 have told you ? " 
 
 " 1 will try to, sir," replied Rollo. 
 
 " The amount of it is," added his father, 
 u that children generally hold their judg 
 ments in suspense, as long as there is no 
 evidence at all ; but as soon as there is any 
 evidence, or any appearance of evidence, 
 however slight, they at once decide, and 
 half of the time are wrong. But sensible 
 men pause and examine the evidence, and 
 do not allow their minds to decide until it is 
 satisfactory." 
 
 Just at this time they arrived at the door 
 of a small store, upon a corner where two 
 roads met. There were some post? to fasten 
 horses to. and a little porch before the door 
 
154 TESTIMONY. 
 
 for men to stand under in the rain. Ri/llo 
 and his father went in. There was a man 
 at a desk at one end of the counter, writing 
 in a great boi.k. There were boxes and 
 barrels all about upon the floor, and rows of 
 jugs and pails hanging from nails in the 
 beams over head. 
 
 Rollo s father asked the man if he knew 
 of any body near there, who could probably 
 let him have a horse and wagon to go four 
 or five miles. The man said he had one 
 himself. Mr. Holiday was very glad ; and 
 after agreeing about the price, he engaged 
 it, and they all went out together to a little 
 barn, pretty near, to harness the horse. 
 
 "I am very .glad to get your wagon," 
 said Mr. Holiday. "I was afraid that I 
 should not get one. I understood from the 
 tavern-keeper that there were none in the 
 village." 
 
 u Yes," replied the man, smiling sarcas 
 tically, "1 suppose he wanted you to wait 
 for his." 
 
 "Yes," said Mr. Holiday, "he said he 
 Expected it very soon." 
 
 Very soon!" rejoined the store-keeper, 
 
TESTIMONY. 155 
 
 m a tone of contempt : " his wagon will 
 not be back till the middle of the afternoon. 
 Jt has gone off twenty miles." 
 
 Hollo and his father went over to the 
 tavern to get their baggage ready, and left 
 the wagon to be sent after them, with a boy 
 to drive them, and bring the wagon back. 
 
 On their way, Hollo said, 
 
 " What a man, to tell two such lies ! ; 
 
 " What lies do you mean ? " said Rollo s 
 father. 
 
 " Why, the two lies that the tavern-keeper 
 told us. He said that there was no other 
 wagon in the place, and that his was coming 
 back very soon, when in fact it is twenty 
 miles off." 
 
 "How do you know it is twenty miles 
 off?" said his father. 
 
 " Why, the store-keeper told us so," said 
 Rollo, looking up eagerly into his father s 
 face. 
 
 " And why do you believe the store-keeper 
 anymore than the tavern-keeper?" asked 
 his father. 
 
 "Why, because," said Rollo, hesitating, 
 "because I don t know. The store 
 keeper told ue he had gone oif twenty miles." 
 
156 TESTIMONY. 
 
 "That is true; but we know nothing of 
 his character, and so do not know how much 
 confidence to place in what he says. It is 
 clear that the tavern-keeper told us one false 
 hood, for we actually see that there is another 
 wagon ; but as to the other question, whether 
 his own horse and wagon have gone off 
 twenty miles, or only a short distance, we 
 haven t any sufficient ground for deciding 
 which of the contradictory assertions to 
 believe. This, you see, is another of those 
 cases in which we ought to keep our judg 
 ment in suspense, and wait for further evi- 
 uence." 
 
 By this time they reached the tavern. A 
 few minutes afterwards, the horse and wagon 
 which they had engaged, drove up to the 
 door. They put in their baggage, jumped 
 in themselves, and rode rapidly away ; a 
 strange boy, who came with the wagon, 
 sitting upon a small box before them, to 
 drive. 
 
 They had proceeded but a short distance, 
 before they met a wagon coming towards 
 them. 
 
 " There is the tavern-keeper s wagon, I 
 suppose v said Rollo, " coming now." 
 
TESTIMONY. 
 
 15? 
 
 " Yes," said the strange boy, " that s his 
 wagon." 
 
 " So the tavern-keeper, " began Rollo ; 
 but he checked himself, and did not finish 
 what lie began. He was going to say that 
 the tavern-keeper told one truth, and the 
 store-keeper one falsehood ; but he did not 
 know that it would be proper to speak 
 freely on the subject in the presence of the 
 boy. 
 
 His father said nothing, for the same 
 reason ; but he was confirmed in the suspi 
 cions which he had formed, that the two 
 men were rivals and enemies, and both of 
 them unprincipled. He was glad to get 
 away, and have no more to do with them. 
 
 " Father," said Rollo. after they had been 
 riding for some time, " I am afraid the stage 
 will be gone." 
 
 "I think it not improbable that it will 
 be," replied his father. 
 
 " What shall we do if it is ? " 
 
 " I don t know," said his father. " We 
 shall have to consider, then, what to do. 
 Probably we must wait for the next stage." 
 
 "O dear me," said Rollo, "I shall not 
 
 want to wait." 
 1/1 
 
158 TESTIMONY. 
 
 " O, we must not borrow trouble on that 
 account," replied his father. " We are 
 doing our best to get there in time, and if 
 we do not succeed, we must submit to the 
 consequences patiently. It will all come 
 out right in the end, I have no doubt." 
 
 Hollo, however, could not help wishing 
 that the horse would go faster, though the 
 boy drove him as fast as was prudent and 
 proper. In less than an hour .they came to 
 a pleasant village, and the boy drove them 
 up to the door of a snug little tavern by the 
 road side, with a large elm before it. 
 
 " This is the stage-house, sir," said the 
 boy. 
 
 " And the stage does not seem to be 
 here," replied Hollo s father. " I suppose it 
 must have gone." 
 
 Rollo helped the boy unload the baggage, 
 while his father went in to inquire. In a 
 few moments he returned, saying that the 
 stage had been gone just about half an 
 hour. 
 
 " O, how provoking ! " said Rollo. 
 
 " ft d;>es not provoke me much," said his 
 father, as he took hold of his trunk to lift it 
 oaf. of the wagon. 
 
TESTIMONY. 159 
 
 " Why, what shall we do ? " said Rollo. 
 
 " O, there are several things that we can 
 do ; and, at any rate, as long as we have 
 such good quarters as these to spend the 
 day in, there is no occasion for being very 
 much provoked." 
 
 The baggage was taken out, and the boy 
 paid and sent back with the wagon. Hollo 
 and his father then went in. A woman 
 showed them into a pleasant little back par 
 lor ; there was a bright fire in the fireplace, 
 and a garden behind the house was in view 
 from the windows. It is true, that at this 
 season of the year it was pleasanter sitting 
 by the fire than walking in the garden ; and 
 yet the walks and alleys looked so sheltered 
 and alluring. running among fruit trees, 
 and between rows of currant bushes, that 
 Rollo wanted very much to go out there. 
 His father gave him leave, and so he put on 
 his cap, and away he went. 
 
 It was a very pleasant autumnal morning ; 
 and after rambling about in the garden for 
 some time, Rollo went into a field behind 
 the garden, where he found a great oak tree, 
 the ground und ir it covered with acorns. 
 
 "Ah!" said he, "I ll carry home a bag 
 
160 TESTIMONY. 
 
 of acorns, and Thanny and I will plant 
 them." 
 
 So he began to pick them up, and put 
 them in his pockets. He filled his pockets 
 full, behind and before, until he looked like 
 a bumble-bee, loaded with big balls of wax 
 upon his thighs. 
 
 By the time that he was well loaded, his 
 father came down to the garden fence, and 
 called him. Of course, Hollo immediately 
 left the tree, and went towards the house. 
 When he got into the back parlor, he found 
 a little table set, ready for their dinner. 
 The dinner consisted of tea, and toast, and 
 an apple-pie. Rollo was glad to see this, 
 but he came up to his father, and clapping 
 his hands upon his pockets, puffed out with 
 acorns, he said, 
 
 " See, father." 
 
 " Why, Rollo ! " said his father, " what 
 have you got your pockets so stuffed out 
 with ? " 
 
 "Acorns," said Rollo. "They, are all 
 acorns." 
 
 " What are you going to do with them ? 
 asked his father, half smiling. 
 
 " O, I am going to carry them home for 
 
TESTIMONY. 101 
 
 Thanny, that is to say, for Thanny and 
 me." 
 
 "How are you going to carry them?" 
 said his father. 
 
 " O, I am going to put them in a bag," 
 replied Rollo. , 
 
 " And where are you going to get your 
 bag?" 
 
 "Why I don t know," said Rollo, hesi 
 tating, and looking rather embarrassed. 
 
 They sat down to dinner ; and Rollo pres 
 ently asked his father if he thought it would 
 not be a good plan for him to carry home 
 the acorns and plant them. 
 
 " Why, yes," said his father, " if you 
 had a bag." 
 
 " I am going to plant two now," said he ; 
 "one for Thanny and one for me." 
 
 " Plant them now ? " said his father. 
 
 " Yes, father, I am going to plant them 
 now, in my pocket. Jonas told me how." 
 
 " And how is it ? " asked his father. 
 
 "Why, I am going to wrap them up in a 
 
 wet rag, and then put a paper around them, 
 
 and carry them in my pocket, and they will 
 
 sprout there, my pocket is so warm ; and tic 
 
 g* U* 
 
162 TESTlMOiNY. 
 
 they will be all ready to plant in a flower 
 pot when I get home ; and they will grow 
 right up." 
 
 Hollo s father smiled at Jonas s idea of 
 turning a boy s pocket into a nursery for 
 oaks ; and he told Hollo that he might, if he 
 pleased, plant two in his pocket, but that he 
 had better throw the others away. 
 
 Rollo was unwilling to lose any of his 
 acorns. He thought that he and Nathan 
 would want them all. He tried to think of 
 some way to get a bag. At length, after a 
 few minutes pause, he said, 
 
 " Well, father, I had better not throw 
 them away now, for perhaps I can get a bag 
 before we go. The next stage does not 
 come till day after to-morrow." 
 
 " But I have concluded not to wait for the 
 stage. I have engaged a horse and wagon 
 to carry us all the way." 
 
 " Why, father ! " said Rollo, surprised. 
 " And when are you going ? " 
 
 " Immediately after dinner," replied his 
 father. 
 
 Rollo did not know whether to be glad or 
 sorry He liked the idea of a good, long 
 
TESTIMONY. lOo 
 
 wagon ride with his father ; but then he 
 had been intending to go down after dinner, 
 and get some more acorns. To be sure, he 
 thought it was riot probable that he could 
 carry them home ; but then he thought that, 
 at any rate, he should like to get some more, 
 
164 
 
 THE WAGON RIDE 
 
 IT was fifty or sixty miles to the place 
 where they were going, and Hollo s father 
 did not very well like to set out upon so 
 long a journey, in an open wagon. But, 
 then, he would have had to wait two days 
 for the stage ; and he found, too, on making 
 a calculation, that he and Rollo could go 
 cheaper in the wagon than in the stage, if 
 they took into the account the expenses 
 they would incur at the public house while 
 waiting for the stage ; and he was going to 
 keep the wagon until his return, so that 
 they could come back in it. Mr. Holiday 
 explained all this to Rollo, while they were 
 eating their dinner. 
 
 " And what shall we do if it rains ? " said 
 Rollo. " That would stop us." 
 
 " O, we must hoist an umbrella, and 
 travel on." 
 
 The wagon came, however, after dinner, 
 and Rollo and his father got in. Rollo was 
 
THE WAGON RIDE. 165 
 
 much pleased, both with horse and vehicle. 
 He liked the wagon because it was so open, 
 and he could see all that passed around him, 
 as he rode along, much better than in a 
 stage-coach, or even in a chaise. He won 
 dered why every body did not ride in 
 wagons. 
 
 He contrived to save his acorns, too, not 
 withstanding what his father had said about 
 the difficulty of getting a bag. For while 
 they were getting ready to put their baggage 
 in the wagon, and Rollo was just going to 
 throw his acorns away, he recollected that a 
 stocking would make a very tolerable bag ; 
 and so, after asking his father s leave, he 
 took one of his stockings out of his trunk, 
 put his acorns into it, and tied it up at the 
 top. It made a very good bag, and carried 
 his acorns safely, in the bottom of his fa 
 ther s carpet bag, all the rest of the journey. 
 
 Rollo and his father went on very suc 
 cessfully by their new conveyance. Rollo 
 enjoyed the ride very much, all ,the after 
 noon. At dark, they stopped at a small 
 tavern in a solitary place, by the road-side. 
 There were mountains all about the house, 
 and a large stream, tumbling over rocks, 
 
160 THE WAGON RIDE. 
 
 flowed across the road very near it. Rollc 
 wanted to go out and play by the side of 
 this stream, but his father told him that it 
 was too late and cold, and so they both went 
 in. A servant girl made them a fire, and 
 prepared them some supper ; and after that, 
 the two travellers took out their writing 
 apparatus, and wrote letters home all the 
 evening. 
 
 The next morning they breakfasted very 
 early, for Hollo s father said that the days 
 were short, and they must be upon the road 
 betimes. 
 
 " How far have we got to go to-day?" 
 asked Hollo. 
 
 " About forty miles," said his father. 
 
 " O, well, we shall get there, then, before 
 dark." 
 
 " Yes," said his father, " if we meet with 
 no accident." 
 
 They travelled on, during that day, witb- 
 out any special adventures, until about the 
 middle of the afternoon, when there ap 
 peared a heavy cloud in the west, which 
 threatened rain. It had not been very cold 
 during the day, for the wind had been 
 south, which is a warm quarter. As the 
 
THE WAGON RIDE. 167 
 
 cloud approached, Hollo proposed that they 
 should take out their coats, and get their 
 umbrella ready. Heavy gusts of wind, how 
 ever, came sighing among the trees, and 
 Hollo s father looked around the sky with a 
 somewhat anxious expression of countenance. 
 He stopped the wagon, took out the great 
 coats from the carpet bag, and they put them 
 on. Rollo got the umbrella ready, and held 
 it before him, the handle in his lap, and the 
 tip down in the wagon, in front, ready to 
 spread it as soon as it. should begin to rain. 
 
 It began to sprinkle very soon, and Rollo, 
 as soon as the first drop fell upon his cheek, 
 raised and opened the umbrella. But the 
 wind blew the rain in under it. He tried 
 to hold it down, but he could not succeed in 
 holding it low enough to keep out the rain, 
 without bringing it so, low that his father 
 could riot see to drive. The rain came 
 faster and faster, and before long, Rollo s 
 father said he began to think that they 
 should get really wet. 
 
 The clouds, however, seemed to be un 
 even. They came up from the south in 
 large, dark masses, with bright places be 
 tween. The rain, which ~vas now descend- 
 
108 THE WAGON RIDE. 
 
 ing upon the travellers, came from one rnass : 
 which formed a dense canopy over iheii 
 heads ; but it was slowly passing over, and 
 the travellers thought that soon the rain 
 would diminish, if it did not entirely cease. 
 They passed a small farm-house. Rollo 
 wanted to stop, but his father thought they 
 had better go on. 
 
 The rain soon "held up," as Rollo called 
 it, and Rollo took down his umbrella. He 
 thought it was entirely over; but his father 
 told him that they must expect it to rain, at 
 intervals, all the afternoon. They were 
 about entering upon a wild, unfrequented 
 part of the road, where they would pass 
 very few houses ; and Rollo said that if it 
 should rain veiy fast indeed, he did not 
 know what they should do. 
 
 They passed on for several miles more, 
 without much difficulty ; but then it began 
 to rain with great power. The water came 
 down in torrents. There was not so much 
 wind as there had been, but the rain dashed 
 through the silk of the umbrella, and cov 
 ered them with a fine spray; and it fell 
 without any obstacle upon their knees, and 
 dripped down upon their elbows; and it 
 
THE WAGON RIDE. 16& 
 
 threatened entirely to overwhelm the bag 
 gage. 
 
 Hollo s father drove on rapidly, in hopes 
 to find some place of shelter. For half a 
 mile he watched the turnings and windings 
 of the road, as they came into view before 
 him, in vain. 
 
 At length, however, an old, deserted black 
 smith s shop came in sight. By the side of 
 it was a shed, where horses had been ac 
 customed to stand, waiting for their turn to 
 be shod. Mr. Holiday wheeled the horse up 
 swiftly into this shed, and the travellers 
 found themselves very suddenly under ef 
 fectual protection. 
 
 Rollo listened a minute or two to the 
 sound of the rain drops, pattering upon the 
 roof over his head ; and then he followed his 
 father, who had jumped out of the wagon. 
 He looked around in the shed ; and then 
 presently he spied an opening through the 
 side of the blacksmith s shop, where a board 
 had been broken off. He crept in, and 
 began to look around to see what sort of a 
 place it was, and what he could find. 
 
 The bellows were gone, and the anvil 
 was gone, though the great block which the 
 
170 THE WAGON RIDE. 
 
 anvil had been placed upon, still remained. 
 Rollo jumped up upon this block, and looked 
 around. In a corner lay several pieces of 
 old iron He got down, and went to exam 
 ine them. There were hoops and horse 
 shoes, and there was one piece of a gun-bar 
 rel, round and hollow, which Rollo wished 
 was his. He thought that Jonas could make 
 a little cannon of it ; that is, if he could 
 contrive any way to make a hole in the 
 side, for a touchhole. 
 
 Rollo knew, however, that he ought not 
 to take the iron ; and so he put it down, and 
 went to look out at the window. He found 
 that the rain had nearly ceased, and so he 
 crept back through the breach by which he 
 had entered. He found his father just pre 
 paring to set out ; but before they fully con 
 cluded that it was best to go, the rain came 
 pouring down again, and they found them 
 selves obliged still further to postpone their 
 departure. 
 
 Three quarters of an hour passed away 
 before they could leave the shed. Rollo 
 became almost out of patience. 
 
 " Father," said he, " don t you wish that 
 we had waited and taken the stage ? 
 
THE WAGON RIDE. 171 
 
 * If I should wish so," answered his fa 
 ther, " it would be wrong." 
 
 " Why wrong ? " said Rollo. 
 
 " Because," replied his father, "I con 
 sidered the case carefully ; and, according to 
 the best of my judgment at the time, I 
 concluded that it was wisest to travel in 
 this way. Of course, it was my duty to 
 come in this way." 
 
 u Not certainly , father," said Rollo ; " for 
 perhaps you might be mistaken." 
 
 11 It is always our duty," replied his father, 
 " to do what seems to us, at the time we 
 have to decide, the wisest and best, even if 
 it afterwards proves that we were mistaken. 
 When 1 decided to take the wagon, it ap 
 peared to be the best thing that I could do ; 
 of course, it was then my duty to do it, and 
 consequently I cannot be sorry for it now, 
 without being sorry for doing my duty." 
 
 By this time the rain had again so far 
 diminished that they got into the wagon 
 and rode on. It was, however, nearly dark, 
 and they were travelling over a part of the 
 road which was quite sandy, and the heavy 
 showers had washed and "gullied" it, so 
 that it was dangerous to ride very fast. At 
 
172 THE WAGON RIDE. 
 
 length, as they were coming down a hill, 
 one of the front corners of the wagon pitched 
 suddenly forward, and at the same instant a 
 sound as of something breaking was heard, 
 and the shafts fell down upon the ground, 
 and the horse moved forward, leaving the 
 wagon stationary, and almost pulling the 
 reins out of Mr. Holiday s hands. 
 
 " Whoa ! whoa ! " exclaimed Rollo. " O, 
 father, we ve broke down ! we ve broke 
 down ! " 
 
 His father stopped the horse, and then 
 quietly got out of the wagon. 
 
 " What s the matter ? " said Rollo, c what s 
 broke ? " 
 
 " The whippletree," said his father, as he 
 took up the two ends of the whippletree, 
 which were dangling at the horse s heels. 
 
 Rollo looked over the front of the wagon, 
 to sue what the whippletree was. He had 
 often noticed a bar of wood passing across 
 the wagon, behind the horse, with hooks in 
 the end of it, which the ends of the traces 
 were fastened into, for the horse to draw the 
 wagon by. It was not fixed and stationary, 
 but it turned upon a bolt in the centre; and 
 Rollo had often watched the ends moving to 
 
THE WAGON RIDE. 73 
 
 and fro as the horse trotted along, won 
 dering why it was made in that way. He 
 found that this whippletree was broken in 
 two in the middle, where the bolt went 
 through, so as to let the horse go forward 
 free, almost, from the wagon. 
 15* 
 
174 
 
 THE TRAVELLERS BENIGHTED. 
 
 " WHAT shall wo do now ? J? said Hollo. 
 
 " We are in a predicament, certainly," said 
 his father, looking thoughtfully at the ends 
 of the whippletree. 
 
 "Can you mend it, father ?" said Hollo 
 anxiously. 
 
 " We are really in trouble," continued his 
 father, speaking apparently to himself, as if 
 he did not hear what Hollo was saying. 
 
 " And no house in sight," he added, look 
 ing around him. 
 
 Rollo looked too. On each side of the road, 
 as far as they could see, there was nothing to 
 be seen but forests and mountains. 
 
 " Can t you mend it, father," said Rollo, 
 " so that it will do to go to the next house ? " 
 
 "No," said his father, slowly and thought 
 fully, as he examined the fragments once 
 more, " I don t see what I can do." 
 
 "Can t you tie it ? " said Rollo. 
 
 " I have not any cord," replied Jiis father 
 
THE TRAVELLERS BENIGHTED. 175 
 
 " I ve got a string," said Hollo, eagerly and 
 joyfully. And as he said it, he drew forth 
 from his pocket a pretty long piece of fine 
 twine, which he had safely deposited there. 
 He was accustomed to carry a piece of twine 
 in his pocket, so as to have it ready when he 
 wanted a string for any purpose. His twine 
 was often very convenient in such exigencies 
 as occurred to him and Nathan in their plays, 
 but it was hardly sufficient for the wants of 
 benighted travellers, broken down upon the 
 road. 
 
 u That is not strong enough," said his fa 
 ther, smiling faintly, " though I am very 
 much obliged to you for it." 
 
 " I think you had better try it," said Hollo ; 
 " perhaps it will hold." 
 
 " No," replied his father, " it would only be 
 wasting our time." 
 
 As he said this, he put the broken whipple- 
 tree into the wagon, having unhooked it from 
 the traces ; and then he passed the ends of 
 the traces over the horse s back, to keep them 
 from dragging about his heels. 
 
 " And now, Hollo, are you man enough to 
 mount guard here, while I go and get some 
 help?" 
 
176 THE TRAVELLERS BENIGHTED. 
 
 " Mount guard ! " repeated Rollo, not ex 
 actly understanding what his father meant. 
 
 " Yes," said his father ; " that is, stay here 
 and take care of the wagon and the baggage. 
 
 Why father " said Rollo, hesitating. 
 11 why could not I go with you ? " 
 
 " Why, I can go a great deal faster, if I go 
 alone ; and, besides, I don t quite like to leave 
 the baggage here, without any body to watch 
 it ; there are some valuable papers in my 
 trunk." -, 
 
 Rollo looked around, somewhat afraid. It 
 was pretty dark, already, and would probably 
 become much darker before his father should 
 return. It was a wild and solitary place, and 
 the wind howled mournfully among the for 
 ests and mountains. Rollo thought it would 
 be very lonely there, after his father had gone 
 away. 
 
 " How long do you think you shall be 
 gone ? " said he. 
 
 " O, it depends upon how far I have to go, 
 before I find a house," said his father. " I 
 certainly should not be gone more than half 
 an hour." 
 
 " I should get pretty wet," said Rollo, in 
 a doubtful tone. 
 
THE TRAVELLERS BENIGHTED. 177 
 
 " O, I should leave you the umbrella," said 
 his father. 
 
 While he was thus talking with Hollo, he 
 had been busy all the time taking the har 
 ness off the horse, and putting it into th<5 
 wagon. He then opened a little box under 
 the seat, and took out a blanket : he folded 
 it, and put it across the horse s back for a 
 saddle ; and then he seemed to have comple 
 ted his preparations, and to be ready to go. 
 
 " But then, Rolio," he said, as he put the 
 short reins over the horse s head, as if he was 
 going to mount, " I don t want you to stay, 
 unless you feel perfectly willing. If you have 
 courage and nerve enough, it would probably 
 do you good to stay. It will help make a may 
 of you. But if you are afraid to stay, it would 
 do you a great injury for me to leave you. 
 
 " How ? " said Rollo. 
 
 " I cannot talk about it now," replied his 
 father, "for I must go. You may have your 
 choice ; go with me. or stay and take care of 
 the wagon. Bat hold the horse for me a 
 minute ; I believe I will move the wagon out 
 of the road a little, and put the baggage un 
 der it ; that will help keep it dry." 
 
 Rollo took hold of the reins near the 
 
178 THE TRAVELLERS E EN PGHTEIX 
 
 horse s mouth, with one hand, holding the 
 umbrella with the other, while his father 
 pushed the wagon back upon- the grass, in a 
 little vacant space among the bushes, and 
 then put the baggage under it. It did not 
 rain rmieh, however, and he told RoMo that 
 if he concluded to stay, he might sit upon 
 the wagon seat, and hold the umbrella over 
 his head. 
 
 "Well, father," said Rollo, "I believe \ 
 will stay." 
 
 " Yery well," said his father. " Then l T l 
 mount and away, so as to be back as soon as 
 I can/ 
 
 He kd his horse up by the side of a tittle 
 bank, for there were of course no stirrups to 
 his blanket-saddle, and he could not mount 
 without having something fo? a- horse-block. 
 While he was doing this, Rollo climbed up 
 into the wagon, and drew the buffalo over 
 his knees ; and then he began rocking the 
 wagon to and fro, chirping at the same lime, 
 and saying " Get up," as if he was driving ; 
 just as he and Nathan used to do, when they 
 were playing take a ride in the wagon in the 
 yard. His father was glad to sen that he had 
 such good courage. 
 
THE TRAVELLERS BENIGHTED. 179 
 
 His father, then, bade him good by, and 
 told him that he should bring a lantern back 
 with him ; " and so," said he, " when you see 
 a light on the road before you, you may 
 know that I am coming." He then turned 
 his horse into the road, and trotted off. 
 
 Rollo listened to the sound of the horse s 
 feet as long as he could hear them, and then, 
 tired of " playing ride " in that lonely place, 
 and without Nathan, he began to sing. He 
 had not quite finished his song, before he 
 heard a noise. He stopped to listen. It 
 sounded like a wagon coming. 
 
 " Ah," said he to himself, " there comes 
 father, I know." 
 
 On listening more attentively, however, he 
 perceived that the wagon was coming the 
 wrong way. He thought it must be some 
 other travellers. 
 
 " I ll call to them, when they come up, 
 and get. them to help us. 
 
 " No, I will not, either," continued he, for 
 perhaps they are robbers ; and then they will 
 steal my father s trunk." 
 
 Rollo was not very wise in this supposi* 
 tion, for the chance that any robbers would 
 be coming along on that road was exceeding- 
 
ISO THE TRAVELLERS BENIGHTED. 
 
 ly slender. However, as he did not know 
 any better, he did very right in concluding 
 not to speak to them. 
 
 In the mean time, the strange wagon came 
 on rapidly. Hollo heard the sound of voices 
 He thought it was the robbers talking to 
 gether. They drove up fast, until they came 
 opposite to where his wagon was standing, 
 when he heard one of them say, 
 
 " What is that ? There is a wagon by the 
 side of the road." And at the same moment 
 he reined in his horse, and the men stopped. 
 Before they could stop, however, they had 
 got considerably by Rollo, their horse was 
 going so fast; and as it was pretty dark, and 
 the bushes were somewhat in the way, they 
 could not see distinctly. 
 
 " It is a wagon, I believe," repeated one 
 of the men. " Let s go and see." 
 
 " Yes," said the other, " somebody has 
 broken down, 1 suppose ; but we may as well 
 go on there is nothing to be done." 
 
 " I thought I saw somebody in it," said 
 the first man. 
 
 " O, no," said the other ; "drive on." 
 
 But the first man was not convinced. He 
 turned around in his seat, and looked very 
 
THE TRAVELLERS BENIGHTED. 181 
 
 intently at Hollo s wagon. He could jus! 
 distinguish Hollo s form, and he thought that 
 he saw him move. 
 
 " Who s there ? " said he. 
 
 " I," replied Hollo. 
 
 "I? Who s I?" said the man. 
 
 il Hollo," answered the little guard. 
 
 " It is a child," said the other man in a 
 tone of astonishment. They hoth immedi 
 ately jumped out of their own wagon, and 
 came to the one where Hollo was sitting. He 
 had, however, before this lost all his fears, for 
 the men had spoken in so gentle arid friend 
 ly a tone of voice, that he knew they would 
 not do him any harm. 
 
 The men came up to the wagon where 
 Hollo was sitting, and asked him how he 
 came to be waiting there. He told them all 
 about the circumstances of the case, and they 
 examined the broken whippletree. 
 
 * Well, you are a brave little fellow," said 
 one of the men, and we will give you a lift. 
 We can fasten your wagon behind ours, and 
 take you right along to your father." 
 
 "No, sir, I thank you," said Hollo ; " I think 
 I had better stay here till my father comes 
 back." 
 
THE TRAVELLERS *>2N1GHTEP. 
 
 He did not like very well to go away with 
 the men, though he scarcely knew why. 
 They, however, insisted upon taking him 
 along. They told him that perhaps his fa 
 ther would not find any house ; and, at any 
 rate, that they should certainly meet him 
 coming back ; and so Rolio reluctantly con 
 sented. 
 
 The men put the baggage into the wagon, 
 drew it out into the road, fastened the shafts 
 to the back of their own wagon, and then 
 drove along. Hollo rode upon the seat where 
 he had been sitting, and took care of the 
 baggage 
 
183 
 
 THE END Of THE JOURNEY. 
 
 As Hollo rode slowly along over the mud 
 dy road in the rear wagon, he was at first a 
 little uneasy at the strangeness of his situa 
 tion ; but soon, feeling more at his ease, he 
 said to himself, " This is a queer way of rid 
 ing. I have often seen horses harnessed o:.e 
 before the other, but I never heard of putting 
 wagons tandem, before." Presently one of 
 the men said, 
 
 " Here comes a light." 
 
 Hollo looked, and saw a light on ahead, 
 glancing along like a Jack o Lantern. 
 
 " It s my father, I know," said Hollo, clap 
 ping his hands. 
 
 As the light came near, Hollo heard the 
 sound of horse s feet, and presently Hollo s 
 father rode up to the wagons. He began to 
 feel somewhat uneasy about Hollo, having 
 left him so long in a place of such utter soli 
 tude. He had been obliged to go much far 
 ther than he had expected, before he found a 
 
184 THE END OF THE JOURNEY. 
 
 house ; and now he was quite relieved, a 
 finding Rollo safe. 
 
 "Father," said Rollo. 
 
 " Why, Rollo ! ; said his fathei ; arc you 
 safe ? " 
 
 " Yes, sir," said Rollo. " We were going 
 along to find you." 
 
 The men then explained to Mr. Holiday, 
 that they had found his son waiting patient 
 ly for him, and that they had persuaded him 
 to come along with them. The men, also, 
 offered to draw the wagon along, as they had 
 begun, until they should come to the next 
 house. 
 
 " Very well," said Hollo s father ; " I shoulc 
 like that very well, for I was not very sue 
 cessful in getting the means to repair tht- 
 damage." 
 
 So the men drove on ; and after both 
 wagons had passed, Mr. Holiday fell in be 
 hind, and followed. He rode pretty near 
 Rollo, and so Rollo turned around and asked 
 him whether he had to go far before he found 
 a house. 
 
 " Pretty far," said his father. " You go 
 tired of waiting, I suppose." 
 " No, sir, not very," said Rollo. 
 
THE END OF THE JOURNEY. 186 
 
 "You had pretty good courage, and you 
 lave really been useful to me." 
 
 "Have I?" said Rollo. 
 
 " Yes. I don t know what I should have 
 done without you. I should have been very 
 anwilling to have left my baggage, without 
 some one to take care of it." 
 
 " What did you get to mend the wagon 
 with ? " asked Rollo. 
 
 " Only a piece of rope," replied his father. 
 * I meant to have brought a man along with 
 me ; but the man who belonged at the house 
 where I stopped had gone away, and all that 
 I could get was a piece of rope." 
 
 While they had been talking thus, the 
 horse had been walking along slowly, because 
 the ground was slightly ascending, and the 
 road was muddy. They now, however, 
 reached the top of the ascent, and the horse 
 then began to trot down a long hill beyond. 
 Of course, Rollo and his father could not Talk 
 any more, for it was not safe to ride very near 
 the wheels of the wagon, when it was going 
 very fast. And, besides this, the wheels of 
 both wagons, and the horse s feet, made a 
 good deal more noise, as they trotted down 
 the hill. 
 
186 THE END OF THE JOURNEY. 
 
 Rollo, therefore, could not talk any more , 
 and so he sat still, watching the glancing of 
 the light from his father s lantern upon the 
 trees and rocks on each side of the way. 
 At length another light came into view, at 
 some distance before them. 
 
 Rollo watched the new light. As nothing 
 else, however, but the light could be seen at 
 that distance, he could not tell whether it was 
 in the road or out of it. He supposed, how 
 ever, that it must be somebody else coming 
 with a lantern. He could not think who it 
 could be. 
 
 It came nearer and nearer as they advanced, 
 and when his curiosity about it was at its 
 height, his father rode up behind, and called 
 out to the men who were driving in the for 
 ward wagon, 
 
 " Stop, if you please, at this house." 
 
 " O, it is a house, then," said Rollo to him 
 self. " O, yes, I see now." 
 
 Just then the wagons stopped, turning a 
 little out to one side of the road ; and. at the 
 same moment, the angle of the roof of a 
 small house came into view against the sky. 
 it was surrounded by trees. The door 
 opened, and Rollo could see a woman stand- 
 
THE END OF THE JOURNEY. 187 
 
 ing there, holding a light, and shading it with 
 L(jr hand to prevent the wind blowing it out. 
 
 It of course did not shine much out of 
 doors, but it cast a strong light upon the wo 
 man s face, and produced a singular eflect. 
 A littie child came up behind her, and tried 
 to crowd his head in between the woman and 
 the door, so as to see out ; but she told him 
 to go back, and he immediately disappeared. 
 
 In the mean time Hollo s father unfastened 
 his wagon from that of the other men, and 
 ti. HI he paid them something for the trouble 
 they i.-vd taken to help him along. The men 
 at first declined receiving any thing, but Mr. 
 Holiday insis^d upon it. When this was 
 settled, the men bade him good-by, and 
 rode on. 
 
 When they were gone, Rollo s father went 
 up to the door, and told the woman that they 
 had all that they needed, and that she had 
 better shut the door and go in ; and that they 
 would come as soon as they had put up the 
 horse. 
 
 " Why, father ! " said Rollo, " are we 
 going to stay here all night ? " 
 
 " Yes," replied his father. " They invited 
 us to stay very kindly, and so I accepted the 
 
THE END OF THE JOURNEY. 
 
 invitation. It is a good many miles to the 
 next tavern " 
 
 " And how do you know where the barn 
 is," said Hollo, "to put your horse in ? " 
 
 " O, they told me where," replied his fa 
 ther. And so saying, he led the horse along 
 to a small building near the house, and Hollo 
 held the lantern at the door, while his father 
 led the hors? in. fastened him, and gave him 
 some hay. 
 
 They then went into the house. There 
 were two women and one child there. The 
 man who lived there had gone to carry some 
 wheat to market, and would not be back un 
 til the next day. This happened rather for 
 tunately for Rollo and his father, for there 
 were but two rooms in the house ; and as the 
 man was gone, the women and the child 
 could sleep in one, and Hollo and his father 
 in the other. 
 
 The women got the travellers an excel 
 lent supper, and then they went to bed. The 
 nnartment was not a very elegant one ; but 
 the bed was neat and comfortable, and they 
 both slept soundly until the morning. 
 
 ft cleared up in the night, and the next 
 morning they could go on their way. They 
 
THE END OF THE JOURNEY. 189 
 
 tied up the whippletree, so that they could 
 get along three miles to a blacksmith s shop, 
 where they had it thoroughly mended ; and 
 then they went on, without any further ad 
 ventures, to the end of their journey. 
 

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