Ex Libris
C. K. OGDEN
ROLLO AT SCHOOL.
THE ROLLO SERIES
18 COMPOSED OF FOURTEEN VOLUMES, VIZ.
Hollo Learning to Talk.
Rollo learning to Read
Rolloat Work.
Rollo at Play.
Rollo at School.
Rollo's Vacation.
Rollo'* Experiment*.
Hollo's Museum.
Rollo's Travels.
Ro! lii's Correapondenoe.
Rollo's Philosophy Water.
Rollo's Philosophy Air.
Roilo's Philosophy Fire.
Hollo's Philosophy-Sky.
A NEW EDITION, REVISED BY THE AUTHOR
BOSTON:
PHILLIPS. SAMPSON, AND COMPANY.
Entered, ccordin g to Act of Congrew, in the Tear 1855, by
PHILLIPS, SAMPSON, * CO.,
In tht Clerk'i Offict of the District Court of the DUtrict of MM*cha
PREFATORY NOTICE.
As the little readers of " ROLLO AT WORK"
and " ROLLO AT PLAY," have done the author the
honor to manifest some interest in the continua-
tion of his juvenile hero's history, they are now
presented with " ROLLO AT SCHOOL" and " ROL-
i.o's VACATION." Under the guise of a narrative
of Rolln's adventures in these new situations
these little books are intended to exhibit some of
the temptations, the trials, the difficulties, and the
duties, which all children experience in cjrcum-
stances similar. That the reader may be profited
as well as amused by the perusal, is the sincere
wish of
THE AUTHOR.
1063954
CONTENTS.
Page.
THE BEGINNING, 7
Do v EY, 30
DOVEYISM, 53
l.VHKNUOUSNESS, 65
SUBMISSION. 83
PERTINACITY, 100
ORDKR. 113
TITL K TO PROPERTY, 141
THE REASON WHY, 156
THE HOLIDAY 172
ROLLO AT SCHOOL.
THE BEGINNING.
ONE pleasant Monday morning, Rollo came
to the door which opened upon the plat-
form behind his father's house, and looked
out into the little green yard, and across to
the garden. Then he looked over towards
the barn. He seemed to be looking for some-
body. Then he turned round, and took down
a small ivory whistle which hung in the
entry, by the side of the door. It was hung
upon a small nail by a green silk ribbon.
He stood out upon the platform and blew
the whistle loud and long.
In a moment he heard a voice, which seem-
ed to be out behind the barn, answer, u Aye,
aye."
He looked in that direction, and presently
a large boy came around the corner of the
barn and walked along towards him. His
KOLLO AT SCHOOL.
jacket was off, as if he had been at work, and
he had a little hatchet in his hand.
li Come, Jonas," said Rollo, " mother wants
you to go with me to school."
Jonas looked and saw that Rollo was dress-
ed very neatly, and that he had a book and
slate in his hand. He said he would come
as soon as he had put on his jacket.
So Jonas put the hatchet away in its place,
and put on his jacket, and then went around
to the front door, where he found Rollo wait-
ing for him ; and they walked along together.
" Did you ever go to school, Jonas?" said
Rollo.
' Yes," replied Jonas, " I went once."
' Don't you wish you could go now?"
" Yes.." said Jonas, " I think I should like
it better than you will."
''Better than I?" said Rollo, looking up
surprised: " why. I like it very much indeed."
' ; You have n't tried it yet,". said Jonas.
i, but I know I shall like it."
" Youcan tell betterby and by." said Jonas.
' Boys don't generally like going to school
very well."
"But I do," said Rollo.
"They all like it the first day; but after-
wards they find a great many things which
they do not like very well/'
ROLI O AT SCHOOL. 9
" What things?" asked Rollo.
" Why, sometimes you will get playing
after breakfast, and when school time comes
you will not want to go. Then your studies
will be hard sometimes and you will get, tired of
them; and then some of the boys will be cross
to you, perhaps."
Rollo felt somewhat disappointed at hear-
ing such an account of the business of going
to school, from Jonas. He had expected that
it was to be all pleasure, and he could not
help thinking that Jonas must be mistaken
about it. However, he said nothing, but
walked along slowly and silently.
Presently they came down to the little
bridge that leads across the brook on the way
to the school-house, where they had found a
bird's nest some time before, and Jlollo pro-
posed that they should go and look at their
bird's nest.
" No," said Jonas, " we must not go now.
It is never right to stop by the way, going to
school, without leave."
"Why?" said Rollo.
" It will make us late," said Jonas.
" Oh, but we will not stop but a minute,"
said Rollo. lingering behind a little, and look-
ing towards the tree.
10 KOLLO AT SCHOOL.
Jonas laughed, but kept walking on. look-
ing around to Rollo, to see if he was follow-
ing. But Rollo stood by the side of the
bridge, looking at Jonas as he went along.
"Just one minute, Jonas," said he.
Jonas shook his head and walked on.
Presently he turned round and walked back-
wards, facing Rollo.
Rollo. finding that Jonas would not stop,
began to follow him slowly, but he looked
very much vexed. He thought that Jonas
was very ill natured not to stop for him just
one minute.
By the tirno Jonas had got to the top of the
hill, Rollo overtook him. and then he walked
along in silence for a few minutes. At last
he said pettishly. im 'I will stop when I am
coming home, at any rate."
k 'I advise you not to." said Jonas.
' : Why not :' ' ; said Rollo.
' Because your father told you that you
must not stop, going or coming."
" Well, t am not going to stop; I shall only
go and look at the bird's nest, and then walk
on; it won't take any time at all."
" That is the way I have known a great
many boys to get punished, 1 ' said Jonas.
ROLLO AT SCHOOL. 11
'' How?" said Rollo.
lt Why, they stop a little going to school to
play, and think they are only going to stop a
minute ; but then they forget, and play about
a great deal longer than they meant to, and
so get very late."
"And then do they get punished?" said
Rollo. " My father would not punish me, if
[ only stopped a minute."
" Perhaps he would n't, but then if you stop
at all, you will be likely to stop more than a
minute."
By this time they came in sight of the
house where the school was kept. It was
a farm-house, standing among some trees,
by the side of the road. There was a very
pleasant yard on one side, with a wagon in
it, and some woodpiles and chips, and some
barns and sheds on the other side ef it.
vi ls that the school -house ?'' said Rello.
<; The school is kept in that house. That
is where Miss Mary lives, and she keeps the
school in the orchard room."
' The orchard room?" said Rollo.
li Yes, the room leading out into the or-
chard, on the other side."
The boys walked along the road in front
of the house, and when they had got just be-
12 ROLLO AT SCHOOL.
yond il, Jonas opened a small gate, whuh led
under some trees by a little path, around the
other side of the house. A large orchard ex-
tended from the house in this direction, with
handsome trees in it, and fine green grass
under them. They saw a door here, leading
into a room which projected out into the or-
chard. There was a little portico before the
door, and a large sin^uli rl;M stone on the
ground before the \> ;:e grass came
up all around near to < pi where
the path came. TV. were sitting on
the floor of the portion, \v;th their ft. f.t upon the
flat stone. They had books in their hands and
their lips were moving. They looked up and
Jonas and Roilo. but went on studying.
As the boys passed by the window, which
was open, they saw the scholars and the
r. in the room; and the teach* : orn
the scholars always called Miss Mary, saw
and came to the door, jus; as Jo.ias and
RoMo 'stepped up into the portico. She look-
ed pleased to see the boys.
Jonas took off his hat as he came up to her
and said.
" Here is Rollo."
"Ah, Rollo," said Miss Mary, " how do
you do I 1 am glad to see you." She took
ROLLO AT SCHOOL. 15
Rollo by the hand and led him in, and Jonas
turned around, put on his hat, and walked
away.
Miss Mary led Rollo into the school- room.
He found that the children were just taking'
their seats. Miss Mary led him to a seat at
a little desk by the window. The desk was
long enough for two, and there was a boy
sitting at one half of it already. This boy
was not so large as Rollo. He looked up very
much pleased when he saw Rollo coming to
sit by him. Miss Mary told Rollo that his
name was Henry, and that they must both be
good boys and not whisper and play. Then
she turned away to her own seat at a table,
at one side of the room. By this time the
children all over the room had become still,
and Miss Mary opened a little Biile which
she had on the table, and it seemed as if she
was going to read. All the children sat
looking towards her attentive and still.
She only read two or three verses, but then
she shopped to explain them very fully, so
that the reading and her remarks occupied
considerable time. One of the verses she
read \vas this :
il If I regard iniquity in my heart \ the Lord
will not hear me"
16 ROLLO AT SCHOOL.
She explained this to the children thus:
" God will not listen to us when we pray to
him, if he is displeased with us ; and he is
displeased with us just as much when we
have iniquity in our hearts, as when we ex-
hibit it in our actions. A bad boy was once
walking along the street in a city, and he saw
a basket of apples at the door of a store. He
though he would put out his hand slyly,
when he went by, and takfc one. That was
having iniquity in his heart. He had not
done any thing wrong, he was only intending
to do something wrong."
" Well, did he take one when he came to
them?" asked Henry.
"No," said Miss Mary; "when he got
close to the basket, and was just putting out
his hand, he happened to look into the store,
and he saw the man standing there. So he
hastily withdrew his hand and walked on,
trying to look careless and unconcerned.
" Now was there any thing wrong in this
boy's actions?" said Miss Mary.
" Yes, ma'am," said the children.
" No," said Miss Mary. " not in his action.
He did not steal the apple. He walked di-
rectly by just as he ought to do.
" Was there any thing wrong in his looks T
" No, ma'am."
ROLLO AT SCHOOL. 17
" Was there any thing wrong in his heart?"
11 Yes, ma'am," said all the children, for
now they began to understand fully what
Miss Mary meant.
" That is right," said Miss Mary. " Now
children in school very often cherish iniquity
in their hearts. Something prevents their
actually doing the wrong thing, but then they
want to do it, they try to do it, they watch
for an opportunity to do it, and so they are
guilty in heart.
" Now," continued Miss Mary, " we are all
going to pray to God to take care of us to-day,
but if any of you have any idea or intention
of doing any thing wrong to-day, or any
thing which you think is perhaps wrong, God
sees it. It is iniquity in your heart, and he
will not hear your prayer. We had better
give up all such iniquity, and determine to
do what is right. Then God will hear us,
and take care of us, and keep us safe and
happy."
Now all the scholars listened very atten-
tively to these remarks, but it happened that
there were two who took more particular no-
tice of them than the others. These two
were Rollo and his cousin Lucy, who went to
this school, and who sat before another win-
a* 2*
18 KOLLO AT SCHOOL.
(low across the room. Hollo began to think
that perhaps the intention which he was se-
cretly entertaining, of stopping after school
to see the bird's nest, might be cherishing
iniquity in his heart. First he thought it
was, then he thought it was not, because he
was only going to stop a very little while.
Then he recollected that his father had told
him he must come directly home, and there-
fore it must be wrong for him to stop at all.
He tried to determine to go directly home,
and thus give up the iniquity which was in
his heart, but he could not quite determine.
He wanted just to take one peep at the nest,
and resolved to go home immediately after.
He tried to satisfy himself with this, but he
could not feel quite easy.
While these thoughts were passing through
his mind, and just as Miss Mary had finished
her remarks, he happened to be looking to-
wards Lucy, and he saw that she opened the
lid of her desk a little way, and put her hand
in. Presently she withdrew her hand very
cautiously, and Hollo, watching her. observed
that she had in it a little sprig from an apple
tree, with a large, beautiful, spotted butterfly
upon it. and threw it out of the window. All
this happened just at the moment when the
KOLLO AT SCHOOL. 19
scholars were reclining their heads forward
upon %ieir desks, to listen to Miss Mary's
morning prayer.
Rollo did not understand what this all
meant. The truth was that Lucy had found
this great butterfly when coming to school,
and had carefully put it in her desk, intending
to take it out and look at it when the school
was begun.' She knew that this was wrong,
but had not thought much about it, until she
heard Miss Mary's remarks, when she saw
plainly that this plan of playing with the
butterfly in school was iniquity in her heart,
and was consequently a sin against God.
Unlike Rollo, she determined to give it up
immediately, and as she wanted very much
that God should listen to her prayer, and
take care of her, she thought she would take
out the butterfly immediately and throw it
out of the window, before the prayer should
be begun.
1 said she threw the butterfly out of the
window, but this is not exactly correct, for
there was a gentle breeze blowing in at the
window at that time, which prevented fhr
sprig and the butterfly from going out. They
iHl together upon the window sill, and the
bu'terJy, frightened to see himself tossed about
18 HOLLO AT SCHOOL.
(low across the room. Hollo began to think
that perhaps the intention which he was se-
cretly entertaining, of stopping after school
to see the bird's nest, might be cherishing
iniquity in his heart. First he thought it
was. then he thought it was not, because he
was only going to stop a very little while.
Then he recollected that his father had told
him he must come directly home, and there-
fore it must be wrong for him to stop at all.
He tried to determine to go directly home,
and thus give up the iniquity which was in
his heart, but he could not quite determine.
He wanted just to take one peep at the nest,
and resolved to go home immediately after.
He tried to satisfy himself with this, but he
could not feel quite easy.
While these thoughts were passing through
his mind, and just as Miss Mary had finished
her remarks, he happened to be looking to-
wards Lucy, and he saw that she opened the
lid of her desk a little way, and put her hand
in. Presently she withdrew her hand very
cautiously, and Rollo. watching her. observed
that she had in it a little sprig from an apple
tree, with a large, beautiful, spotted butterfly
upon it. and threw it out of the window. All
this happened just at the moment when the
KOLLO AT SCHOOL. 19
scholars were reclining their heads forward
upon %eir desks, to listen to Miss Mary's
morning prayer.
Rollo did not understand what this all
meant. The truth was that Lucy had found
this great butterfly when coining to school,
and had carefully put it in her desk, intending
to take it out and look at it when the school
was begun.' She knew that this was wrong,
but had not thought much about it, until she
heard Miss Mary's remarks, when she saw
plainly that this plan of playing with the
butterfly in school was iniquity in her heart,
and was consequently a sin against God.
Unlike Rollo, she determined to give it up
immediately, and as she wanted very much
that God should listen to her prayer, and
take care of her, she thought she would take
out the butterfly immediately and throw it
out of the window, before the prayer should
be begun.
1 said she threw the butterfly out of the
window, but this is not exactly correct, for
tli ere was a gentle breeze blowing in at the
window at that time, which prevented thr
sprig and the butterfly from going out. They
f"li together upon the window sill, and the
Lu#tcrJy, frightened to see himself tossed about
20 ROLLO AT SCHOOL.
in this way, spread his broad wings and pre-
pared to fly. All this happened in a moment.
Lucy looked distressed and anxious. Rollo
looked pleased to see such a beautiful butterfly.
He touched Henry to make him look at it,
and the other children, attracted by Hollo's
movements, looked round, and saw the
great butterfly as he was wafted in by the
breeze, and floated fluttering through the air.
IH a minute or two there was such a dis-
turbance that Miss Mary was obliged to stop,
and she looked up to see what was the cause.
The butterfly lighted upon her table. The
children laughed at first, but then suddenly
looked sober again, expecting that Miss Mary
would be very much displeased. But she did
not look displeased. She looked just as usual.
She thought (he children had done wrong,
but she did not think they were very much
to blame for having their attention diverted,
when there was such a great spotted butter-
fly flying about the room.
"Poor thing!" said she; "we will not
hurt him. I suppose he flew in at the win-
dow : he did not know there was a school in
here."
So she held a piece of paper before him and
the butterfly stepped upon it. Then she gave
ROLLO AT SCHOOL. 21
him to one of the older children to be carried
out.
Lucy felt Very uneasy at having made so
much trouble, and then she did not think it
was right for her to let Miss Mary suppose
the butterfly flew in of his own accord, when,
in fact, she brought him in. So she carne
pretty.soon, when she had a good opportunity,
and explained it all to her. Miss Mary heard
her story, and then told her to take her seat
and go on with her lessons, and not trouble
herself any more about it.
In the mean time Rollo went on studying
the lessons which Miss Mary had assigned
him, and took care to be still and industrious.
This was partly because he wished to be a
good boy. and partly because he was some-
what afraid among so many strangers. By
and by there was a recess, and then the chil-
dren played around among the trees, in the
orchard, and enjoyed themselves very much.
Henry led Rollo around behind the house,
where they could see through the cracks of a
high fence in to a large yard, where there were
hen? and chickens, and ducks, and little gos-
lings. Rollo and Henry looked through, and
Rollo wanted to go around in and see them,
but Henry told him they were not allowed to
go to that side of the house without leave.
24 HOLLO AT SCHOOL.
Here Rollo, in his turn, began to hang his
head a little, and Lucy looked up considera-
bly relieved.
" But the butterfly did not go out of the
window. The girl threw the sprig that he
was upon, but it fell down upon the window
sill."
" What is the window sill?" said a little
bright-eyed girl, who sat in front of Miss
Mary, and was looking up to her very atten-
tively.
"It is that wooden piece that goes across
the bottom of the window," said Miss Mary,
pointing to it.
" The butterfly," she continued, " lodged
there and then flew back into the room, just
at the commencement of prayers. Now 1
want you to consider whether this girl was
to blame, or not, for this disturbance."
The scholars gave various answers ; some
said yes, and some said no.
" There was a man once," continued Miss
Mary, " wh%had two boys ; he told them not
to play ball in the yard, for fear they should
break the windows, but that they might play
in the field. When his father went- away,
one of the boys played in the yard, but did
not happen to break any glass. The other
HOLLO AT SCHOOL. 25
played in the field, as his father had allowed
him ; but once, when he gave the ball a hard
knock, it came over to the house, and broke
a pane in one of the parlor sashes. When
their father came home and heard how it was,
he said that one of his boys had been very
much to blame ; which do you think it was,
the one who broke the glass, or the one who
disobeyed his father?"
"The one who disobeyed," said the chil-
dren,
"Yes," said Miss Mary, "and if he had
broken a window, by playing in the yard, he
would not have been any more guilty than
he was without breaking it. So that when
you do any thing wrong, you are to blame,
whether any bad consequences come from it or
not. If a bad boy throws a stone at another,
he is just as much to blame if it does not hit
him as he is if it does. If you go to a dan-
gerous place where you are forbidden to go,
you are just as much to blame if yon get back
safely as you would be if you got hurt. If
you stop to play coming to school, you are
just as much to blame if you find school has
not begun when you get here, as you would
be if you were very tardy ; Don't you all
think so?"
* 3
26 ROLLO AT SCHOOL.
"No, ma'am," said the little bright-eyed
girl.
" Why not?" said Miss Mary
" Because if we are not tardy then there
is no harm done."
" Yes, there is great harm done. You do
what you know is wrong ; you thus hurt
your peace of mind, make yourselves un-
happy, and make it easier for you to do wrong
the next time ; you disobey your parents or
your teacher, and offend Almighty God."
The little girl was convinced and did not
say another word.
"Now," said Miss Mary, "to go back to
the butterfly, the girl who brought him in
determined to let him go again, to prevent his
making any play or disturbance in school.
But instead of this she unfortunately caused
a great disturbance. Now was she to blame
for this disturbance?"
" No, ma'am." said all the children.
" That is right, and I did not blame her at
all. And now since I do not blame her for it
at all, why do you suppose I have made all
this talk about a butterfly?"
The children looked at Miss Mary without
answering.
" It is to teach you several important truths.
HOLLO AT SCHOOL. 27
Can any of you tell what truths I have beeg
attempting to teach you by this conversation?''
The children hesitated. At length one
said timidly, " We must not stop to play,
coming to school."
" We are not to blame if we break the
windows accidentally," said another.
"We must not bring playthings into
school," said a third.
" That is pretty well," said Miss Mary;
" 1 see you understand what I have been say-
ing, but perhaps I can express it better than
you do."
" When you do wrong, your guilt depends
upon your hearts, your intentions, and your
acts, and not upon the bad consequences that
follow. When bad consequences follow, they
do not make you guilty when you mean and
do right ; and if they do not follow, that does
not make you innocent when you mean and
do wrong.
11 That is the main thing T have been en-
deavoring to teach. The other things that
the children mentioned are true also, and
1 hope you will remember them. Whenever
you stop to play by the way, without leave,
and whenever you bring any playthings se-
cretly to school, you are doing wrong, and
28 ROLLO AT SCHOOL.
that whether you get into any difficulty by
it or not."
When Miss Mary had said this, she struck
a littlo bell gently, which was before her upon
her table, and all the scholars rose and began
to talk and put on their things. So Rollo
knew that school was done. The girls and
boys went out of the door, and walked along
the path, two and three together, talking and
laughing, and skipping along merrily. Rollo
and Henry followed the rest ; they separated
at the gate, and each went towards his own
home.
As Rollo walked along alone, the question
at once came up in his mind whether he
should just go and look at the bird's nest a
moment or not. He saw now very clearly
that it would be wrong; that even if he did
not stop but a minute, so as to be only so
little after the proper time that his mother
should not notice it, still it would be wrong ;
and even if he should run afterwards, so as
to get home without being late at all, it would
be wrong. And so he determined not to do
any such thing. He determined to walk direct-
ly by. Nest or no nest, eggs or no eggs, he
determined to go directly by. And he didso.
He walked directly home and went in, feel-
ing innocent and happy.
KOLLO AT SCHOOL. 29
This decision saved Rollo a great deal of
trouble, for always after this he found it quite
easy to go directly to school and back, and
never got into trouble by loitering on the way.
A great many boys and girls get gradually into
the habit of stopping to play, in going to and
from school, until at last their parents or
teacher, after warning them and reproving
them a great many times, are at length
obliged to punish them ; and by this time the
habit has become so confirmed that they suf-
fer a great deal of trouble and sorrow before
they are cured. Rollo had great reason to
be thankful to Miss Mary for the instructions
she gave him on his first day at her school.
3*
30 EOLLO AT SCHOOL.
DOVEY.
IN the afternoon Rollo went to school again,
but before he went he asked his father if he
might stop a few minutes on the way, coming
home, and look at the bird's nest. His father
said yes.
Rollo went alone in the afternoon, for now
he knew the way. He got there in good sea-
son, and took his seat, with Henry by his
side.
He wrote in his writing book, and studied
several lessons, though Miss Mary did not tell
him exactly what classes he would be in.
She told him that she should like to have him
stop after school a few minutes, and she
would talk to him about his studies.
Accordingly, when school was dismissed,
and the other children were going home, Rollo
came and stood up by the side of Miss Mary's
table. She was putting away her books and
papers.
Rollo stood quietly by her side, wait-
ing until she should be ready to speak to
him.
ROLLO AT SCHOOL. 31
k 'Well, Hollo," she said, at length, "how
do you like the school?"
" Very well indeed," said Rollo.
" I have not put you into your classes yet,"
said she, " because I thought it would be well
for you to have one day to learn how things go
on in the school, so as to feel a little at home.
What does your father wish to have you
study?"
"I don't know exactly," said Rollo; "I
believe he does not want to have me to take
a great many studies.
" Do you know what studies he does wish
to have you attend to?" said Miss Mary.
"Not exactly," said Rollo.
Miss Mary's table was on the opposite side
of the room from the door, and as she sat at the
table her face was turned towards the door ;
and just as Rollo was trying to think what he
had heard his father say about his studies, he
observed that Miss Mary suddenly rose, look-
ing towards the door. Rollo turned round
and saw that there was a woman there lead-
ing in a little girl by the hand. The woman
was dressed plainly, and had a handkerchief
drawn over her head instead of a bonnet.
The girl was a very wild-looking little thing.
She wore a coarse green gown, darned and
32 ROLLO AT SCHOOL.
mended in various places. A small straw
bonnet, a good deal out of shape, hung back
from her head, and her hair was down over
her eyes.
The little girl pushed the hair back from
her eyes with one hand, as she walked along
into the room following her mother, who was
drawing her in by the other. She seemed
afraid to conie in, or at least very unwilling,
from some cause or other.
Miss Mary rose and was just going to speak
to the woman, when, just as she got about half
way across the room, the little girl seemed
determined not to come any farther; she
pulled her hand violently away from her
mother and ran off out of the door.
"Dovey!" said the woman, turning round
suddenly and following her, " Dovey, here,
come back ! Comeback, Dovey, this instant ! "
While thus calling the girl back, the wo-
man had followed her to the portico before the
door. Dovey ran until she had got to a safe
distance in the orchard, and then stopped and
turned round and looked at her mother-
" Dnvey !" said her mother again, standing
in the portico, " 1 tell you to come directly to
me."
Dovey stood still looking at her mother,
but made no answer.
ROLLO AT SCHOOL. 33
"Mind, this minute," said her mother,
stamping with her foot.
Dovey very coolly sat down on the grass
and began to pick buttercups and dandelions.
By this time Miss Mary had followed the
woman out to the door, Rollo coming behind
her. Miss Mary thought the girl could not
have been very properly managed, or she
would not thus disobey her mother. She
however did not say so. She smiled and
said,
" Your little gfrl seems afraid, Mrs. Brome."
Mrs. Brome turned first to Miss Mary and
then to the girl, and looked excited and angry.
"Afraid!" said she; "she is ugly. She
is so wild and contrary, that I can't do any-
thing with her. I was going to bring her to
your school." Then she turned to Dovey
again, and addressed her in a more soothing
and pleasant tone.
"Come, Dovey dear, that is a good girl;
come now and see Miss Maiy ; come and I'll
give you a piece of cake."
"You have not got any cake," said Do-
vey.
"Yes I have," said she, "at home, and
I'll give you some as soon as we get home."
But Dovey knew, unfortunately, that there
34 ROLLO AT SCHOOL.
was not a great deal of dependence to be
placed upon such promises, and she did not
move.
"I think you had better walk in, Mrs.
Brome," said Miss Mary, "and sit down:
perhaps she will come in by and by."
" No she won't," said the woman. Then
turning round again towards Dovey, she
stepped out from the door, and began to move
towards her. with a very resolute air; but
Dovey was upon her feet in an instant, and
began to skip backwards with a lightness and
agility which showed at once that all pursuit
would be fruitless. Miss Mary then repeated
her request that Mrs. Drome- won Id come in,
and she said she would contrive some way to
get Dovey in by and by.
They accordingly walked into the school-
room, and sat down, and Mrs. Brome began
to tell about Dovey. She said that she was
heedless, wild, and disobedient, and that she
wanted Miss Mary to take her into her school,
and see if she could not make a good girl of
her." All this time Rollo sat at the window
looking out. Presently he saw Dovey beck-
oning to him to come out there. Rollo looked
up to Miss Mary.
"Yes," said Miss Mary, "you may go out
ROLLO AT SCHOOL. 35
if you would like to. You can show Dovey
where she can look through the fence and see
the chickens."
Rollo went to the door, and just as he WAS
going out, Miss Mary told him that if Dovey
wanted to look over the fence, she might come
and help him carry a chair out, from the
school-room.
When Rollo had -gone, Mrs. Brome arid
Miss Mary talked more about Dovey.
" When do you want her to begin?" said
Miss Mary.
. " To-morrow morning ; but then I don't
see how I shall make her come to school."
" Won't she come if you tell her to?' 5
" No, she don't mind me at all. She
plagues me almost to death," said the woman,
with a deep sigh.
" Se^ms to me," said Miss Mary, " that
her name does not correspond with her cha-
racter very well. 1 never heard the name
Dovey before."
" No," said the woman. " I made that
name for her, when she was a baby ; she
was such a sweet, beautiful baby. But it is
all altered now."
A few minutes after this Rollo came gently
in at the door, and told Miss Mary that they
should like to take tlie chair.
3f> ROLLO AT SCHOOL.
u Where is Dovey?" said Miss Mary
" She is just out here, by the door," said
Rollo.
Mrs. Brome was going to jump up and go
right out to bring her in, but Miss Mary told
her she had better sit still, and let her alone
at present. Then Miss Mary took a chair
and carried it out to the portico, and said,
u Here, Dovey, you can take hold here, at
the legs, and Rollo at the other side, and so
you can carry it very easily."
Dovey looked a little shy, but she carne up
at lengtii cautiously and took hold of the
chair ; and she and Rollo carried it along.
Miss Mary walked along with them a step or
two, and asked them if they would be kind
enough to count the turkeys in the yard, and
tell her how many there were, so that she
could tell whether they were all safe.
" How many ought there to be?" said Do-
vey.
" Four," said Miss Mary.
Then Miss Mary returned to the school-
room, to continue her conversation with Mrs.
Brome, while the two children hurried along
to count the turkoys.
After some time the children saw Miss
Mary coming out towards them, and as Do-
ROLLO AT SCHOOL.
vey was now not afraid of her, she did not
run away. As soon as Miss Mary came near,
she said,
" Come, children, now you may carry in the
chair, and put it in the school-room. Uovey,
your mother has gone home, but she says
you are coming to my school to-morrow, and
I am glad of it. If you will come early to-
morrow morning, 1 will let you go with me
and feed the turkeys."
" Yes, ma'am," said Dovey, "they are all
here, all four of them."
" And, Rollo," said Miss Mary, as she fol-
lowed them along towards the school-room,
"it is time for you to go home: you can ask
your father what studies he wishes you to
take and tell me to-morrow."
So Hollo and Dovey put away the chair,
arid then each went home. Rollo thought
that, as he had been already detained some
time, he had better not stop to see the bird's
nest, but put it off till the next day.
Dovey did not refuse to come the next
morning, as her mother had feared; she
wanted to help feed the turketys. In fact that
was Miss Mary's secret plan in telling her
about the turkeys. Miss Mary kept her
promise about letting her feed them, and then
4
38 ROLLO AT SCHOOL.
led her into the school-room. Some of the
scholars had come already, and were seated
at their desks, in various parts of the room,
preparing their lessons. Miss Mary went up
to her table, and took her seat. Dovey threw
her bonnet down upon the floor and followed.
"Oh, Dovey," said Miss Mary, "you
must not throw your bonnet down there.
There is a nail for you ; you may hang it
upon that."
Dovey went back and took up her bonnet
and put it upon the nail, and then came back
to Miss Mary's table.
" Tell me the whole of your name," said
Miss Mary, laying down at the same time a
penknife, with which she had been sharpen-
ing a pen.
" Dovey Brome," replied the new scholar,
taking up the knife, at the same time begin-
ning to cut the table with it.
"You must not touch the knife, Dovey,"
said Miss Mary, and she gently took it out of
her hand, and laid it down again. " How
old are you, Dovey?" she asked again, after
having written down her name.
" I shall be eleven next June."
"It is June now," said Miss Mary; "do
you mean June of this year or of next year."
" The next year."
EOLLO AT SCHOOL. 39
u Then you are ten now?"
" Yes," said Dovey, " a few days ago."
Miss Mary smiled a little, but Dovey did
not know what for. She leaned her elbows
upon the table, and put her cheeks in her
hands, and then, a moment after, she took a
pen out of the inkstand before her, and began
to mark upon the back of her hand.
"Why, Dovey," said Miss Mary, as soon
as she looked up and saw her, " what are
you doing? See how you have inked your
hand." "Stop, stop," she said again sud-
denly when she saw that Dovey was going
to wipe her hand upon her gown ; but it was
too late. The thing was done in an instant,
and the ink stain was spread equally over her
hand and her dress.
Miss Mary looked at her a moment in
silence, and thought that she probably had a
very hard task before her, to cure that girl of
all her faults. She, however, said nothing to
her, but presently asked one of the older
scholars to go out and show Dovey the way
to the pump, and let her wash her hand as
well as she could, and then to come in with
her.
Miss Mary thought it would be hardly safe
for her to sit with any of the other scholars,
40 ROLLO AT SCHOOL.
and so she gave her a seat by herself, and
Dovey was just going to it, when Rollo came
in. Miss Mary asked her where her books
were. She said she had brought them in a
great green satchel, but did not know where
she had put it. Rollo said he believed he saw-
it out in the orchard, and he went out to show
Dovey where. She then remembered that
she threw it down there, when she came in
the morning. She took it up and walked
along with Rollo, tossing her bag of books
along before her upon the grass, and then pick-
ing it up as she came to it. Rollo asked her if
she was not afraid she should hurt her books,
but she said she did not care.
At length she came into the room, and was
bringing her bag along, when Rollo, who
came behind her, said,
"Dovey, what's that?" pointing down to
the floor.
It was a drop of ink coming from her bag,
" I expect you have broken your inkstand,"
said Rollo.
Dovey looked careless and unconcerned,
but said nothing. Miss Mary, who had come
to the place, asked Rollo if he would carry
the bag to the door, and take all the books
out carefully, and see.
ROLLO AT SCHOOL. 41
Miss Mary had observed that Rollo was a
very neat, careful boy, and so she entrusted
him with this business. She told him not to
touch the pieces of the inkstand, if it was
broken, but to come and tell her. She let
Dovey go out with him, but told her that she
must not touch the bag, but must let Rollo do
it all alone, unless he should want her to help
him.
So Rollo carried the bag out very carefully.
Several other boys who were there wanted to
go and do it, but Miss Mary had most confi-
dence in Rollo, as a careful and tidy boy, and
Rollo was very glad that he had taken pains
to be neat and careful, so as to acquire such
a character.
He took the bag out upon the grass, and
asked Dovey to hold it open for him. He
then looked in, and carefully took out one
book after another, and at last, when he got
near the bottom of the bag, he asked Dovey
what that was done up in a paper.
" I expect it is my gingerbread," said Do-
vey.
Rollo then put in his hand and carefully
drew out a small parcel wrapped up in a
newspaper. He unrolled it slowly, and took
out a piece of gingerbread, half soaked iu
6* 4*
42 ROLLO AT SCHOOL.
ink. '-' You must not touch it, Dovey," said
he, and he laid it down upon the grass.
" No, the inkstand is not broken, only the
stopper has come out," saidRollo again, look-
ing down into the bag, as Dovey held it open.
"How shall we get it?"
" Put your hand in and take it right out,"
said Dovey. " Here, I will."
"No, no," said Rollo, "it is all inky."
" Turn the bag bottom upwards, and let it
fall out," said one of the children, who was
standing by, looking on.
Rollo accordingly laid the bag down upon
the grass, and took hold of the two corners,
at the bottom, where it was not inked, and
lifted it up. A strong round glass inkstand,
wet inside and out with ink, fell out; and
immediately after, a stopper, with a piece of
brown paper wrapped around it, all completely
blackened and wet.
' : There," saidRollo, tossing the bag dowa
upon the grass, and looking carefully at all
his fingers. " There, I have got them all out,
and have not inked my ringers in the least."
Just then, the children heard a bell ring in
the school-room, which they knew wa c to call
them all in.
'Oh dear," said Rollo, "what shall Idol
ROLLO AT SCHOOL. 43
here are all the books and things lying on
the grass, arid now the bell is ringing." The
children were all walking away, and one of
them looked round and said he had better
leave them and come in directly. So Hollo
walked along, Dovey following him. He
went into the school-room, and walked up to
Miss Mary's table, and told her that he had
taken the things all out of the bag, and they
'were all scattered about upon the grass.
" Let me look at your fingers," said Miss
Mary.
Rollo held his hand up.
' Very well," said Miss Mary. " After the
school is opened you may go and, get the
books that are not inked and bring them in,
and put them upon Dovey's desk."
Miss Mary read the Bible and offered
prayer, and then she went out and brought in
a desk which was not so handsome as the
others in the room. It was old and unpainted.
She placed a chair behind it, and led Dovey
to it, telling her that that would be her seat
for the present. "I shall give you a prettier
seat by and by," she added, "if yon are a
good girl." But Dovey did not seem much
inclined to be a good girl. She was restless,
noisy, and id)e. She tumbled all her books into
44 ROLLO AT SCHOOL.
her desk in confusion, and when she wanted
any one, she pushed them about until she
found it. She had a trick of sitting with her
chair tipped forward on its two front legs, and
once she leaned forward so far, that they slip-
ped back, and she came down upon the floor,
with a great deal of noise. At this the scholars
all laughed, and she looked very much
ashamed; and for a few minutes after this
she was quiet, but she soon forgot it, and was
tipping her chair forward as before.
Now it happened that her seat was not
very far from Henry's, the boy who sat next
to Rollo; and she tried to make him play.
Henry was rather disposed to be a good boy,
but he could not help laughing at the droll
faces she made up at him. At last Dovey
snapped a paper ball at him, and he picked
it up and snapped it back at her. Miss
Mary was all this time at the other side
of the room, and Henry looked up every
moment to see whether she was looking at
them, and he thought she was not. But he
was mistaken. Miss Mary saw the whole.
It very often happens, when boys and girls
lire at play at school, that the teacher knows
all about it, while they do not suppose she is
looking at them at all. Henry once looked
HOLLO AT SUHOOL. 45
rcand to Rollo, to get him to sec what Dovey
was doing, but Rollo shook his head and
went on with a sum which he was doing
upon his slate.
Miss Mary saw all this, and was very glad
to observe that Rollo was a good, faithful boy,
and she was sorry to see Henry doing so
wrong. But she said nothing then. Henry
felt guilty and unhappy, and pretty soon
began to study again.
At length the time for recess arrived, and
when they got out into the orchard, some
of the children proposed to go down to the
spring and get a drink. " You go in, Henry,
and ask Miss Mary if we may," said one.
Now this spring was down in a cool,
shady glen, where the water came boiling up
among some rocks in a very beautiful manner;
and sometimes, when the day was warm, the
children used to go down there with a tin
dipper, to sit on the stones around the spring,
and drink the cool water. In such cases
they were required to walk down slowly
and quietly, and one of the boys was gene-
rally appointed dipper-master. It was the
duty of the dipper-master to go into the
kitchen of the house and borrow the dipper.
Then he was to walk along with the others.
'..O ROLLO AT SCHOOL.
and when they got to the spring, he was to
dip up the water, and hand it round to the
others ; or he was to let them take the dip-
per themselves, if he chose, by turns ; but it
must be as he should direct. This was to
avoid all disputes and disorder. Then it was
his business, too, to see to it that the dipper
was brought up and carried back safely into
the kitchen.
So Henry and Rollo and several of the
orner children went in and asked Miss Mary
if she was willing that they should go down
to the spring. Miss. Mary consented, and
appointed Henry the dipper-master. Then
away they went, and while Henry went to
borrow the dipper, the rest waited at the door.
In a few minutes they were all walking
along, Henry with his dipper at the head, out
through a back gate which led behind the gar-
den. Herd they came to a little wood, with
a narrow path leading into it. Rollo was
next to Henry, then "one or two other girls,
and at last came Dovey. She did not set out
with them at first ; she said she did not want
to go ; she could get water enough at the
pump ; but when she saw them all walking
off so pleasantly together, she ran after them,
swinging her bonnet round and round her
ROLLO AT SCHOOL. 49
finger by one of the strings. At length the
string broke and the bonnet flew out upon the
grass but Dovey left it and ran on. So it
happened that when they got to the spring
she was last.
Henry dipped up some water an/1 gave it
to Hollo. Hollo handed it along to one of the
girls, and she drank some. While she was
drinking, Dovey came up and took hold of the
dipper, and said,
" Let me taste of it.'
"No," said Henry, coming up; "I am
dipper-master."
"I don't care for that," said Dovey; "I
want to drink."
"No," said Henry, taking hold of the
other side of the dipper.
" Let go ! " said Dovey, stamping with her
foot.
"Let her have it, Henry; / would," said
Rollo.
The reason why Rollo advised Henry to
let her have it was, that his father and mother
had always taught him never to attempt to
do any thing by violence, and never to resist
violence from another. Henry accordingly let
go of the dipper, though he did it very reluc-
tantly, saying.
c 5
60 ROLLO AT SCHOOL.
" Why, Miss Mary said I might be dipper-
master. You have no right to take it away,"
said he to Dovey, who went on drinking, and
eyeing Henry over the edge of the dipper.
"Yes I have," said Dovey, stopping to
take breath. " I have a right to drink when-
ever I have got a mind to." She then drank
a little again.
" You said just now, before we came down,
that you did not want any water/' said one
of the girls gently.
"Well, there, take your water," said Dovey;
and she threw what was left in the dipper
over the children, and turned round and ran,
carrying the dipper away with her.
The children cried, "Oh what a shame,"
and brushed the water off of each other's
clothes, and wiped their faces. Then they
began to walk slowly towards the house, and
when they came out of the woods they saw
Dovey swinging upon the back gate with the
dipper in her hand.
"There! she is swinging upon the gate,"
said one of the girls.
" Perhaps, however," said Lucy, " she does
not know it is against the rule."
'Dovey," said Henry, aloud, as soon as
they got within hearing, " give me the dipper ;
I must carry it back into the kitchen."
ROLLO AT SCHOOL. 51
Dovey did not answer ; she went on swing-
ing back and forth upon the gate.
' Come, Dovey, give it to me." repeated
Henry, holding out his hand and advancing
towards her. But Dovey was, unfortunately,
not one of those girls who easily give up
when they are doing wrong. She jumped off
of the gate, passed through, and then shut
and fastened it, with the hasp, and held it, as
if she was not going to let them come through.
Just then the bell rang for the end of the re-
cess ; and the children began to be very uneasy.
One very little girl began to cry. Lucy told
her not to cry, for she said that Miss Mary
would not blame them for being late, when
she knew all about it.
" But how shall we get back at all ? " said
the little girl.
" Oh, Miss Mary will come down pretty
soon, to see where we are," said Lucy.
As soon as Dovey heard this, she knew
that it would not be safe for her to stay there
any longer, so she let go of the gate, threw
the dipper away over into the garden as far
as she could throw it, and ran off towards
the school-room.
The children then unfastened the gate,
and all passed through and walked along.
ROLLO AT SCHOOL.
They stopped a minute while Rollo picked
up Dovey's bonnet, which was lying by the
side of the path, upon the grass, and then
they all went into the school-room.
EOLLO AT SCHOOL. 53
DOVEYISM.
THAT is, they all went into the school-room
except Dovey herself. She knew that she
had done very wrong, and was afraid to go
back. So she ran off home. Miss Mary
perceived that there had been some difficulty,
but she made no inquiry about it at first, and
the children did not wish to make complaints
of Dovey, and so they all went to their seats
and said nothing.
Henry was somewhat at a loss to know
what he must do about the dipper. It was
his duty to bring it safely back, and as it had
been thrown over the garden fence, where he
could not get it, he thought he ought to go
and tell Miss Mary. He accordingly went
to her table, and said, in a low voice, that he
had not brought back the dipper.
" Where fs it?" said Miss Mary.
" It is over in the garden."
" How came it over there?"
"Dovey threw it over."
"Where is Dovey?"
1 ' I believe she has gone home.""
5*
64 ROLLO AT SCHOOL.
" Very well," said Miss Mary, after a mo-
ment's pause; "you may go out and get it.
You may ask any one you please to go out
with you and help you find it."
Henry asked Hollo to go with him. They
went out through the front gate, into the road
before the house, and thence into the yard on
the other side. They saw a great many
things which attracted their attention, but
they did not stop to look at them. A large
boy was coming across the yard with a
wheelbarrow. He called out to them in a
rough voice to go back ; but when they told
him that Miss Mary sent them, he said, " Oh,
very well."
In the garden there were a great many very
pleasant walks, and trees, and flowers. At first
they did not know where to look for the dip-
per : but presently went and peeped through
the fence to see where Dovey stood when she
threw it, and then they knew in what direc-
tion they must look. At last they found it in
the midst of some currant bushes.
" How I should like to stay here a little
while." said Henry, as they walked along
the alley towards the house.
"Yes," said Rollo, "if we only had leave."
" Perhaps Miss Mary will let us come in
here some time," said Henry.
ROLLO AT SCHOOL. 55
When they reached the house, Henry went
in and returned the dipper to its place, and
then he and Rollo went back to school.
Miss Mary rang the bell for the children to
put away their books earlier than usual that
afternoon, and then, when the room was still,
she said to the children that she believed that
there was some difficulty in the recess, and
she asked that if any of them were willing to
tell her freely all about it, they would hold
up their hands.
All the children who went down to the
spring then held up their hands.
"I am glad to see that you are willing,"
said Miss Mary, looking around upon them
all ; " and now I don't know who to call upon,
for there are very few children who know
how to tell such a story properly. It is very
hard."
"Is it?" said a little boy on a front seat.
"Yes," said Miss Mary, "very hard, as
we shall see. Francis, you may try ; but
remember, I want an honest and an impartial
account."
Francis was on the whole a pretty good
boy, but he was very much displeased with
Dovey, and Miss Mary saw very plainly, by
his manner of telling the story, that he was
56 ROLLO AT SCHOOL.
not by any means impartial. He stated the
facts pretty correctly, but he seemed very
eager to throw all the blame upon Dovey, and
it happened in this case that she deserved it.
Still it would have been better for him to have
related the occurrence m a more calm and
quiet manner.
When he concluded, Miss Mary asked Rollo
to tell the story, and he did so. His account
agreed very fully with Francis's. Then Miss
Mary asked the children if they all thought
that these two accounts were correct and fair
accounts, and they all held up their hands,
meaning that they did.
After a short pause, Miss Mary addressed
the scholars thus :
" I am sorry that Dovey is not here, for I
make it a rule never to decide against children
until I hear what they have to say them-
selves. We will wait, therefore, until to-mor-
row, and then I will ask Dovey for her ac-
count of the affair."
The children all thought that this was un-
necessary forbearance ; though they made no
objection to waiting. After school, however,
they came around Miss Mary's table, and
began to talk about it again.
"Miss Mary," said Henry, "I wish you
ROLLO AT SCHOOL. 57
would send Dovey away from school. She
spoils all our play."
"She is so cross and selfish," said Fran-
cis.
"And then she plays in school," said
Hollo.
"Yes," said Henry, "she tried to make
me play to-day."
" And she has been marking all over her
desk," said a little girl, who happened to sit
near her.
"Where?" said Miss Mary.
The children went to Dovey's desk, and
Miss Mary followed. The little girl lifted up
the lid, and Miss Mary saw a number of rude
marks and drawings on the lid inside. The
books were all tumbled in in confusion, and
crumbs of gingerbread were scattered about
the bottom of the desk. In one corner was a
paper box, which she had made ; there were
flies buzzing in it, which she had caught and
imprisoned there.
Miss Mary looked at all these things, but
said nothing, and presently walked back to
her table again.
"Well, children, we will not talk any
more about Dovey to-night ; I will considel
what to do to-morrow, after I have seen her
b ROLLO AT SCHOOL.
But 1 am in hopes that her coming to school
will be the means of doing a great deal of
good."
" Good ! " said several of the children with
much surprise ; " what good ?"
"In showing you how bad such character
and conduct is, when it is fully developed ;
and thus leading you to avoid it."
" Why, Miss Mary," said a little girl, " we
are not like Dovey."
" Not so bad as Dovey, any of you, but
still there was a good deal of Doveyism in
the school before she came."
The children looked at one another with a
smile ; many of them did not know exactly
what Miss Mary meant.
" Now, for example, one trait in such a
character as Dovey's is disorder. Now if I
were to go all about the room, and look into
every desk, and examine the condition of
them, I think I should find considerable Do-
veyism."
Miss Mary smiled pleasantly as she said
this, and the children proposed that she
should go around and see. She said she
would look at the desks of those who were
present, and they accordingly all walked along
together. They came first to Henry's desk,
ROLLO AT SCHOOL. 59
and upon opening it they found that it ap-
peared in pretty good order, but there were
a good many crumbs upon the bottom of it,
and Miss Mary reached her hand into one.
of the back corners and lifted up a slate, and
found under it a pile of small books, old pa-
pers, pens, <fcc.
" There is a little Doveyism" said Miss
Mary, with a smile.
" Well, I did not know what to do with
them," said Henry.
" If you had thought a moment you would
have known that the crumbs might be brushed
up, and the old pens and papers thrown away.
I think we must call it Doveyism"
" Now look at Hollo's desk," said Lucy,
opening the lid. Hollo's was in beautiful
order ; but it was partly because his mother
had told him exactly how to keep things in
order, and partly because he had been in
school only a day or two, and his things had
not got disarranged.
" That looks very well," said Miss Mary,
t: but I can judge better of Hollo's character
for order a fortnight hence."
As they passed along the room, from desk
to desk, the scholars found much more disor-
der than they had expected. In some cases
60 ROLLO AT SCHOOL.
they found books with the leaves tumbled,
and the corners and edges curled up. The
first example of this kind that they came to,
was at a boy's desk named John. His desk
was in pretty good order, only there was a
spelling book open in the middle of it, with
the leaves^ curled up and the corners doubled
down, and tattered and torn so much that it
immediately attracted their attention.
"Why, John," said Miss Mary, "here's
Doveyism"
" But, Miss Mary," said John, looking up
to her very earnestly, as if he had a perfectly
good ground of defence, " I cannot make
my leaves stay out straight. I have pressed
them and pressed them ; and now my book
has got so bad that it will not stay shut."
" Do you know what makes the leaves
curl up so?" asked Miss Mary.
" Oh, they curl up themselves," said John.
"No," said Miss Mary ; "your elbows are
the rogues." She then sat down at the desk,
and held the book open before her and began
to lean forward upon it, in an awkward and
indolent manner, as children often do at
school, and showed John that that was the
way the corners of the leaves were doubled
over. John looked rather foolish, and tho
rest of the children laughed.
HOLLO AT SCHOOL. 61
She then told John, that if he would always
be careful to keep his book in its proper place
upon the desk, and not lean forward upon it,
or rest his elbows upon it, he would find
there would be no more dog's ears in it.
" I'll try," said John ; " but what shall I do
with all these that are already made ? I wish
my father would buy me a new book."
"You will soon get by those, to a new
part of the book, and if you press them all
down smooth every night, the leaves will
soon come straight again. But you will find
it rather harder than you suppose to avoid
making more. You will not leave off the
habit all at once, I am afraid."
"Are Dovey's books so?" asked one of the
children.
"I suppose so," said Miss Mary.
One of the children then went to Dovey's
desk and took out a book or two to see, and
brought them to Miss Mary. They were full
of dog's ears, ink spots, arid tattered leaves.
Miss Mary and the scholars all looked at
them in silence, the children all secretly re-
solving to smooth out every curled leaf in
their books as soon as possible, and to take
special care not to make any more.
Presently they came to a desk wiiere a
6
62 ROLLO AT SCHOOL.
pleasant little girl sat, and as the party ap-
proached it she seemed to be trying to cover
up a long hole in the green baize on the top
of it with her hand. As the scholars were
opening the lid. Miss Mary held it down to
look at the baize, saying,
"But stop a minute; what is this hole?"
"Why, Miss Mary," said the little girl,
somewhat confused, "I cut that with a
knife yesterday. I was in a hurry to cut
some paper. I did not think it would come
through, but it did, and made that ugly hole."
" Heedlessness," said Miss Mary. "That
is a very important trait in the Dovey char-
acter. Dovey girls are always doing some
mischief from mere heedlessness. as well as
other mischief from design. They upset their
inkstands, they cut their fingers, they tear
their clothes by climbing, or get into the mud
by running along and not minding where
they are going, they scratch the furniture, and
bring mud into the house, and break glass,
and hurt themselves and one another, and do
a thousand other heedless things. Now, chil-
dren, don't you think you are sometimes
guilty of some such things 7"'
Miss Mary asked the question with a pleas-
ant countenance, but the children did not
ROLLO AT SCHOOL. 63
answer. They looked a little confounded.
They felt guilty, and saw that they were all
sometimes much more like Dovey than they
had supposed.
" Dovey 's heedlessness," continued Miss
Mary, "when she tossed her bag along he-
fore her upon the ground, with an inkstand
full of ink in it, may have been greater in
degree than you commonly manifest, but it
is precisely the same in kind."
" Well, but, Miss Mary," said Rollo, " there
are certainly some things which Dovey does,
that we don't do at all."
" What things ?" said Miss Mary.
At first Rollo could not answer, but pres-
ently he and some of the other children men-
tioned several of the more gross cases of her
selfishness and rudeness. Miss Mary ad-
mitted that the other scholars did not do any
thing quite so bad, but yet she called a great
many cases to their minds in which they had
shown the same spirit, though they had not
exercised it in so great a degree. She showed
them also that it was this spirit and charac-
ter which was wrong, and that if it was not
v holly changed it had a tendency to grow
worse and worse, until they should become
as bad as Dovey.
64 ROLLO AT SCHOOL.
The scholars all listened attentively and
with very serious looks to what Miss Mary
said, and when, at last, she told them it was
time for them to go home, they all went away,
determining that the next day they would be
very careful not to be like Dovey in any
thing at all. Henry determined that he
would put his desk in order the first thing in
the morning, and engaged Rollo to show him
how.
The children saw no more oi Oovey for
two or three days.
ROLLO AT SCHOOL.
INGENUOUSNESS.
ONE or two days after this, Rollo and two
or three of the other children were playing in
the orchard, in the recess, and they had
rambled to some distance from the house,
along a kind of cart path through the grass.
At length Rollo saw, at a little distance be-
fore them, that the path led through a great
red gate, which was open. Beyond the gate
was a wood, which looked very pleasant,
and Rollo wanted to go there. 1
" Oh, let us go out through that great gate."
said he.
"No, no," said Lucy, "we must not go
out of the orchard."
"Why not?" said RoHo.
"Why, Miss Mary said," replied Henry,
" that we must not. She said she did not
want to have us climb over that great gate ;
but it is open now ; so I suppose we may go."
" No," said Lucy, "we had better not; Miss
Mary does not want us to go so far away."
" Why, there is no harm in going so far
away," said Rollo, " if the gate is open. I
<* 6*
66 ROLLO AT SCHOOL. ,
suppose she was afraid we should tear our
clothes, getting over the gate. That is all
the reason."
"No, it is not," said a little girl named
Anne, who was with them. " She said we
could not hear the bell if we were far away."
' : Oh yes; we can hear the bell, just over
there ; it is not but a few steps farther."
"You had better not," said Lucy; "I am
going back. Come, Anne."
But Anne sat still upon the grass, pulling
out the little pink corollas from the clover
tops, and biting off the sweet end ; and look-
ing occasionally at Rollo and Henry, who
walked along towards the gate. Lucy turned
back now and then, as she moved slowly
along towards the school-room, and called to
Anne ; but Anne paid no attention to her.
In the mean time Rollo and Henry came
up pretty near the gate, and looked through,
but they felt a little afraid to go; so they
walked along by the stone wall, looking for
berries, until at length they got to playing to-
gether, and Henry pulled off Rollo's cap, and
laughing very heartily all the time, he threw
it away over the wall.
" There, now I have got to go," said Rollo,
;( to get my cap, and you must go too."
. ROLLO AT SCHOOL. 67
So Rollo and Henry went along together
through the gate, and Anne followed them
timidly. When they got through, they did
not immediately go and get the cap, and
come directly back; but they sauntered
slowly along, looking at the trees and flowers.
Presently, however. Rollo took up his cap
and put it on, just as Henry saw a little
squirrel running along upon a log, and the
boys concluded to watch him and follow him,
so as to find out where his hole was. The
squirrel ran along the log, and at the end of
it he came to a small tree. He ran up the
tree, thence along one of the branches, and
at the end of that branch he looked down
upon the extremity of a branch from another
tree. The children were exceedingly pleased
to see how far he could leap, and how dexter-
ously he could seize hold of the slender
branch, which bent down very far under his
weight; and they followed him along from
tree to tree, and from log to log, until they
were at some little distance from the cart
path.
"Hark! what's that?" said Anne.
The children all listened ; and they heard
some footsteps in the path. They looked in
that direction, and saw through the trees a
C8 ROLLO AT SCHOOL.
man going along with a yoke of oxen before
him. The children stood looking at him a
few minutes, and saw that, as soon as the
oxen went through into the orchard, the man
swung the gate to, and latched it, and then
ran along to overtake his oxen, before the
children had time to think that they were
shut out.
"Now how shall we get home again?"
said Anne, walking along towards the gate,
and looking as if she was just going to cry.
Rollo and Henry walked along too, pretty
fast, as they felt a little anxious, but Rollo
said they could get over the gate well enough.
But Anne said she never could climb over
that great high gate, and besides, Miss Mary
said they never must climb over it.
They went to it and first tried to open it,
but they could not move f he great heavy iron
latch.
" We must climb now," said Rollo; " we
cannot possibly get back unless we do."
They tried to persuade Anne to do it, but
she was not accustomed to climbing, and she
was afraid. She stepped up one or two bars,
but did not dare to go any farther, and when
Rollo and Henry tried to lift her up gently,
she screamed and cried.
ROLLO AT SCHOOL. 69
" Let us go and leave her," said Rollo, a
little out of patience.
"No," said Henry, "I would not leave
her here all alone ;" and he looked around as
if he did not know what to do.
As he turned around thus, he saw through
the woods out towards the main road, and
perceived that the road was not very far off,
and he proposed that they should go out
there and try to get over into the great road,
and then walk along in it to the front of the
house.
They accordingly walked along, following
the wall, and endeavoring to find some place
where they might climb over. But the wall
was pretty high, and it was made of round
and loose stones, and they were afraid it
would tumble down upon them if they at-
tempted to climb over. At length, however,
they reached the road, and there they found
a pair of open bars, so open that they could
creep through, and thus they got fairly out
into the main road.
Here they thought their troubles were all
over, and they proceeded slowly along, until
they heard a little bell ringing in the direction
of the school-room, and they all looked up
and began to walk faster. But in a minute
70 ROLLO AT SCHOOL.
or two they saw on before them, in the road,
a large drove of pigs coming along. This
drove was just about opposite to the house
that the school-room was in. and there were so
many in it that they rilled up the road, and
the sides of the road, from wall to wall, and
they were coming rapidly along.
The children stopped and did not know
what to do ; but the drove came nearer and
nearer, and some of the foremost pigs came
running along in advance of the rest, kick-
ing up their heels and squealing, and the
children, a good deal frightened, turned and
ran, Roilo holding Anne by the hand. They
might have crept back under the bars into the
wood again, but they forgot that place of re-
treat until they had passed by it, and so they
went on walking fast and running until they
came to another farm-house. Here was a
large yard by the side of the house, and the
children fled into it; for greater safety they
mounted up into a large wagon which stood
there, and sitting down upon the seat, they
watched the drove until it had got by.*
Then they got down from the wagon, and
hurried along to school without any further
adventures. They found, when they came
in, that they were very late. The scholars
* See Frontispiece.
ROLLO AT SCHOOL. 71
were all at their studies, and one class was
reciting. Miss Mary, however, said nothing
to them, and they all took their seats and
began their studies.
When the scholars had all put away their
books that afternoon, just before school was
done, Miss Mary said,
" Children, I want you all to attend to me.
This afternoon three of the scholars were
very late after recess. Something special
must have taken place to have kept them out
so long. I am going to call upon each of
them to tell me the whole story. Now I want
you to tell me a plain, straight-forward, hon-
est story, from beginning to end. Anne, as
you are the youngest, you may begin."
Anne stood up immediately, and, with a
very honest and innocent face, said,
" Why, please, Miss Mary, we could not
get back because the road was so full of pigs."
At this all the scholars laughed, and even
Miss Mary smiled. Presently, however, she
said,
" But, Anne, that is not telling me the
whole story. I want you to begin at the be-
ginning, and tell me all About it ; where
you went, and what you did, and all that
happened."
72 ROLLO AT SCHOOL.
Aiine looked this way and that, a little
confused, and then said,
" Why, Miss Mary, I'll tell you ; we went
we had to go, you see, out in the road .;
and we could not get along till the pigs went
by.' 7
Here the scholars laughed again, and Miss
Mary said that she supposed that Anne was
not quite old enough to tell a regular and
connected story, and so she would let Henry
try. "I wish you to begin at the beginning,
Henry, and tell me all about it, from begin-
ning to end."
"Well," said Henry, "I will tell you.
You see we were playing out in the orchard,
out by the two pear trees. Rollo had some
wishing grass, and he wanted me to wish
with him. And, and, I told him that I
thought after school I should go and take
a ride with my father. And he asked me
where, and I told him I thought I should go
over the river ; and then we went to catching
butterflies, and, and "
" But stop a minute, Henry," said Miss
Mary ; " you are not going on right, at all.
You are not telling me any thing about the
cause of your being late. I want you to tell
me only what relates to that; and you need
KOLLO AT SCHOOL. 73
not give all the conversation, and the minute
details, but only the important points, so that
I can understand who was to blame and how
you were to blame."
Henry reflected a moment, and then he said
again,
" We were playing out by the great gate,
and Hollo was going through to get his cap,
and wanted rne to go with him; and he told
me you would let us go if the gate was open.
So I went, and then we could not come back
that way, for a man came along and shut the
gate. So we had to go out by the road, and
there we met all the pigs."
" Now, Rollo, we will hear your story."
" Why, Miss Mary, Henry told me that the
reason why you did not want us to go over
there, was because we must not climb over
the gate ; and so I thought as the gate was
open we might go; and he threw my cap
over, and so I was obliged to go ; and then
Anne would not come back that way, be-
cause the gate was shut; and then we. had
to go around by the road, and that took us
a great while on account of the pigs."
After a short pause, Miss Mary looked up
and said, "I am not quite satisfied with
either of those accounts."
d 7
74 ROLLO AT SCHOOL.
" That is just the way it was, Miss Mary,"
said Rollo.
" Do you think you did any thing wrong
in going away as you did?"
" Why, Henry threw my hat over," said
Rollo.
" That is not what I asked you. Do you
think now, in looking back over the whole
transaction, that you did any thing wrong?"
Rollo hung his head, and was silent a mo-
ment, and then said timidly,
" Why, yes, I suppose I did."
" But no one would have supposed that you
did any thing wrong from your account of
it," said Miss Mary.
Rollo was silent.
" And, Henry, do you think, now, that you
did any thing wrong?"
" Why yes," said Henry reluctantly.
" But from your account of the matter, no
one would have thought that you were at all
in fault.
" Children," said Miss Mary again, speak-
ing to the whole school, "do you know
what ingenuousness is?"
The children were silent.
Miss Mary looked around the room, and
presently saw in one corner a little hand
ROLLO AT SCHOOL. 75
raised. It was held np-by a girl who thought
she could tell what it meant.
"What does it mean?" said Miss Mary.
" What is an ingenuous boy?"
"It is any body that can make curious
things," said the little girl.
" No," said Miss Mary. " you are thinking
of ingenious. Ingenuous is another word.
An ingenuous boy is one who is frank and
honest, ajid open-hearted in relating every
thing just as it occurred, especially where he
was himself to blame. He does not tell other
persons' faults and hide his own, but he would
rather tell his own, and say as little as possi-
ble of other persons'. Now, children, do you
think that these boys have been ingenuous or
disingenuous? "
"Disingenuous," said the children.
" Yes ; each one has told wherein the other
was fo blame, and concealed what he did
that was wrong himself. I suppose they
have not either of them told a falsehood, but
they have not been frank and ingenuous,
Rollo arid Henry felt guilty and hung their
heads, and they were expecting that Miss
Mary was going to say something more ; but
presently, when they looked up again, they
saw that she was finding the place to read in
76 ROLLO AT SCHOOL.
the Bible, and soon after she closed the
school. The boys then expected that she
would speak to them after school, but she
did not. So they took their hats and went
home.
Rollo felt uneasy and uncomfortable all the
evening, and Jonas saw him walking about
the yard, looking* thoughtful and sober ; and
so just at sundown, when Jonas was going to
the barn, to shut it up and make all snug for
the night, he asked Rollo to go with him.
Jonas put things in order in the barn, and
then untied a horse which was standing there,
and asked Rollo to lead him out to the pump
to drink. When he had drank, Rollo led him
back, and Jonas fastened him into his stall
again. Then they went up into the chamber
to pitch him down some hay. Rollo sat
down at the great window. the same place
where they used to watch their squirrel traps
with a spy-glass.
" Well, Rollo." said Jonas. " and what
trouble have you had at schoof to-day?"
"Trouble!" said Rollo, a little surprised,
"no trouble that I know of."
U A little, I guess," said Jonas, pitching
down another forkfull of hay.
"Why I was late at recess," said Rollo,
"that is all"
ROLLO AT SCHOOL. 77
"I knew that something was the matter,"
said Jonas; "come, tell me all about it."
So Rollo told Jonas all about it, walking
around after him, as he went about fastening
up the doors. He got through just as Jonas
was putting the fid into the staple of the
great front doors.
"Is that really the whole story, honestly
told?" said Jonas, as they walked along
towards the small door where they were to
go out.
" Yes," said Rollo. And it was really so,
for Rollo had determined that he would not be
disingenuous again, and so he told Jonas the
whole story honestly and fairly.
" And what are you going to do now ? " said
Jonas, as they came out of the small door
and fastened it up.
" Why, I don't know." The truth is that
Rollo had not thought that there was any
thing for him to do.
" I know what / would do," said Jonas.
"What?" said Rollo.
" I should go to Miss Mary to-morrow
morning, and ask her to let you and Henry
try again to tell the story, and see if you can-
not do it ingenuously"
" I did not think of that," said Rollo.
7*
ROLLO AT SCHOOL.
" You had better do it," said Jonas.
"1 think I will," saidRollo.
The next morning Hollo hastened along
towards school, so as to get there a little be-
fore the time. The children were nearly all
there, some sitting at their desks, and some
standing around the room. Rollo went up to
Miss Mary's desk, and stood still there a few
minutes, waiting for an opportunity to speak
to her. Presently Miss Mary looked up from
her writing and said,
" Well, Rollo, good morning. Do you
want to speak to me?"
" Yes, Miss Mary," said Rollo. " I am sorry
that I did not tell about our going away more
honestly yesterday, and wanted to know if
you would let us try again to-day."
li Does Henry wish for an opportunity to
try again?"
" I don't know," said Rollo. " He has not
come yet. and so I could not ask him."
"Very well," said Miss Mary, " I will see
about it."
Accordingly, just before school was done
that day, Miss Mary told the scholars that
the boys wanted to have an opportunity to
tell the story of their going away, again, to
see if they could not do it in a more ingenu-
ROLLO AT SCHOOL. 79
ems manner. She had spoken to Henry about
it in the course of the day, and he liked
Hollo's plan.
So when all their books were put away,
Miss Mary said,
"Now, Henry."
Henry rose and told his story thus :
" We were out there playing, and Rollo
wanted to go through the gate; he did not
know you had forbidden it. I wanted to go too
very much, and I told him that I thought we
might go if the gate was open. Lucy was
there and told us we ought not to go, and she
went away. By and by, I threw Roilo's cap
over, and then he and I went to get it. But
we did not come back directly. We played
around there in the woods, until somebody
came along and shut the gate. After that
we came home as soon as we could, though
it took us a good while, for we had to come
round by the road, and there was a drove of
pigs coming along, and we had to stop."
" Well, Rollo," said Miss Mary, "now let
us hear your account of it."
"We were playing out there, and I wanted
to go through the gate ; Lucy told me I ough*
uut to, but I tried to persuade Henry to go,
and then, when I went over after my cap, I
80 ROLLO AT SCHOOL.
led him along ; and we took Anne with us
too. Then we played about there in the
woods, looking at a squirrel, until we got shut
out, and we could not open the gate, and
Anne was afraid to get over, so we came
around by the road."
" Very well," said Miss Mary; "now you
have told the story very well, both of you.
Each of you have told his own faults more
distinctly than he did those of the other.
That is always the best way. It is much
more pleasant than it is to have each one ex-
cusing himself and throwing all the blame
upon his playmates ; which is the way boys
very often do."
Late that afternoon, after school, Miss Mary
happened to be standing at the little portico
of the school-room door, looking out into the
orchard, and turning her head in the direction
towards the little gate which led towards the
spring, she saw among the trees and shrubs
the bare head of a little girl, moving about
near the gate. She thought at once that it
was Dovey, and supposed that she had come
to look for her bonnet. Now Rollo had
Brought the bonnet in, and it was hanging up
KOLLO AT SCHOOL. 8l
upon a nail in the entry, and so Miss Mary
took it down and walked out to meet her.
Now Miss Mary was well acquainted with
bad children, and knew pretty well how
they would be likely to feel and act in almost
all situations. She supposed that the reason
why Dovey had not come to school that day,
was because she had been afraid to, after her
bad behavior of the day before. She deter-
mined therefore to speak to her kindly now,
in hopes that, when she saw she had nothing
to fear, she would come to school again. She
accordingly went up pretty near to the gate
before Dovey saw her, and then called to her
in a mild and pleasant voice.
Dovey looked up quite surprised.
" Are you looking for your bonnet?"
" Yes" said Dovey, "I am," and that in-
stant saw that Miss Mary had it in her hand.
" Here it is," said Miss Mary.
Dovey came up timidly to take it, looking
as if she expected that Miss Mary was going
to seize her.
" Is your mother pretty well to-day?" said
Miss Mary, with a pleasant voice, as she
handed her the bonnet.
"Yes, ma'am," said Dovey; and she took
her bonnet hastily and walked away She
82
ROLLO AT SCHOOL.
went directly out through the front gate and
disappeared.
Miss Mary hoped, after this, that she should
see Dovey at school the next day, but she
did not come.
ROLLO AT SCHOOL. 83
SUBMISSION.
IN one part of the orchard, not far from the
garden fence, there stood, or rather reclined,
an old pear tree. Many years before, it had
been struck with lightning, and split down
through the middle. One half had died, and
had been long since cut away. The other part
had been gradually borne down by the load
of its branches and fruit, until some of the
large limbs touched the ground, where it
rested, the trunk being, for some distance,
nearly horizontal.
Now by the side of this tree, in a corner
of the orchard, there lay a great heap of
brush-wood, which came from the cuttings
of the trees when they trimmed them in the
spring. The children had asked Miss Mary
to let them have these branches to build a
bower, by leaning them up against the trunk
of the pear tree ; and, one recess, they were
engaged in doing it. Rollo was master work-
man, for he had learned to make wigwams
and bowers, by working with Jonas in the
woods.
So the other children were bringing the
84 HOLLO AT SCHOOL.
branches along, after pulling them out of the
pile, and Rollo was placing them on each
side of the stem of the pear tree. The way
he placed them was this : he placed the large
ends upon the ground, and leaned the tops
over against the trunk of the tree, which
was about four feet above the ground, and
formed a sort of ridge-pole, very convenient
for supporting the tops of the branches, which
RoJlo leaned against it. These branches
themselves formed the sides of the bower, and
the branches of the pear tree, where they
rested upon the ground, formed one end.
They left a space open near the root of the
tree for a door.
Most of the children who were there were
at work helping to build the bower, but there
was one boy, not quite so large as Rollo, in a
straw hat and striped jacket, who was
perched up upon the pear tree, pretty near to
the end of the horizontal part of the wood.
Rollo recollected having seen him in the
school-room, but he did not know his name.
He had rather an ill-natured expression of
countenance, and he sat idly upon the tree,
with his hands in his pockets and his legs
dangling below.
At length Rollo stopped a moment from his
ROLLO AT SCHOOL. 85
work to rest, and, looking up pleasantly to-
wards the boy, said,
"What is your name?"
"Julius," said the boy rather gruffly.
" Should not you like to help us build our
bower?" said Rollo.
" No," said Julius.
Rollo, thus repulsed, said no more, but went
on with his work. As, however, he gradu-
ally advanced along the tree, arranging the
branches regularly, he came at length to the
place where Julius was, and he asked him
if he would be so good as to get down, or else
move on among the branches of the pear tree,
so that he could finish the bower. But Ju-
lius would not move. Some of the other
children came up then bringing branqhes,
and began to call upon Julius to get down,
but still he would not, and they were fast
getting into a dispute about it, when they saw
Miss Mary coming.
Miss Mary was coming to see how they
were getting along with their bower. When
the children saw her, they stopped talking to
Julius, and he, being afraid of her, got down
from the pear tree, and in a few minutes went
away.
Miss Mary seemed quite pleased with the
8
86 ROLLO AT SCHOOL.
bower, and helped them finish it. She showed
them where it would be well for them to make
a window, and even began to make it herself;
but before she had got it finished the bell
rang, and she immediately left the work and
began to move towards the school, the chil-
dren all following her.
" I am sorry we have not time to finish it,"
said Francis. " If Julius had not acted so,
we should have had it all done."
" I saw Julius," said Miss Mary, " and I
shall attend to it."
They went on. talking about their bower,
until they reached the school-room, and then
they all went in. Rollo observed, about half
an hour after this, that Julius was standing
at Miss Mary's desk, and that she was talk-
ing with him. She looked pleasant, but he
hung his head and appeared ill-natured and
sullen, and kept biting the corner of his jacket
all the time. Rollo thought that Miss Mary
was talking to him about his troubling them
in the recess, but she did not think he seemed
very sorry for his fault.
Rollo noticed Julius after this a good deal
more than he had done. He seemed to sit
pretty still in his seat, but did not study
much. He was idle and dull, playing with
HOLLO AT SCHOOL. 87
his book or looking about the room. When
he came up to read, Rollo observed that he
had not smoothed down the comers of his
leaves, as all the rest of the children had done
with their books, after Miss Mary had talked
with them about it. At first Rollo thought
that perhaps Julius had not been present
when they talked about Doveyism, but then
he recollected seeing him walking about after
them that day, looking rather sullenly.
The children generally did not like Julius
very much, and yet they scarcely knew why.
He was not so full of mischief and roguery
as Dovey had been, and in fact he did not
often trouble them at all, but when he did do
wrong he seemed more obstinate and sullen
about it. When Miss Mary told the children
to put away their books at the close of the
school, Julius generally obeyed more slowly,
and made rather more noise. And when
Miss Mary asked them not to make so much
noise, all the rest would generally try to be
more still, except Julius, who commonly went
on rattling his slate and books about as much
as before. The scholars did not notice these
things very much, but Miss Mary did. She
always noticed very particularly when she
observed that any of the children did. not
appear to wish to improve.
68 . ROLLO AT SCHOOL.
After school that day, some of the children
came around Miss Mary's desk, and asked
her what she supposed had become of Dovey.
Miss Mary said that perhaps her mother
wanted her, or perhaps she was afraid to
come. "I wish," she continued, "that, if
any of you see her, you would tell her she
need not be afraid to come, for I am not going
to punish her."
" But are you not going to send her away
from school ?" said Henry. " We doa't want
her to stay."
"I don't know," said Miss Mary; "that
'depends upon what she has to say."
The children then solemnly assured Miss
Mary that they had themselves told her the
whole truth about the dipper, and that if
Dovey should say any thing different from
their account, it would not be true.
" I do not suppose," said Miss Mary, " that
Dovey will make out the facts to be different ;
but what I want to know is, whether she is
willing to leave off her bad conduct arid try
to be a good girl, or whether she is obstinate
and sullen, and going to continue bad."
" There's Dovey now." said Rollo, who
had been standing at the window near his
desk, looking out. " There. she has gone."
ROLLO AT SCHOOL. 89
The children all ran to the window to
look. Miss Mary said,
" Come back, children ; come away from
the window, all of you."
They all obeyed except Julius, who still
lingered near, arid tried to look out, without
appearing to do so.
" Come away, Julius," said Miss Mary.
"lam away," said Julius, moving a little
towards Miss Mary, and slipping down upon
a seat. In a moment, however, he was again
trying to look out of the window.
Miss Mary then said tha*t she wished the
children would all go, and accordingly they
put on their things and went away, two or
three together, until the school-room was
empty and Miss Mary was alone.
Miss Mary then put on her bonnet and
walked along towards the woods where Rollo
had seen Dovey. She supposed that Dovey
had been afraid to come to school, and that
accordingly she had been playing around in
the woods during school hours, her mother
not knowing where she was. Miss Mary
was in hopes to find her, and persuade her to
come again.
She walked along, therefore, looking out
carefully for Dovey. She went through the
d* 8*
90 ROLLO AT SCHOOL.
gate leading down towards the spring, and
then turned off by a path which conducted
her to a little grove of maples. Here she
soon saw Dovey walking along the path
before her, stopping occasionally to gather
flowers. Miss Mary quickened her steps until
she came pretty near her, and then said,
" Dovey!"
Dovey started at hearing her name called
so near, and, turning round, saw Miss Mary.
Her first thought was to run, but when she-
saw how pleasantly Miss Mary looked, her
fears were allayed, and she stood still.
" Are there any pretty flowers about here?"
said Miss Mary.
" I have found so many," said Dovey, hold-
ing up a few which she had gathered.
"Let me see them," said Miss Mary; and
Dovey came up towards her, and they walked
along together, talking about the flowers
After a few minutes Miss Mary said,
" But, Dovey, why have you not been at
school these two or three days?"
" My mother has wanted me at home,"
said Dovey, with some little hesitation.
Miss Mary thought that this was probably
no*, true, but she did not say so; she only
walked along, and presently she began to talk
HOLLO AT SCHOOL. 91
with her about her bad conduct the other day,
and her conduct generally.
" Don't people blame you pretty often for
something or other, Dovey?"
" Yes, ma'am, pretty often," said Dovey.
" Your mother blames you, does not she?"
"Yes, ma'am, she's all the time scolding
at me."
" And other people blame you?"
" Yes, ma'am."
" And the children you play with blame
you sometimes, do they not?"
"Yes, ma'am."
" Well, now the truth is, Dovey, that you
have a good many faults ; I think it probable
that you get blamed sometimes when you do
not deserve it, but I have no doubt that you
deserve a good deal of blame. You made a
good deal of trouble the first day you came
to school. Still I am glad you have come."
Dovey did not know exactly what to make
of this talk, and she did not reply.
" That is, I am glad you have come," con-
tinued Miss Mary, "if you are only willing
to try to cure yourself of your faults. You
are very young, and you may cure yourself
of them entirely if you choose, and I should
like to help you. But if you love your faults
92 ROLLO AT SCHOOL.
and do not wish to be cured of them, why,
of course, there is nothing to be done. You
must grow up a bad girl/'
Dovey continued silent. She did not know
what to say. She had been scolded a great
deal about her faults and misdemeanors, but
she had never heard a kind and friendly con-
versation before, on the subject of her bad
character. Miss Mary perceived, however,
that she was making some impression upon
her mind, and so she went on explaining to
her how much more happily her life would be
spent if she would become a gentle, docile,
obedient and industrious girl ; and she showed
her also how great a sin it was to be idle,
reckless, selfish, and unkind in her treatment
of her playmates, and undutiful to her mother.
Dovey heard it all in silence, and when
Miss Mary had finished, and waited to hear
what she would say. Dovey walked along a
few minutes without speaking a word. Then
she looked up into her teacher's face, and
said,
;; Well, Miss Mary, I will come to school
this afternoon, and I will be a better girl."
Miss Mary was very glad to hear this
declaration, for Dovey made it in a manner
apparently so heartfelt and honest, that she
KOLLO AT SCHOOL. 93
did not doubt she then really meant to try to
reform. She thought, however, that she
would put her sincerity to the test, by asking
tar about her absence from school, which she
lid in these words :
" Well now, Dovey, I want to ask you one
question, and you may do as you please about
inswering it. But if you do answer it at all,
be honest and tell the truth. It is very
wicked to tell a lie. If you really wish to
improve and to correct your faults, you must
always be willing to let me know the exact
truth. Now I suppose that your mother has
not kept you at home these two or three days
past, but that you have staid out in the fields
here, playing, because you were afraid to
come to school. That is true, isn't it?"
Dovey hung her head and was silent ; but
presently she said faintly, "Yes, ma'am.' 7
"And your mother supposed all the time
that you had been at school?"
" Yes, ma'am," said Dovey again timidly.
" Shall you tell her?"
This last question was rather a perplexing
one to Miss Mary. She did not know at the
moment what it would be best for her to do.
So she told Dovey she should think of it, and
would talk with her again in regard to that.
94 ROLLO AT SCHOOL.
" But now, Dovey," she added, "it is nearly
time for you and for me both to go home.
You will come now this afternoon, and I shall
soon see whether you are really sincere in
your plan of being a good girl."
" I will be," said Dovey. " I am deter-
mined not to do any thing naughty at all."
" You will do a great many things that are
naughty," said Miss Mary, " I have no doubt.
You cannot alter all your old habits at once.
It will take you some time to learn to be a
good girl; but I shall be patient with you.
When you do wrong, I shall kindly tell you
of it, and then I can easily ascertain whether
you are sincere in your promises now."
"How?" said Dovey.
"Why, if you really wish to correct your
faults, you will be glad to have me point
them out to you, and so you will be good
natured about them, and will try to leave
them off at once. But if, on the other hand,
you do not care about improving, I shall ob-
serve that, when I tell you of any thing wrong,
you will be displeased, and out of humor, or
you will not show a hearty disposition to
leave it off at once. We shall see. Good
bye,"
Here Miss Mary held out her hand to Do-
ROLLO AT SCHOOL. 95
vey, and bade her good bye. Then she
turned around and went back, while Dovey
stood still in the road. In a moment Dovey
said,
" Miss Mary, shouldn't you like these
flowers? 7 ''
Miss Mary thanked her, took the flowers,
and then each went to her own home. When
Miss Mary reached the house, she re-arranged
the flowers, and placed them in a glass of
water over the mantel-piece in the school-*
room.
That afternoon, just before school, Rollo
was sitting upon the platform of the portico,
with one or two other boys, playing with
some pea-pods which Jonas had given him
from the garden. He was making a boat
like those which he used to make at home.
He had just shaved off the upper edge of the
pod, and was counting the peas, or the " sai-
lors," as he called them, when some of the
children said that Dovey was coming. * Rollo
looked up a moment, and then went on ex-
amining his sailors, and considering which
one was the biggest, for the captain, when
Dovey came up and began to look over him.
She had not stood there but a moment, when
96 HOLLO AT SCHOOL.
she suddenly snatched the pea-pod, sailors
and all, out of Hollo's hand, and ran off into
the orchard. Rollo was astonished, and very
much displeased. He started to run after
her, but she had got so far away before he
had time even to think what he should do,
that there seemed but little probability of
catching her, and then, just at that moment,
the bell rang, and so he went into school.
Dovey came in soon after, and they all
went about their studies. The first class
which went to Miss Mary was in Arithmetic.
Rollo and Dovey and Julius, and several
others, belonged to it. Miss Mary examined
the slates and found that they were not clean.
Several of them were covered with the re-
mains of old pencil marks, and with various
glossy spots, from long handling with the
fingers. Julius's and Dovey's were the worst,
and Miss Mary gave each of them a piece of
wet sponge, and asked them to go to their
seats, and rub them clean on both sides, be-
fore beginning their work.
Julius went to his seat, muttering to himself
that his slate was as clean as he could make
it, and clean enough. He, however, passed
the sponge lightly over it, and then opened his
Arithmetic at the place where the sums were,
KOLLO AT SCHOOL. 97
put his elbow upon the page and his cheek
upon his hand, and, holding his pencil in his
other hand, began to look idly about the room.
Dovey went to her seat and began scrub-
bing her slate with all her strength. Pres-
ently sfre thought that the sponge was not
quite wet enough, and so she went to Miss
Mary and asked her if she might go out and
get some more water. Miss Mary said no ;
she must do it as well as she could with that
sponge, and then go on with her work. Do-
vey then went to her seat, and laid her slate
down upon the desk, and. after rubbing it
some time with the sponge, concluded to pour
a little ink on to make it more wet. 'Tis true
the ink was black, but then that was almost
the color of the slate, and so she thought it
would make no difference.
But it did make a great deal of difference ;
for the sponge, as she rubbed it to and fro,
inked the frame of the slate, and made it look
very badly, and then it covered the whole
surface of the slate with an inky coating,
which did not show much, it is true, but it
was certain to come off upon her hands as
soon as she should begin to use it.
When her slate was rubbed Enough, she
began to look around for something to wipe
e 9
98 ROLLO AT SCHOOL.
it dry. She could not find any thing better,
and so she took out her pen, and began to
brush over the surface of the slate with
that. She found, however, that this did not
make it dry ; and so she opened her desk to
put away her pen again. In doing this her
eyes fell upon the pea-pod which she had-
snatched away from Rollo, and which she
had placed in her desk when she came into
school.
She took out one of the peas, and put it
upon a book which she laid upon her desk,
and then, with her pen for a snapper, she
snapped it over towards Julius, who sat
nearly opposite to her. The pea struck
against the window behind Julius, and then
bounded forward upon his desk. Julius took
it up, laid it upon a book, placed his hand
behind it, and drew up his middle finger with
his thumb, in order to snap it back again;
and just at that moment Miss Mary looked
up from a little class who were reciting to
her. She had observed the whole transac-
tion, though neither Dovey nor Julius per-
ceived that she saw them.
Miss Mary shook her head very gently at
Dovey, with a serious look ; and then imme-
diately turned and did the same to Julius.
ROLLO AT SCHOOL. 99
Dovey immediately opened the lid of her
desk and put her pen away, drew up her
slate, and seemed to set herself in earnest at
work upon her Arithmetic. Her countenance
changed too at once. It seemed to say, " Yes,
I was playing. It was wrong. I will stop
immediately, and go to my studies." Julius,
on the other hand, just released his finger
from his thumb without snapping it, and
spread his hand over the pea, so as to conceal
it, and yet holding his hand in a careless
position, as if it was there accidentally ; and
he assumed an unconcerned look, as if he
was doing nothing wrong.
" Dovey gives up at once," thought Miss
Mary. " That is a good sign. But Julius
does not. She yields ; he resists. I feel en-
couraged about her, and discouraged about
him ; for I see in her submission, but in him
pertinacity.
100 ROLLO AT SCHOOL.
PERTINACITY.
WHEN the time arrived for closing the
school that day, Miss Mary asked the chil-
dren to put away the books as silently as they
could, and prepare to listen to the closing
exercises. The children obeyed; but Miss
Mary heard a good deal of rattling and noise.
Dovey was making some noise on purpose,
for the pleasure of hearing it, and Julius and
several others made noise accidentally, by
carelessly tumbling their slates and rules into
their desks.
Miss Mary then struck her little bell, and
all the scholars stopped their operations to
hear what -she wished to say. She told them
that they made too much noise, and she
wished them to be more still. They then
began again to put their books in, and all
tried to be more still, except Julius, who went
on pretty much as before, and when he had
got his books in, he folded his arms across
upon his desk, and laid his head down upon
them. Dovey, after putting her books away,
crept down from her chair, and began to pick
ROLLO AT SCHOOL. 10 1
up the little bits of paper from the floor.
When she had taken up those immediately
under her desk, she crept along upon her
hands and knees under Henry's and Hollo's,
and was just going to prick their ankles a
little with a pen for fun, when she heard
Miss Mary say,
11 Now, children, I want you all to sit up-
right in your seats, and look at me, and listen
to what I have to say. '
This recalled Dovey to a sense of the im-
propriety of her conduct, and she scrambled
back to her place. Rollo and Henry heard
her and looked down, and they could hardly
help laughing, though they thought she was
a very naughty girl indeed. Julius paid no
attention to what Miss Mary said, but kept
his head down as before.
" Sit up, Julius," said Miss Mary.
Julius raised his head slowly and reluc-
tantly, and turned sideways a little, so as to
look away from Miss Mary.
"Turn this way, Julius," said Miss Mary,
pleasantly. " I want all the children to look
towards me and hear what I am going to say."
Julius turned round a little towards Miss
Mary, but moved his eyes as far as he could
away from where she was sitting.
102 ROLLO AT SCHOOL.
The rest of the children looked towards
her attentively, and she began thus :
" I have been thinking, for some days past,
that perhaps it will be necessary for me to
send one of the scholars away from school."
Here a little girl, who sat on a low seat
before Miss Mary, suddenly looked up; her
eye brightened, she clapped her hands gently,
and said, almost aloud,
" Oh, I am glad of it.'
"Why are you glad of it, Jenny?" said
Miss Mary..
Jenny looked a little abashed when she
found she had spoken 4 so loud; but she an-
swered timidly,
" Because she pushes me down."
"She? who?" said Miss Mary.
" Dovey," said the little girl.
The truth, was, Jenny had heard the
scholars proposing to Miss Mary to send
Dovey away from school, and as Dovey
had been rude and rough to her once or
twice in the recess, she was glad when she
heard Miss Mary say she was going to send
one of the scholars away. She had no
doubt that Miss Mary meant Dovey. All
the scholars thought so too.
" But it is not Dovey that 1 am thinking
of sending away," said Miss Mary.
ROLLO AT SCHOOL. 103
Here all the scholars looked surprised, and
some a little disappointed. They began to
look around the room, wondering who it
could be. They could not think of any
scholar who was so troublesome as Dovey.
In fact there was not any, and if Miss Mary
had been influenced solely by the considera-
tion of present trouble, in sending away one
of her scholars, Dovey would undoubtedly
have been the one to go. *]
" I did think that I should probably have
to send Dovey away, and I do not know but
that I shall have to do it yet," said Miss
Mary, "but I am in hopes I shall not. I
suppose, however, you all think that Dovey
"is worse than any other child in the school."
"Yes, ma'am," said the children.
"I don't know but that is true," said Miss
Mary. " I do not think that there is any one
who does so many mischievous and trouble-
some things; and yet there is a very good
reason why I should not send her away at
present."
The children looked surprised, but they
did not speak.
"Do you know what a hospital is'?" said
Miss Mary.
The children did not know.
104 ROLLO AT SCHOOL.
"It is a large institution where sick persons
are taken in to be healed. They have rooms
for them, and beds, and good physicians and
medicines ; and as soon as they get well they
go away. Also, if they find that they do not
get any better, and there is no prospect that
they will get better, they are then generally
sent away to their home and friends again,
because it would do them no good to stay
any longer."
The children listened to this very atten-
tively, and, after a moment's pause. Miss
Mary continued.
"Now there were once two sick boys ad-
mitted to a hospital together. James and
John. James was quite sick ; but John was
a great deal sicker. He was very sick in-
deed. They remained a week or two, and
John, who was the sickest, began to get bet-
ter, but James was not any better at all, and
there was no prospect that he ever would be.
Now which one of these do you suppose the
governor of the hospital would send back to
his friends?"
"John," said the children.
" But James was the sickest."
"Yes, but he was getting better," said one
of the children.
ROLLO AT SCHOOL. 105
"That is right," said Miss Mary. "A
sick person who is getting better is called
a convalescent. I want you all to say CONVA-
LESCENT."
So all the children spoke the word.
" Con-va-les-cent" said Miss Mary again,
very slowly and plainly; she wished to make
them perfectly familiar with the word.
"On the other hand," continued Miss
Mary, " a sick person who is not getting
any better, and shows no signs that he ever
will, is called an incurable"
" Then will he die?" said Henry.
" Perhaps so, or he may continue to live,
sick, a long time.
" Now if I were the governor of a hospital,
perhaps J should send away the incurables,
unless I had good accommodations for keep-
ing them without injury to the other patients;
but I should be very unwilling to send away
the convalescents, until they had got well."
The children did not say any thing, but
they all thought that they should do so too.
"Now a school," resumed Miss Mary, "is
in some respects like a hospital. Children
are sent here partly to. be cured of theii
faults and improved in character. If any
children have bad characters, they may be
106 ROLLO AT SCHOOL.
said to be morally diseased or sick, and 1
want to cure them.
" Now if a very bad boy should come into
this school, with a great many faults and bad
traits of character, if I found that he was
willing to give up his faults, and to try to
improve, I should consider him convalescent;
and I would not send him away, even if his
faults were very numerous and troublesome
indeed.
" But if, on the other hand, he seemed to
love his faults and cling to them, and when I
told him of them was sullen and ill-humor-
ed, and would not try to correct them, then
it would do no good, but only occasion use-
less trouble, to have him remain. So I should
very probably consider him an incurable and
send him away."
"Am I an incurable?" asked Francis.
" Perhaps I had better not answer that
question directly, but I will tell you the
marks of an incurable; and then you can
all judge for yourselves. But, after all, I do
not think that incurable is the best word, on
the whole, for that means a patient who
never can get well, whereas I mean one who
is growing worse rather than better now. A
boy may be growing worse rather than bet-
ROLLO AT SCHOOL. 107
ter now, and yet be may possibly begin to
grow a good boy by and by."
" What shall we call them then?" said Rollo.
"I hardly know," said Miss Mary. "If
the physicians only had a general name for
their patients who are growing worse, and
another for those who are getting better, they
would be just the words.
"However, we will not stop to look up
names for them. There are some scholars in
this school who seem desirous to improve.
When 1 tell them of their faults, they are
good-natured about it, and try to correct them.
When I give them any directions, they obey
cordially and willingly. When I point out
anything to them which is wrong, they seem
willing to change it at once and fully."
Just then, while Miss Mary was speaking,
the children heard the sound of music at a
distance, and they all began to listen. Miss
Mary stopped to listen too, for she knew that
it was hardly reasonable to expect that the
children could attend very profitably to her
advice and instructions while music was com-
ing.
" Hark ! what is that? " said Miss Mary.
" Music," said some of the children, start-
ing up.
108 ROLLO AT SCHOOL.
'' It is coming here, Miss Mary," said Fran-
cis. " I wish you would let me go out and
hear it."
Some of the children stood up and tried to
look out of the window, others sat still listen-
ing, their eyes beaming with delight. Julius
leaned his head as far out of the window as he
could, trying to see ; and, an instant after, as
the music advanced round a corner, and the
sound burst out more loud and full, Dovey,
who had evidently been, from the first, very
much excited, could contain herself no long-
er, but she jumped up, exclaiming, "Oh, here
they come, here they come," and darted off
out of school.
" Children," said Miss Mary, " I want you
all to take your seats and look at me."
The children obeyed. Some turned around
rather slowly and reluctantly; but yet all
obeyed, except Julius, who still kept his head
out of the window.
"Julius." said Miss Mary, " take your seat."
Julius slowly took in his head and sat
down. He looked, however, very much out
of humor, and he leaned his elbow upon his
desk and his cheek upon his hand in such a
manner as to turn his face still to tho window,
and thus he continued to look ml.
ROLLO AT SCHOOL. 109
" Sit still now and listen to me. Rollo, you
may go out and call Dovey in, and then you
may go into the road and see what the music
is. I presume, from the sound, that it is a
man with an organ. If it is, ask him to come
inside of the gate, and wait a few minutes,
until the school is dismissed, and that then
we should like to have him play a little."
Miss Mary had some doubt whether Dovey
would come in. She thought, however, that
if she should do so, it would be pretty good
proof she meant to obey Miss Mary and be a
better girl.
When Rollo went out upon the stone step,
he found that Dovey had gone into the road,
and he went on after her. There was an old
blind man there, and a boy with him, and the
blind man was playing upon an organ. Do-
vey was standing by the side of them, look-
ing at the organ and hearing the music.
" Oh come, Rollo, come," said Dovey as
soon as she saw him.
" Miss Mary says that you must come in.' 1
"Did she?" said Dovey; " well, I shan't
come yes I will, too, I'll go right in."
So she left the musician, and went through
the gate, and ran off to the school-room.
Rollo gave his message to the organist, and
10
110 ROLLO AT SCHOOL.
he siopped playing, and came inside of the
gate. Rollo wanted to stop and see the gold-
en pipes which were on the outside of the or-
gan, but he thought it would perhaps be bet-
ter not to do it, so he went directly back into
thii school-room and took his seat.
In the mean time the music had ceased,
and the children were able once more to at-
tend to Miss Mary. She said that she had
but a very little more to say upon the sub-
ject at that time, and that was, that the trait
of character which she had been describing,
that is, the one which children exhibited when
they were disposed to cling to their faults and
persist in them, was called sometimes perti-
nacity.
"Pertinacity/' she added. " is adhering to
and persisting in what is wrong when it is
pointed out. A little child once was sitting
at the table, and began to play with the tea-
pot handle. His mother told him he must not
play with the teapot. He took his hand away
a minute, and then reached it out again and
touched it with the tip of his finger, looking
up at the same time at his mother to see if
she was observing him. She shook her head
and lold him to take his hand away. He took
it away a little, but let it lie on the table with
ROLLO%.T SCHOOL. Ill
his finger pointed towards the teapot. Now
that is pertinacity ; an unwillingness to give
up when wrong. We see it in a thousand
cases in school. Sometimes I see a boy
holding his book before his mouth and whis-
pering behind it to his next neighbor. I look
at him and shake my head, meaning that he
must not do so. He sees me, but he keeps
his book up just as before, and tries to look
unconcerned as if he had not been doing any-
thing wrong. Then when I look away he
begins whispering again. That is pertinaci-
ty. Dovey ran out of school a short time
ago. That was very wrong ; but when I sent
for her she came in again immediately. She
did not persist in her wrong. It is so gene-
rally when I tell her of her faults. I have
hope of her, therefore, that she will be cured
of her faults, and I shall not therefore at pre-
sent send her away from school. If I send
any one away, it will be some one who per-
sists in the wrong that he does, even if the
wrong things are not half as disorderly arid
troublesome as Dovey's." *
The children did not know who it was that
Miss Mary had in mind ; each one recollected
that he himself had often shown a disposition
to conceal or defend or persist in his faults, in-
11*2 ROLLO AT SCHOOL.
stead of frankly and openly giving them up;
but they all determined to do so no more ; that
is. all except Julius, who looked ill-natured and
sullen as before, and still tried to sit in such a
position as to look out of the window, to en-
deavor to see the organ.
After this. Miss Mary closed the school,
and then she and all the children went out
and gathered around the organ. The old man
played them several tunes, and one of them was
a tune that the children knew: so Miss Mary
proposed that he should play it again and that
the children should sing it. They accord-
ingly did so. and they enjoyed it very much.
Afterwards Miss Mary gave the man a little
money, and asked him also to go into the
house and get something to eat. Then all
the children went slowly away.
^
EOLLO AT SCHOOL. 113
ORDER.
FOR some weeks after this, things went on
very quietly and smoothly in school, and Rol-
lo hegan to make rapid progress in his stu-
dies. He did not attend to 'many studies, for
his father preferred to have him go on as
rapidly as possible in his Reading, Writing,
and Arithmetic. He used to read in his class
every morning, immediately after the com-
mencement of the school, and then, for half an
hour, study his spelling lesson. After that he
worked upon his Arithmetic almost all the
forenoon. He generally wrote in his writing-
book for half an hour just before the school
was ended.
Jonas used to talk with him occasionally in
the evenings about his various pursuits ?nd
plans in school. Jonas advised him to be
very systematic and orderly in all that he
did, to keep his desk perfectly neat and well
arranged, and to have as many convenience^
for study as he could, so as t% jnake rapid
progress. Jonas said that wh^n he went to
school the boys wasted half their time in
e* 10*
114 ROLLO AT SCHOOL.
looking for lost things, asking where the les-
son began, going out after a drink or a wet
sponge, or asking for ink, or a ruler, or a pen-
cil.
Rollo accordingly took a great deal of pains
to arrange his desk, and to put every thing
in it which he wanted. The things which he
wanted to use most he placed in front, where
his hand would fall upon them readily. His
ruler and his little leaden plummet were
placed there. He had also a little shallow
box, made of pasteboard, which his mother
had given him, and in this he kept his slate
pencils, his piece of india rubber, a small lead
pencil, and his erasing apparatus. His eras-
ing apparatus was something which Jonas
had made for him. Jonas said that when he
went to school the boys would sometimes
make a mistake in writing, and then would
try to scratch it out with a penknife. But
this would make a sort of blister on the paper,
as if a drop of water had fallen upon the place,
Then when they began to write over the place
it would blot, and thus generally the spot
looked worse than it would have done if they
had let the mistake remain. So he said the
master made an erasing apparatus, to prevent
all this.
ROLLO AT SCHOOL. 115
"Erasing?" said Rollo, when Jonas told
him this, " what is erasing?"
" It is rubbing out, erasing means rubbing
out."
" How was the apparatus made?" said
Rollo.
" Why, first, we had a piece of tin, about as
big as my hand," said Jonas, " very smooth."
" What was that for?" said Rollo.
" It was to put under the paper when we
want to scratch anything out," said Jonas,
" because it is necessary to have something
smooth and hard. The reason why the boys
commonly make a swelled spot is, that they
have something a little soft under the leaf,
such as the other leaves of the writing-book,
or the baize of their desks, and then the paper
gives a little as the edge of the knife passes
to and fro, and this puffs it out."
" We might put a book under it," said Rol-
lo ; "a book cover is hard."
" Not very," said Jonas. "The leather is
soft and yields a little ; and besides, a book
is so thick and clumsy that you cannot very
well get it between the leaves."
"A slate is smooth and hard enough," said
Rollo.
116 ROLLO AT SCHOOL.
"Yes, but the frame is in the way, and
prevents the leaf lying down smoothly on it."
" Then a slate without any frame would
do?" said Rollo.
" Yes, but that would be likely to have
pencil marks and dust on it, which would
come oft* upon the paper. Yet I suppose if a
slate had no frame, and was perfectly clean,
it would do very well. But a small piece of
tin is better after all.
" Besides this piece of tin,' ' said Jonas, " the
master had a very sharp knife, which he kept
with the tin, and never used it for anything
else. And so whenever any of us had made
a mistake, we used to go to the master and
get his erasing apparatus, and we could gene-
rally take it out very neatly^
So Jonas made Rollo an erasing apparatus.
He picked up a piece of tin at Trie door of a
tinman's. He contrived to make it square in
this way. First he marked a square upon it
with a ruler and an awl. Then he put the
irregular edges one after the other into a very
narrow crack in the barn floor, taking care
to have the tin go down just to the mark that
he had made on each side. Then he bent the
tin back and forth, until it broke off very near
these marks. Then he smoothed the edges
ROLLO AT SCHOOL. 117
by grinding them on the grindstone. Jonas
held them on square while Rollo turned.
Thus he made the tin.
Now Rollo had a broken knife blade which
his father had given him one day, and which
he kept in a little box of playthings up stairs.
Jonas contrived to fix this into a handle of
walnut wood, which he got from the wood-
pile, splitting it out with an axe and then
fashioning it with a knife and a file, and af-
terwards smoothing it with sand-paper. He
dyed it, too, black, with some dye he had,
and rubbed, afterwards, hard, with something
he had in a bottle, which gave it a smooth,
glossy look. He told Rollo that the blade
was not fastened in strong enough to cut
wood, or even to mend a pen, but that it
would do very well for erasing.
Rollo was very much pleased with his
erasing apparatus, and promised never to use
the knife for any other purpose than the one
for which it was intended. He carried it to
school, and kept it, with his other small arti-
cles, in the little shallow box which we have
already spoken of.
His books he placed in the back side of his
desk, standing them up upon their edges, so
that he might take out one without disturbing
118 ROLLO AT SCHOOL.
the rest. He had a pen- wiper, which he had
made himself, in one corner, and a piece of
black cloth, of an oblong shape, which his
mother had given him to lay his pen upon.
He was always careful to wipe his pen before
putting it away, but this cloth was an addi-
tional precaution, to prevent his inking the
sheet of blue paper which he had spread over
the bottom of his desk. On one of the legs
of his desk, underneath, he fixed two little
brass knobs, one to hang his satchel upon,
and the other for his slate : for his slate took
up a great deal of room in his desk, and then
it made a great deal of noise taking it out
and putting it in. So he had a place to hang
it up below.
Rollo always kept his desk neat outside
also. He did not allow his books and papers
to accumulate there, but always put away
every one as soon as he had done with it.
The consequence was that his desk always
looked neat and pleasant. The other chil-
dren used to love to look into it and to see
his things.
One day several of the boys were standing
about RoJlo's desk in recess. He had a pic-
'ure of a good boy studying his lesson dili-
gently in school. It was a picture which Jo-
HOLLO AT SCHOOL. 119
nas had given him, for an example, as he said
Rollo brought it to school, and showed it to
Miss Mary, and asked her if he might keep it
in his desk. The boys now were standing
about Rollo' s desk, looking at this picture of
the good scholar.
" You was a fool to show it to Miss Mary,"
said Julius.
"Why?" asked Rollo.
" Because it was as like as not that she
would take it away from you."
" No she would not, take it away from
him," said Henry.
" She might have told him to carry it
home," said Julius; " but if you had just put
it in your desk without saying anything, she
would never have known anything about it."
The boys were talking in a low voice, and
Miss Mary was busy in another part of the
room, and they supposed that she did not
hear them. But she did hear them ; and she
listened to hear what Rollo would say to this.
But Rollo did not say anything. He knew
that this would have been wrong, but he did
not know exactly what to say, so he was
silent, and all the boys were silent, so that
there was a pause in the conversation.
Miss Mary then spoke herself and said,
120 ROLLO AT SCHOOL.
"Now I think, Julius, that Rollo was very
wise to ask my permission to keep the picture
here, for now he feels that he -has a full right
to do so. If he had not asked me, he would
have had a secret feeling that he was wrong,
and would have had to hide the picture when-
ever he saw me coming. He would have
been all the time afraid that I should find out
that he had it ; and so the picture, instead of
being a source of enjoyment, would only have
made him anxious and uneasy."
The children were surprised to perceive
that Miss Mary had heard them. Rollo was
pleased, but Julius looked ashamed. Rollo
was very glad that he had shown Miss Mary
the picture.
"I am going to fasten ^t up," said he, "up-
on the inside of the lid of my desk, exactly in
the middle, and then every time I open the
desk I shall see it."
" How shall you fasten it?" said Henry.
" With little bits of wafers upon the cor-
ners."
Rollo then took out from his shallow box
a little paper, which was folded up neatly,
and, after opening it, he took out a wafer.
With his knife he cut it into quarters, and
then went and asked Miss Mary if she had
ROI.LO AT SCHOOL. 121
any objection to his wafer! ng his picture up
upon the under side of his lid. She said she
had not. and he accordingly fastened it there,
exactly in the middle.
" How beautifully your desk looks," said
one of the girls who were standing by. "1
can't keep mine in order, possibly."
"Can't?" saidRollo; "why not?"
" Oh, I don't know. I put it in beautiful
order a week or two ago, when Miss Mary
talked with us about it, and now it looks
shockingly."
" I am determined I will have mine in or-
der," said Dovey. "I mean to fix it every
week. Saturday will be a good day."
"That never will do," said Rollo; "you
can't keep it in order so."
" Then I will put it in order every day,"
said Dovey.
" That won't do either," said Rollo.
" Then I will put it in order every half
day, forenoon and afternoon, in the recess."
"No you won't," said Rollo.
"Yes I will," said Dovey.
" I tell you you won't," said Rollo. "You
never will keep your desk in order so."
" How do you know?" said Dovey.
"Because people can't keep their things in
/ n
124 EOLLO AT SCHOOL.
order by putting them in order often, they
must not let them get out of order at all."
" Who told you that?" said Dovey.
" Jonas," said Rollo.
" I knew somebody told you. I knew you
could not find it out yourself."
Rollo felt a little provoked to hear Dovey
speak so; he concluded, however, that he had
better be good-natured about it, and was go-
ing to tell something more which Jonas had
said about order, when suddenly he saw that
Dovey had his erasing knife, which she had
taken up from the desk, and was just going
to cut off the top of a pen with it. He in-
stantly reached out his hand to take it away,
but before he could do so Dovey gave the
stroke, the blade broke from the handle and
dropped upon the floor.
At this instant the bell rung. This bell,
which indicated the close of the recess, was
the signal for the scholars to stop their talk
and play, instantaneously, and take their seats.
The group around Rollo's desk were silent in
a moment. Rollo took up the parts of his
knife and tried to put them together, looking
reproachfully at Dovey. who slowly moved
backwards towards her seat, with a counte-
nance expressive of great concern. The rest
ROLLO AT SCHOOL. 123
of the children went away, looking back to-
wards Hollo's desk, as they one by one went
to their seats, and Rollo himself put the
pieces of his erasing knife into his desk, shut
down the lid, laid his arm upon it, and rested
his forehead upon his arm. His eyes were
filled with tears.
At first he felt very much vexed and pro-
voked with Dovey for breaking his knife, but
then he soon reflected that she probably did
not intend to break it. It was an accident,
and did not proceed from any ill will or inten-
tion to injure him. He thought, also, that
probably Jonas would be able to fix it in
again as well as before ; so he dried his tears,
and began to attend to his studies.
Dovey felt very sorry to think that she had
broken Rollo' s knife, but she did exactly the
wrong thing about it. As soon as school was
done, feeling a little ashamed to see or speak
to Rollo, she went out immediately, and
walked off directly home. This was very
unwise. It would have been a great deal
better if she had come to Rollo at once, and
told him that she was very sorry that she had
broken his knife, and offered to do anything
in her power to repair the damage. This
124 . ROLLO AT SCHOOL.
would have soothed Hollo's feelings very
much, and it would have relieved Dovey's
mind too.
When Rollo came to school the* next morn-
ing, with his slate under his arm. he found
Henry and some other children sitting on the
stone step before the door of the school-room.
They had their heads together, and appeared
to be looking very intently at something which
Henry had, who was sitting in the middle of
the group, the rest crowding thickly around
him.
u Boys, what have you got there?'' asked
Rollo as he came in at the gate.
"Oh, here comes Rollo," said Henry; tl he
will do it for us."
As Rollo came up, he saw that it was a
mouse trap. There was a mouse hole in a
little closet in the school-room, and once or
twice the children had seen the mouse creep-
ing out slily into the room. One of the chil-
dren, who had a mouse trap, had asked Miss
Mary if he might bring it to school, and try
to catch him, and she had consented. So the
boy had brought the trap.
It was a wire trap, with a little swinging
door, so contrived that the mouse could
creep in. but, once in, could not get out again.
ROLLO AT SCHOOL. 125
This door was, however, out of order a little,
and would not open, and Henry was trying
some way to put the bait in. He found it diffi-
cult, however, and he was very glad to see
Rollo coming, for he thought that he could do
it better.
Rollo stood looking at it a moment, while
Henry showed him the difficulty, and asked
him if he thought he could make the door open.
" Yes, we must bend that wire in a little
there. Here, if you will take my slate and
carry it in, I will try."
Henry took the slate, and Rollo took the
trap. Henry stopped a moment to see how
Rollo would do it, and then put the slate
down upon the stone behind him.
"But you must carry my slate in," said
Rollo.
" Oh, let it lie there a minute," said Hen-
ry. " I will carry it in presently."
" No, that is not its place," said Rollo. "I
must not let it stay there."
And he began to put down the trap, in or-
der to carry the slate in himself.
But Henry took it up again, saying, "Well,
T will carry it in, for I want you to mend the
trap quick, so that we can set it before
school."
126 ROLLO AT SCHOOL.
Henry accordingly took the slate in, and
just as he was disappearing through the door,
Rollo called to him to hang it up upon the
nail under his desk. Then Rollo sat down
and began to work upon the trap.
In a minute Henry returned and began to
look over Rollo.
" Did you carry my slate in?" said Rollo.
"Yes," said Henry.
"And did you hang it on the nail?"
"No," said Henry; "I did not see any
nail, and so I just slipped it into your desk."
"Oh, that never will do," said Rollo;
" that is not the place."
' : Well, never mind now ; you can put it on
the nail when you go in."
But Rollo seemed unwilling to leave it so.
He laid down the trap and went in to put his
slate where it belonged. Presently he re-
turned again, and began once more upon the
trap.
" Now you will not have time to get it
mended and set before school," said Henry.
" Why could you not let it stay so a little
while?"
"Oh, because," said Rollo, "it would
break the charm."
HOLLO AT SCHOOL. 127
"Break the charm!" said Henry, with a
tone of contempt.
"Yes," said Rollo, "it would break the
charm."
"What do you mean by breaking the
charm?" said one of tjje girls, who was stand-
ing by.
"Why, Jonas told me that the only way to
keep things in order, is never to put anything
down, even for a minute, out of its place; it
breaks the charm, and then pretty soon every
thing gets out of order."
"Is that it?" said the girl.
" Yes, that's it exactly," said a voice be-
hind the children, which sounded like Miss
Mary's. The children looked round, and saw
Miss Mary looking at them out of the win-
dow.
"Jonas has got th'e philosophy of it, exact-
ly," she continued. " But who is Jonas,
Rollo?"
" He is the boy that lives at our house."
"Oh, I recollect now; I have seen him.
Is he a good boy?"
"Yes," said Rollo; "he is a very good
boy."
" And he taught you how to keep things in
128 ROLLO AT SCHOOL.
order ; but what was that that he said about
breaking the charm'? Tell me again."
"Why," said Rollo, u one day, just after
father had got his new toolhouse done, Jonas
and I put in all the garden tools into it, all in
fine order ; and then, just as \ve were coming
away, we looked around to see how beauti-
fully it looked, and Jonas said, 'There, that is
complete, and now it will be a very handsome
toolhouse. if we only look out well and do not
break the charm.' And I asked him what he
meant by that, and he said that the first time
he or I came and put a tool down any where
but in its right place, it would break the
charm, and that pretty soon it would all go to
confusion ; but that if we never put one
down except in the right place, the charm
would hold, and the toolhouse keep in order
of itself forever."
" What, forever?'' 1 said a little boy who
stood by, in a tone of great surprise. .
"Yes, forever," said Rollo, positively.
" Would it, Miss Mary?" said the little boy,
appealing to her.
'' Why, you can try it," said Miss Mary,
"in your desk. You can put it all in order,
and then be very careful never to put any
thing down, even for an instant, out of its
ROLLO AT SCHOOL. 129
proper place, and see how long it will be be-
fore you wil) have to put it in order again.' J
The children had all been so much inte-
rested in this conversation, that they had al-
most forgotten the trap. Rollo had held it in
his hand, but both he and the others had been
looking around at Miss Mary ; and now the
bell rang for them all to go into school. They
accordingly put the trap down by side of the
portico, and all went in.
Now Miss Mary knew that Dovey had
broken Hollo's knife the day before, and she
thought that it would afford her a very good
opportunity to see whether she was disposed
to do her duty, when she knew what it was,
or was inclined pertinaciously to cling to her
faults. So she read that morning at prayers
a passage from the Old Testament, which con-
tained, among others, the following verses
" If a man shall cause a field or vineyard to be eaten,
and shall put in his beast and shall feed in another man's
field ; of the best of his own field, and of the best of his
own vineyard, shall he make restitution.
" If a fire break out and catch in thorns, so that the
stacks of corn, or the standing corn, or the field be con-
sumed therewith , he that kindled the fire shall surely
make restitution." Ex. 22 : 5, 6.
From these verses she made some remarks
130 ROLLO AT SCHOOL.
about the duty of making restitution, when
we do an injury to any person, whether the
injury were done accidentally or on purpose.
She explained to the children that the first
verse related to intended and the latter to acci-
dental injuries.
" We can make restitution in various ways,"
she said. ;: If we injure or destroy anything
belonging to any other person, we can, per-
haps, give them another just like it, if we have
one ; or we can pay them in money ; or we
can. perhaps, help get it mended : or if we
cannot do any of these things, we can, perhaps,
give them something else, or do something for
them which will repay them."
Miss Mary made some other remarks of a
similar kind. The children listened to them
very attentively, and several of them thought
of Hollo's knife. Henry determined that in
the recess he would tell Dovey that she ought
to make restitution to Rollo.
Accordingly, when they were sitting out
upon the step, working on the trap, Henry said,
" Dovey, didn't you know you ought to
pay Rolio for breaking his knife?"
"I haven't got any money," said Dovey.
" Then you ought to give him something
else," said Henry.
ROLLO AT SCHOOL. 131
u But I have not got anything else to give
him," said Dovey.
"Not anything?"
" No, not anything," said Dovey, thinking,
"I wish I had. I have not got anything but
my knife handle, and that is not good for any-
thing at all."
" Let me see it," said Rollo.
So Dovey went into the school-room and
opened her desk, and took out a small calico
bag. She put her hand into her bag, and
took out from it a penknife handle. The
blade was gone entirely, but the handle was
whole and good.
" Oh, that is a good handle," said Rollo.
" Where did you get it?"
" A boy gave it to me. You may have it
if you want it."
"Well," said Rollo, "I should like it
very much, and Jonas will fix my blade into
it; then it will make a good knife, a great
deal better than my old one."
He then went into the school-room to get
his knife blade, to see whether it would fit.
Now there was at the end of this blade,
as there is, in fact, in all penknife and jack-
knife blades, a square projection, with a small
hole through it. This part is made to go into
132 ROLLO AT SCHOOL.
the end of the handle, and there is a small
hole in this part of the handle, so that, when
the blade is put in properly, the hole in the
end of the handle will come exactly opposite
to the hole in the end of the blade. Then a
short piece of wire is put through, which
keeps the handle and blade together, but the
blade will open arid shut by turning round on
this wire. Then the ends of the wire are
hammered down a little, to prevent its slip-
ping out. The wire is called a rivet. We
can generally see the ends of the rivet, at the
opposite sides of a knife handle, at the end
where the blade is inserted.
Rollo tried the blade to the handle, but was
very sorry to find that it would not fit. The
hole in the blade did not come near to the
holes in the handle. So he thought that Jo-
nas would not be able to put it in.
" You had a knife blade the other day, Ju-
lius." said a boy; " where is it?"
" In my pocket," said Julius.
Julius was sitting on the step at this time,
with his hands in his pockets, but made no
move.
" Let us see it, won't you ?"
Julius made no answer, and did not move.
"You ought to give Rollo your knife
ROLLO AT SCHOOL. 133
blade/ said a little girl, very timidly, " for
it was you that broke his knife."
" I say I didn't," said Julius.
" You did. I saw you."
" I tell you I didn't," said Julius. But he
felt guilty and self-condemned, and he got up
and walked away.
The children then asked the girl what she
meant ; and she said that she saw Julius go
to Hollo's desk the morning before, just before
school began, and take out the knife. She
said he looked at it a little while, and then
began to cut the desk with it ; but in a mo-
ment she heard a crack, and the knife blade
appeared bent away back against the handle.
Julius took it out, and, after looking at it a
moment, fixed it back again in its place, and
then put the knife back into the desk, and
went away.
This was true. Julius had cut so hard
with the knife as to pry out the blade, split-
ting the handle a little, and this was the crack
that this girl had heard. When Dovey took
it, therefore, it was all ready to drop out, and
did so as soon as she began to cut the pen.
The children went in to look at the knife
handle again, and found the little split. They
12
134 ROLLO AT SCHOOL.
also found the place upon the desk which
Julius had cut with it.
Julius stood by his desk at the other side
of the room, eyeing the children with a fierce,
ill-natured look, while they were examining
the proofs of his guilt. Dovey was very glad
to find that she had not actually broken the
knife, but she said that Rollo might have her
old handle, notwithstanding, for she had had
it a good while and was tired of it.
Henry then went over to Julius, and said,
" You ought to give Rollo your blade, Ju-
lius, for it was you that broke his knife."
" I shan't," said Julius.
" Why, you broke his knife, and you ought
to make restitution; Miss Mary said so."
" I don't care," said Julius; and he got up
sullenly and walked away.
He said this in a low voice, and there were
othor children talking in various parts of the
room, and so no one heard it. Henry came
back to Rollo, and told him that Julius still
refused to give, him his blade.
"Never mind." said Rollo. "Perhaps Jo-
nas can find some way to fit mine in." So
he rolled up his two handles and his own
blade in a paper, and put them in his pocket.
ROLLO AT SCHOOL. 137
and then they all went out and resumed their
work upon the mouse trap.
They succeeded, at length, in mending the
door so that it would open and shut easily,
and then Miss Mary gave them permission to
go round to the kitchen and get a little piece
of cheese for bait. They then carefully set
the trap in the corner of the closet, and imme-
diately afterwards the bell rang for the close
of the recess, and they all took their seats
again and resumed their studies.
That evening Hollo carried his new handle
to Jonas, and asked him if he thought he
could fix it in.
Jonas looked at it and said, after trying to
put the parts together, that he thought the
blade would fit that handle exactly.
"Why, no," said Rollo; " the holes don't
come right."
" That is because the spring is not crowded
back," said Jonas.
So he showed Rollo that the spring, which
runs along the back of the handle, had sprung
itself in, beyond its proper place, and that
when the blade was in it would force it back,
so as to bring the holes just about opposite to
each other.
When, however, he came to measure more
/*
138 ROLLO AT SCHOOL.
exactly, he found that the square part of th*
blade was a little too wide after all ; for
when the spring was forced back it did not
bring the hole in the blade exactly into a line
with the holes in the handle.
"It must be filed a little," said Jonas.
" Can you do it by filing it?" said Rollo.
"I think so," said Jonas; and they both
went together to the barn after a file.
Jonas found a little three-cornered file in its
place, by a small workbench, in the barn,
and, holding the square part of the blade
down upon the bench, he began to file it.
But the file seemed to slip back and forth
over the steel, without taking hold at all.
"It is too hard" said Jonas, stopping the
file, and looking at the blade.
" What shall you do now?" said Rollo.
"I must soften it."
"Soften it?" said Rollo; "how can you
soften it?"
" I shall heat it red hot and then let it cool
slowly, and that will soften it."
"Will it?" said Rollo; "will it make it
very soft?"
" Xot very soft indeed : but soft enough for
me to file it."
" How soft?" said Rollo.
ROLLO AT SCHOOL. 139
" Why, almost as soft as iron."
" Iron ! " said Rollo ; " why, I think iron is
very hard, very hard indeed."
" Oh no," said Jonas. " It is not nearly
as hard as steel, especially this hardened
steel."
Jonas then took a nail, which he said was
of iron, and showed Rollo that he could file
that very easily; but the file would make
scarcely any impression upon the steel.
" What do they make blades so very hard
for?" said Rollo.
" They will cut a great deal better, and
keep sharp longer."
" Well, then, you will spoil; the blade if you
soften it," said Rollo.
" No," said Jonas; "I shall only soften this
square part."
" Yes, but when you heat that all the rest
will become hot too."
"No," said Jonas; " you will see how I shall
prevent that. I will show you after supper."
Accordingly, after supper Rollo came out
into the kitchen, and Jonas took the blade,
and also a long narrow strip of brown paper.
He rolled the paper over and over the blade.
a great many times, leaving the square part
out. Thus at length all that part of the blade
140 ROLLO AT SCHOOL.
which had the sharp edge upon it was en-
veloped in many folds of brown paper, while
the square part was exposed. He then tied
a string around the paper, and dipped it into
water, so as to wet it thoroughly. Next he
drew out a few burning coals upon the hearth,
and laid the square part upon them, covering
it over completely with burning coals. Then
he kept dropping water upon the part covered
with brown paper, and thus kept it wet, so
that it could not get much heated. In a
short time the square part became red hot,
and then he took it away from the coals and
let it cool slowly. In this way it became so
soft that he could easily file it, and thus he
soon fitted it into its place, without farther
diiticulty.
Jonas then put a piece of wire through the
holes, and filed off the ends pretty near to
the handle on each side. He then hammered
down the ends, and thus made little heads to
the rivet, which prevented its coming oui,
Rollo then found that the blade would open
and shut like any other knife, and he deter-
mined to carry it to school the next day and
show it to Dovey.
ROLLO AT SCHOOL. 141
TITLE TO PROPERTY.
Two very serious questions arose the next
day in school, relating to the title to property.
These difficulties occurred in the following
manner.
When Rollo came to school in the morning,
scarcely any of the children were there. He
was so much interested in showing Dovey
and Henry his new knife, that he walked
very fast, and so he got there quite early.
So he sat down upon the stone step, and
began to make a whistle upon the end of a
willow shoot, which he had cut by the way.
He sloped off the end for the mouth piece, cut
round the bark at a proper distance, made the
little notch for the wind hole, as he called it,
and had just laid the work across his knee
and began to pound it with the handle of his
knife, to make the bark come off easily, when
he saw Dovey coming along the road.
He immediately jumped up and went to
meet her, with his whistle stick in one hand,
and holding out his knife in the other.
" See, Dovey, see what a beautiful knife
142 KOLLO AT SCHOOL.
Jonas has made for me out of your old han-
dle."
" Let me see it," said Dovey, taking the
knife. " Why ! it will open and shut, won't
it. What a beautiful knife ! " So saying,-
Dovey shut it up, and then began to try to
open it again.
"Here, I'll open it," said Hollo, trying to
take it.
" No," said Dovey, holding it, and turning
away from Rollo, " 1 will open it myself."
So Dovey turned around away from Rollo,
and began to open the knife, and at the same
time slowly walked along.
Rollo followed her, and presently heard
Dovey shut the knife up again.
"Come, give it to me," said Rollo. "I
want to finish my whistle."
"No." said Dovey, at the same time turn-
ing round so as to face Rollo, but holding
the knife behind her back.
" Why, it is mine," said Rollo.
"No it isn't," said Dovey.
"Yes it is," said Rollo; " you gave me the
handle, because you broke my knife, and the
blade was mine before."
" No. it turned out that I did not break
your knife, and so that goes for nothing."
ROLLO AT SCHOOL. 143
'But you gave it to me again, after you
knew that Julius broke my knife."
" I didn't"
'You did."
" I say I didn't."
" Here comes Henry; I'll leave it to him,"
said Rollo : for just at this moment Henry was
coming in at the gate.
Dovey moved back a little, and still held
the knife behind her. Henry came up, and
Rollo asked him if Dovey did not give him
the handle, the day before, after she knew
that Julius broke his knife.
" Yes, "said Henry, " she did. She gave
it to you, at first, before we found out that,
but afterwards she said she did not care, and
you might have it."
"Well, I don't care if I did," said Dovey;
" I did not mean you should have it to keep
for your own."
So saying, Dovey walked away, Rollo fol-
lowing her, and looking very anxious and un-
happy. They had not taken many steps,
however, before they met two or three children
running out of the school-room door, capering
and clapping their hands, and crying out,
" We have caught the mouse; come, Roilo,
Dovey, Henry, we have caught the mouse."
144 ROLLO AT SCHOOL.
Dovey and Henry ran, but Rollo had no
heart just then to think of any thing but his
knife. He walked along after them, and
crowded his head at length into the ring
which surrounded the trap ; and the sight of
the little mouse, with its black eyes and
slender tail, creeping around and putting his
nose out between the wires, fairly drove, for a
minute or two, the thought of his loss out of
his head.
The children had scarcely done admiring
their little prisoner, before a question arose
as to the right of property in him. The girl
who had brought the trap to school insisted
that it was hers, because it was caught in her
trap. The boy who set the trap maintained
it was his, because he was in fact the one who
caught him. Rollo thought he had some claim,
because he had mended the door that was bro-
ken. " Had it not been for me," said he, " he .
couldn't have got in." "And if I had not
brought the bait," said another boy, " he
wouldn't have got in if he could." Finally, to
complete the list of conflicting claims, one boy
said the mouse did not belong to any of them.
It was Miss Mary's mouse, he said, for they
got it out of her school-room.
Voices grew quite loud in defence of these
HOLLO AT SCHOOL. 145
various rights, until Miss Mary, who heard
the noise of the controversy, suddenly brought
it to a close by ringing the bell for the chil-
dren to come into school.
They accordingly put down the trap,
mouse and all, in a little corner by the porti-
co, and went to their seats.
As Miss Mary was kind and indulgent to
the scholars, and generally took an active in-
terest in their pursuits and pleasures, they did
not attempt to conceal any thing from her, but
in all the questions that came up among them
they talked in their usual tones of voice,
whether she was within hearing or not So
it happened that she often heard their con-
versation, and if any thing took place which
excited a good deal of interest in school, she
generally knew all about it. Thus she knew
all about the case of Hollo's knife, and also
about the mouse ; though she said nothing
to the children about them at the time.
Just before the time for recess, she told the
scholars that she understood that there had
been some disputes about the title to some
property, and that she was going to be judge
in the recess, and hear arid settle the ques-
tions. She said that she wished all those chil-
g 13
146 ROLLO AT SCHOOL,
dren who had been disputing about any pro-
perty, of any kind, that morning, to come
around her table in the recess ; and all who
wished to hear the cases might come also, and
stand near.
So when she struck the hell for recess,
almost all the children gathered around her
table.
" I am very glad to see so many," said Miss
Mary. " I want you all to hear these cases.
Children at school often get into contentions
about their property, and by hearing how I
decide these questions you will learn how you
ought to act in similar cases hereafter."
Miss Mary then said that the first thing was
to ascertain how; many questions there were
at issue, and what they were about : so she
asked all those who had had any dispute about
property, to hold up their hands, and a great
many hands were immediately raised.
" Rollo, what was your question about?"
"About my knife."
"Who his got the knife?"
" Dovey."
" Dovey, bring it here."
So Dovey brought the knife and handed it
o Miss Mary, and Miss Mary laid it out be-
fore her upon the table.
ROLLO AT SCHOOL. 147
"George, what is your question about V
said Miss Mary, then, to the next boy.
"About the mouse."
" Who has got the mouse ?"
"It is in the mouse-trap out at the door."
" Go and bring it here."
So George went out and brought the mouse-
trap in, and handed it to Miss Mary. Miss
Mary laid it upon the table by the side of the
knife. The mouse was frightened and ran
about the trap, putting his nose out here and
there through the wires. This put the chil-
dren quite into a frolic. They laughed and
capered about and pointed at him; and those
behind crowded their faces in between the
others to see. At length, however, the mouse
was still again, and then the children became
quiet and looked towards Miss Mary.
Miss Mary was willing that they should
have a little frolic, both because it was
recess, and because she thought it would
make it more easy for them to acquiesce good
naturedly in her decisions.
"Are these all?" said Miss Mary when
they were still and attentive.
One more hand was raised.
"And what is your question, John?" said
she to the boy.
148 ROLLO AT SCHOOL.
'' About my windmill."
" Who has got the windmill?"
" Julius."
" I haven't," said Julius, in a surly tone
of voice.
" He had it when the bell rang," said
George.
' Where is it, Julius?" said Miss Mary.
Julius said he supposed it was out in the
orchard. Miss Mary told him to go and bring
it in.
So he went out and brought the windmill
in. It was a paper windmill, made by tak-
ing a square piece of paper, and cutting from
near the centre out to the four corners, and
then bending over half of each corner to the
middle, and passing a pin through them all
into a little handle. With stiff paper a very
pretty windmill may be made in this way,
though but few boys know how to do it.
Julias handed the windmill to Miss Mary,
and she placed it upon the table by the side
of the other things
" Now," said she, " we will take the knife
first. Rollo, tell us your story."
So Rollo told her all about his knife, just as
the facts have been related here ; and then
Dovey said she did not give the knife han-
ROLLO AT SCHOOL. 149
die to him to keep for his own forever, but
she only lent it to him ; and besides, she said,
if she did give it to him, she wanted it now,
and was going to take it back.
Then Miss Mary asked the other children
who were there at the time, and they said
that they understood that Dovey meant Rol-
lo to keep the knife for his own.
" Did I say he might keep it forever?" said
Dovey.
" No, you did not say that exactly," said
Henry, "but you said he might have it, and
you understood that he was going to have a
blade put in."
Miss Mary made some further inquiries,
until she asqertained fully all the facts, and
then she said as follows :
" This is my decision. The knife is Hol-
lo's. When a person gives or sells any pro-
perty to any other person, it is called a convey-
ance. If this is done under such circumstances,
and in such a manner, as to make the thing
fairly and fully the property of the person who
receives it, it is called a valid conveyance. If
it is made in such a way ; or under such cir-
cumstances, as not to entitle the new posses-
sor to it, it is said to be null and void, and
goes for nothing Now the great question is,
13*
150 ROLLO AT SCHOOL.
whether Dovey's giving the handle to Hollo
was a valid conveyance of it to him.
" Two things are necessary to make a va-
lid conveyance of property among children,
from Dovey to Rollo, for instance. First, the
thing must actually belong to Dovey, so that
she has a right to give it away. If she should
give Rollo George's windmill, here, it would
be null and void, for that would not be hers to
give. So if she should give away her bon-
net, it would be null and void, for that is
more her mother's than her own, and so she
has no right to give it away. But the knife
handle, or any other trifling plaything of that
kind, is hers, arid so she had a right to give it.
' But, in the second place, she must intend
to convey it, that is, to give it entirely away.
If one boy should say to another. ' May I have
your knife?' and he should say { Yes,' think-
ing he only wanted to borrow it a few minutes,
that would not be a conveyance ; and yet he
said he might have it, absolutely, but then he
did not intend actually to make it his.
" In the third place, the person who con-
veys property must actually deliver it to the
new owner. This completes the conveyance,
and makes the property fully and entirely his.
And this is necessary, for without it the pro-
ROLLO AT SCHOOL. 151
perty does not pass. For example, if a boy
were to promise you a whistle and say he
should bring it the next day, and then the
next day should bring it and refuse to give it
to you, you would have no right to take it.
It would not be yours. His promise to give it
to you would not make it yours. It is neces-
sary that he should actually deliver it to you
of his own accord.
" Now these are rules which men observe
in conveying property, and I think they ap-
ply as well to children. And in this case the
conveyance was valid, judged by these rules.
The handle was actually Dovey's. She in-
tended to give it to Rollo, and she did actually
deliver it to him with this intention. That
made the conveyance complete and valid, and
the handle became absolutely Hollo's.
" But Dovey says that, admitting that she
did give Hollo the handle for his own, she
altered her rnind afterwards, and meant to
take it back again. This is a very common
thing among children, but it is always wrong.
When a thing is once really conveyed to ano-
ther, either by exchange, or sale, or gift, it be-
comes absolutely his, and the first owner has
no more right to take it again than any other
person has to take it away. So that the han-
dle is clearly Hollo's, and not Dovey's at all.
152 ROLLO AT SCHOOL.
"And yet, when a person gives another a
thing, without receiving anything in return,
and is afterwards sorry and wants it back, 1
think it is best generally to give it back.
You are not obliged to give it back : it is
yours, fully, but still I would give it back
generally. If one of the children should give
me an apple, and afterwards want it back
again, I should give it back again. And so,
if I were Rollo, I should ask Jonas to take out
the ilade again, and then give the handle
back to Dovey if she wants it. But then,
Rollo, you must do just as you please about it,
as it is absolutely yours, and you can do with
it as you think best."
Here Miss Mary handed Rollo his knife;
and then turned to the other cases.
" We will take the windmill case next,"
said Miss Mary, " as that is probably shorter
than the other. George, what is the story
about the windmill?"
" Why I had my windmill out there, and I
was playing with it, and Julius came and
wanted it, and I told him he mustn't have it,
and he pulled it away from me and ran off,
and then the bell rung and I had to come in."
Miss Mary then turned to Julius and said,
"Well, Julius, was it all so?"
ROLLO AT SCHOOL. L53
" I was not going to take it away from him;
I only wanted to try it a minute."
" But you did take it away from him,
didn't you?"
'< I was going to give it right back to him
again."
" But that was wrong. Do you know
what the name of the crime is that a man
commits when he takes away the property of
another forcibly?"
Julius made no answer.
" It is robbery" said Miss Mary.
" If a man meets a traveller on the road,
and takes away his money jby force, he robs
him of it. If a schoolboy takes away a
plaything from another, he robs him of it.
If he keeps it for a day, then he robs him of
it for that day. If he keeps it only a minute,
then he robs him of it for the minute. If you
take away any body's property, however
small the value of it may be, and however
short the time you keep it, it is an act of rob-
Sery. I hope all the children will remember
this. It is a very common thing among chil-
dren, but it is always unjust and wrong. If
the rightful owner of a thing is riot willing
that you should take it, you have no right to
take it, even for a moment."
154 ROLLO AT SCHOOL.
So saying, Miss Mary handed George his
windmill, and then said,
" Now for the mouse."
" I think the mouse is mine," said one boy,
" for he was caught in my trap."
" But the trap was not good for anything
till I mended it," said Hollo.
" And I set it," said another boy.
" And I got the bait," said another.
Just at this moment there was a sudden
jump and scream among the children. The
mouse was out of the trap, upon the table.
The children started back, the mouse leaped
off to the floor and ran along, the children
screaming and scampering in all directions.
Some clambered upon the chairs, some upon
the desks, and others made their escape out
of the door. In short, the court was broken
up in great confusion, the claimants vanish-
ed, and the mouse quietly withdrew to his
hole.
How he succeeded in getting out of the
trap, the children never could find out to this
day. Perhaps Rollo did not fix the door ex-
actly right. They were all much disappoint-
ed at losing him, but Miss Mary said that
she was nut very sorry, after all, for it settled
summarily a mu?s of conflicting claims, the
KOLLO AT SCHOOL.
155
adjustment of which would have involved a
good many intricate legal questions.
After school that day Rollo told Dovey he
had concluded to get Jonas to take out his
blade, and then he would give her back her
handle. But she said it was no matter. She
preferred, on the whole, that he should keep
the handle, for his own, forever.
156 ROLLO AT SCHOOL.
THE REASON WHY.
ONE afternoon, in the recess, Henry was
playing with some little stones in the walk,
very near the gate, and Rollo and Dovey and
some other children were sitting by, on the
grass. Henry was making a well. He had
dug a small hole in the walk, and had put
little stones all around it inside, as men stone
up a well, and then he asked Dovey if she
would not go in and get some water to poui
into his well.
" No," said Dovey. " I can't go very well
now ; I am tired."
"Well, Rollo, you go, won't you?"
" Why no ," said Rollo. " I can't go-
very well."
He then asked one or two other children,
but nobody seemed inclined to go.
" Oh dear me," said Henry, with a sigh.
"I wish somebody would go; or else T wish
water would come in my well of itself, as it
does in men's wells. I don't see why it
won't."
" It is because your well is not deep
enough," said one of the children.
ROLLO AT SCHOOL. 157
"Then I will dig it deeper," said Henry;
and he took out the stories and began to dig
it deeper, with a pointed stick, which served
him for a shovel. But after digging until he
was tired, his well was as dry as ever.
"I don't see why the water won't come "
said he. "I mean to ask Miss Mary."
" No you mustn't ask Miss Mary," said a
little round-faced boy standing there, with a
paper windmill in his hand.
" Yes I shall," said Henry.
" No you mustn't; it is wrong to ask why."
"No it isn't."
"Yes it is," said George; "my mother said
so."
"It is not wrong to ask why," said Rollo;
" my father said it wasn't. It is very right."
George insisted that it was wrong. His
mother knew, he said, as well as anybody,
and she said it was wrong. Rollo was, how-
ever, not convinced; and the other children
took sides, some with George, and some with
Rollo; and, finally, after considerable dis-
pute, they all arose and went off in search of
Miss Mary, to refer the question to her.
They entered the school-room, and all
crowded up around Miss Mary's desk, Rollo
and George at the head.
14
158 ROLLO AT SCHOOL.
:( Is it wrong, Miss Mary." said Rollo, "to
ask why?"
" Isn't it, Miss Mary ?" said George.
" That depends upon circumstances," said
Miss Mary.
The children did not know what she meant
by " depends upon circumstances," and they
were silent. At length one of the children
said,
" George says that his mother told him it
was wrong; but Rollo's father said it was
right."
" It is quite an important question," said
Miss Mary. " I will answer it by and by, to
the whole school. So you may go out and
play for the rest of the recess, but do not talk
about it any more among yourselves."
So the children went out to play until the
bell rang to call them in.
At the close of the school, or rather just
before the hour for closing it. Miss Mary,
having asked the children to put their books
away, addressed them as follows:
" Two of the scholars came to me with this
question to-day : whether it was proper for
children to ask their parents or teachers the
reasons of things. One thought it was, and
the other thought it was not. I told them I
KOLLO AT SCHOOL. 159
would consider the question when all the
school could hear, and we will accordingly
take it up now. George, you may tell us
why you thought it was not."
George was quite a small boy, and he was
at first a little intimidated at being called
upon, before the whole school, to state his
opinion. So he only answered faintly that
his mother told him so.
u When was it, George?"
" Yesterday."
" Do you recollect what you were doing
when she told you, and what she said?
Tell us all about it."
" Why, I was playing with some blocks,
and mother said I must go to bed, and I ask-
ed her why ; she said I was always asking
why, and it was wrong to ask her why."
u Well, Rollo, now let us hear your story."
" Why, one day I was playing in a tub of
water by the pump, and I had a little cake-
tin which I was sailing about for my ship,
and I had another flat piece of tin for my raft.
My ship would sail about very well, but my
raft would not sail at all ; it would sink di-
rectly to the bottom. I could not make it
stay up. And so I went in to my father, and
T asked him why one would sail and the
100 ROLLO AT SCHOOL.
other would not, when they were both tin.
And he said he was very glad that I asked
him, and that it was right for children to ask
why."
" Very well," said Miss Mary, as soon as
Hollo had finished. " You have both told
your stories very well.
" For children to ask their parents the rea-
son for anything they see or hear, is some-
times right and sometimes wrong. It depends
upon circumstances. In George's case, now,
the circumstances were very different from
those of Hollo's. Rollo's motive was a desire
of knowledge. He wanted to have a diffi-
culty explained, and so he went to his father,
at a proper time and under proper circum-
stances, and asked him. In such cases as
this, it is very right to ask the reason why.
" But in George's case it was different.
He asked why he must go to bed, not from a
desire to learn and understand, but only be-
cause he did not want to go. He knew well
enough why he must go. It was time. He
only asked for the purpose of making delay,
and perhaps getting leave to sit up longer.
" This now is a very common case of boys'
asking why. They are told to do something,
and instead of obeying promptly and at
ROLLO AT SCHOOL. 161
they ask why they must do it. It is one kind
of disobedience, and it is, of course, always
wrong."
" Then is it always wrong," said Lucy,
" to ask our father and mother the reason for
what they tell us to do?"
"Np," said Miss Mary; "not unless you
make it an excuse for putting off obeying.
For instance, if George had gone to bed di-
rectly and pleasantly when his mother told
him to go, and then, the next day, when he
saw she was at leisure, if he had gone and
said to her, l Mother, what is the reason that
children are generally sent to bed earlier than
grown persons?' I don't think she would have
considered it wrong. If he had asked the
question in that way, it would have shown
that he really wanted to know^. but in the
other way he stops to ask about the reason
of the command, at the time when he ought
to have gone off and obeyed it."
" My father never lets me ask him the rea-
son for what he tells me to do," said Henry.
" You mean, I rather think, that he never
lets you stop to ask him the reason at the
time when you ought to be doing it."
"No," said Henry. "I don't think he
would let me ask him at all."
g* 14*
162 ROLLO AT SCHOLL.
"Suppose you try the experiment. Next
time he gives you any command which yon
do riot understand, go and obey it at once,
with alacrity, and then, afterwards, when
he is at leisure, go and ask him pleasantly if
he will tell yon the reason/'
1< I will." said Henry; "but I know he
won't tell me."
- Well," said Miss Mary, " we will now
close the school ; and I want you all to re-
member what I have told yon. It is right for
you to want to understand what you see and
hear; and it is even right for you to wish to
know the reasons for the commands your pa-
rents give you. But you must always do it
at a proper time, and with proper motives,
and you must never stop to ask why, when
the command is given and you ought to be
obeying it. And, above all, you must never
stop to say, 'Why must I?' in a repining
tone, when you don't really wish to know
why, but only to show your unwillingness to
obey."
That night, when Henry went home from
school, he had an opportunity to put Miss
Marys opinions to the test, sooner than he
had expected. He walked along with Hollo
ROLLO AT SCHOOL. 163
as far as their roads went together, and then
he turned down a green lane, which led, after
some time, to a pleasant-looking house, with
a fine large martin-house upon a tall pole
near it. This was where Henry lived. He
heard his father at work in the barn, and he
went and looked in. His father and a large
boy were grinding some scythes. He looked
at them a few minutes, and then went into
the house.
His mother was at work in the kitchen,
getting supper. A small table was set in the
middle of the room, with two plates upon it,
for Henry's father and mother. At another
table, by the window, there was a large pan
of milk, and a bowl full by the side of it.
" Is this my bowl of milk?" said Henry.
" Yes," said his mother.
So Henry took up his bowl of milk and
carried it carefully out to the door, and put it
down on a large stone which was in the back
yard, and which made a sort of seat, where
he often went to eat his bread and milk.
Then he went in and got a spoon and a large
piece of bread, and came out and sat down
upon the stone and ate his supper. After this
his mother told him it was time to go after
164 ROLLO AT SCHOOL.
the cows, and so he put on his cap and
walked along.
Henry went through a pair of bars which
led to a lane by the side of the barn. He
went on in this lane for some distance, until
he reached the place where the path entered
among the trees and bushes. He was just
disappearing in the thicket, when his father
saw him through the back barn door. He
called out aloud,
"Hen-ry."
Henry turned round, saw his father, and
answered,
" What, sir?" in a loud voice.
"Are you going after the cows?"
" Yes, sir," said Henry.
" Well, don't go over the bridge, but go
round by the stepping-stones, going and
coming."
Henry was so far off that his father had to
call in a loud voice, and to speak very slowly
and distinctly, in order to make him hear.
After he had done speaking, he paused a mo-
ment, in order to observe whether Henry ap-
peared to understand him.
Henry stood still an instant, too, looking at
his father, and then he called out, in an
equally loud voice,
ROLLO AT SCHOOL. 165
-'Why mustn't I go over the bridge?"
His father, in reply to this question, only
said, "Obey!"
Henry understood by this that he did not
think it proper for him to ask the reason.
" There," said he to himself, " I told Miss
Mary so. My father never lets me ask why."
The bridge which his father meant, was
only a couple of old logs laid across a brook
in the woods, so that they could get over.
The cows could not walk upon it, and so
they usually came across through the water.
They had thus worn a deep place in the
brook, both above and below the bridge, and
here Henry used to love to stop and play,
sailing boats, watching little fishes, skippers,
&c. There was another way of going into
the pasture, by turning off just before you
come to the bridge, through some cedar
bushes, until you corne to the brook at ano-
ther place below; arid there, there were step-
ping-stones. The path beyond led on to the
pasture, though it came out into a little dif-
ferent part of it.
Now Henry preferred to go by the bridge,
and he asked his father why he mustn't, not
because he really wished to know the reason.
166 ROLLO AT SCHOOL.
but only as a way of begging his father to let
him go that way.
Henry, however, obeyed. He left the path
which led to the bridge, at the proper place,
and went through among the cedars and other
trees which grew near the brook, until he
came to the stepping-stones. He then went
on to the pasture and found the cows. He
drove them along towards home, and tried to
make them go by the path his father had di-
rected him to take; but they liked the other
road better, as well as he. and. notwithstand-
ing all his efforts, they would go into the
woods by the path which led to the bridge.
" Now I must go by the bridge," said
Henry.
On second thoughts, however, he concluded
to obey his orders at all hazards. So ho went
to the entrance of the woods, where the cows
had cone in. and shouted to them some time
to make them go on. and then he went him-
self round the other way. ^
The cows stopped a few minutes to drink
at the brook, and accordingly they and Hen-
ry came out at the junction of the two paths
very nearly together. Henry then drove them
along the lane towards the house.
He wondered what the reason could be
ROLLO AT SCHOOL. 1 fi<l
why his father would not let him take the
usual path; and just then he happened to
think of the experiment which Miss Mary
had advised him to try.
"Here is a fine chance, said he to him-
self. " I will ask my father, but I know he
won't tell me."
Accordingly, when he reached the yard, he
went to the barn to find his father. It was
almost dark, and he was just shutting the
great doors. Henry pushed the doors to, for
him, and his father fastened them. Then he
took hold of his father's hand, and they
walked towards the house.
" Father," said he, in a good-natured tone,
" will you be good enough to tell me what
the reason was why you Tvas not willing to
have me go over the bridge?"
"Oh yes," said his father. " We found a
great hornets' nest close by the bridge to-day,
and I don't want you to go that way until
we destroy it, for fear you will get stung."
"A hornet's nest?" said Henry.
"Yes," said his father, " a monstrous one."
"How big?" said Henry.
" Oh, as big as your head."
"As big as my head?" said Henry, with
astonishment.
h 15
170 ROLLO AT SCHOOL.
"Yes, cap and all."
" Do you think the hornets would have
stung me?" asked Henry again, after a mo-
ment's pause.
" No, I don't think they would."
" Then why didn't you let me go?"
" Because they might have stung you,
though probably they would not have done
it, if you had let them alone."
" When are you going to destroy the nest ?"
said Henry.
" Early to-morrow morning."
Here they reached the house, and Henry's
father went in to his supper. Henry himself
sat down upon the door-step, saying to him-
self,
" Well, Miss Mary was right, it seems,
after all."
The next day, when Henry came to school,
he went to Miss Mary's table, and told her
he had tried the plan of asking his father the
reason at the proper time.
"And did he tell you?" said Miss Mary.
"Yes," said Henry, smiling; "he did."
"I thought he would. Parents are gene-
rally willing to give their children reasons, if
they ask at a proper time and in a proper
manner."
HOLLO AT SCHOOL. 17 I
Miss Mary then asked Henry what it was
that he asked his father the reason for, and
he told her the whole story. She then asked
him if he was willing that she should tell the
story to all the scholars, and he said yes; and
she accordingly did so.
172 ROLLO AT SCHOOL.
THE HOLIDAY.
TOWARDS the latter part of the summer,
when the leaves of the forest were just begin-
ning to turn brown, and the nights began to
grow cool, the children used to have a fine
time getting apples under the apple-trees in
the orchard. Miss Mary allowed them to
have two apiece each day, one in the fore-
noon and one in the afternoon. The children
rambled about under the trees, in the recess,
choosing their apples. It was against the rule
to bite them, for the purpose of trying the
taste, and they were accordingly obliged to
judge by the size and color. They were not
allowed to eat apples in the orchard, but. after
choosing one each, they came back to the
portico, and, sitting down upon the stone or
upon the grass, ate them there.
The reason why Miss Mary did not allow
the children to eat apples anywhere but be-
fore the school-room door, was that that was
the best way to be sure that they did not any
of them eat but one ; and the reason why she
did not wish to have them eat more than one
apiece, was that she was afraid that more
ROIiLO AT SCHOOL. 173
might make them sick. It is not certain that,
if children eat several apples at a time, they
will be sick; but they may be, and Miss
Mary wanted to be on the safe side.
One day, about this time, two of the chil-
dren came running in to Miss Mary, in a re-
cess, out of breath, and apparently very eager
about something or other. They came and
stood by the side of her table, and waited for
her to give them permission to speak.
"Well, children," said Miss Mary, at length
looking up from her work, "do you want to
speak to me?"
" Yes, ma'am," said Henry, who was one
of the boys. " Will there be any school to-
morrow?"
'Yes, certainly," said Miss Mary. "Why
not?" -
11 Why, it is training."
"Training?" said Miss Mary
"Yes, there is going to be a training on
the common."
" And do my scholars belong to the com-
pany?" said Miss Mary, smiling.
"Why, no," said the boys; "they don't
belong to any company, but they want to see
the training."
Miss Mary paused and reflected a moment.
15*
174 ROLLO AT SCHOOL.
Presently she said, " I will think of it, and
tell you and all the school, together, by and
by."
When the time for dismissing the school
had arrived, and the children had put away
their books, Miss Mary introduced the subject
as follows :
" I understand that there is to be a training
to-morrow, and some of the children wanted
to know whether there will be any school or
not. But first, I want to know all I can
about the facts. All the children that can tell
me anything about the training may rise."
Here several children stood up.
Miss Mary called upon them one after ano-
ther, and they told various things. One said
that it was the Light Infantry that were going
to train. Another said that he believed they
were going to have a new uniform. Another
said that his uncle Ephraim was going to
train. Another said they were going to fire,
&c. At last, all the children had told what
they knew about it. and all sat down.
Then Miss Mary asked all those to rise
who knew whether any other schools were
going to be dismissed for that day; but none
of the children knew of any.
Then Miss Mary asked all those to rise
ROLLO AT SCHOOL. 175
who had heard their parents say anything
about school being dismissed that day. Seve-
ral rose.
"Well, James, what did your father say?' 1
" He said that if you did not keep school,
lie would take me out to the common."
" George, what did yours say?"
" It was my mother."
George hung his head and looked rather
foolish, adding, in a low tone,
" She said she hoped you would not dismiss
the school."
" Did she say why not?"
" I suppose she did not want to have me go
to training."
"Hollo?"
" My father does not like to have me go to
training."
"Why not?"
" He is afraid I shall get hurt."
"Lucy?" said Miss Mary, observing that
Lucy was standing ready to speak.
" My mother said," Lucy replied, " that per-
haps there would be so many persons in the
streets, that we could not go back and forth
to school very well."
" That is to be thought of, it is true," said
176 ROLLO AT SCHOOL.
Miss Mary. Then, after a short pause, she
continued thus :
" On the whole, considering all the circum-
stances. I think we had better have a holiday.
But I don't like to have you go to the train-
ing. It is a rude, noisy scene, where you
will be very likely to get hurt. So I will pro-
pose that you should all come and spend the
holiday here. We will gather apples in the
forenoon, and in the afternoon we will build
a fire in the woods and roast some of them."
The eyes of a good many of the children
sparkled at this, for they were very much
pleased with the thought of spending the day
with Miss Mary in play. Miss Mary used
often to go out with them in the recess, and
help them in their plays, and tell them stories,
and she knew so many good plays and inte-
resting stories, that they always enjoyed such
times very highly.
Still, however, some of the children appeared
a little unwilling to give up the training. One
little fellow, who had looked very restless and
uneasy during this conversation, said that if
they came there they should not see the tent.
"Is there to be a tent on the common?"
said Miss Mary.
ROLLO AT SCHOOL. 177
Several of the children said that there
was.
"Oh, well, we can have a tent too," said
Miss Mary.
" However," she continued, after a mo-
ment's pause, " you can do as you please, or
rather as your parents please. We will have
no school, and you can all tell your parents
that I shall keep holiday in the orchard, and
shall be glad to have any of you come that
would like to come. You must come in the
morning, and stay all day. If any of you
prefer to go to the training, and your parents
are willing, you can go. of course ; or if your
parents think it will not be safe for you to
come here through the streets, then, of course,
you will not come."
The children seemed satisfied with this ar-
rangement, and Miss Mary prepared to close
the school.
" One thing more," said Miss Mary, sud-
denly recollecting herself. " Have any of you
any little wheelbarrows or wagons at home?
If you have you may rise."
At these words several of the children arose,
and Miss Mary asked them what they had.
One had a pair of trucks, another a little
wheelbarrow, another a wagon, and another,
178 ROLLO AT SCHOOL.
one of the smallest boys, named Ezra, said
he had a drag.
"What is your drag?" said Miss Mary.
"I haul stones upon it," said the little boy.
"Yes, but how is it made?"
The boy looked a little confused, and said
he did not know.
"Well, nevermind," said Miss Mary, "we
shall see it when it comes.
" Now, boys," she continued, " we shall
want all the crts and wagons you can bring,
to draw the apples in with. I should like,
therefore, to have you bring anything of the
kind you may have, if your parents are wil-
ling. Be sure not to bring them without their
consent."
After this, Miss Mary closed the school with
the usual religious exercises, and the children
went home.
As the children walked along out of the
gate, Henry said that he should rather go to
the training^ and he hoped his father would
let him go.
" Oh no," said Rollo and Lucy, both toge-
ther " It will be a great deal pleasanter here
than at the training, I know."
"No it won't," said Julius. " I would
rather go to the training, a great deal"
ROLLO AT SCHOOL. 179
" 1 expect my father will make me come to
the school, at any rate," said Henry, " when
he knows that Miss Mary is going to keep
holiday out in the orchard."
" I shan't tell my father anything about it,"
said Julius.
" Nor I my mother," said Dovey.
Here the children separated and went off,
in little groups, in various directions, talking
together. Dovey, however, altered her mind
before she got home. She reflected that it
would be wrong not to tell her mother exactly
what the facts were. Besides, she concluded
that, after all, she should rather go and spend
the day with Miss Mary.
Julius, on the other hand, told his father,
when he got home, that there was not to be
any school the next day, but said nothing
about Miss Mary's plan; and accordingly, the
next morning, after breakfast, he went out
into the streets, and gradually made his way
towards the common.
Early in the morning Miss Mary's father,
having heard that all the children were com-
ing the next day to pick up his apples, opened
a great gate leading from the yard to the or-
chard ; he also got up a large number of bar-
rels out of the cellar, and arranged them in a
180 ROLLO AT SCHOOL.
row on the great barn floor. He also got his
wheelbarrow and his handcart ready; and
soon after breakfast the children began to
come.
They gathered about the school-room door,
bringing all sorts of little vehicles with them.
Rollo brought his wheelbarrow, and another
boy a pair of trucks, consisting of a box on
four low wooden wheels ; a third came with
a painted wagon, made to draw little children
in, the top covered with a green awning.
While the children were gathering around,
and examining and admiring these various
vehicles, they saw little Ezra tugging away
at the gate, endeavoring to pull something
through. It proved to be his drag; which
was, in fact, nothing more nor less than an
old worn-out tea-waiter, which his mother
had given him. He had tied a strong string
into the handle at one end, by means of
which he could drag it about the yard.
When the children were all assembled, Miss
Mary came out and stood in the portico
among them, looking at their carts and
wagons. Each called to her eagerly to look
at his own, and several pointed, laughing, at
Ezra's drag. Miss Mary, seeing that Ezra
looked a little troubled at having his drag
ROLLO AT SCHOOL. 181
laughed at, went to it and examined it, and
said it was a very good drag. She told him
to come with her and she would find him a
box to put on it, and then he could draw a
good many apples, almost as many as the
other boys could with their wheelbarrows.
When Rollo saw Miss Mary thus trying to
help little Ezra, and to make him feel con-
tented and happy, instead of laughing at him
and giving him pain, he was sorry that he
had laughed at him, as he had done, with the
rest. It is right for boys to laugh when they
see anything amusing, unless they perceive
that it is the means of giving somebody pain;
and that it is never right to do for the 'sake
of amusement.
Rollo thought, too, that it must be a great
satisfaction to Miss Mary to give pleasure to
the scholars in such ways as that, and he
thought he would imitate her example. He
accordingly went up to Ezra and offered to
exchange with him.
" I will let you have my wheelbarrow a
little while, Ezra, if you want it, and I will
take your drag."
"Will you?" said Ezra, much pleased.
" Well, I should like your wheelbarrow very
much."
16
182 ROLLO AT SCHCX,L.
Just as Ezra began to try Hollo's wheel-
barrow, Miss Mary, who stood on the portico,
called all the children to come and form a
ring before her. So they all left their carts
and wagons and came to her, as she desired.
'Now, children," said she, "I am going to
give the orders of the day. We are all going
to work this forenoon, and play this afternoon.
I shall give you all directions where you are
to go, and what apples you are to gather;
and you must obey the directions exactly,
without asking why, or requesting me to
change them. There are so many of you,
that if I stop to explain to every one, I shall
be talking all the time. You must not eat
any apples, and not even bite one. until I give
you leave. I shall form you into companies
and give you your stations; and each must
keep his station, and obey the leader of his
company, until I change him.
" Now, James," she continued, " wheel
your wheelbarrow into the ring."
So James went out and got his wheelbar-
row, and wheeled it in where all the children
could see it.
"Now who would like to belong to James ? ?
company?"
Several of the children raised their hands.
ROLLO AT SCHOOL. 183
" Look around, James," said Miss Mary,
" and choose any four of those whose hands
are up thai you would like to have help you."
James looked about for a minute or two, and
then chose two girls and two boys, and they
went and stood by James's wheelbarrow.
" There, James," said Miss Mary, " there
is your company. You may go out to the
great russet tree and pick' up apples. All
your company must stay at that tree, under
your direction. If any difficulty occurs, or
if any of your company want anything, you
must come yourself and tell me. You must
also come and tell me when you get youi
wheelbarrow full."
So James took up his wheelbarrow and
went along, his company following him, until
they reached the great russet tree, and began
to pick up the apples which lay there.
In the same manner Miss Mary organized
another company, a boy who had a pair of
trucks being at the head of it ; and another
with a little wagon. Next she called Rollo.
and he came, pulling in Ezra's drag.
"But where's your wheelbarrow?" said
Miss Mary.
" I have exchanged with Ezra," said Rollo,
"Oh, have you?" said Miss Mary. "Well,
184 ROLLO AT SCHOOL
that is a very good plan. Who will you have
for your company?"
Rollo chose Dovey and Henry, and two
very little boys. His company were sent to
a tree that bore large red apples. Ezra, with
Hollo's wheelbarrow, and a company which
he had chosen, went to another tree pretty
near ; and thus in a short time all the chil-
dren were distributed over the orchard, each
company under the tree assigned to it.
Miss Mary adopted this systematic plan in
order that things might go on smoothly and
pleasantly; for some system is necessary
when a great number of persons are to be em-
ployed in any one work. When the children
were all engaged, she herself took her work
and went out into the orchard, and sat under
the shade of a tree, where, by looking up oc-
casionally, she could see how things went on.
After she had been sitting there a minute
or two, she recollected that she ought to have
a messenger to send around to tell the chil-
dren anything she might, from time to time,
wish to communicate to them. She accord-
ingly looked to one of the nearest companies
to find some gentle, pleasant girl or boy. She
chose Rollo' s cousin Lucy, and beckoned tc
her to come.
ROLLO AT SCHOOL. 185
u Lucy," said she, " I forgot one thing. I
want you to go around to all the companies,
and tell them they must be particular to put
the apples into the carts and wagons very
carefully, and not bruise them."
As soon as Lucy was gone, Rollo came to
Miss Mary, to tell her that his company had
got the box full, which she had put upon
Ezra's drag, and he wanted to know what he
should do with the apples.
" Appoint two of your company to draw
them carefully to the barn. Perhaps you had
better go yourself for one."
So Rollo went back and appointed Henry
to go with him.
" I mean to go too," said Dovey.
" No you mustn't," said Rollo. " Miss
Mary said two."
"But she did not say you must not appoint
more than two. I will go."
By this time Henry and Rollo had taken
hold of the string, and had begun to draw the
drag; but Dovey insisted upon following
them. Rollo began to feel a little angry, and
said he never would choose Dovey in his
company again.
After a moment's reflection, however, he
tf) ought that it was wrong to be angry and to
h* 16 *
186 ROLLO AT SCHOOL.
scold at Dovey. and he recollected that Miss
Mary had told him that if there was any dif-
ficulty he must come to her. So he let go of
the string, and walked quietly away to Miss
Mary and told her the case.
" Ask Dovey to come here," said Miss
Mary.
Dovey obeyed, and Miss Mary asked her
if it was true that she would insist upon going
with Rollo.
11 Yes, ma'am," said Dovey. '' I wanted to
go as well as Henry."
" But he appointed Henry."
" I wanted him to appoint me too."
Miss Mary paused a moment, and then
said,
" Dovey, you have done wrong. Unless
each company follows the directions I give
them, through their leaders, the whole field
would soon be in confusion. Look, see
there," she said, pointing to a tree upon one
side.
Dovey looked and saw Ezra and another
boy struggling for Rollo' s wheelbarrow. This
other boy's name was Samuel. They listened,
and could hear what they were saying.
" I will move it," said Samuel.
ROLLO AT SCHOOL. 187
"No, you shall not; it must stay here,"
said Ezra.
" Ezra, let go," said Samuel, pulling.
" You shan't have it," said Ezra.
Here Miss Mary asked Dovey to go and
tell both the boys to come to her.
Dovey, glad to have another difficulty oc-
cur to call away Miss Mary's attention from
her own case, ran off at full speed, and soon
brought the combatants under Miss Mary's
tree.
" You see, Dovey," said Miss Mary, with-
out speaking to the boys, " what would hap-
pen if the children in all the companies were
to become insubordinate, as you and Samuel
have. We should have incessant disputes
and contentions all over the field. Now I di-
rected you all, very plainly, to obey the lead-
ers of your companies ; and, as you did not,
1 must send you away for a time. You must
go to the portico, and sit down there, till I
send for you again."
So Dovey went and took her solitary seat
upon the portico floor, with her feet upon the
great flat stone.
Then Miss Mary turned to Samuel.
"Samuel," said she, "you have been dis-
obeying, too."
188 ROLLO AT SCHOOL.
"Why, Miss Mary," said Samuel, " Ezra
would not let me move the wheelbarrow over
to where the apples were thicker."
" Yes, but Ezra was the leader of your
company, and you ought to have let him
place it just where he pleased. You have
been insubordinate too. You must go and
sit in the portico with Dovey."
Then Miss Mary sent Lucy around to all
the companies, to tell them that Samuel and
Dovey had been sent away because they
were insubordinate, and that she hoped there
would be no more cases. The children look-
ed at Dovey and Samuel, and determined that
they would not make any such difficulty, so
as to make Miss Mary send them away. Af-
ter a time, Miss Mary let them both come
back.
Pretty soon after the children began to
gather the apples, a large strong boy came
out of the house, with a light ladder and a
pole ; and he went around, from tree to tree,
shaking off the apples, and thus keeping all
the companies well employed. As soon as
one tree was gathered, the company belonging
to it was sent to another. They hauled and
wheeled their loads of apples into the barn,
where a man was ready to put them into the
ROLLO AT SCHOOL. 189
proper barrels; and in the course of three
hours they had gathered and got in a great
many. Rollo, .at first, had some trouble with
Ezra's drag, and he was at one time upon the
point of going to ask Miss Mary to let him
change again. But when he looked at Ezra,
and saw how much pleased he appeared to
be with his wheelbarrow, he concluded to let
him keep it. The box troubled him by slip-
ping off, but at last the man at the barn tied
it on with a strong cord, and after that he did
very well.
The children enjoyed their work very
much, and the forenoon slipped away rapidly.
In fact, they were quite surprised when Miss
Mary sent word round to the companies each
to finish the tree they were under, and then
to rendezvous at the portico. They accord-
ingly did so; and all gathered around Miss
Mary, who took her stand upon the great flat
stone.
Miss Mary then ordered all the carts and
trucks and wheelbarrows to be formed into a
line, each attended by its own company.
She sent one round into the barn to get a load
of the best apples they could find, choosing
them out of the different barrels. The second
was despatched to the garden after a load of
190 ROLLO AT SCHOOL.
green corn. She went into the house and got
a large parcel done up in a great newspaper,
and put it into Ezra's drag; and then pre-
sently brought out another parcel, which
looked like a sheet rolled up, and put that
into Hollo's wheelbarrow.
She then asked two of the largest boys to
go around into the shed and bring three poles,
which they would see there by the side of the
door. The boys went, and presently return-
ed ; one had a very long polo, and the other
had two shorter ones, with a crotch at one
end of each.
"Now," said Miss Mary, '' we are ready
to form the caravan."
The children looked very much interested
and pleased, wondering what Miss Mary was
going to do.
She formed the companies in a line again,
all with their loaded vehicles. She gave the
long pole to a large boy, and, after whispering
something in his ear, placed him at the head.
Next to him came two other boys with the
crotched poles, then the various companies in
procession, ending with Ezra and his drag;
and. finally, Miss Mary herself brought up
the rear. When all was arranged, she gave
the command to move.
HOLLO AT SCHOOL. 19J
The pole-bearer, of course, led the way;
Miss Mary had whispered to him where to
go. He walked on through the orchard, until
he came to the great gate at the farther side.
He passed through the gate into a wood, the
long train, or caravan, as Miss Mary termed
it, following him, until finally he turned off,
by a narrow pathway, down into a glen,
where he came at length to an opening, *by
the borders of a brook, where Miss Mary told
them to stop.
It was a very pleasant place, and the chil-
dren capered around it with delight. The
several companies unloaded their carts and
wheelbarrows, and put the contents in a little
place under the bushes, which Miss Mary
called her store-room.
" Now, then," said she, unrolling the bun-
dle of white cotton cloth.
"Why, Miss Mary, what is that?" said
they, gathering around her.
" It is our tent."
" Tent !" said the children with surprise.
"Yes," said Miss Mary; "did not I pro-
mise you a tent?"
So Miss Mary unrolled the parcel. It
turned out to be a large sheet, with strong
tapes sewed at equal distances along the
192 ROLLO AT SCHOOL.
edges. Miss Mary then, with the help of
some of the older children, laid down the long
pole upon the ground, and spread the sheet
over it, in such a way as that the pole reach-
ed across from side to side, under the middle
of the sheet. Then two boys took hold of
the two ends of the pole and raised it up, the
sheet hanging over it.
Miss Mary then struck the crotched poles
down into the ground, the lower ends having
been made sharp for this purpose. She put
these sharp ends down exactly under the ends
of the long pole, and then lifted the long pole
over, so as to put the two ends into the
crotches. Still the crotched poles were not
driven down into the ground far enough to
stand up strong by themselves, and so two
boys stood by to hold them, until Miss Mary
should fasten the tent.
She then took hold of the two sides of the
sheet, which hung down from the long pole,
and extended them each way like the roof of
a house ; the children holding them out, until
Miss Mary could fasten them. She then
drove down some small stakes along the
ground, in a row, on each side of the tent,
ancl tied the tapes to them. This kept the
ROT,T,0 AT SCHOOL. 193
covering extended, and made the upright
poles steady, and the tent was done.
All the children then wanted to go into it,
and Miss Mary told them to be careful and
not run against the tapes or the poles, for
they were not very strong. Miss Mary
thought she was not a very good tent-maker,
but the children thought that the tent was a
beautiful one.
" I think it is a great deal better than the
tent on the common," said Rollo. " Isn't it,
Miss Mary?"
"Yes," said Dovey; " because yon know
we can't go into' that."
As soon as the tent was finished, Miss
Mary sent off all the carts, trucks, and wheel-
barrows, into the woods around, after sticks
to make a fire with. She herself struck a
light and began to kindle the fire, at some
distance from the tent, and the boys piled on ,
load after load of fuel, until they had a blaz-
ing fire.
They at length found a small log of wood,
rather long, which the boys contrived to roll
up towards the fire. They placed the ends
upon two stones, which answered for andi-
rons, and thus had a very respectable fore-
stick. They then husked their corn, and
i 17
194 ROLLO AT SCHOOL.
leaned it tip against the forestick to roast, and
they put a long row of apples ciose to the
fire, upon another side, and they soon began
to hiss and sing very cheerily.
Miss Mary then asked Ezra to go and
bring her the large paper parcel which came
in his drag. She untied the twine and care-
fully unrolled the paper, and out came a large
quantity of slices of bread and butter, and
one or two pies. In fact, with what Miss
Mary had brought down in this bundle, and
with what they roasted at the fire, they made
out a grand repast. They ate it in the tent,
seated close together in a row around the in-
side, upon the grass, with their provisions
upon the wheelbarrows turned bottom up-
wards in the middle, for tables. Miss Mary
could not sit very comfortably within the
tent, it was so low ; and she accordingly took
her station at the door of it, upon a seat form-
ed of the box belonging to Ezra's drag, which
she turned down for this purpose upon its
side.
Each one of the children had an ear of
corn, a roasted appie, a slice of bread and
butter, and a piece of pie; and Miss Mary
thought that, however unscientific her tent
ought appear in the eyes of a tent-maker.
ROLLO AT SCHOOL. 195
there was probably as much enjoyment under
it as there was under the tent upon the com-
mon. After they had finished their dinner,
she sat an hour telling them stories; and then
they went down to the brook and sailed little
boats for some time. At last the time arrived
for them to prepare to go home. The carts
and wagons, with their companies, formed a
line again, and moved slowly along out of the
wood, back through the orchard to the school-
room, in the same order in which they came.
Miss Mary found that Lucy was rather
afraid to go home. The reason was, that she
was naturally a little timid, and, besfdes, her
road lay rather nearer the common and the
soldiers than those of most of the other chil-
dren. Lucy lingered behind with Rollo aftei
the other children had gone, and Miss Mary,
finding that she was afraid, said she would
go a part of the way with her.
They accordingly walked along together,
Miss Mary in the middle, leading Rollo by
one hand and Lucy by the other. Presently
they came into the part of the town where
the common was situate'd. They were not
going directly by it, for their road turned off
from the main road just before it reached the
196 ROLLO AT SCHOOL.
As they approached this turn, they heard
the occasional firing of guns, and wild shouts,
and a rattling of wagons and trampling of
horses, and the atmosphere seemed half filled
with dust and smoke. Lucy clung closer to
Miss Mary's hand, and even Rollo was glad
he was not any nearer the scene. Just as
they were turning off into the other road, they
suddenly saw a troop of boys coming at full
speed, and with great noise, around a corner
at some distance before them.
" Why, Miss Mary," said Rollo, " what is
that?"
" Only some rude, bad boys."
" What are they doing 1 Why ! is not that
Julius? 7 '
For while Rollo was actually asking the
questions, he observed that the boys seemed
to be pursuing one who was running a little
before the rest, without his hat, and apparent-
ly very much terrified. The other boys were
armed with sticks, and were shouting, appa-
rently in anger. In a moment Rollo perceived
that the boy in front was Julius, and imme-
diately supposed that he had got into some
quarrel with the bad boys on the common.
Miss Mary and Rollo stopped, but Lucy
pulled gently upon Miss Mary's hand, as if
ROLLO AT SCHOOL. 197
she wished to go on. Julius ran into a small
store, and the other boys stopped and gathered
around the door. Presently the man in the
store came to the door and drove them away.
They went off a little distance, and remained
there, with threatening looks and gestures,
waiting to catch Julius when he should come
out. Miss Mary and the children then went
along, and when they were beyond all dan-
ger Miss Mary returned home.
The school continued, after this, several
weeks; during which time Rollo went on
with his reading, writing, spelling and arith-
metic, and he found that they became easier
as he advanced. Dovey improved very much
too, though she did not get entirely free from her
old habits. As for Julius, he grew worse and
worse ; more indolent and careless, and perti-
nacious and stubborn. In fact, children are
generally growing either worse or better. At
last his father took him away from school.
What bocame of him, perhaps the reader may
learn in the book called Rollo' s Vacation.
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