MAKING THE OX-CART
ONCE Father Catala came out where Docas and Oshda were working. They were gathering up some hides and doubling them up with the hair inside. Father Catala was in charge of the Mission now, for Father Pena was dead.
Father Catala said to Docas, “We must get our hides and tallow over to Monterey. We want them to be ready for the next ship that comes to the coast to trade. Will you not begin to haul them within the next few days?”
“Yes, Father,” said Docas. “But the cart I have been using has such a big axle hole in the wheel that I can hardly use it. The axle has worn the hole very large.”
“Make some new wheels, and take some of the men and begin hauling the hides. We must have them down there by the time the ship comes.”
Docas told Oshda to make the wheels, so Oshda went back to his house and got an axe. He lived in an adobe house now. It had two rooms below and a garret above, and a garden fenced in behind where he kept chickens.
“Where are you going and what are you going to do?” asked Pantu, his little brother.
“I am going to cut down an oak tree to make some new wheels for the cart. Do you want to come along?”
Of course Pantu wanted to come along, and he was soon skipping by Oshda’s side. Oshda took such long steps that Pantu had to run part of the time to keep up with him.
They had to walk quite a distance from the Mission before they found a tree that they liked. It was about two feet through.
Oshda began chopping at the tree, while Pantu played about among the trees near by. Pantu played that he was a woodpecker and pecked away at the trunks of the trees. After he had pecked awhile, he stooped down, picked up an acorn, and stuck it into a little crack in the back of the oak tree. He pressed it in hard, so that it had to stick. So he ran from tree to tree.
After a while Oshda had chopped his tree almost through. At last the tree began to tremble and crack. He stepped back to see which way it was going.
As he did so he saw Pantu make a sudden dart across where the tree was going to fall. Pantu was not looking where he was going.
“Look out, Pantu!” Oshda called.
Pantu looked up and saw the tree fallingtoward him, so he started to run faster, but it was too late. The tree came down on top of him, knocking him to the ground. He was far enough from where the tree grew so that the trunk did not fall on him. But one of the branches hit him on the head and knocked him down, while another scratched the skin off his knee.
He jumped up as soon as he could, for he knew Oshda would be frightened. Even when he was standing up, Oshda could not see him because the tree had so many branches on it, so he had to climb out from among the leaves and broken twigs. His head ached and he felt like crying, but he knew that Indian boys never cry.
When Oshda saw that Pantu was not badly hurt, he began to chop up his tree. He found a place where the trunk was smooth and round; he chopped off two sections, each about a foot wide. He smoothed them off and made a hole through the centre. So his wheel was really just a slice across the tree with a hole in the centre for the axle. Oshda spent several days making the wheel, and Pantu went out with him every day.
“There, Pantu, you may roll one of the new wheels home,” said Oshda at last.
Oshda lifted the wheel up on its edge, and Pantu began to roll it along down the hills. Soon he grew careless, and the wheel slippedand fell down flat, hitting one of his toes. It was heavy and hurt him.
“Ouch!” said Pantu. Then he stopped short.
“You careless boy,” said Oshda. “First you run under a falling tree and almost get killed. Then you let your wheel fall down on your toes. You must be more careful.”
“I’ll try,” said Pantu, hopping about on one foot and holding the hurt one in his hand.
So Oshda tipped the wheel up on its edge again, and this time Pantu was very careful and rolled it safely home without letting it slip.
Their father, Docas, met them as they came home. It was almost supper time, and he had come out to see if they were near. He looked at the bump on Pantu’s head, at his skinned knee, and at his bruised toes. He knew that Pantu had not been paying attention to what he was about.
Pantu looked up at his father. Docas looked gravely at him, so Pantu hung his head a little and limped into the house.
Then Docas looked at Oshda and smiled. “He’ll learn not to be so careless by the time he gets a few more bumps,” said Oshda, smiling.