Causey-Building.

[pg 67]Causey-Building.Sand-Men.Next to little wooden blocks, I think that good, clean sand is an excellent thing for children to play with. When it is a little damp, it will remain in any shape you put it in, and you can build houses and cities, and make roads and canals in it. At any rate, Rollo and his cousin James used to be very fond of going down to a certain place in the brook, where there was plenty of sand, and playing in it. It was of a gray color, and somewhat mixed with pebble-stones; but then they used to like the pebble-stones very much to make walls with, and to stone up the little wells which they made in the sand.One Wednesday afternoon, they were there playing very pleasantly with the sand. They had been building a famous[pg 68]city, and, after amusing themselves with it some time, they had knocked down the houses, and trampled the sand all about again. James then said he meant to go to the barn and get his horse-cart, and haul a load of sand to market.Now there was a place around behind a large rock near there, which the boys called their barn; and Rollo and James went to it, and pulled out their two little wheelbarrows, which they called their horse-carts. They wheeled them down to the edge of the water, and began to take up the sand by double handfuls, and put it in.When they had got their carts loaded, they began to wheel them around to the trees, and stones, and bushes, saying,“Who'll buy my sand?”“Who'll buy my white sand?”“Who'll buy my gray sand?”“Who'll buy my black sand?”But they did not seem to find any purchaser; and at last Rollo said, suddenly,“O, I know who will buy our sand.”“Who?”said James.“Mother.”“So she will,”said James.“We will wheel it up to the house.”[pg 69]So they set off, and began wheeling their loads of sand up the pathway among the trees. They went on a little way, and presently stopped, and sat down on a bank to rest. Here they found a number of flowers, which they gathered and stuck up in the sand, so that their loads soon made a very gay appearance.Just as they were going to set out again, Rollo said,“But, James, how are we going to get through the quagmire?”“O,”said James,“we can step along on the bank by the side of the path.”“No,”said Rollo;“for we cannot get our wheelbarrows along there.”“Why, yes,—we got them along there when we came down.”“But they were empty and light then; now they are loaded and heavy.”“So they are; but I think we can get along; it is not very muddy there now.”The place which the boys called the quagmire, was a low place in the pathway, where it was almost always muddy. This pathway was made by the cows, going up and down to drink; and it was a good, dry, and hard path in all places[pg 70]but one. This, in the spring of the year, was very wet and miry; and, during the whole summer, it was seldom perfectly dry. The boys called it the quagmire, and they used to get by on one side, in among the bushes.They found that it was not very muddy at this time, and they contrived to get through with their loads of sand, and soon got to the house. They trundled their wheelbarrows up to the door leading out to the garden; and Rollo knocked at the door.Now Rollo's mother happened, at this time, to be sitting at the back-parlor window, and she heard their voices as they came along the yard. So, supposing the knocking was some of their play, she just looked out of the window, and called out,“Who's there?”“Some sand-men,”Rollo answered,“who have got some sand to sell.”His mother looked out of the window, and had quite a talk with them about their sand; she asked them where it came from, what color it was, and whether it was free from pebble-stones. The boys had to admit that there were a good many[pg 71]pebble-stones in it, and that pebble-stones were not very good to scour floors with.The Gray Garden.At last, Rollo's mother recommended that they should carry the sand out to a corner of the yard, where the chips used to be, and spread it out there, and stick their flowers up in it for a garden.The boys liked this plan very much.“We can make walks and beds, beautifully, in the sand,”said Rollo.“But, mother, do you think the flowers will grow?”“No,”said his mother,“flowers will not grow in sand; but, as it is rather a shady place, and you can water them occasionally, they will keep green and bright a good many days, and then, you know, you can get some more.”So the boys wheeled the sand out to the corner of the yard, took the flowers out carefully, and then tipped the sand down and spread it out. They tried to make walks and beds, but they found[pg 72]they had not got as much sand as they wanted. So they concluded to go back and get some more.In fact, they found that, by getting a great many wheelbarrow loads of sand, they could cover over the whole corner, and make a noble large place for a sand-garden. And then, besides, as James said, when they were tired of it for a garden, they could build cities there, instead of having to go away down to the brook.So they went on wheeling their loads of sand, for an hour or two. James had not learned to work as well as Rollo had, and he was constantly wanting to stop, and run into the woods, or play in the water; but Rollo told him it would be better to get all the sand up, first. They at last got quite a great heap, and then went and got a rake and hoe to level it down smooth.Thus the afternoon passed away; and at last Mary told the boys that they must come and get ready for tea, for she was going to carry it in soon.[pg 73]A Contract.So Rollo and James brushed the loose sand from their clothes, and washed their faces and hands, and went in. As tea was not quite ready, they sat down on the front-door steps before Rollo's father, who was then sitting in his arm-chair in the entry, reading.He shut up the book, and began to talk with the boys.“Well, boys,”said he,“what have you been doing all this afternoon?”“O,”said Rollo,“we have been hard at work.”“And what have you been doing?”Rollo explained to his father that they had been making a sand-garden out in a corner of the yard, and they both asked him to go with them and see it.They all three accordingly went out behind the house, the children running on before.“But, boys,”said Rollo's father, as they went on,“how came your feet so muddy?”“O,”said James,“they got muddy in the quagmire.”[pg 74]The boys explained how they could not go around the quagmire with their loaded wheelbarrows, and so had to pick their way through it the best way they could; and thus they got their shoes muddy a little; but they said they were as careful as they could be.When they came to the sand-garden, Rollo's father smiled to see the beds and walks, and the rows of flowers stuck up in the sand. It made quite a gay appearance. After looking at it some time, they went slowly back again, and as they were walking across the yard,“Father,”said Rollo,“do you not think that is a pretty good garden?”“Why, yes,”said his father,“pretty good.”“Don't you think we have worked pretty well?”“Why, I think I should call that play, not work.”“Not work!”said Rollo.“Is it not work to wheel up such heavy loads of sand? You don't know how heavy they were.”“I dare say it was hard; but boysplayhard, sometimes, as well as work hard.”[pg 75]“But I should think ours, this afternoon, was work,”said Rollo.“Work,”replied his father,“is when you are engaged in doing any thing in order to produce some useful result. When you are doing any thing only for the amusement of it, without any useful result, it is play. Still, in one sense, your wheeling the sand was work. But it was not very useful work; you will admit that.”“Yes, sir,”said Rollo.“Well, boys, how should you like to do some useful work for me, with your wheelbarrows? I will hire you.”“O, we should like that very much,”said James.“How much should you pay us?”“That would depend upon how much work you do. I should pay you what the work was fairly worth; as much as I should have to pay a man, if I were to hire a man to do it.”“What should you give us to do?”said Rollo.“I don't know. I should think of some job. How should you like to fill up the quagmire?”“Fill up the quagmire!”said Rollo.“How could we do that?”[pg 76]“You might fill it up with stones. There are a great many small stones lying around there, which you might pick up and put into your wheelbarrows, and wheel them along, and tip them over into the quagmire; and when you have filled the path all up with stones, cover them over with gravel, and it will make a good causey.”“Causey?”said Rollo.“Yes, causey,”said his father;“such a hard, dry road, built along a muddy place, is called a causey.”They had got to the tea-table by this time; and while at tea, Rollo's father explained the plan to them more fully. He said he would pay them a cent for every two loads of stones or gravel which they should wheel in to make the causey.They were going to ask some more questions about it, but he told them he could not talk any more about it then, but that they might go and ask Jonas how they should do it, after tea.[pg 77]Instructions.They went out into the kitchen, after tea, to find Jonas; but he was not there. They then went out into the yard; and presently James saw him over beyond the fence, walking along the lane. Rollo called out,“Jonas! Jonas! where are you going?”“I am going after the cows.”“We want you!”said Rollo, calling out loud.“What for?”said Jonas.“We want to talk with you about something.”Just then, Rollo's mother, hearing this hallooing, looked out of the window, and told the boys they must not make so much noise.“Why, we want Jonas,”said Rollo;“and he has gone to get the cows.”“Well, you may go with him,”said she,“if you wish; and you can talk on the way.”So the boys took their hats and ran, and soon came to where Jonas was: for[pg 78]he had been standing still, waiting for them.They walked along together, and the boys told Jonas what their father had said. Jonas said he should be very glad to have the quagmire filled up, but he was afraid it would not do any good for him to give them any directions.“Why?”said James.“Because,”said Jonas,“little boys will never follow any directions. They always want to do the work their own way.”“O, but wewillobey the directions,”said Rollo.“Do you remember about the wood-pile?”said Jonas.Rollo hung his head, and looked a little ashamed.“What was it about the wood-pile?”said James.“Why, I told Rollo,”said Jonas,“that he ought to pile wood with the big ends in front, but he did not mind it; he thought it was better to have the big ends back, out of sight; and that made the pile lean forward; and presently it all fell over upon him.”[pg 79]“Did it?”said James.“Did it hurt you much, Rollo?”“No, not much. But we will follow the directions now, Jonas, if you will tell us what to do.”“Very well,”said Jonas,“I will try you.“In the first place, you must get a few old pieces of board, and lay them along the quagmire to step upon, so as not to get your feet muddy. Then you must go and get a load of stones, in each wheelbarrow, and wheel them along. You must not tip them down at the beginning of the muddy place, for then they will be in your way when you come with the next load.“You must go on with them, one of you right behind the other, both stepping carefully on the boards, till you get to the farther end, and there tip them over both together. Then you must turn round yourselves, but not turn your wheelbarrows round. You must face the other way, anddrawyour wheelbarrows out.”“Why?”said James.“Because,”said Jonas,“it would be difficult to turn your wheelbarrows round[pg 80]there among the mud and stones, but you can draw them out very easily.“Then, besides, you must not attempt to go by one another. You must both stop at the same time, but as near one another as you can, and go out just as you came in; that is, if Rollo came in first, and James after him, James must come up as near to Rollo as he can, and then, when the loads are tipped over, and you both turn round, James will be before Rollo, and will draw his wheelbarrow out first. Do you understand?”“Yes,”said James.“Must we always go in together?”asked Rollo.“Yes, that is better.”“Why?”“Because, if you go in at different times, you will be in one another's way. One will be going out when the other is coming in, and so you will interfere with one another. Then, besides, if you fill the wheelbarrows together, and wheel together, you will always be in company,—which is pleasanter.”“Well, we will,”said Rollo.“After you have wheeled one load[pg 81]apiece in, you must go and get another, and wheel that in as far as you can. Tip them over on the top of the others, if you can, or as near as you can. Each time you will not go in quite so far as before, so that at last you will have covered the quagmire all over with stones once.”“And then must we put on the gravel?”“O no. That will not be stones enough. They would sink down into the mud, and the water would come up over them. So you must wheel on more.”“But how can we?”said James.“We cannot wheel on the top of all those stones.”“No,”said Jonas;“so you must go up to the house and get a pretty long, narrow board, as long as you and Rollo can carry, and bring it down and lay it along on the top of the stones. Perhaps you will have to move the stones a little, so as to make it steady; and then you can wheel on that. If one board is not long enough, you must go and get two. And you must put them down on one side of the path, so that the stones will go into the middle of the path and upon the other side, so as not to cover up the board.“Then, when you have put loads of[pg 82]stones all along in this way, you must shift your boards over to the other side of the path, and then wheel on them again; and that will fill up the side where the boards lay at first. And so, after a while, you will get the whole pathway filled up with stones, as high as you please. I should think you had better fill it up nearly level with the bank on each side.”By this time the boys came to the bars that led into the pasture, and they went in and began to look about for the cows. Jonas did not see them any where near, and so he told the boys that they might stay there and pick some blackberries, while he went on and found them. He said he thought that they must be out by the boiling spring.This boiling spring, as they called it, was a beautiful spring, from which fine cool water was always boiling up out of the sand. It was in a narrow glen, shaded by trees, and the water running down into a little sort of meadow, kept the grass green there, even in very dry times; so that the cows were very fond of this spot.James and Rollo remained, according to Jonas's proposal, near the bars, while he[pg 83]went along the path towards the spring. Rollo and James had a fine time gathering blackberries, until, at last, they saw the cows coming, lowing along the path. Presently they saw Jonas's head among the bushes.The Cows.The Cows.When he came up to the boys, he told them it was lucky that they did notgowith him.[pg 84]“Why?”said Rollo.“I came upon an enormous hornet's nest, and you would very probably have got stung.”“Where was it?”said James.“O, it was right over the path, just before you get to the spring.”The boys said they were very sorry to hear that, for now they could not go to the spring any more; but Jonas said he meant to destroy the nest.“How shall you destroy it?”said Rollo.“I shall burn it up.”“But how can you?”said Rollo.Jonas then explained to them how he was going to burn the hornet's nest. He said he should take a long pole with two prongs at one end like a pitchfork, and with that fork up a bunch of hay. Then he should set the top of the hay on fire, and stand it up directly under the nest.The boys continued talking about the hornet's nest all the way home, and forgot to say any thing more about the causey until just as they were going into the yard. Then they told Jonas that he had not told them how to put on the gravel, on the top.[pg 85]He said he could not tell them then, and, besides, they would have as much as they could do to put in stones for one day.Besides, James said it was sundown, and time for him to go home; but he promised to come the next morning, if his mother would let him, as soon as he had finished his lessons.Keeping Tally.Rollo and James began their work the next day about the middle of the forenoon, determined to obey Jonas's directions exactly, and to work industriously for an hour. They put a number of small pieces of board upon their wheelbarrows, to put along the pathway at first, and just as they had got them placed, Jonas came down just to see whether they were beginning right.He saw them wheel in one or two loads of stones, and told them he thought they were doing very well.“We have earned one cent already,”said Rollo.[pg 86]“How,”said Jonas;“is your father going to pay you for your work?”“Yes,”said Rollo,“a cent for every two loads we put in.”“Then you must keep tally,”said Jonas.“Tally,”said Rollo,“what is tally?”“Tally is the reckoning. How are you going to remember how many loads you wheel in?”“O, we can remember easily enough,”said Rollo:“we will count them as we go along.”“That will never do,”said Jonas.“You must mark them down with a piece of chalk on your wheelbarrow.”So saying, Jonas fumbled in his pockets, and drew out a small, well-worn piece of chalk, and then tipped up Rollo's wheelbarrow, saying,“How many loads do you say you have carried already?”“Two,”said Rollo.“Two,”repeated Jonas; and he made two white marks with his chalk on the side of the wheelbarrow.“There!”said he.“Mark mine,”said James;“I have wheeled two loads.”[pg 87]Jonas marked them, and then laid the chalk down upon a flat stone by the side of the path, and told the boys that they must stop after every load, and make a mark, and that would keep the reckoning exact.Jonas then left them, and the boys went on with their work. They wheeled ten loads of stones apiece, and by that time had the bottom of the path all covered, so that they could not wheel any more, without the long boards. They went up and got the boards, and laid them down as Jonas had described, and then went on with their wheeling.At first, James kept constantly stopping, either to play, or to hear Rollo talk; for they kept the wheelbarrows together all the time, as Jonas had recommended. At such times, Rollo would remind him of his work, for he had himself learned to work steadily. They were getting on very finely, when, at length, they heard a bell ringing at the house.This bell was to call them home; for as Rollo and Jonas were often away at a[pg 88]little distance from the house, too far to be called very easily, there was a bell to ring to call them home; and Mary, the girl, had two ways of ringing it—one way for Jonas, and another for Rollo.The bell was rung now for Rollo; and so he and James walked along towards home. When they had got about half way, they saw Rollo's father standing at the door, with a basket in his hand; and he called out to them to bring their wheelbarrows.So the boys went back for their wheelbarrows.When they came up a second time with their wheelbarrows before them, he asked how they had got along with their work.“O, famously,”said Rollo.“There is the tally,”said he, turning up the side of the wheelbarrow towards his father, so that he could see all the marks.“Why, have you wheeled as many loads as that?”said his father.“Yes, sir,”said Rollo,“and James just as many too.”“And were they all good loads?”“Yes, all good, full loads.”[pg 89]“Well, you have done very well. Count them, and see how many there are.”The boys counted them, and found there were fifteen.“That is enough to come to seven cents, and one load over,”said Rollo's father; and he took out his purse, and gave the boys seven cents each, that is, a six-cent piece in silver, and one cent besides. He told them they might keep the money until they had finished their work, and then he would tell them about purchasing something with it.“Now,”said he,“you can rub out the tally—all but one mark. I have paid you for fourteen loads, and you have wheeled in fifteen; so you have one mark to go to the new tally. You can go round to the shed, and find a wet cloth, and wipe out your marks clean, and then make one again, and leave it there for to-morrow.”“But we are going right back now,”said Rollo.“No,”said his father;“I don't want you to do any more to-day.”“Why not, father? We want to, very much.”[pg 90]“I cannot tell you why, now; but I choose you should not. And, now, here is a luncheon for you in this basket. You may go and eat it where you please.”Rights Defined.So the boys took the basket, and, after they had rubbed out the tally, they went and sat down by their sand-garden, and began to eat the bread and cheese very happily together.After they had finished their luncheon, they went and got a watering-pot, and began to water their sand-garden, and, while doing it, began to talk about what they should buy with their money. They talked of several things that they should like, and, at last, Rollo said he meant to buy a bow and arrow with his.“A bow and arrow?”said James.“I do not believe your father will let you.”“Yes, he will let me,”said Rollo.“Besides, it isourmoney, and we can do what we have a mind to with it.”“I don't believe that,”said James.[pg 91]“Why, yes, we can,”said Rollo.“I don't believe we can,”said James.“Well, I mean to go and ask my father,”said Rollo,“this minute.”So he laid down the watering-pot, and ran in, and James after him. When they got into the room where his father was, they came and stood by his side a minute, waiting for him to be ready to speak to them.Presently, his father laid down his pen, and said,“What, my boys!”“Is not this money our own?”said Rollo.“Yes.”“And can we not buy what we have a mind to with it?”“That depends upon what you have a mind to buy.”“But, father, I should think that, if it was our own, we might doany thingwith it we please.”“No,”said his father,“that does not follow, at all.”“Why, father,”said Rollo, looking disappointed,“I thought every body could[pg 92]do what they pleased with their own things.”“Whose hat is that you have on? Is it James's?”“No, sir, it is mine.”“Are you sure it is your own?”“Why, yes, sir,”said Rollo, taking off his hat and looking at it, and wondering what his father could mean.“Well, do you suppose you have a right to go and sell it?”“No, sir,”said Rollo.“Or go and burn it up?”“No, sir.”“Or give it away?”“No, sir.”“Then it seems that people cannot always do what they please with their own things.”“Why, father, it seems to me, that is a very different thing.”“I dare say it seems so to you; but it is not—it is just the same thing. No person can doanything they pleasewith their property. There are limits and restrictions in all cases. And in all cases where children have property, whether it[pg 93]is money, hats, toys, or any thing, they are always limited and restricted to such a use of themas their parents approve. So, when I give you money, it becomes yours just as your clothes, or your wheelbarrow, or your books, are yours. They are all yours to use and to enjoy; but in the way of using them and enjoying them, you must be under my direction. Do you understand that?”“Why, yes, sir,”said Rollo.“And does it not appear reasonable?”“Yes, sir, I don't know but it is reasonable. Butmencan do anything they please with their money, can they not?”“No,”said his father;“they are under various restrictions made by the laws of the land. But I cannot talk any more about it now. When you have finished your work, I will talk with you about expending your money.”The boys went on with their work the next day, and built the causey up high enough with stones. They then levelled them off, and began to wheel on the gravel. Jonas made each of them a little shovel out of a shingle; and, as the gravel was[pg 94]lying loose under a high bank, they could shovel it up easily, and fill their wheelbarrows. The third day they covered the stones entirely with gravel, and smoothed it all over with a rake and hoe, and, after it had become well trodden, it made a beautiful, hard causey; so that now there was a firm and dry road all the way from the house to the watering-place at the brook.Calculation.On counting up the loads which it had taken to do this work, Rollo's father found that he owed Rollo twenty-three cents, and James twenty-one. The reason why Rollo had earned the most was because, at one time, James said he was tired, and must rest, and, while he was resting, Rollo went on wheeling.James seemed rather sorry that he had not got as many cents as Rollo.“I wish I had not stopped to rest,”said he.“I wish so too,”said Rollo;“but I[pg 95]will give you two of my cents, and then I shall have only twenty-one, like you.”“Shall we be alike then?”“Yes,”said Rollo;“for, you see, two cents taken away from twenty-three, leaves twenty-one, which is just as many as you have.”“Yes, but then I shall have more. If you give me two,Ishall have twenty-three.”“So you will,”said Rollo;“I did not think of that.”The boys paused at this unexpected difficulty; at last, Rollo said he might give his two cents back to his father, and then they should have both alike.Just then the boys heard some one calling,“Rollo!”Rollo looked up, and saw his mother at the chamber window. She was sitting there at work, and had heard their conversation.“What, mother?”said Rollo.“You might give himoneof yours, and then you will both have twenty-two.”They thought that this would be a fine[pg 96]plan, and wondered why they had not thought of it before. A few days afterwards, they decided to buy two little shovels with their money, one for each, so that they might shovel sand and gravel easier than with the wooden shovels that Jonas made.[pg 99]Rollo's Garden.Farmer Cropwell.One warm morning, early in the spring, just after the snow was melted off from the ground, Rollo and his father went to take a walk. The ground by the side of the road was dry and settled, and they walked along very pleasantly; and at length they came to a fine-looking farm. The house was not very large, but there were great sheds and barns, and spacious yards, and high wood-piles, and flocks of geese, and hens and turkeys, and cattle and sheep, sunning themselves around the barns.Rollo and his father walked into the yard, and went up to the end door, a large pig running away with a grunt when they came up. The door was open, and Rollo's father knocked at it with the head of[pg 100]his cane. A pleasant-looking young woman came to the door.“Is Farmer Cropwell at home?”said Rollo's father.“Yes, sir,”said she,“he is out in the long barn, I believe.”“Shall I go there and look for him?”said he.“If you please, sir.”So Rollo's father walked along to the barn.It was a long barn indeed. Rollo thought he had never seen so large a building. On each side was a long range of stalls for cattle, facing towards the middle, and great scaffolds overhead, partly filled with hay and with bundles of straw. They walked down the barn floor, and in one place Rollo passed a large bull chained by the nose in one of the stalls. The bull uttered a sort of low growl or roar, as Rollo and his father passed, which made him a little afraid; but his attention was soon attracted to some hens, a little farther along, which were standing on the edge of the scaffolding over his head, and cackling with noise enough to fill the whole barn.The Bull Chained by the Nose.The Bull Chained by the Nose.[pg 101]When they got to the other end of the barn, they found a door leading out into a shed; and there was Farmer Cropwell, with one of his men and a pretty large boy, getting out some ploughs.“Good morning, Mr. Cropwell,”said Rollo's father;“what! are you going to ploughing?”“Why, it is about time to overhaul the ploughs, and see that they are in order. I think we shall have an early season.”“Yes, I find my garden is getting settled, and I came to talk with you a little about some garden seeds.”The truth was, that Rollo's father was accustomed to come every spring, and purchase his garden seeds at this farm; and so, after a few minutes, they went into the house, taking Rollo with them, to get the seeds that were wanted, out of the seed-room.What they called the seed-room was a large closet in the house, with shelves all around it; and Rollo waited there a little while, until the seeds were selected, put up in papers, and given to his father.When this was all done, and they were just coming out, the farmer said,“Well,[pg 102]my little boy, you have been very still and patient. Should not you like some seeds too? Have you got any garden?”“No, sir,”said Rollo;“but perhaps my father will give me some ground for one.”“Well, I will give you a few seeds, at any rate.”So he opened a little drawer, and took out some seeds, and put them in a piece of paper, and wrote something on the outside. Then he did so again and again, until he had four little papers, which he handed to Rollo, and told him to plant them in his garden.Rollo thanked him, and took his seeds, and they returned home.Work and Play.On the way, Rollo thought it would be an excellent plan for him to have a garden, and he told his father so.“I think it would be an excellent plan myself,”said his father.“But do you intend to make work or play of it?”“Why, I must make work of it, must not I, if I have a real garden?”[pg 103]“No,”said his father;“you may make play of it if you choose.”“How?”said Rollo.“Why, you can take a hoe, and hoe about in the ground as long as it amuses you to hoe; and then you can plant your seeds, and water and weed them just as long as you find any amusement in it. Then, if you have any thing else to play with, you can neglect your garden a long time, and let the weeds grow, and not come and pull them up until you get tired of other play, and happen to feel like working in your garden.”“I should not think that that would be a very good plan,”said Rollo.“Why, yes,”replied his father;“I do not know but that it is a good plan enough,—that is, forplay. It is right for you to play sometimes; and I do not know why you might not play with a piece of ground, and seeds, as well as with any thing else.”“Well, father, how should I manage my garden if I was going to makeworkof it?”“O, then you would not do it for amusement, but for the useful results.[pg 104]You would consider what you could raise to best advantage, and then lay out your garden; not as you might happen tofancydoing it, but so as to get the most produce from it. When you come to dig it over, you would not consider how long you could find amusement in digging, but how much digging is necessary to make the ground productive; and so in all your operations.”“Well, father, which do you think would be the best plan for me?”“Why, I hardly know. By making play of it, you will have the greatest pleasure as you go along. But, in the other plan, you will have some good crops of vegetables, fruits, and flowers.”“And shouldn't I have any crops if I made play of my garden?”“Yes; I think you might, perhaps, have some flowers, and, perhaps, some beans and peas.”Rollo hesitated for some time which plan he should adopt. He had worked enough to know that it was often very tiresome to keep on with his work when he wanted to go and play; but then he knew that after it was over, there was[pg 105]great satisfaction in thinking of useful employment, and in seeing what had been done.That afternoon he went out into the garden to consider what he should do, and he found his father there, staking out some ground.“Father,”said he,“whereabouts should you give me the ground for my garden?”“Why, that depends,”said his father,“on the plan you determine upon. If you are going to make play of it, I must give you ground in a back corner, where the irregularity, and the weeds, will be out of sight. But if you conclude to have a real garden, and to work industriously a little while every day upon it, I should give it to you there, just beyond the pear-tree.”Rollo looked at the two places, but he could not make up his mind. That evening he asked Jonas about it, and Jonas advised him to ask his father to let him have both.“Then,”said he,“you can work on your real garden as long as there is any necessary work to be done, and then you could go and play about the other with James or Lucy, when they are here.”[pg 106]Rollo went off immediately, and asked his father. His father said there would be some difficulties about that; but he would think of it, and see if there was any way to avoid them.The next morning, when he came in to breakfast, he had a paper in his hand, and he told Rollo he had concluded to let him have the two gardens, on certain conditions, which he had written down. He opened the paper, and read as follows:—“Conditions on which I let Rollo have two pieces of land to cultivate; the one to be called hisworking-garden, and the other hisplaying-garden.“1. In cultivating his working-garden, he is to take Jonas's advice, and to follow it faithfully in every respect.“2. He is not to go and work upon his playing-garden, at any time, when there is any work that ought to be done on his working-garden.“3. If he lets his working-garden get out of order, and I give him notice of it; then, if it is not put perfectly in order again within three days after receiving the notice, he is to forfeit the garden, and all that is growing upon it.[pg 107]“4. Whatever he raises, he may sell to me, at fair prices, at the end of the season.”Planting.Rollo accepted the conditions, and asked his father to stake out the two pieces of ground for him, as soon as he could; and his father did so that day. The piece for the working-garden was much the largest. There was a row of currant-bushes near it, and his father said he might consider all those opposite his piece of ground as included in it, and belonging to him.So Rollo asked Jonas what he had better do first, and Jonas told him that the first thing was to dig his ground all over, pretty deep; and, as it was difficult to begin it, Jonas said he would begin it for him. So Jonas began, and dug along one side, and instructed Rollo how to throw up the spadefuls of earth out of the way, so that the next spadeful would come up easier.Jonas, in this way, made a kind of[pg 108]a trench all along the side of Rollo's ground; and he told Rollo to be careful to throw every spadeful well forward, so as to keep the trench open and free, and then it would be easy for him to dig.Jonas then left him, and told him that there was work enough for him for three or four days, to dig up his ground well.Rollo went to work, very patiently, for the first day, and persevered an hour in digging up his ground. Then he left his work for that day; and the next morning, when the regular hour which he had allotted to work arrived, he found he had not much inclination to return to it. He accordingly asked his father whether it would not be a good plan to plant what he had already dug, before he dug any more.“What is Jonas's advice?”said his father.“Why, he told me I had better dig it all up first; but I thought that, if I planted part first, those things would be growing while I am digging up the rest of the ground.”“But you must do, you know, as Jonas advises; that is the condition. Next[pg 109]year, perhaps, you will be old enough to act according to your own judgment; but this year you must follow guidance.”Rollo recollected the condition, and he had nothing to say against it; but he looked dissatisfied.“Don't you think that is reasonable, Rollo?”said his father.“Why; I don't know,”said Rollo.“This very case shows that it is reasonable. Here you want to plant a part before you have got the ground prepared. The real reason is because you are tired of digging; not because you are really of opinion that that would be a better plan. You have not the means of judging whether it is, or is not, now, time to begin to put in seeds.”Rollo could not help seeing that that was his real motive; and he promised his father that he would go on, though it was tiresome. It was not the hard labor of the digging that fatigued him, for, by following Jonas's directions, he found it easy work; but it was the sameness of it. He longed for something new.He persevered, however, and it was a valuable lesson to him; for when he had[pg 110]got it all done, he was so satisfied with thinking that it was fairly completed, and in thinking that now it was all ready together, and that he could form a plan for the whole at once, that he determined that forever after, when he had any unpleasant piece of work to do, he would go on patiently through it, even if it was tiresome.With Jonas's help, Rollo planned his garden beautifully. He put double rows of peas and beans all around, so that when they should grow up, they would enclose his garden like a fence or hedge, and make it look snug and pleasant within. Then, he had a row of corn, for he thought he should like some green corn himself to roast. Then, he had one bed of beets and some hills of muskmelons, and in one corner he planted some flower seeds, so that he could have some flowers to put into his mother's glasses, for the mantel-piece.Rollo took great interest in laying out and planting his ground, and in watching the garden when the seeds first came up; for all this was easy and pleasant work. In the intervals, he used to play on his[pg 111]pleasure-ground, planting and digging, and setting out, just as he pleased.Sometimes he, and James, and Lucy, would go out in the woods with his little wheelbarrow, and dig up roots of flowers and little trees there, and bring them in, and set them out here and there. But he did not proceed regularly with this ground. He did not dig it all up first, and then form a regular plan for the whole; and the consequence was, that it soon became very irregular. He would want to make a path one day where he had set out a little tree, perhaps, a few days before; and it often happened that, when he was making a little trench to sow one kind of seeds, out came a whole parcel of others that he had put in before, and forgotten.Then, when the seeds came up in his playing-garden, they came up here and there, irregularly; but, in his working-garden, all looked orderly and beautiful.One evening, just before sundown, Rollo brought out his father and mother to look at his two gardens. The difference between them was very great; and Rollo, as he ran along before his father, said that[pg 112]he thought the working plan of making a garden was a great deal better than the playing plan.“That depends upon what your object is.”“How so?”said Rollo.“Why, which do you think you have had the most amusement from, thus far?”“Why, I have had most amusement, I suppose, in the little garden in the corner.”“Yes,”said his father,“undoubtedly. But the other appears altogether the best now, and will produce altogether more in the end. So, if your object is useful results, you must manage systematically, regularly, and patiently; but if you only want amusement as you go along, you had better do every day just as you happen to feel inclined.”“Well, father, which do you think is best for a boy?”“For quite small boys, a garden for play is best. They have not patience or industry enough for any other.”“Do you think I have patience or industry enough?”“You have done very well, so far; but the trying time is to come.”[pg 113]“Why, father?”“Because the novelty of the beginning is over, and now you will have a good deal of hoeing and weeding to do for a month to come. I am not sure but that you will forfeit your land yet.”“But you are to give me three days' notice, you know.”“That is true; but we shall see.”The Trying Time.The trying time did come, true enough; for, in June and July, Rollo found it hard to take proper care of his garden. If he had worked resolutely an hour, once or twice a week, it would have been enough; but he became interested in other plays, and, when Jonas reminded him that the weeds were growing, he would go in and hoe a few minutes, and then go away to play.At last, one day his father gave him notice that his garden was getting out of order, and, unless it was entirely restored in three days, it must be forfeited.[pg 114]Rollo was not much alarmed, for he thought he should have ample time to do it before the three days should have expired.It was just at night that Rollo received his notice. He worked a little the next morning; but his heart was not in it much, and he left it before he had made much progress. The weeds were well rooted and strong, and he found it much harder to get them up than he expected. The next day, he did a little more, and, near the latter part of the afternoon, Jonas saw him running about after butterflies in the yard, and asked him if he had got his work all done.“No,”said he;“but I think I have got more than half done, and I can finish it very early to-morrow.”“To-morrow!”said Jonas.“To-morrow is Sunday, and you cannot work then.”“Is it?”said Rollo, with much surprise and alarm;“I didn't know that. What shall I do? Do you suppose my father will count Sunday?”“Yes,”said Jonas,“I presume he will. He said, threedays, without mentioning any thing about Sunday.”[pg 115]Rollo ran for his hoe. He had become much attached to his ground, and was very unwilling to lose it; but he knew that his father would rigorously insist on his forfeiting it, if he failed to keep the conditions. So he went to work as hard as he could.It was then almost sundown. He hoed away, and pulled up the weeds, as industriously as possible, until the sun went down. He then kept on until it was so dark that he could not see any longer, and then, finding that there was considerable more to be done, and that he could not work any longer, he sat down on the side of his little wheelbarrow, and burst into tears.He knew, however, that it would do no good to cry, and so, after a time, he dried his eyes, and went in. He could not help hoping that his father would not count the Sunday; and“If I can only have Monday,”said he to himself,“it will all be well.”He went in to ask his father, but found that he had gone away, and would not come home until quite late. He begged his mother to let him sit up until he came[pg 116]home, so that he could ask him, and, as she saw that he was so anxious and unhappy about it, she consented. Rollo sat at the window watching, and, as soon as he heard his father drive up to the door, he went out, and, while he was getting out of the chaise, he said to him, in a trembling, faltering voice,“Father, do you count Sunday as one of my three days?”“No, my son.”Rollo clapped his hands, and said,“O, how glad!”and ran back. He told his mother that he was very much obliged to her for letting him sit up, and now he was ready to go to bed.He went to his room, undressed himself, and, in a few minutes, his father came in to get his light.“Father,”said Rollo,“I am very much obliged to you for not counting Sunday.”“It is not out of any indulgence to you, Rollo; I have no right to count Sunday.”“No right, father? Why, you said three days.”“Yes; but in such agreements as that, three working days are always meant; so that, strictly, according to the[pg 117]agreement, I do not think I have any right to count Sunday. If I had, I should have felt obliged to count it.”“Why, father?”“Because I want you, when you grow up to be a man, to beboundby your agreements. Men will hold you to your agreements when you are a man, and I want you to be accustomed to it while you are a boy. I should rather give up twice as much land as your garden, than take yours away from you now; but I must do it if you do not get it in good order before the time is out.”“But, father, I shall, for I shall have time enough on Monday.”“True; but some accident may prevent it. Suppose you should be sick.”“If I was sick, should you count it?”“Certainly. You ought not to let your garden get out of order; and, if you do it, you run the risk of all accidents that may prevent your working during the three days.”Rollo bade his father good night, and he went to sleep, thinking what a narrow escape he had had. He felt sure that he should save it now, for he did not think[pg 118]there was the least danger of his being sick on Monday.A Narrow Escape.Monday morning came, and, when he awoke, his first movement was, to jump out of bed, exclaiming,“Well, I am not sick this morning, am I?”He had scarcely spoken the words, however, before his ear caught the sound of rain, and, looking out of the window, he saw, to his utter consternation, that it was pouring steadily down, and, from the wind and the gray uniformity of the clouds, there was every appearance of a settled storm.“What shall I do?”said Rollo.“What shall I do? Why did I not finish it on Saturday?”He dressed himself, went down stairs, and looked out at the clouds. There was no prospect of any thing but rain. He ate his breakfast, and then went out, and looked again. Rain, still. He studied and[pg 119]recited his morning lessons, and then again looked out. Rain, rain. He could not help hoping it would clear up before night; but, as it continued so steadily, he began to be seriously afraid that, after all, he should lose his garden.He spent the day very anxiously and unhappily. He knew, from what his father had said, that he could not hope to have another day allowed, and that all would depend on his being able to do the work before night.At last, about the middle of the afternoon, Rollo came into the room where his father and mother were sitting, and told his father that it did not rain a great deal then, and asked him if he might not go out and finish his weeding; he did not care, he said, if he did get wet.“But your getting wet will not injure you alone—it will spoil your clothes.”“Besides, you will take cold,”said his mother.“Perhaps he would not take cold, if he were to put on dry clothes as soon as he leaves working,”said his father;“but wetting his clothes would put you to a[pg 120]good deal of trouble. No; I'd rather you would not go, on the whole, Rollo.”Rollo turned away with tears in his eyes, and went out into the kitchen. He sat down on a bench in the shed where Jonas was working, and looked out towards the garden. Jonas pitied him, and would gladly have gone and done the work for him; but he knew that his father would not allow that. At last, a sudden thought struck him.“Rollo,”said he,“you might perhaps find some old clothes in the garret, which it would not hurt to get wet.”Rollo jumped up, and said,“Let us go and see.”They went up garret, and found, hanging up, quite a quantity of old clothes. Some belonged to Jonas, some to himself, and they selected the worst ones they could find, and carried them down into the shed.Then Rollo went and called his mother to come out, and he asked her if she thought it would hurt those old clothes to get wet. She laughed, and said no; and said she would go and ask his father to let him go out with them.[pg 121]In a few minutes, she came back, and said that his father consented, but that he must go himself, and put on the old clothes, without troubling his mother, and then, when he came back, he must rub himself dry with a towel, and put on his common dress, and put the wet ones somewhere in the shed to dry; and when they were dry, put them all back carefully in their places.Work in the Rain.Work in the Rain.[pg 122]Rollo ran up to his room, and rigged himself out, as well as he could, putting one of Jonas's great coats over him, and wearing an old broad-brimmed straw hat on his head. Thus equipped, he took his hoe, and sallied forth in the rain.At first he thought it was good fun; but, in about half an hour, he began to be tired, and to feel very uncomfortable. The rain spattered in his face, and leaked down the back of his neck; and then the ground was wet and slippery; and once or twice he almost gave up in despair.He persevered, however, and before dark he got it done. He raked off all the weeds, and smoothed the ground over carefully, for he knew his father would come out to examine it as soon as the storm was over. Then he went in, rubbed himself dry, changed his clothes, and went and took his seat by the kitchen fire.His father came out a few minutes after, and said,“Well, Rollo, have you got through?”“Yes, sir,”said Rollo.“Well, I amveryglad of it. I was afraid you would have lost your garden. As it is, perhaps it will do you good.”[pg 123]“How?”said Rollo.“What good?”“It will teach you, I hope, that it is dangerous to neglect or postpone doing one's duty. We cannot always depend on repairing the mischief. When the proper opportunity is once lost, it may never return.”Rollo said nothing, but he thought he should remember the lesson as long as he lived.He remembered it for the rest of that summer, at any rate, and did not run any more risks. He kept his ground very neat, and his father did not have to give him notice again. His corn grew finely, and he had many a good roasting ear from it; and his flowers helped ornament the parlor mantel-piece all the summer; and the green peas, and the beans, and the muskmelons, and the other vegetables, which his father took and paid for, amounted to more than two dollars.[pg 124]Advice.“Well, Rollo,”said his father, one evening, as he was sitting on his cricket before a bright, glowing fire, late in the autumn, after all his fruits were gathered in,“you have really done some work this summer, haven't you?”“Yes, sir,”said Rollo; and he began to reckon up the amount of peas, and beans, and corn, and other things, that he had raised.“Yes,”said his father,“you have had a pretty good garden; but the best of it is your own improvement. You are really beginning to get over some of the faults ofboy work.”“What are the faults of boy work?”said Rollo.“One of the first is, confounding work with play,—or rather expecting the pleasure of play, while they are doing work. There is great pleasure in doing work, as I have told you before, when it is well and properly done, but it is very different from the pleasure of play. It comes later;[pg 125]generally after the work is done. While you are doing your work, it requiresexertionandself-denial, and sometimes the sameness is tiresome.“It is so withmenwhen they work, but they expect it will be so, and persevere notwithstanding; butboys, who have not learned this, expect their work will be play; and, when they find it is not so, they get tired, and want to leave it or to find some new way.“You showed your wish to make play of your work, that day when you were getting in your chips, by insisting on having just such a basket as you happened to fancy; and then, when you got a little tired of that, going for the wheelbarrow; and then leaving the chips altogether, and going to piling the wood.”“Well, father,”said Rollo,“do not men try to make their work as pleasant as they can?”“Yes, but they do not continually change from one thing to another in hopes to make itamusing. They always expect that it will be laborious and tiresome, and they understand this before[pg 126]hand, and go steadily forward notwithstanding. You are beginning to learn to do this.“Another fault, which you boys are very apt to fall into, is impatience. This comes from the first fault; for you expect, when you go to work, the kind of pleasure you have in play, and when you find you do not obtain it, or meet with any difficulties, you grow impatient, and get tired of what you are doing.“From this follows the third fault—changeableness, or want of perseverance. Instead of steadily going forward in the way they commence, boys are very apt to abandon one thing after another, and to try this new way, and that new way, so as to accomplish very little in any thing.”“Do you think I have overcome all these?”said Rollo.“In part,”said his father;“you begin to understand something about them, and to be on your guard against them. But you have only made a beginning.”“Only a beginning?”said Rollo;“why, I thought I had learned to work pretty well.”[pg 127]“So you have, for a little boy; but it is only a beginning, after all. I don't think you would succeed in persevering steadily, so as to accomplish any serious undertaking now.”“Why, father,Ithink I should.”“Suppose I should give you the Latin grammar to learn in three months, and tell you that, at the end of that time, I would hear you recite it all at once. Do you suppose you should be ready?”“Why, father, that is notwork.”“Yes,”said his father,“that is one kind of work,—and just such a kind of work, so far as patience, steadiness, and perseverance, are needed, as you will have most to do, in future years. But if I were to give it to you to do, and then say nothing to you about it till you had time to have learned the whole, I have some doubts whether you would recite a tenth part of it.”Rollo was silent; he knew it would be just so.“No, my little son,”said his father, putting him down and patting his head,“you have got a great deal to learn[pg 128]before you become a man; but then you have got some years to learn it in; that is a comfort. But now it is time for you to go to bed; so good night.”

[pg 67]Causey-Building.Sand-Men.Next to little wooden blocks, I think that good, clean sand is an excellent thing for children to play with. When it is a little damp, it will remain in any shape you put it in, and you can build houses and cities, and make roads and canals in it. At any rate, Rollo and his cousin James used to be very fond of going down to a certain place in the brook, where there was plenty of sand, and playing in it. It was of a gray color, and somewhat mixed with pebble-stones; but then they used to like the pebble-stones very much to make walls with, and to stone up the little wells which they made in the sand.One Wednesday afternoon, they were there playing very pleasantly with the sand. They had been building a famous[pg 68]city, and, after amusing themselves with it some time, they had knocked down the houses, and trampled the sand all about again. James then said he meant to go to the barn and get his horse-cart, and haul a load of sand to market.Now there was a place around behind a large rock near there, which the boys called their barn; and Rollo and James went to it, and pulled out their two little wheelbarrows, which they called their horse-carts. They wheeled them down to the edge of the water, and began to take up the sand by double handfuls, and put it in.When they had got their carts loaded, they began to wheel them around to the trees, and stones, and bushes, saying,“Who'll buy my sand?”“Who'll buy my white sand?”“Who'll buy my gray sand?”“Who'll buy my black sand?”But they did not seem to find any purchaser; and at last Rollo said, suddenly,“O, I know who will buy our sand.”“Who?”said James.“Mother.”“So she will,”said James.“We will wheel it up to the house.”[pg 69]So they set off, and began wheeling their loads of sand up the pathway among the trees. They went on a little way, and presently stopped, and sat down on a bank to rest. Here they found a number of flowers, which they gathered and stuck up in the sand, so that their loads soon made a very gay appearance.Just as they were going to set out again, Rollo said,“But, James, how are we going to get through the quagmire?”“O,”said James,“we can step along on the bank by the side of the path.”“No,”said Rollo;“for we cannot get our wheelbarrows along there.”“Why, yes,—we got them along there when we came down.”“But they were empty and light then; now they are loaded and heavy.”“So they are; but I think we can get along; it is not very muddy there now.”The place which the boys called the quagmire, was a low place in the pathway, where it was almost always muddy. This pathway was made by the cows, going up and down to drink; and it was a good, dry, and hard path in all places[pg 70]but one. This, in the spring of the year, was very wet and miry; and, during the whole summer, it was seldom perfectly dry. The boys called it the quagmire, and they used to get by on one side, in among the bushes.They found that it was not very muddy at this time, and they contrived to get through with their loads of sand, and soon got to the house. They trundled their wheelbarrows up to the door leading out to the garden; and Rollo knocked at the door.Now Rollo's mother happened, at this time, to be sitting at the back-parlor window, and she heard their voices as they came along the yard. So, supposing the knocking was some of their play, she just looked out of the window, and called out,“Who's there?”“Some sand-men,”Rollo answered,“who have got some sand to sell.”His mother looked out of the window, and had quite a talk with them about their sand; she asked them where it came from, what color it was, and whether it was free from pebble-stones. The boys had to admit that there were a good many[pg 71]pebble-stones in it, and that pebble-stones were not very good to scour floors with.The Gray Garden.At last, Rollo's mother recommended that they should carry the sand out to a corner of the yard, where the chips used to be, and spread it out there, and stick their flowers up in it for a garden.The boys liked this plan very much.“We can make walks and beds, beautifully, in the sand,”said Rollo.“But, mother, do you think the flowers will grow?”“No,”said his mother,“flowers will not grow in sand; but, as it is rather a shady place, and you can water them occasionally, they will keep green and bright a good many days, and then, you know, you can get some more.”So the boys wheeled the sand out to the corner of the yard, took the flowers out carefully, and then tipped the sand down and spread it out. They tried to make walks and beds, but they found[pg 72]they had not got as much sand as they wanted. So they concluded to go back and get some more.In fact, they found that, by getting a great many wheelbarrow loads of sand, they could cover over the whole corner, and make a noble large place for a sand-garden. And then, besides, as James said, when they were tired of it for a garden, they could build cities there, instead of having to go away down to the brook.So they went on wheeling their loads of sand, for an hour or two. James had not learned to work as well as Rollo had, and he was constantly wanting to stop, and run into the woods, or play in the water; but Rollo told him it would be better to get all the sand up, first. They at last got quite a great heap, and then went and got a rake and hoe to level it down smooth.Thus the afternoon passed away; and at last Mary told the boys that they must come and get ready for tea, for she was going to carry it in soon.[pg 73]A Contract.So Rollo and James brushed the loose sand from their clothes, and washed their faces and hands, and went in. As tea was not quite ready, they sat down on the front-door steps before Rollo's father, who was then sitting in his arm-chair in the entry, reading.He shut up the book, and began to talk with the boys.“Well, boys,”said he,“what have you been doing all this afternoon?”“O,”said Rollo,“we have been hard at work.”“And what have you been doing?”Rollo explained to his father that they had been making a sand-garden out in a corner of the yard, and they both asked him to go with them and see it.They all three accordingly went out behind the house, the children running on before.“But, boys,”said Rollo's father, as they went on,“how came your feet so muddy?”“O,”said James,“they got muddy in the quagmire.”[pg 74]The boys explained how they could not go around the quagmire with their loaded wheelbarrows, and so had to pick their way through it the best way they could; and thus they got their shoes muddy a little; but they said they were as careful as they could be.When they came to the sand-garden, Rollo's father smiled to see the beds and walks, and the rows of flowers stuck up in the sand. It made quite a gay appearance. After looking at it some time, they went slowly back again, and as they were walking across the yard,“Father,”said Rollo,“do you not think that is a pretty good garden?”“Why, yes,”said his father,“pretty good.”“Don't you think we have worked pretty well?”“Why, I think I should call that play, not work.”“Not work!”said Rollo.“Is it not work to wheel up such heavy loads of sand? You don't know how heavy they were.”“I dare say it was hard; but boysplayhard, sometimes, as well as work hard.”[pg 75]“But I should think ours, this afternoon, was work,”said Rollo.“Work,”replied his father,“is when you are engaged in doing any thing in order to produce some useful result. When you are doing any thing only for the amusement of it, without any useful result, it is play. Still, in one sense, your wheeling the sand was work. But it was not very useful work; you will admit that.”“Yes, sir,”said Rollo.“Well, boys, how should you like to do some useful work for me, with your wheelbarrows? I will hire you.”“O, we should like that very much,”said James.“How much should you pay us?”“That would depend upon how much work you do. I should pay you what the work was fairly worth; as much as I should have to pay a man, if I were to hire a man to do it.”“What should you give us to do?”said Rollo.“I don't know. I should think of some job. How should you like to fill up the quagmire?”“Fill up the quagmire!”said Rollo.“How could we do that?”[pg 76]“You might fill it up with stones. There are a great many small stones lying around there, which you might pick up and put into your wheelbarrows, and wheel them along, and tip them over into the quagmire; and when you have filled the path all up with stones, cover them over with gravel, and it will make a good causey.”“Causey?”said Rollo.“Yes, causey,”said his father;“such a hard, dry road, built along a muddy place, is called a causey.”They had got to the tea-table by this time; and while at tea, Rollo's father explained the plan to them more fully. He said he would pay them a cent for every two loads of stones or gravel which they should wheel in to make the causey.They were going to ask some more questions about it, but he told them he could not talk any more about it then, but that they might go and ask Jonas how they should do it, after tea.[pg 77]Instructions.They went out into the kitchen, after tea, to find Jonas; but he was not there. They then went out into the yard; and presently James saw him over beyond the fence, walking along the lane. Rollo called out,“Jonas! Jonas! where are you going?”“I am going after the cows.”“We want you!”said Rollo, calling out loud.“What for?”said Jonas.“We want to talk with you about something.”Just then, Rollo's mother, hearing this hallooing, looked out of the window, and told the boys they must not make so much noise.“Why, we want Jonas,”said Rollo;“and he has gone to get the cows.”“Well, you may go with him,”said she,“if you wish; and you can talk on the way.”So the boys took their hats and ran, and soon came to where Jonas was: for[pg 78]he had been standing still, waiting for them.They walked along together, and the boys told Jonas what their father had said. Jonas said he should be very glad to have the quagmire filled up, but he was afraid it would not do any good for him to give them any directions.“Why?”said James.“Because,”said Jonas,“little boys will never follow any directions. They always want to do the work their own way.”“O, but wewillobey the directions,”said Rollo.“Do you remember about the wood-pile?”said Jonas.Rollo hung his head, and looked a little ashamed.“What was it about the wood-pile?”said James.“Why, I told Rollo,”said Jonas,“that he ought to pile wood with the big ends in front, but he did not mind it; he thought it was better to have the big ends back, out of sight; and that made the pile lean forward; and presently it all fell over upon him.”[pg 79]“Did it?”said James.“Did it hurt you much, Rollo?”“No, not much. But we will follow the directions now, Jonas, if you will tell us what to do.”“Very well,”said Jonas,“I will try you.“In the first place, you must get a few old pieces of board, and lay them along the quagmire to step upon, so as not to get your feet muddy. Then you must go and get a load of stones, in each wheelbarrow, and wheel them along. You must not tip them down at the beginning of the muddy place, for then they will be in your way when you come with the next load.“You must go on with them, one of you right behind the other, both stepping carefully on the boards, till you get to the farther end, and there tip them over both together. Then you must turn round yourselves, but not turn your wheelbarrows round. You must face the other way, anddrawyour wheelbarrows out.”“Why?”said James.“Because,”said Jonas,“it would be difficult to turn your wheelbarrows round[pg 80]there among the mud and stones, but you can draw them out very easily.“Then, besides, you must not attempt to go by one another. You must both stop at the same time, but as near one another as you can, and go out just as you came in; that is, if Rollo came in first, and James after him, James must come up as near to Rollo as he can, and then, when the loads are tipped over, and you both turn round, James will be before Rollo, and will draw his wheelbarrow out first. Do you understand?”“Yes,”said James.“Must we always go in together?”asked Rollo.“Yes, that is better.”“Why?”“Because, if you go in at different times, you will be in one another's way. One will be going out when the other is coming in, and so you will interfere with one another. Then, besides, if you fill the wheelbarrows together, and wheel together, you will always be in company,—which is pleasanter.”“Well, we will,”said Rollo.“After you have wheeled one load[pg 81]apiece in, you must go and get another, and wheel that in as far as you can. Tip them over on the top of the others, if you can, or as near as you can. Each time you will not go in quite so far as before, so that at last you will have covered the quagmire all over with stones once.”“And then must we put on the gravel?”“O no. That will not be stones enough. They would sink down into the mud, and the water would come up over them. So you must wheel on more.”“But how can we?”said James.“We cannot wheel on the top of all those stones.”“No,”said Jonas;“so you must go up to the house and get a pretty long, narrow board, as long as you and Rollo can carry, and bring it down and lay it along on the top of the stones. Perhaps you will have to move the stones a little, so as to make it steady; and then you can wheel on that. If one board is not long enough, you must go and get two. And you must put them down on one side of the path, so that the stones will go into the middle of the path and upon the other side, so as not to cover up the board.“Then, when you have put loads of[pg 82]stones all along in this way, you must shift your boards over to the other side of the path, and then wheel on them again; and that will fill up the side where the boards lay at first. And so, after a while, you will get the whole pathway filled up with stones, as high as you please. I should think you had better fill it up nearly level with the bank on each side.”By this time the boys came to the bars that led into the pasture, and they went in and began to look about for the cows. Jonas did not see them any where near, and so he told the boys that they might stay there and pick some blackberries, while he went on and found them. He said he thought that they must be out by the boiling spring.This boiling spring, as they called it, was a beautiful spring, from which fine cool water was always boiling up out of the sand. It was in a narrow glen, shaded by trees, and the water running down into a little sort of meadow, kept the grass green there, even in very dry times; so that the cows were very fond of this spot.James and Rollo remained, according to Jonas's proposal, near the bars, while he[pg 83]went along the path towards the spring. Rollo and James had a fine time gathering blackberries, until, at last, they saw the cows coming, lowing along the path. Presently they saw Jonas's head among the bushes.The Cows.The Cows.When he came up to the boys, he told them it was lucky that they did notgowith him.[pg 84]“Why?”said Rollo.“I came upon an enormous hornet's nest, and you would very probably have got stung.”“Where was it?”said James.“O, it was right over the path, just before you get to the spring.”The boys said they were very sorry to hear that, for now they could not go to the spring any more; but Jonas said he meant to destroy the nest.“How shall you destroy it?”said Rollo.“I shall burn it up.”“But how can you?”said Rollo.Jonas then explained to them how he was going to burn the hornet's nest. He said he should take a long pole with two prongs at one end like a pitchfork, and with that fork up a bunch of hay. Then he should set the top of the hay on fire, and stand it up directly under the nest.The boys continued talking about the hornet's nest all the way home, and forgot to say any thing more about the causey until just as they were going into the yard. Then they told Jonas that he had not told them how to put on the gravel, on the top.[pg 85]He said he could not tell them then, and, besides, they would have as much as they could do to put in stones for one day.Besides, James said it was sundown, and time for him to go home; but he promised to come the next morning, if his mother would let him, as soon as he had finished his lessons.Keeping Tally.Rollo and James began their work the next day about the middle of the forenoon, determined to obey Jonas's directions exactly, and to work industriously for an hour. They put a number of small pieces of board upon their wheelbarrows, to put along the pathway at first, and just as they had got them placed, Jonas came down just to see whether they were beginning right.He saw them wheel in one or two loads of stones, and told them he thought they were doing very well.“We have earned one cent already,”said Rollo.[pg 86]“How,”said Jonas;“is your father going to pay you for your work?”“Yes,”said Rollo,“a cent for every two loads we put in.”“Then you must keep tally,”said Jonas.“Tally,”said Rollo,“what is tally?”“Tally is the reckoning. How are you going to remember how many loads you wheel in?”“O, we can remember easily enough,”said Rollo:“we will count them as we go along.”“That will never do,”said Jonas.“You must mark them down with a piece of chalk on your wheelbarrow.”So saying, Jonas fumbled in his pockets, and drew out a small, well-worn piece of chalk, and then tipped up Rollo's wheelbarrow, saying,“How many loads do you say you have carried already?”“Two,”said Rollo.“Two,”repeated Jonas; and he made two white marks with his chalk on the side of the wheelbarrow.“There!”said he.“Mark mine,”said James;“I have wheeled two loads.”[pg 87]Jonas marked them, and then laid the chalk down upon a flat stone by the side of the path, and told the boys that they must stop after every load, and make a mark, and that would keep the reckoning exact.Jonas then left them, and the boys went on with their work. They wheeled ten loads of stones apiece, and by that time had the bottom of the path all covered, so that they could not wheel any more, without the long boards. They went up and got the boards, and laid them down as Jonas had described, and then went on with their wheeling.At first, James kept constantly stopping, either to play, or to hear Rollo talk; for they kept the wheelbarrows together all the time, as Jonas had recommended. At such times, Rollo would remind him of his work, for he had himself learned to work steadily. They were getting on very finely, when, at length, they heard a bell ringing at the house.This bell was to call them home; for as Rollo and Jonas were often away at a[pg 88]little distance from the house, too far to be called very easily, there was a bell to ring to call them home; and Mary, the girl, had two ways of ringing it—one way for Jonas, and another for Rollo.The bell was rung now for Rollo; and so he and James walked along towards home. When they had got about half way, they saw Rollo's father standing at the door, with a basket in his hand; and he called out to them to bring their wheelbarrows.So the boys went back for their wheelbarrows.When they came up a second time with their wheelbarrows before them, he asked how they had got along with their work.“O, famously,”said Rollo.“There is the tally,”said he, turning up the side of the wheelbarrow towards his father, so that he could see all the marks.“Why, have you wheeled as many loads as that?”said his father.“Yes, sir,”said Rollo,“and James just as many too.”“And were they all good loads?”“Yes, all good, full loads.”[pg 89]“Well, you have done very well. Count them, and see how many there are.”The boys counted them, and found there were fifteen.“That is enough to come to seven cents, and one load over,”said Rollo's father; and he took out his purse, and gave the boys seven cents each, that is, a six-cent piece in silver, and one cent besides. He told them they might keep the money until they had finished their work, and then he would tell them about purchasing something with it.“Now,”said he,“you can rub out the tally—all but one mark. I have paid you for fourteen loads, and you have wheeled in fifteen; so you have one mark to go to the new tally. You can go round to the shed, and find a wet cloth, and wipe out your marks clean, and then make one again, and leave it there for to-morrow.”“But we are going right back now,”said Rollo.“No,”said his father;“I don't want you to do any more to-day.”“Why not, father? We want to, very much.”[pg 90]“I cannot tell you why, now; but I choose you should not. And, now, here is a luncheon for you in this basket. You may go and eat it where you please.”Rights Defined.So the boys took the basket, and, after they had rubbed out the tally, they went and sat down by their sand-garden, and began to eat the bread and cheese very happily together.After they had finished their luncheon, they went and got a watering-pot, and began to water their sand-garden, and, while doing it, began to talk about what they should buy with their money. They talked of several things that they should like, and, at last, Rollo said he meant to buy a bow and arrow with his.“A bow and arrow?”said James.“I do not believe your father will let you.”“Yes, he will let me,”said Rollo.“Besides, it isourmoney, and we can do what we have a mind to with it.”“I don't believe that,”said James.[pg 91]“Why, yes, we can,”said Rollo.“I don't believe we can,”said James.“Well, I mean to go and ask my father,”said Rollo,“this minute.”So he laid down the watering-pot, and ran in, and James after him. When they got into the room where his father was, they came and stood by his side a minute, waiting for him to be ready to speak to them.Presently, his father laid down his pen, and said,“What, my boys!”“Is not this money our own?”said Rollo.“Yes.”“And can we not buy what we have a mind to with it?”“That depends upon what you have a mind to buy.”“But, father, I should think that, if it was our own, we might doany thingwith it we please.”“No,”said his father,“that does not follow, at all.”“Why, father,”said Rollo, looking disappointed,“I thought every body could[pg 92]do what they pleased with their own things.”“Whose hat is that you have on? Is it James's?”“No, sir, it is mine.”“Are you sure it is your own?”“Why, yes, sir,”said Rollo, taking off his hat and looking at it, and wondering what his father could mean.“Well, do you suppose you have a right to go and sell it?”“No, sir,”said Rollo.“Or go and burn it up?”“No, sir.”“Or give it away?”“No, sir.”“Then it seems that people cannot always do what they please with their own things.”“Why, father, it seems to me, that is a very different thing.”“I dare say it seems so to you; but it is not—it is just the same thing. No person can doanything they pleasewith their property. There are limits and restrictions in all cases. And in all cases where children have property, whether it[pg 93]is money, hats, toys, or any thing, they are always limited and restricted to such a use of themas their parents approve. So, when I give you money, it becomes yours just as your clothes, or your wheelbarrow, or your books, are yours. They are all yours to use and to enjoy; but in the way of using them and enjoying them, you must be under my direction. Do you understand that?”“Why, yes, sir,”said Rollo.“And does it not appear reasonable?”“Yes, sir, I don't know but it is reasonable. Butmencan do anything they please with their money, can they not?”“No,”said his father;“they are under various restrictions made by the laws of the land. But I cannot talk any more about it now. When you have finished your work, I will talk with you about expending your money.”The boys went on with their work the next day, and built the causey up high enough with stones. They then levelled them off, and began to wheel on the gravel. Jonas made each of them a little shovel out of a shingle; and, as the gravel was[pg 94]lying loose under a high bank, they could shovel it up easily, and fill their wheelbarrows. The third day they covered the stones entirely with gravel, and smoothed it all over with a rake and hoe, and, after it had become well trodden, it made a beautiful, hard causey; so that now there was a firm and dry road all the way from the house to the watering-place at the brook.Calculation.On counting up the loads which it had taken to do this work, Rollo's father found that he owed Rollo twenty-three cents, and James twenty-one. The reason why Rollo had earned the most was because, at one time, James said he was tired, and must rest, and, while he was resting, Rollo went on wheeling.James seemed rather sorry that he had not got as many cents as Rollo.“I wish I had not stopped to rest,”said he.“I wish so too,”said Rollo;“but I[pg 95]will give you two of my cents, and then I shall have only twenty-one, like you.”“Shall we be alike then?”“Yes,”said Rollo;“for, you see, two cents taken away from twenty-three, leaves twenty-one, which is just as many as you have.”“Yes, but then I shall have more. If you give me two,Ishall have twenty-three.”“So you will,”said Rollo;“I did not think of that.”The boys paused at this unexpected difficulty; at last, Rollo said he might give his two cents back to his father, and then they should have both alike.Just then the boys heard some one calling,“Rollo!”Rollo looked up, and saw his mother at the chamber window. She was sitting there at work, and had heard their conversation.“What, mother?”said Rollo.“You might give himoneof yours, and then you will both have twenty-two.”They thought that this would be a fine[pg 96]plan, and wondered why they had not thought of it before. A few days afterwards, they decided to buy two little shovels with their money, one for each, so that they might shovel sand and gravel easier than with the wooden shovels that Jonas made.

Sand-Men.Next to little wooden blocks, I think that good, clean sand is an excellent thing for children to play with. When it is a little damp, it will remain in any shape you put it in, and you can build houses and cities, and make roads and canals in it. At any rate, Rollo and his cousin James used to be very fond of going down to a certain place in the brook, where there was plenty of sand, and playing in it. It was of a gray color, and somewhat mixed with pebble-stones; but then they used to like the pebble-stones very much to make walls with, and to stone up the little wells which they made in the sand.One Wednesday afternoon, they were there playing very pleasantly with the sand. They had been building a famous[pg 68]city, and, after amusing themselves with it some time, they had knocked down the houses, and trampled the sand all about again. James then said he meant to go to the barn and get his horse-cart, and haul a load of sand to market.Now there was a place around behind a large rock near there, which the boys called their barn; and Rollo and James went to it, and pulled out their two little wheelbarrows, which they called their horse-carts. They wheeled them down to the edge of the water, and began to take up the sand by double handfuls, and put it in.When they had got their carts loaded, they began to wheel them around to the trees, and stones, and bushes, saying,“Who'll buy my sand?”“Who'll buy my white sand?”“Who'll buy my gray sand?”“Who'll buy my black sand?”But they did not seem to find any purchaser; and at last Rollo said, suddenly,“O, I know who will buy our sand.”“Who?”said James.“Mother.”“So she will,”said James.“We will wheel it up to the house.”[pg 69]So they set off, and began wheeling their loads of sand up the pathway among the trees. They went on a little way, and presently stopped, and sat down on a bank to rest. Here they found a number of flowers, which they gathered and stuck up in the sand, so that their loads soon made a very gay appearance.Just as they were going to set out again, Rollo said,“But, James, how are we going to get through the quagmire?”“O,”said James,“we can step along on the bank by the side of the path.”“No,”said Rollo;“for we cannot get our wheelbarrows along there.”“Why, yes,—we got them along there when we came down.”“But they were empty and light then; now they are loaded and heavy.”“So they are; but I think we can get along; it is not very muddy there now.”The place which the boys called the quagmire, was a low place in the pathway, where it was almost always muddy. This pathway was made by the cows, going up and down to drink; and it was a good, dry, and hard path in all places[pg 70]but one. This, in the spring of the year, was very wet and miry; and, during the whole summer, it was seldom perfectly dry. The boys called it the quagmire, and they used to get by on one side, in among the bushes.They found that it was not very muddy at this time, and they contrived to get through with their loads of sand, and soon got to the house. They trundled their wheelbarrows up to the door leading out to the garden; and Rollo knocked at the door.Now Rollo's mother happened, at this time, to be sitting at the back-parlor window, and she heard their voices as they came along the yard. So, supposing the knocking was some of their play, she just looked out of the window, and called out,“Who's there?”“Some sand-men,”Rollo answered,“who have got some sand to sell.”His mother looked out of the window, and had quite a talk with them about their sand; she asked them where it came from, what color it was, and whether it was free from pebble-stones. The boys had to admit that there were a good many[pg 71]pebble-stones in it, and that pebble-stones were not very good to scour floors with.

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

One Wednesday afternoon, they were there playing very pleasantly with the sand. They had been building a famous[pg 68]city, and, after amusing themselves with it some time, they had knocked down the houses, and trampled the sand all about again. James then said he meant to go to the barn and get his horse-cart, and haul a load of sand to market.

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

When they had got their carts loaded, they began to wheel them around to the trees, and stones, and bushes, saying,

“Who'll buy my sand?”

“Who'll buy my white sand?”

“Who'll buy my gray sand?”

“Who'll buy my black sand?”

But they did not seem to find any purchaser; and at last Rollo said, suddenly,

“O, I know who will buy our sand.”

“Who?”said James.

“Mother.”

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

[pg 69]So they set off, and began wheeling their loads of sand up the pathway among the trees. They went on a little way, and presently stopped, and sat down on a bank to rest. Here they found a number of flowers, which they gathered and stuck up in the sand, so that their loads soon made a very gay appearance.

Just as they were going to set out again, Rollo said,

“But, James, how are we going to get through the quagmire?”

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

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

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

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

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

The place which the boys called the quagmire, was a low place in the pathway, where it was almost always muddy. This pathway was made by the cows, going up and down to drink; and it was a good, dry, and hard path in all places[pg 70]but one. This, in the spring of the year, was very wet and miry; and, during the whole summer, it was seldom perfectly dry. The boys called it the quagmire, and they used to get by on one side, in among the bushes.

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

Now Rollo's mother happened, at this time, to be sitting at the back-parlor window, and she heard their voices as they came along the yard. So, supposing the knocking was some of their play, she just looked out of the window, and called out,

“Who's there?”

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

His mother looked out of the window, and had quite a talk with them about their sand; she asked them where it came from, what color it was, and whether it was free from pebble-stones. The boys had to admit that there were a good many[pg 71]pebble-stones in it, and that pebble-stones were not very good to scour floors with.

The Gray Garden.At last, Rollo's mother recommended that they should carry the sand out to a corner of the yard, where the chips used to be, and spread it out there, and stick their flowers up in it for a garden.The boys liked this plan very much.“We can make walks and beds, beautifully, in the sand,”said Rollo.“But, mother, do you think the flowers will grow?”“No,”said his mother,“flowers will not grow in sand; but, as it is rather a shady place, and you can water them occasionally, they will keep green and bright a good many days, and then, you know, you can get some more.”So the boys wheeled the sand out to the corner of the yard, took the flowers out carefully, and then tipped the sand down and spread it out. They tried to make walks and beds, but they found[pg 72]they had not got as much sand as they wanted. So they concluded to go back and get some more.In fact, they found that, by getting a great many wheelbarrow loads of sand, they could cover over the whole corner, and make a noble large place for a sand-garden. And then, besides, as James said, when they were tired of it for a garden, they could build cities there, instead of having to go away down to the brook.So they went on wheeling their loads of sand, for an hour or two. James had not learned to work as well as Rollo had, and he was constantly wanting to stop, and run into the woods, or play in the water; but Rollo told him it would be better to get all the sand up, first. They at last got quite a great heap, and then went and got a rake and hoe to level it down smooth.Thus the afternoon passed away; and at last Mary told the boys that they must come and get ready for tea, for she was going to carry it in soon.[pg 73]

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

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

“No,”said his mother,“flowers will not grow in sand; but, as it is rather a shady place, and you can water them occasionally, they will keep green and bright a good many days, and then, you know, you can get some more.”

So the boys wheeled the sand out to the corner of the yard, took the flowers out carefully, and then tipped the sand down and spread it out. They tried to make walks and beds, but they found[pg 72]they had not got as much sand as they wanted. So they concluded to go back and get some more.

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

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

Thus the afternoon passed away; and at last Mary told the boys that they must come and get ready for tea, for she was going to carry it in soon.[pg 73]

A Contract.So Rollo and James brushed the loose sand from their clothes, and washed their faces and hands, and went in. As tea was not quite ready, they sat down on the front-door steps before Rollo's father, who was then sitting in his arm-chair in the entry, reading.He shut up the book, and began to talk with the boys.“Well, boys,”said he,“what have you been doing all this afternoon?”“O,”said Rollo,“we have been hard at work.”“And what have you been doing?”Rollo explained to his father that they had been making a sand-garden out in a corner of the yard, and they both asked him to go with them and see it.They all three accordingly went out behind the house, the children running on before.“But, boys,”said Rollo's father, as they went on,“how came your feet so muddy?”“O,”said James,“they got muddy in the quagmire.”[pg 74]The boys explained how they could not go around the quagmire with their loaded wheelbarrows, and so had to pick their way through it the best way they could; and thus they got their shoes muddy a little; but they said they were as careful as they could be.When they came to the sand-garden, Rollo's father smiled to see the beds and walks, and the rows of flowers stuck up in the sand. It made quite a gay appearance. After looking at it some time, they went slowly back again, and as they were walking across the yard,“Father,”said Rollo,“do you not think that is a pretty good garden?”“Why, yes,”said his father,“pretty good.”“Don't you think we have worked pretty well?”“Why, I think I should call that play, not work.”“Not work!”said Rollo.“Is it not work to wheel up such heavy loads of sand? You don't know how heavy they were.”“I dare say it was hard; but boysplayhard, sometimes, as well as work hard.”[pg 75]“But I should think ours, this afternoon, was work,”said Rollo.“Work,”replied his father,“is when you are engaged in doing any thing in order to produce some useful result. When you are doing any thing only for the amusement of it, without any useful result, it is play. Still, in one sense, your wheeling the sand was work. But it was not very useful work; you will admit that.”“Yes, sir,”said Rollo.“Well, boys, how should you like to do some useful work for me, with your wheelbarrows? I will hire you.”“O, we should like that very much,”said James.“How much should you pay us?”“That would depend upon how much work you do. I should pay you what the work was fairly worth; as much as I should have to pay a man, if I were to hire a man to do it.”“What should you give us to do?”said Rollo.“I don't know. I should think of some job. How should you like to fill up the quagmire?”“Fill up the quagmire!”said Rollo.“How could we do that?”[pg 76]“You might fill it up with stones. There are a great many small stones lying around there, which you might pick up and put into your wheelbarrows, and wheel them along, and tip them over into the quagmire; and when you have filled the path all up with stones, cover them over with gravel, and it will make a good causey.”“Causey?”said Rollo.“Yes, causey,”said his father;“such a hard, dry road, built along a muddy place, is called a causey.”They had got to the tea-table by this time; and while at tea, Rollo's father explained the plan to them more fully. He said he would pay them a cent for every two loads of stones or gravel which they should wheel in to make the causey.They were going to ask some more questions about it, but he told them he could not talk any more about it then, but that they might go and ask Jonas how they should do it, after tea.

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

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

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

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

“And what have you been doing?”

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

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

“But, boys,”said Rollo's father, as they went on,“how came your feet so muddy?”

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

[pg 74]The boys explained how they could not go around the quagmire with their loaded wheelbarrows, and so had to pick their way through it the best way they could; and thus they got their shoes muddy a little; but they said they were as careful as they could be.

When they came to the sand-garden, Rollo's father smiled to see the beds and walks, and the rows of flowers stuck up in the sand. It made quite a gay appearance. After looking at it some time, they went slowly back again, and as they were walking across the yard,

“Father,”said Rollo,“do you not think that is a pretty good garden?”

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

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

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

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

“I dare say it was hard; but boysplayhard, sometimes, as well as work hard.”

[pg 75]“But I should think ours, this afternoon, was work,”said Rollo.

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

“Yes, sir,”said Rollo.

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

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

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

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

“I don't know. I should think of some job. How should you like to fill up the quagmire?”

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

[pg 76]“You might fill it up with stones. There are a great many small stones lying around there, which you might pick up and put into your wheelbarrows, and wheel them along, and tip them over into the quagmire; and when you have filled the path all up with stones, cover them over with gravel, and it will make a good causey.”

“Causey?”said Rollo.

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

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

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

[pg 77]Instructions.They went out into the kitchen, after tea, to find Jonas; but he was not there. They then went out into the yard; and presently James saw him over beyond the fence, walking along the lane. Rollo called out,“Jonas! Jonas! where are you going?”“I am going after the cows.”“We want you!”said Rollo, calling out loud.“What for?”said Jonas.“We want to talk with you about something.”Just then, Rollo's mother, hearing this hallooing, looked out of the window, and told the boys they must not make so much noise.“Why, we want Jonas,”said Rollo;“and he has gone to get the cows.”“Well, you may go with him,”said she,“if you wish; and you can talk on the way.”So the boys took their hats and ran, and soon came to where Jonas was: for[pg 78]he had been standing still, waiting for them.They walked along together, and the boys told Jonas what their father had said. Jonas said he should be very glad to have the quagmire filled up, but he was afraid it would not do any good for him to give them any directions.“Why?”said James.“Because,”said Jonas,“little boys will never follow any directions. They always want to do the work their own way.”“O, but wewillobey the directions,”said Rollo.“Do you remember about the wood-pile?”said Jonas.Rollo hung his head, and looked a little ashamed.“What was it about the wood-pile?”said James.“Why, I told Rollo,”said Jonas,“that he ought to pile wood with the big ends in front, but he did not mind it; he thought it was better to have the big ends back, out of sight; and that made the pile lean forward; and presently it all fell over upon him.”[pg 79]“Did it?”said James.“Did it hurt you much, Rollo?”“No, not much. But we will follow the directions now, Jonas, if you will tell us what to do.”“Very well,”said Jonas,“I will try you.“In the first place, you must get a few old pieces of board, and lay them along the quagmire to step upon, so as not to get your feet muddy. Then you must go and get a load of stones, in each wheelbarrow, and wheel them along. You must not tip them down at the beginning of the muddy place, for then they will be in your way when you come with the next load.“You must go on with them, one of you right behind the other, both stepping carefully on the boards, till you get to the farther end, and there tip them over both together. Then you must turn round yourselves, but not turn your wheelbarrows round. You must face the other way, anddrawyour wheelbarrows out.”“Why?”said James.“Because,”said Jonas,“it would be difficult to turn your wheelbarrows round[pg 80]there among the mud and stones, but you can draw them out very easily.“Then, besides, you must not attempt to go by one another. You must both stop at the same time, but as near one another as you can, and go out just as you came in; that is, if Rollo came in first, and James after him, James must come up as near to Rollo as he can, and then, when the loads are tipped over, and you both turn round, James will be before Rollo, and will draw his wheelbarrow out first. Do you understand?”“Yes,”said James.“Must we always go in together?”asked Rollo.“Yes, that is better.”“Why?”“Because, if you go in at different times, you will be in one another's way. One will be going out when the other is coming in, and so you will interfere with one another. Then, besides, if you fill the wheelbarrows together, and wheel together, you will always be in company,—which is pleasanter.”“Well, we will,”said Rollo.“After you have wheeled one load[pg 81]apiece in, you must go and get another, and wheel that in as far as you can. Tip them over on the top of the others, if you can, or as near as you can. Each time you will not go in quite so far as before, so that at last you will have covered the quagmire all over with stones once.”“And then must we put on the gravel?”“O no. That will not be stones enough. They would sink down into the mud, and the water would come up over them. So you must wheel on more.”“But how can we?”said James.“We cannot wheel on the top of all those stones.”“No,”said Jonas;“so you must go up to the house and get a pretty long, narrow board, as long as you and Rollo can carry, and bring it down and lay it along on the top of the stones. Perhaps you will have to move the stones a little, so as to make it steady; and then you can wheel on that. If one board is not long enough, you must go and get two. And you must put them down on one side of the path, so that the stones will go into the middle of the path and upon the other side, so as not to cover up the board.“Then, when you have put loads of[pg 82]stones all along in this way, you must shift your boards over to the other side of the path, and then wheel on them again; and that will fill up the side where the boards lay at first. And so, after a while, you will get the whole pathway filled up with stones, as high as you please. I should think you had better fill it up nearly level with the bank on each side.”By this time the boys came to the bars that led into the pasture, and they went in and began to look about for the cows. Jonas did not see them any where near, and so he told the boys that they might stay there and pick some blackberries, while he went on and found them. He said he thought that they must be out by the boiling spring.This boiling spring, as they called it, was a beautiful spring, from which fine cool water was always boiling up out of the sand. It was in a narrow glen, shaded by trees, and the water running down into a little sort of meadow, kept the grass green there, even in very dry times; so that the cows were very fond of this spot.James and Rollo remained, according to Jonas's proposal, near the bars, while he[pg 83]went along the path towards the spring. Rollo and James had a fine time gathering blackberries, until, at last, they saw the cows coming, lowing along the path. Presently they saw Jonas's head among the bushes.The Cows.The Cows.When he came up to the boys, he told them it was lucky that they did notgowith him.[pg 84]“Why?”said Rollo.“I came upon an enormous hornet's nest, and you would very probably have got stung.”“Where was it?”said James.“O, it was right over the path, just before you get to the spring.”The boys said they were very sorry to hear that, for now they could not go to the spring any more; but Jonas said he meant to destroy the nest.“How shall you destroy it?”said Rollo.“I shall burn it up.”“But how can you?”said Rollo.Jonas then explained to them how he was going to burn the hornet's nest. He said he should take a long pole with two prongs at one end like a pitchfork, and with that fork up a bunch of hay. Then he should set the top of the hay on fire, and stand it up directly under the nest.The boys continued talking about the hornet's nest all the way home, and forgot to say any thing more about the causey until just as they were going into the yard. Then they told Jonas that he had not told them how to put on the gravel, on the top.[pg 85]He said he could not tell them then, and, besides, they would have as much as they could do to put in stones for one day.Besides, James said it was sundown, and time for him to go home; but he promised to come the next morning, if his mother would let him, as soon as he had finished his lessons.

They went out into the kitchen, after tea, to find Jonas; but he was not there. They then went out into the yard; and presently James saw him over beyond the fence, walking along the lane. Rollo called out,

“Jonas! Jonas! where are you going?”

“I am going after the cows.”

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

“What for?”said Jonas.

“We want to talk with you about something.”

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

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

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

So the boys took their hats and ran, and soon came to where Jonas was: for[pg 78]he had been standing still, waiting for them.

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

“Why?”said James.

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

“O, but wewillobey the directions,”said Rollo.

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

Rollo hung his head, and looked a little ashamed.

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

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

[pg 79]“Did it?”said James.“Did it hurt you much, Rollo?”

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

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

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

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

“Why?”said James.

“Because,”said Jonas,“it would be difficult to turn your wheelbarrows round[pg 80]there among the mud and stones, but you can draw them out very easily.

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

“Yes,”said James.

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

“Yes, that is better.”

“Why?”

“Because, if you go in at different times, you will be in one another's way. One will be going out when the other is coming in, and so you will interfere with one another. Then, besides, if you fill the wheelbarrows together, and wheel together, you will always be in company,—which is pleasanter.”

“Well, we will,”said Rollo.

“After you have wheeled one load[pg 81]apiece in, you must go and get another, and wheel that in as far as you can. Tip them over on the top of the others, if you can, or as near as you can. Each time you will not go in quite so far as before, so that at last you will have covered the quagmire all over with stones once.”

“And then must we put on the gravel?”

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

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

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

“Then, when you have put loads of[pg 82]stones all along in this way, you must shift your boards over to the other side of the path, and then wheel on them again; and that will fill up the side where the boards lay at first. And so, after a while, you will get the whole pathway filled up with stones, as high as you please. I should think you had better fill it up nearly level with the bank on each side.”

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

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

James and Rollo remained, according to Jonas's proposal, near the bars, while he[pg 83]went along the path towards the spring. Rollo and James had a fine time gathering blackberries, until, at last, they saw the cows coming, lowing along the path. Presently they saw Jonas's head among the bushes.

The Cows.The Cows.

The Cows.

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

[pg 84]“Why?”said Rollo.

“I came upon an enormous hornet's nest, and you would very probably have got stung.”

“Where was it?”said James.

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

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

“How shall you destroy it?”said Rollo.

“I shall burn it up.”

“But how can you?”said Rollo.

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

The boys continued talking about the hornet's nest all the way home, and forgot to say any thing more about the causey until just as they were going into the yard. Then they told Jonas that he had not told them how to put on the gravel, on the top.

[pg 85]He said he could not tell them then, and, besides, they would have as much as they could do to put in stones for one day.

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

Keeping Tally.Rollo and James began their work the next day about the middle of the forenoon, determined to obey Jonas's directions exactly, and to work industriously for an hour. They put a number of small pieces of board upon their wheelbarrows, to put along the pathway at first, and just as they had got them placed, Jonas came down just to see whether they were beginning right.He saw them wheel in one or two loads of stones, and told them he thought they were doing very well.“We have earned one cent already,”said Rollo.[pg 86]“How,”said Jonas;“is your father going to pay you for your work?”“Yes,”said Rollo,“a cent for every two loads we put in.”“Then you must keep tally,”said Jonas.“Tally,”said Rollo,“what is tally?”“Tally is the reckoning. How are you going to remember how many loads you wheel in?”“O, we can remember easily enough,”said Rollo:“we will count them as we go along.”“That will never do,”said Jonas.“You must mark them down with a piece of chalk on your wheelbarrow.”So saying, Jonas fumbled in his pockets, and drew out a small, well-worn piece of chalk, and then tipped up Rollo's wheelbarrow, saying,“How many loads do you say you have carried already?”“Two,”said Rollo.“Two,”repeated Jonas; and he made two white marks with his chalk on the side of the wheelbarrow.“There!”said he.“Mark mine,”said James;“I have wheeled two loads.”[pg 87]Jonas marked them, and then laid the chalk down upon a flat stone by the side of the path, and told the boys that they must stop after every load, and make a mark, and that would keep the reckoning exact.Jonas then left them, and the boys went on with their work. They wheeled ten loads of stones apiece, and by that time had the bottom of the path all covered, so that they could not wheel any more, without the long boards. They went up and got the boards, and laid them down as Jonas had described, and then went on with their wheeling.At first, James kept constantly stopping, either to play, or to hear Rollo talk; for they kept the wheelbarrows together all the time, as Jonas had recommended. At such times, Rollo would remind him of his work, for he had himself learned to work steadily. They were getting on very finely, when, at length, they heard a bell ringing at the house.This bell was to call them home; for as Rollo and Jonas were often away at a[pg 88]little distance from the house, too far to be called very easily, there was a bell to ring to call them home; and Mary, the girl, had two ways of ringing it—one way for Jonas, and another for Rollo.The bell was rung now for Rollo; and so he and James walked along towards home. When they had got about half way, they saw Rollo's father standing at the door, with a basket in his hand; and he called out to them to bring their wheelbarrows.So the boys went back for their wheelbarrows.When they came up a second time with their wheelbarrows before them, he asked how they had got along with their work.“O, famously,”said Rollo.“There is the tally,”said he, turning up the side of the wheelbarrow towards his father, so that he could see all the marks.“Why, have you wheeled as many loads as that?”said his father.“Yes, sir,”said Rollo,“and James just as many too.”“And were they all good loads?”“Yes, all good, full loads.”[pg 89]“Well, you have done very well. Count them, and see how many there are.”The boys counted them, and found there were fifteen.“That is enough to come to seven cents, and one load over,”said Rollo's father; and he took out his purse, and gave the boys seven cents each, that is, a six-cent piece in silver, and one cent besides. He told them they might keep the money until they had finished their work, and then he would tell them about purchasing something with it.“Now,”said he,“you can rub out the tally—all but one mark. I have paid you for fourteen loads, and you have wheeled in fifteen; so you have one mark to go to the new tally. You can go round to the shed, and find a wet cloth, and wipe out your marks clean, and then make one again, and leave it there for to-morrow.”“But we are going right back now,”said Rollo.“No,”said his father;“I don't want you to do any more to-day.”“Why not, father? We want to, very much.”[pg 90]“I cannot tell you why, now; but I choose you should not. And, now, here is a luncheon for you in this basket. You may go and eat it where you please.”

Rollo and James began their work the next day about the middle of the forenoon, determined to obey Jonas's directions exactly, and to work industriously for an hour. They put a number of small pieces of board upon their wheelbarrows, to put along the pathway at first, and just as they had got them placed, Jonas came down just to see whether they were beginning right.

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

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

[pg 86]“How,”said Jonas;“is your father going to pay you for your work?”

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

“Then you must keep tally,”said Jonas.

“Tally,”said Rollo,“what is tally?”

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

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

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

So saying, Jonas fumbled in his pockets, and drew out a small, well-worn piece of chalk, and then tipped up Rollo's wheelbarrow, saying,

“How many loads do you say you have carried already?”

“Two,”said Rollo.

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

“There!”said he.

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

[pg 87]Jonas marked them, and then laid the chalk down upon a flat stone by the side of the path, and told the boys that they must stop after every load, and make a mark, and that would keep the reckoning exact.

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

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

This bell was to call them home; for as Rollo and Jonas were often away at a[pg 88]little distance from the house, too far to be called very easily, there was a bell to ring to call them home; and Mary, the girl, had two ways of ringing it—one way for Jonas, and another for Rollo.

The bell was rung now for Rollo; and so he and James walked along towards home. When they had got about half way, they saw Rollo's father standing at the door, with a basket in his hand; and he called out to them to bring their wheelbarrows.

So the boys went back for their wheelbarrows.

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

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

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

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

“And were they all good loads?”

“Yes, all good, full loads.”

[pg 89]“Well, you have done very well. Count them, and see how many there are.”

The boys counted them, and found there were fifteen.

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

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

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

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

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

[pg 90]“I cannot tell you why, now; but I choose you should not. And, now, here is a luncheon for you in this basket. You may go and eat it where you please.”

Rights Defined.So the boys took the basket, and, after they had rubbed out the tally, they went and sat down by their sand-garden, and began to eat the bread and cheese very happily together.After they had finished their luncheon, they went and got a watering-pot, and began to water their sand-garden, and, while doing it, began to talk about what they should buy with their money. They talked of several things that they should like, and, at last, Rollo said he meant to buy a bow and arrow with his.“A bow and arrow?”said James.“I do not believe your father will let you.”“Yes, he will let me,”said Rollo.“Besides, it isourmoney, and we can do what we have a mind to with it.”“I don't believe that,”said James.[pg 91]“Why, yes, we can,”said Rollo.“I don't believe we can,”said James.“Well, I mean to go and ask my father,”said Rollo,“this minute.”So he laid down the watering-pot, and ran in, and James after him. When they got into the room where his father was, they came and stood by his side a minute, waiting for him to be ready to speak to them.Presently, his father laid down his pen, and said,“What, my boys!”“Is not this money our own?”said Rollo.“Yes.”“And can we not buy what we have a mind to with it?”“That depends upon what you have a mind to buy.”“But, father, I should think that, if it was our own, we might doany thingwith it we please.”“No,”said his father,“that does not follow, at all.”“Why, father,”said Rollo, looking disappointed,“I thought every body could[pg 92]do what they pleased with their own things.”“Whose hat is that you have on? Is it James's?”“No, sir, it is mine.”“Are you sure it is your own?”“Why, yes, sir,”said Rollo, taking off his hat and looking at it, and wondering what his father could mean.“Well, do you suppose you have a right to go and sell it?”“No, sir,”said Rollo.“Or go and burn it up?”“No, sir.”“Or give it away?”“No, sir.”“Then it seems that people cannot always do what they please with their own things.”“Why, father, it seems to me, that is a very different thing.”“I dare say it seems so to you; but it is not—it is just the same thing. No person can doanything they pleasewith their property. There are limits and restrictions in all cases. And in all cases where children have property, whether it[pg 93]is money, hats, toys, or any thing, they are always limited and restricted to such a use of themas their parents approve. So, when I give you money, it becomes yours just as your clothes, or your wheelbarrow, or your books, are yours. They are all yours to use and to enjoy; but in the way of using them and enjoying them, you must be under my direction. Do you understand that?”“Why, yes, sir,”said Rollo.“And does it not appear reasonable?”“Yes, sir, I don't know but it is reasonable. Butmencan do anything they please with their money, can they not?”“No,”said his father;“they are under various restrictions made by the laws of the land. But I cannot talk any more about it now. When you have finished your work, I will talk with you about expending your money.”The boys went on with their work the next day, and built the causey up high enough with stones. They then levelled them off, and began to wheel on the gravel. Jonas made each of them a little shovel out of a shingle; and, as the gravel was[pg 94]lying loose under a high bank, they could shovel it up easily, and fill their wheelbarrows. The third day they covered the stones entirely with gravel, and smoothed it all over with a rake and hoe, and, after it had become well trodden, it made a beautiful, hard causey; so that now there was a firm and dry road all the way from the house to the watering-place at the brook.

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

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

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

“Yes, he will let me,”said Rollo.“Besides, it isourmoney, and we can do what we have a mind to with it.”

“I don't believe that,”said James.

[pg 91]“Why, yes, we can,”said Rollo.

“I don't believe we can,”said James.

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

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

Presently, his father laid down his pen, and said,

“What, my boys!”

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

“Yes.”

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

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

“But, father, I should think that, if it was our own, we might doany thingwith it we please.”

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

“Why, father,”said Rollo, looking disappointed,“I thought every body could[pg 92]do what they pleased with their own things.”

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

“No, sir, it is mine.”

“Are you sure it is your own?”

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

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

“No, sir,”said Rollo.

“Or go and burn it up?”

“No, sir.”

“Or give it away?”

“No, sir.”

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

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

“I dare say it seems so to you; but it is not—it is just the same thing. No person can doanything they pleasewith their property. There are limits and restrictions in all cases. And in all cases where children have property, whether it[pg 93]is money, hats, toys, or any thing, they are always limited and restricted to such a use of themas their parents approve. So, when I give you money, it becomes yours just as your clothes, or your wheelbarrow, or your books, are yours. They are all yours to use and to enjoy; but in the way of using them and enjoying them, you must be under my direction. Do you understand that?”

“Why, yes, sir,”said Rollo.

“And does it not appear reasonable?”

“Yes, sir, I don't know but it is reasonable. Butmencan do anything they please with their money, can they not?”

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

The boys went on with their work the next day, and built the causey up high enough with stones. They then levelled them off, and began to wheel on the gravel. Jonas made each of them a little shovel out of a shingle; and, as the gravel was[pg 94]lying loose under a high bank, they could shovel it up easily, and fill their wheelbarrows. The third day they covered the stones entirely with gravel, and smoothed it all over with a rake and hoe, and, after it had become well trodden, it made a beautiful, hard causey; so that now there was a firm and dry road all the way from the house to the watering-place at the brook.

Calculation.On counting up the loads which it had taken to do this work, Rollo's father found that he owed Rollo twenty-three cents, and James twenty-one. The reason why Rollo had earned the most was because, at one time, James said he was tired, and must rest, and, while he was resting, Rollo went on wheeling.James seemed rather sorry that he had not got as many cents as Rollo.“I wish I had not stopped to rest,”said he.“I wish so too,”said Rollo;“but I[pg 95]will give you two of my cents, and then I shall have only twenty-one, like you.”“Shall we be alike then?”“Yes,”said Rollo;“for, you see, two cents taken away from twenty-three, leaves twenty-one, which is just as many as you have.”“Yes, but then I shall have more. If you give me two,Ishall have twenty-three.”“So you will,”said Rollo;“I did not think of that.”The boys paused at this unexpected difficulty; at last, Rollo said he might give his two cents back to his father, and then they should have both alike.Just then the boys heard some one calling,“Rollo!”Rollo looked up, and saw his mother at the chamber window. She was sitting there at work, and had heard their conversation.“What, mother?”said Rollo.“You might give himoneof yours, and then you will both have twenty-two.”They thought that this would be a fine[pg 96]plan, and wondered why they had not thought of it before. A few days afterwards, they decided to buy two little shovels with their money, one for each, so that they might shovel sand and gravel easier than with the wooden shovels that Jonas made.

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

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

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

“I wish so too,”said Rollo;“but I[pg 95]will give you two of my cents, and then I shall have only twenty-one, like you.”

“Shall we be alike then?”

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

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

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

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

Just then the boys heard some one calling,

“Rollo!”

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

“What, mother?”said Rollo.

“You might give himoneof yours, and then you will both have twenty-two.”

They thought that this would be a fine[pg 96]plan, and wondered why they had not thought of it before. A few days afterwards, they decided to buy two little shovels with their money, one for each, so that they might shovel sand and gravel easier than with the wooden shovels that Jonas made.

[pg 99]Rollo's Garden.Farmer Cropwell.One warm morning, early in the spring, just after the snow was melted off from the ground, Rollo and his father went to take a walk. The ground by the side of the road was dry and settled, and they walked along very pleasantly; and at length they came to a fine-looking farm. The house was not very large, but there were great sheds and barns, and spacious yards, and high wood-piles, and flocks of geese, and hens and turkeys, and cattle and sheep, sunning themselves around the barns.Rollo and his father walked into the yard, and went up to the end door, a large pig running away with a grunt when they came up. The door was open, and Rollo's father knocked at it with the head of[pg 100]his cane. A pleasant-looking young woman came to the door.“Is Farmer Cropwell at home?”said Rollo's father.“Yes, sir,”said she,“he is out in the long barn, I believe.”“Shall I go there and look for him?”said he.“If you please, sir.”So Rollo's father walked along to the barn.It was a long barn indeed. Rollo thought he had never seen so large a building. On each side was a long range of stalls for cattle, facing towards the middle, and great scaffolds overhead, partly filled with hay and with bundles of straw. They walked down the barn floor, and in one place Rollo passed a large bull chained by the nose in one of the stalls. The bull uttered a sort of low growl or roar, as Rollo and his father passed, which made him a little afraid; but his attention was soon attracted to some hens, a little farther along, which were standing on the edge of the scaffolding over his head, and cackling with noise enough to fill the whole barn.The Bull Chained by the Nose.The Bull Chained by the Nose.[pg 101]When they got to the other end of the barn, they found a door leading out into a shed; and there was Farmer Cropwell, with one of his men and a pretty large boy, getting out some ploughs.“Good morning, Mr. Cropwell,”said Rollo's father;“what! are you going to ploughing?”“Why, it is about time to overhaul the ploughs, and see that they are in order. I think we shall have an early season.”“Yes, I find my garden is getting settled, and I came to talk with you a little about some garden seeds.”The truth was, that Rollo's father was accustomed to come every spring, and purchase his garden seeds at this farm; and so, after a few minutes, they went into the house, taking Rollo with them, to get the seeds that were wanted, out of the seed-room.What they called the seed-room was a large closet in the house, with shelves all around it; and Rollo waited there a little while, until the seeds were selected, put up in papers, and given to his father.When this was all done, and they were just coming out, the farmer said,“Well,[pg 102]my little boy, you have been very still and patient. Should not you like some seeds too? Have you got any garden?”“No, sir,”said Rollo;“but perhaps my father will give me some ground for one.”“Well, I will give you a few seeds, at any rate.”So he opened a little drawer, and took out some seeds, and put them in a piece of paper, and wrote something on the outside. Then he did so again and again, until he had four little papers, which he handed to Rollo, and told him to plant them in his garden.Rollo thanked him, and took his seeds, and they returned home.Work and Play.On the way, Rollo thought it would be an excellent plan for him to have a garden, and he told his father so.“I think it would be an excellent plan myself,”said his father.“But do you intend to make work or play of it?”“Why, I must make work of it, must not I, if I have a real garden?”[pg 103]“No,”said his father;“you may make play of it if you choose.”“How?”said Rollo.“Why, you can take a hoe, and hoe about in the ground as long as it amuses you to hoe; and then you can plant your seeds, and water and weed them just as long as you find any amusement in it. Then, if you have any thing else to play with, you can neglect your garden a long time, and let the weeds grow, and not come and pull them up until you get tired of other play, and happen to feel like working in your garden.”“I should not think that that would be a very good plan,”said Rollo.“Why, yes,”replied his father;“I do not know but that it is a good plan enough,—that is, forplay. It is right for you to play sometimes; and I do not know why you might not play with a piece of ground, and seeds, as well as with any thing else.”“Well, father, how should I manage my garden if I was going to makeworkof it?”“O, then you would not do it for amusement, but for the useful results.[pg 104]You would consider what you could raise to best advantage, and then lay out your garden; not as you might happen tofancydoing it, but so as to get the most produce from it. When you come to dig it over, you would not consider how long you could find amusement in digging, but how much digging is necessary to make the ground productive; and so in all your operations.”“Well, father, which do you think would be the best plan for me?”“Why, I hardly know. By making play of it, you will have the greatest pleasure as you go along. But, in the other plan, you will have some good crops of vegetables, fruits, and flowers.”“And shouldn't I have any crops if I made play of my garden?”“Yes; I think you might, perhaps, have some flowers, and, perhaps, some beans and peas.”Rollo hesitated for some time which plan he should adopt. He had worked enough to know that it was often very tiresome to keep on with his work when he wanted to go and play; but then he knew that after it was over, there was[pg 105]great satisfaction in thinking of useful employment, and in seeing what had been done.That afternoon he went out into the garden to consider what he should do, and he found his father there, staking out some ground.“Father,”said he,“whereabouts should you give me the ground for my garden?”“Why, that depends,”said his father,“on the plan you determine upon. If you are going to make play of it, I must give you ground in a back corner, where the irregularity, and the weeds, will be out of sight. But if you conclude to have a real garden, and to work industriously a little while every day upon it, I should give it to you there, just beyond the pear-tree.”Rollo looked at the two places, but he could not make up his mind. That evening he asked Jonas about it, and Jonas advised him to ask his father to let him have both.“Then,”said he,“you can work on your real garden as long as there is any necessary work to be done, and then you could go and play about the other with James or Lucy, when they are here.”[pg 106]Rollo went off immediately, and asked his father. His father said there would be some difficulties about that; but he would think of it, and see if there was any way to avoid them.The next morning, when he came in to breakfast, he had a paper in his hand, and he told Rollo he had concluded to let him have the two gardens, on certain conditions, which he had written down. He opened the paper, and read as follows:—“Conditions on which I let Rollo have two pieces of land to cultivate; the one to be called hisworking-garden, and the other hisplaying-garden.“1. In cultivating his working-garden, he is to take Jonas's advice, and to follow it faithfully in every respect.“2. He is not to go and work upon his playing-garden, at any time, when there is any work that ought to be done on his working-garden.“3. If he lets his working-garden get out of order, and I give him notice of it; then, if it is not put perfectly in order again within three days after receiving the notice, he is to forfeit the garden, and all that is growing upon it.[pg 107]“4. Whatever he raises, he may sell to me, at fair prices, at the end of the season.”Planting.Rollo accepted the conditions, and asked his father to stake out the two pieces of ground for him, as soon as he could; and his father did so that day. The piece for the working-garden was much the largest. There was a row of currant-bushes near it, and his father said he might consider all those opposite his piece of ground as included in it, and belonging to him.So Rollo asked Jonas what he had better do first, and Jonas told him that the first thing was to dig his ground all over, pretty deep; and, as it was difficult to begin it, Jonas said he would begin it for him. So Jonas began, and dug along one side, and instructed Rollo how to throw up the spadefuls of earth out of the way, so that the next spadeful would come up easier.Jonas, in this way, made a kind of[pg 108]a trench all along the side of Rollo's ground; and he told Rollo to be careful to throw every spadeful well forward, so as to keep the trench open and free, and then it would be easy for him to dig.Jonas then left him, and told him that there was work enough for him for three or four days, to dig up his ground well.Rollo went to work, very patiently, for the first day, and persevered an hour in digging up his ground. Then he left his work for that day; and the next morning, when the regular hour which he had allotted to work arrived, he found he had not much inclination to return to it. He accordingly asked his father whether it would not be a good plan to plant what he had already dug, before he dug any more.“What is Jonas's advice?”said his father.“Why, he told me I had better dig it all up first; but I thought that, if I planted part first, those things would be growing while I am digging up the rest of the ground.”“But you must do, you know, as Jonas advises; that is the condition. Next[pg 109]year, perhaps, you will be old enough to act according to your own judgment; but this year you must follow guidance.”Rollo recollected the condition, and he had nothing to say against it; but he looked dissatisfied.“Don't you think that is reasonable, Rollo?”said his father.“Why; I don't know,”said Rollo.“This very case shows that it is reasonable. Here you want to plant a part before you have got the ground prepared. The real reason is because you are tired of digging; not because you are really of opinion that that would be a better plan. You have not the means of judging whether it is, or is not, now, time to begin to put in seeds.”Rollo could not help seeing that that was his real motive; and he promised his father that he would go on, though it was tiresome. It was not the hard labor of the digging that fatigued him, for, by following Jonas's directions, he found it easy work; but it was the sameness of it. He longed for something new.He persevered, however, and it was a valuable lesson to him; for when he had[pg 110]got it all done, he was so satisfied with thinking that it was fairly completed, and in thinking that now it was all ready together, and that he could form a plan for the whole at once, that he determined that forever after, when he had any unpleasant piece of work to do, he would go on patiently through it, even if it was tiresome.With Jonas's help, Rollo planned his garden beautifully. He put double rows of peas and beans all around, so that when they should grow up, they would enclose his garden like a fence or hedge, and make it look snug and pleasant within. Then, he had a row of corn, for he thought he should like some green corn himself to roast. Then, he had one bed of beets and some hills of muskmelons, and in one corner he planted some flower seeds, so that he could have some flowers to put into his mother's glasses, for the mantel-piece.Rollo took great interest in laying out and planting his ground, and in watching the garden when the seeds first came up; for all this was easy and pleasant work. In the intervals, he used to play on his[pg 111]pleasure-ground, planting and digging, and setting out, just as he pleased.Sometimes he, and James, and Lucy, would go out in the woods with his little wheelbarrow, and dig up roots of flowers and little trees there, and bring them in, and set them out here and there. But he did not proceed regularly with this ground. He did not dig it all up first, and then form a regular plan for the whole; and the consequence was, that it soon became very irregular. He would want to make a path one day where he had set out a little tree, perhaps, a few days before; and it often happened that, when he was making a little trench to sow one kind of seeds, out came a whole parcel of others that he had put in before, and forgotten.Then, when the seeds came up in his playing-garden, they came up here and there, irregularly; but, in his working-garden, all looked orderly and beautiful.One evening, just before sundown, Rollo brought out his father and mother to look at his two gardens. The difference between them was very great; and Rollo, as he ran along before his father, said that[pg 112]he thought the working plan of making a garden was a great deal better than the playing plan.“That depends upon what your object is.”“How so?”said Rollo.“Why, which do you think you have had the most amusement from, thus far?”“Why, I have had most amusement, I suppose, in the little garden in the corner.”“Yes,”said his father,“undoubtedly. But the other appears altogether the best now, and will produce altogether more in the end. So, if your object is useful results, you must manage systematically, regularly, and patiently; but if you only want amusement as you go along, you had better do every day just as you happen to feel inclined.”“Well, father, which do you think is best for a boy?”“For quite small boys, a garden for play is best. They have not patience or industry enough for any other.”“Do you think I have patience or industry enough?”“You have done very well, so far; but the trying time is to come.”[pg 113]“Why, father?”“Because the novelty of the beginning is over, and now you will have a good deal of hoeing and weeding to do for a month to come. I am not sure but that you will forfeit your land yet.”“But you are to give me three days' notice, you know.”“That is true; but we shall see.”The Trying Time.The trying time did come, true enough; for, in June and July, Rollo found it hard to take proper care of his garden. If he had worked resolutely an hour, once or twice a week, it would have been enough; but he became interested in other plays, and, when Jonas reminded him that the weeds were growing, he would go in and hoe a few minutes, and then go away to play.At last, one day his father gave him notice that his garden was getting out of order, and, unless it was entirely restored in three days, it must be forfeited.[pg 114]Rollo was not much alarmed, for he thought he should have ample time to do it before the three days should have expired.It was just at night that Rollo received his notice. He worked a little the next morning; but his heart was not in it much, and he left it before he had made much progress. The weeds were well rooted and strong, and he found it much harder to get them up than he expected. The next day, he did a little more, and, near the latter part of the afternoon, Jonas saw him running about after butterflies in the yard, and asked him if he had got his work all done.“No,”said he;“but I think I have got more than half done, and I can finish it very early to-morrow.”“To-morrow!”said Jonas.“To-morrow is Sunday, and you cannot work then.”“Is it?”said Rollo, with much surprise and alarm;“I didn't know that. What shall I do? Do you suppose my father will count Sunday?”“Yes,”said Jonas,“I presume he will. He said, threedays, without mentioning any thing about Sunday.”[pg 115]Rollo ran for his hoe. He had become much attached to his ground, and was very unwilling to lose it; but he knew that his father would rigorously insist on his forfeiting it, if he failed to keep the conditions. So he went to work as hard as he could.It was then almost sundown. He hoed away, and pulled up the weeds, as industriously as possible, until the sun went down. He then kept on until it was so dark that he could not see any longer, and then, finding that there was considerable more to be done, and that he could not work any longer, he sat down on the side of his little wheelbarrow, and burst into tears.He knew, however, that it would do no good to cry, and so, after a time, he dried his eyes, and went in. He could not help hoping that his father would not count the Sunday; and“If I can only have Monday,”said he to himself,“it will all be well.”He went in to ask his father, but found that he had gone away, and would not come home until quite late. He begged his mother to let him sit up until he came[pg 116]home, so that he could ask him, and, as she saw that he was so anxious and unhappy about it, she consented. Rollo sat at the window watching, and, as soon as he heard his father drive up to the door, he went out, and, while he was getting out of the chaise, he said to him, in a trembling, faltering voice,“Father, do you count Sunday as one of my three days?”“No, my son.”Rollo clapped his hands, and said,“O, how glad!”and ran back. He told his mother that he was very much obliged to her for letting him sit up, and now he was ready to go to bed.He went to his room, undressed himself, and, in a few minutes, his father came in to get his light.“Father,”said Rollo,“I am very much obliged to you for not counting Sunday.”“It is not out of any indulgence to you, Rollo; I have no right to count Sunday.”“No right, father? Why, you said three days.”“Yes; but in such agreements as that, three working days are always meant; so that, strictly, according to the[pg 117]agreement, I do not think I have any right to count Sunday. If I had, I should have felt obliged to count it.”“Why, father?”“Because I want you, when you grow up to be a man, to beboundby your agreements. Men will hold you to your agreements when you are a man, and I want you to be accustomed to it while you are a boy. I should rather give up twice as much land as your garden, than take yours away from you now; but I must do it if you do not get it in good order before the time is out.”“But, father, I shall, for I shall have time enough on Monday.”“True; but some accident may prevent it. Suppose you should be sick.”“If I was sick, should you count it?”“Certainly. You ought not to let your garden get out of order; and, if you do it, you run the risk of all accidents that may prevent your working during the three days.”Rollo bade his father good night, and he went to sleep, thinking what a narrow escape he had had. He felt sure that he should save it now, for he did not think[pg 118]there was the least danger of his being sick on Monday.A Narrow Escape.Monday morning came, and, when he awoke, his first movement was, to jump out of bed, exclaiming,“Well, I am not sick this morning, am I?”He had scarcely spoken the words, however, before his ear caught the sound of rain, and, looking out of the window, he saw, to his utter consternation, that it was pouring steadily down, and, from the wind and the gray uniformity of the clouds, there was every appearance of a settled storm.“What shall I do?”said Rollo.“What shall I do? Why did I not finish it on Saturday?”He dressed himself, went down stairs, and looked out at the clouds. There was no prospect of any thing but rain. He ate his breakfast, and then went out, and looked again. Rain, still. He studied and[pg 119]recited his morning lessons, and then again looked out. Rain, rain. He could not help hoping it would clear up before night; but, as it continued so steadily, he began to be seriously afraid that, after all, he should lose his garden.He spent the day very anxiously and unhappily. He knew, from what his father had said, that he could not hope to have another day allowed, and that all would depend on his being able to do the work before night.At last, about the middle of the afternoon, Rollo came into the room where his father and mother were sitting, and told his father that it did not rain a great deal then, and asked him if he might not go out and finish his weeding; he did not care, he said, if he did get wet.“But your getting wet will not injure you alone—it will spoil your clothes.”“Besides, you will take cold,”said his mother.“Perhaps he would not take cold, if he were to put on dry clothes as soon as he leaves working,”said his father;“but wetting his clothes would put you to a[pg 120]good deal of trouble. No; I'd rather you would not go, on the whole, Rollo.”Rollo turned away with tears in his eyes, and went out into the kitchen. He sat down on a bench in the shed where Jonas was working, and looked out towards the garden. Jonas pitied him, and would gladly have gone and done the work for him; but he knew that his father would not allow that. At last, a sudden thought struck him.“Rollo,”said he,“you might perhaps find some old clothes in the garret, which it would not hurt to get wet.”Rollo jumped up, and said,“Let us go and see.”They went up garret, and found, hanging up, quite a quantity of old clothes. Some belonged to Jonas, some to himself, and they selected the worst ones they could find, and carried them down into the shed.Then Rollo went and called his mother to come out, and he asked her if she thought it would hurt those old clothes to get wet. She laughed, and said no; and said she would go and ask his father to let him go out with them.[pg 121]In a few minutes, she came back, and said that his father consented, but that he must go himself, and put on the old clothes, without troubling his mother, and then, when he came back, he must rub himself dry with a towel, and put on his common dress, and put the wet ones somewhere in the shed to dry; and when they were dry, put them all back carefully in their places.Work in the Rain.Work in the Rain.[pg 122]Rollo ran up to his room, and rigged himself out, as well as he could, putting one of Jonas's great coats over him, and wearing an old broad-brimmed straw hat on his head. Thus equipped, he took his hoe, and sallied forth in the rain.At first he thought it was good fun; but, in about half an hour, he began to be tired, and to feel very uncomfortable. The rain spattered in his face, and leaked down the back of his neck; and then the ground was wet and slippery; and once or twice he almost gave up in despair.He persevered, however, and before dark he got it done. He raked off all the weeds, and smoothed the ground over carefully, for he knew his father would come out to examine it as soon as the storm was over. Then he went in, rubbed himself dry, changed his clothes, and went and took his seat by the kitchen fire.His father came out a few minutes after, and said,“Well, Rollo, have you got through?”“Yes, sir,”said Rollo.“Well, I amveryglad of it. I was afraid you would have lost your garden. As it is, perhaps it will do you good.”[pg 123]“How?”said Rollo.“What good?”“It will teach you, I hope, that it is dangerous to neglect or postpone doing one's duty. We cannot always depend on repairing the mischief. When the proper opportunity is once lost, it may never return.”Rollo said nothing, but he thought he should remember the lesson as long as he lived.He remembered it for the rest of that summer, at any rate, and did not run any more risks. He kept his ground very neat, and his father did not have to give him notice again. His corn grew finely, and he had many a good roasting ear from it; and his flowers helped ornament the parlor mantel-piece all the summer; and the green peas, and the beans, and the muskmelons, and the other vegetables, which his father took and paid for, amounted to more than two dollars.[pg 124]Advice.“Well, Rollo,”said his father, one evening, as he was sitting on his cricket before a bright, glowing fire, late in the autumn, after all his fruits were gathered in,“you have really done some work this summer, haven't you?”“Yes, sir,”said Rollo; and he began to reckon up the amount of peas, and beans, and corn, and other things, that he had raised.“Yes,”said his father,“you have had a pretty good garden; but the best of it is your own improvement. You are really beginning to get over some of the faults ofboy work.”“What are the faults of boy work?”said Rollo.“One of the first is, confounding work with play,—or rather expecting the pleasure of play, while they are doing work. There is great pleasure in doing work, as I have told you before, when it is well and properly done, but it is very different from the pleasure of play. It comes later;[pg 125]generally after the work is done. While you are doing your work, it requiresexertionandself-denial, and sometimes the sameness is tiresome.“It is so withmenwhen they work, but they expect it will be so, and persevere notwithstanding; butboys, who have not learned this, expect their work will be play; and, when they find it is not so, they get tired, and want to leave it or to find some new way.“You showed your wish to make play of your work, that day when you were getting in your chips, by insisting on having just such a basket as you happened to fancy; and then, when you got a little tired of that, going for the wheelbarrow; and then leaving the chips altogether, and going to piling the wood.”“Well, father,”said Rollo,“do not men try to make their work as pleasant as they can?”“Yes, but they do not continually change from one thing to another in hopes to make itamusing. They always expect that it will be laborious and tiresome, and they understand this before[pg 126]hand, and go steadily forward notwithstanding. You are beginning to learn to do this.“Another fault, which you boys are very apt to fall into, is impatience. This comes from the first fault; for you expect, when you go to work, the kind of pleasure you have in play, and when you find you do not obtain it, or meet with any difficulties, you grow impatient, and get tired of what you are doing.“From this follows the third fault—changeableness, or want of perseverance. Instead of steadily going forward in the way they commence, boys are very apt to abandon one thing after another, and to try this new way, and that new way, so as to accomplish very little in any thing.”“Do you think I have overcome all these?”said Rollo.“In part,”said his father;“you begin to understand something about them, and to be on your guard against them. But you have only made a beginning.”“Only a beginning?”said Rollo;“why, I thought I had learned to work pretty well.”[pg 127]“So you have, for a little boy; but it is only a beginning, after all. I don't think you would succeed in persevering steadily, so as to accomplish any serious undertaking now.”“Why, father,Ithink I should.”“Suppose I should give you the Latin grammar to learn in three months, and tell you that, at the end of that time, I would hear you recite it all at once. Do you suppose you should be ready?”“Why, father, that is notwork.”“Yes,”said his father,“that is one kind of work,—and just such a kind of work, so far as patience, steadiness, and perseverance, are needed, as you will have most to do, in future years. But if I were to give it to you to do, and then say nothing to you about it till you had time to have learned the whole, I have some doubts whether you would recite a tenth part of it.”Rollo was silent; he knew it would be just so.“No, my little son,”said his father, putting him down and patting his head,“you have got a great deal to learn[pg 128]before you become a man; but then you have got some years to learn it in; that is a comfort. But now it is time for you to go to bed; so good night.”

Farmer Cropwell.One warm morning, early in the spring, just after the snow was melted off from the ground, Rollo and his father went to take a walk. The ground by the side of the road was dry and settled, and they walked along very pleasantly; and at length they came to a fine-looking farm. The house was not very large, but there were great sheds and barns, and spacious yards, and high wood-piles, and flocks of geese, and hens and turkeys, and cattle and sheep, sunning themselves around the barns.Rollo and his father walked into the yard, and went up to the end door, a large pig running away with a grunt when they came up. The door was open, and Rollo's father knocked at it with the head of[pg 100]his cane. A pleasant-looking young woman came to the door.“Is Farmer Cropwell at home?”said Rollo's father.“Yes, sir,”said she,“he is out in the long barn, I believe.”“Shall I go there and look for him?”said he.“If you please, sir.”So Rollo's father walked along to the barn.It was a long barn indeed. Rollo thought he had never seen so large a building. On each side was a long range of stalls for cattle, facing towards the middle, and great scaffolds overhead, partly filled with hay and with bundles of straw. They walked down the barn floor, and in one place Rollo passed a large bull chained by the nose in one of the stalls. The bull uttered a sort of low growl or roar, as Rollo and his father passed, which made him a little afraid; but his attention was soon attracted to some hens, a little farther along, which were standing on the edge of the scaffolding over his head, and cackling with noise enough to fill the whole barn.The Bull Chained by the Nose.The Bull Chained by the Nose.[pg 101]When they got to the other end of the barn, they found a door leading out into a shed; and there was Farmer Cropwell, with one of his men and a pretty large boy, getting out some ploughs.“Good morning, Mr. Cropwell,”said Rollo's father;“what! are you going to ploughing?”“Why, it is about time to overhaul the ploughs, and see that they are in order. I think we shall have an early season.”“Yes, I find my garden is getting settled, and I came to talk with you a little about some garden seeds.”The truth was, that Rollo's father was accustomed to come every spring, and purchase his garden seeds at this farm; and so, after a few minutes, they went into the house, taking Rollo with them, to get the seeds that were wanted, out of the seed-room.What they called the seed-room was a large closet in the house, with shelves all around it; and Rollo waited there a little while, until the seeds were selected, put up in papers, and given to his father.When this was all done, and they were just coming out, the farmer said,“Well,[pg 102]my little boy, you have been very still and patient. Should not you like some seeds too? Have you got any garden?”“No, sir,”said Rollo;“but perhaps my father will give me some ground for one.”“Well, I will give you a few seeds, at any rate.”So he opened a little drawer, and took out some seeds, and put them in a piece of paper, and wrote something on the outside. Then he did so again and again, until he had four little papers, which he handed to Rollo, and told him to plant them in his garden.Rollo thanked him, and took his seeds, and they returned home.

One warm morning, early in the spring, just after the snow was melted off from the ground, Rollo and his father went to take a walk. The ground by the side of the road was dry and settled, and they walked along very pleasantly; and at length they came to a fine-looking farm. The house was not very large, but there were great sheds and barns, and spacious yards, and high wood-piles, and flocks of geese, and hens and turkeys, and cattle and sheep, sunning themselves around the barns.

Rollo and his father walked into the yard, and went up to the end door, a large pig running away with a grunt when they came up. The door was open, and Rollo's father knocked at it with the head of[pg 100]his cane. A pleasant-looking young woman came to the door.

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

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

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

“If you please, sir.”

So Rollo's father walked along to the barn.

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

The Bull Chained by the Nose.The Bull Chained by the Nose.

The Bull Chained by the Nose.

[pg 101]When they got to the other end of the barn, they found a door leading out into a shed; and there was Farmer Cropwell, with one of his men and a pretty large boy, getting out some ploughs.

“Good morning, Mr. Cropwell,”said Rollo's father;“what! are you going to ploughing?”

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

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

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

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

When this was all done, and they were just coming out, the farmer said,“Well,[pg 102]my little boy, you have been very still and patient. Should not you like some seeds too? Have you got any garden?”

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

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

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

Work and Play.On the way, Rollo thought it would be an excellent plan for him to have a garden, and he told his father so.“I think it would be an excellent plan myself,”said his father.“But do you intend to make work or play of it?”“Why, I must make work of it, must not I, if I have a real garden?”[pg 103]“No,”said his father;“you may make play of it if you choose.”“How?”said Rollo.“Why, you can take a hoe, and hoe about in the ground as long as it amuses you to hoe; and then you can plant your seeds, and water and weed them just as long as you find any amusement in it. Then, if you have any thing else to play with, you can neglect your garden a long time, and let the weeds grow, and not come and pull them up until you get tired of other play, and happen to feel like working in your garden.”“I should not think that that would be a very good plan,”said Rollo.“Why, yes,”replied his father;“I do not know but that it is a good plan enough,—that is, forplay. It is right for you to play sometimes; and I do not know why you might not play with a piece of ground, and seeds, as well as with any thing else.”“Well, father, how should I manage my garden if I was going to makeworkof it?”“O, then you would not do it for amusement, but for the useful results.[pg 104]You would consider what you could raise to best advantage, and then lay out your garden; not as you might happen tofancydoing it, but so as to get the most produce from it. When you come to dig it over, you would not consider how long you could find amusement in digging, but how much digging is necessary to make the ground productive; and so in all your operations.”“Well, father, which do you think would be the best plan for me?”“Why, I hardly know. By making play of it, you will have the greatest pleasure as you go along. But, in the other plan, you will have some good crops of vegetables, fruits, and flowers.”“And shouldn't I have any crops if I made play of my garden?”“Yes; I think you might, perhaps, have some flowers, and, perhaps, some beans and peas.”Rollo hesitated for some time which plan he should adopt. He had worked enough to know that it was often very tiresome to keep on with his work when he wanted to go and play; but then he knew that after it was over, there was[pg 105]great satisfaction in thinking of useful employment, and in seeing what had been done.That afternoon he went out into the garden to consider what he should do, and he found his father there, staking out some ground.“Father,”said he,“whereabouts should you give me the ground for my garden?”“Why, that depends,”said his father,“on the plan you determine upon. If you are going to make play of it, I must give you ground in a back corner, where the irregularity, and the weeds, will be out of sight. But if you conclude to have a real garden, and to work industriously a little while every day upon it, I should give it to you there, just beyond the pear-tree.”Rollo looked at the two places, but he could not make up his mind. That evening he asked Jonas about it, and Jonas advised him to ask his father to let him have both.“Then,”said he,“you can work on your real garden as long as there is any necessary work to be done, and then you could go and play about the other with James or Lucy, when they are here.”[pg 106]Rollo went off immediately, and asked his father. His father said there would be some difficulties about that; but he would think of it, and see if there was any way to avoid them.The next morning, when he came in to breakfast, he had a paper in his hand, and he told Rollo he had concluded to let him have the two gardens, on certain conditions, which he had written down. He opened the paper, and read as follows:—“Conditions on which I let Rollo have two pieces of land to cultivate; the one to be called hisworking-garden, and the other hisplaying-garden.“1. In cultivating his working-garden, he is to take Jonas's advice, and to follow it faithfully in every respect.“2. He is not to go and work upon his playing-garden, at any time, when there is any work that ought to be done on his working-garden.“3. If he lets his working-garden get out of order, and I give him notice of it; then, if it is not put perfectly in order again within three days after receiving the notice, he is to forfeit the garden, and all that is growing upon it.[pg 107]“4. Whatever he raises, he may sell to me, at fair prices, at the end of the season.”

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

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

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

[pg 103]“No,”said his father;“you may make play of it if you choose.”

“How?”said Rollo.

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

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

“Why, yes,”replied his father;“I do not know but that it is a good plan enough,—that is, forplay. It is right for you to play sometimes; and I do not know why you might not play with a piece of ground, and seeds, as well as with any thing else.”

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

“O, then you would not do it for amusement, but for the useful results.[pg 104]You would consider what you could raise to best advantage, and then lay out your garden; not as you might happen tofancydoing it, but so as to get the most produce from it. When you come to dig it over, you would not consider how long you could find amusement in digging, but how much digging is necessary to make the ground productive; and so in all your operations.”

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

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

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

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

Rollo hesitated for some time which plan he should adopt. He had worked enough to know that it was often very tiresome to keep on with his work when he wanted to go and play; but then he knew that after it was over, there was[pg 105]great satisfaction in thinking of useful employment, and in seeing what had been done.

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

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

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

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

[pg 106]Rollo went off immediately, and asked his father. His father said there would be some difficulties about that; but he would think of it, and see if there was any way to avoid them.

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

“Conditions on which I let Rollo have two pieces of land to cultivate; the one to be called hisworking-garden, and the other hisplaying-garden.

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

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

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

[pg 107]“4. Whatever he raises, he may sell to me, at fair prices, at the end of the season.”

Planting.Rollo accepted the conditions, and asked his father to stake out the two pieces of ground for him, as soon as he could; and his father did so that day. The piece for the working-garden was much the largest. There was a row of currant-bushes near it, and his father said he might consider all those opposite his piece of ground as included in it, and belonging to him.So Rollo asked Jonas what he had better do first, and Jonas told him that the first thing was to dig his ground all over, pretty deep; and, as it was difficult to begin it, Jonas said he would begin it for him. So Jonas began, and dug along one side, and instructed Rollo how to throw up the spadefuls of earth out of the way, so that the next spadeful would come up easier.Jonas, in this way, made a kind of[pg 108]a trench all along the side of Rollo's ground; and he told Rollo to be careful to throw every spadeful well forward, so as to keep the trench open and free, and then it would be easy for him to dig.Jonas then left him, and told him that there was work enough for him for three or four days, to dig up his ground well.Rollo went to work, very patiently, for the first day, and persevered an hour in digging up his ground. Then he left his work for that day; and the next morning, when the regular hour which he had allotted to work arrived, he found he had not much inclination to return to it. He accordingly asked his father whether it would not be a good plan to plant what he had already dug, before he dug any more.“What is Jonas's advice?”said his father.“Why, he told me I had better dig it all up first; but I thought that, if I planted part first, those things would be growing while I am digging up the rest of the ground.”“But you must do, you know, as Jonas advises; that is the condition. Next[pg 109]year, perhaps, you will be old enough to act according to your own judgment; but this year you must follow guidance.”Rollo recollected the condition, and he had nothing to say against it; but he looked dissatisfied.“Don't you think that is reasonable, Rollo?”said his father.“Why; I don't know,”said Rollo.“This very case shows that it is reasonable. Here you want to plant a part before you have got the ground prepared. The real reason is because you are tired of digging; not because you are really of opinion that that would be a better plan. You have not the means of judging whether it is, or is not, now, time to begin to put in seeds.”Rollo could not help seeing that that was his real motive; and he promised his father that he would go on, though it was tiresome. It was not the hard labor of the digging that fatigued him, for, by following Jonas's directions, he found it easy work; but it was the sameness of it. He longed for something new.He persevered, however, and it was a valuable lesson to him; for when he had[pg 110]got it all done, he was so satisfied with thinking that it was fairly completed, and in thinking that now it was all ready together, and that he could form a plan for the whole at once, that he determined that forever after, when he had any unpleasant piece of work to do, he would go on patiently through it, even if it was tiresome.With Jonas's help, Rollo planned his garden beautifully. He put double rows of peas and beans all around, so that when they should grow up, they would enclose his garden like a fence or hedge, and make it look snug and pleasant within. Then, he had a row of corn, for he thought he should like some green corn himself to roast. Then, he had one bed of beets and some hills of muskmelons, and in one corner he planted some flower seeds, so that he could have some flowers to put into his mother's glasses, for the mantel-piece.Rollo took great interest in laying out and planting his ground, and in watching the garden when the seeds first came up; for all this was easy and pleasant work. In the intervals, he used to play on his[pg 111]pleasure-ground, planting and digging, and setting out, just as he pleased.Sometimes he, and James, and Lucy, would go out in the woods with his little wheelbarrow, and dig up roots of flowers and little trees there, and bring them in, and set them out here and there. But he did not proceed regularly with this ground. He did not dig it all up first, and then form a regular plan for the whole; and the consequence was, that it soon became very irregular. He would want to make a path one day where he had set out a little tree, perhaps, a few days before; and it often happened that, when he was making a little trench to sow one kind of seeds, out came a whole parcel of others that he had put in before, and forgotten.Then, when the seeds came up in his playing-garden, they came up here and there, irregularly; but, in his working-garden, all looked orderly and beautiful.One evening, just before sundown, Rollo brought out his father and mother to look at his two gardens. The difference between them was very great; and Rollo, as he ran along before his father, said that[pg 112]he thought the working plan of making a garden was a great deal better than the playing plan.“That depends upon what your object is.”“How so?”said Rollo.“Why, which do you think you have had the most amusement from, thus far?”“Why, I have had most amusement, I suppose, in the little garden in the corner.”“Yes,”said his father,“undoubtedly. But the other appears altogether the best now, and will produce altogether more in the end. So, if your object is useful results, you must manage systematically, regularly, and patiently; but if you only want amusement as you go along, you had better do every day just as you happen to feel inclined.”“Well, father, which do you think is best for a boy?”“For quite small boys, a garden for play is best. They have not patience or industry enough for any other.”“Do you think I have patience or industry enough?”“You have done very well, so far; but the trying time is to come.”[pg 113]“Why, father?”“Because the novelty of the beginning is over, and now you will have a good deal of hoeing and weeding to do for a month to come. I am not sure but that you will forfeit your land yet.”“But you are to give me three days' notice, you know.”“That is true; but we shall see.”

Rollo accepted the conditions, and asked his father to stake out the two pieces of ground for him, as soon as he could; and his father did so that day. The piece for the working-garden was much the largest. There was a row of currant-bushes near it, and his father said he might consider all those opposite his piece of ground as included in it, and belonging to him.

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

Jonas, in this way, made a kind of[pg 108]a trench all along the side of Rollo's ground; and he told Rollo to be careful to throw every spadeful well forward, so as to keep the trench open and free, and then it would be easy for him to dig.

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

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

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

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

“But you must do, you know, as Jonas advises; that is the condition. Next[pg 109]year, perhaps, you will be old enough to act according to your own judgment; but this year you must follow guidance.”

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

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

“Why; I don't know,”said Rollo.

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

Rollo could not help seeing that that was his real motive; and he promised his father that he would go on, though it was tiresome. It was not the hard labor of the digging that fatigued him, for, by following Jonas's directions, he found it easy work; but it was the sameness of it. He longed for something new.

He persevered, however, and it was a valuable lesson to him; for when he had[pg 110]got it all done, he was so satisfied with thinking that it was fairly completed, and in thinking that now it was all ready together, and that he could form a plan for the whole at once, that he determined that forever after, when he had any unpleasant piece of work to do, he would go on patiently through it, even if it was tiresome.

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

Rollo took great interest in laying out and planting his ground, and in watching the garden when the seeds first came up; for all this was easy and pleasant work. In the intervals, he used to play on his[pg 111]pleasure-ground, planting and digging, and setting out, just as he pleased.

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

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

One evening, just before sundown, Rollo brought out his father and mother to look at his two gardens. The difference between them was very great; and Rollo, as he ran along before his father, said that[pg 112]he thought the working plan of making a garden was a great deal better than the playing plan.

“That depends upon what your object is.”

“How so?”said Rollo.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

[pg 113]“Why, father?”

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

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

“That is true; but we shall see.”

The Trying Time.The trying time did come, true enough; for, in June and July, Rollo found it hard to take proper care of his garden. If he had worked resolutely an hour, once or twice a week, it would have been enough; but he became interested in other plays, and, when Jonas reminded him that the weeds were growing, he would go in and hoe a few minutes, and then go away to play.At last, one day his father gave him notice that his garden was getting out of order, and, unless it was entirely restored in three days, it must be forfeited.[pg 114]Rollo was not much alarmed, for he thought he should have ample time to do it before the three days should have expired.It was just at night that Rollo received his notice. He worked a little the next morning; but his heart was not in it much, and he left it before he had made much progress. The weeds were well rooted and strong, and he found it much harder to get them up than he expected. The next day, he did a little more, and, near the latter part of the afternoon, Jonas saw him running about after butterflies in the yard, and asked him if he had got his work all done.“No,”said he;“but I think I have got more than half done, and I can finish it very early to-morrow.”“To-morrow!”said Jonas.“To-morrow is Sunday, and you cannot work then.”“Is it?”said Rollo, with much surprise and alarm;“I didn't know that. What shall I do? Do you suppose my father will count Sunday?”“Yes,”said Jonas,“I presume he will. He said, threedays, without mentioning any thing about Sunday.”[pg 115]Rollo ran for his hoe. He had become much attached to his ground, and was very unwilling to lose it; but he knew that his father would rigorously insist on his forfeiting it, if he failed to keep the conditions. So he went to work as hard as he could.It was then almost sundown. He hoed away, and pulled up the weeds, as industriously as possible, until the sun went down. He then kept on until it was so dark that he could not see any longer, and then, finding that there was considerable more to be done, and that he could not work any longer, he sat down on the side of his little wheelbarrow, and burst into tears.He knew, however, that it would do no good to cry, and so, after a time, he dried his eyes, and went in. He could not help hoping that his father would not count the Sunday; and“If I can only have Monday,”said he to himself,“it will all be well.”He went in to ask his father, but found that he had gone away, and would not come home until quite late. He begged his mother to let him sit up until he came[pg 116]home, so that he could ask him, and, as she saw that he was so anxious and unhappy about it, she consented. Rollo sat at the window watching, and, as soon as he heard his father drive up to the door, he went out, and, while he was getting out of the chaise, he said to him, in a trembling, faltering voice,“Father, do you count Sunday as one of my three days?”“No, my son.”Rollo clapped his hands, and said,“O, how glad!”and ran back. He told his mother that he was very much obliged to her for letting him sit up, and now he was ready to go to bed.He went to his room, undressed himself, and, in a few minutes, his father came in to get his light.“Father,”said Rollo,“I am very much obliged to you for not counting Sunday.”“It is not out of any indulgence to you, Rollo; I have no right to count Sunday.”“No right, father? Why, you said three days.”“Yes; but in such agreements as that, three working days are always meant; so that, strictly, according to the[pg 117]agreement, I do not think I have any right to count Sunday. If I had, I should have felt obliged to count it.”“Why, father?”“Because I want you, when you grow up to be a man, to beboundby your agreements. Men will hold you to your agreements when you are a man, and I want you to be accustomed to it while you are a boy. I should rather give up twice as much land as your garden, than take yours away from you now; but I must do it if you do not get it in good order before the time is out.”“But, father, I shall, for I shall have time enough on Monday.”“True; but some accident may prevent it. Suppose you should be sick.”“If I was sick, should you count it?”“Certainly. You ought not to let your garden get out of order; and, if you do it, you run the risk of all accidents that may prevent your working during the three days.”Rollo bade his father good night, and he went to sleep, thinking what a narrow escape he had had. He felt sure that he should save it now, for he did not think[pg 118]there was the least danger of his being sick on Monday.

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

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

[pg 114]Rollo was not much alarmed, for he thought he should have ample time to do it before the three days should have expired.

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

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

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

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

“Yes,”said Jonas,“I presume he will. He said, threedays, without mentioning any thing about Sunday.”

[pg 115]Rollo ran for his hoe. He had become much attached to his ground, and was very unwilling to lose it; but he knew that his father would rigorously insist on his forfeiting it, if he failed to keep the conditions. So he went to work as hard as he could.

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

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

He went in to ask his father, but found that he had gone away, and would not come home until quite late. He begged his mother to let him sit up until he came[pg 116]home, so that he could ask him, and, as she saw that he was so anxious and unhappy about it, she consented. Rollo sat at the window watching, and, as soon as he heard his father drive up to the door, he went out, and, while he was getting out of the chaise, he said to him, in a trembling, faltering voice,

“Father, do you count Sunday as one of my three days?”

“No, my son.”

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

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

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

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

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

“Yes; but in such agreements as that, three working days are always meant; so that, strictly, according to the[pg 117]agreement, I do not think I have any right to count Sunday. If I had, I should have felt obliged to count it.”

“Why, father?”

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

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

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

“If I was sick, should you count it?”

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

Rollo bade his father good night, and he went to sleep, thinking what a narrow escape he had had. He felt sure that he should save it now, for he did not think[pg 118]there was the least danger of his being sick on Monday.

A Narrow Escape.Monday morning came, and, when he awoke, his first movement was, to jump out of bed, exclaiming,“Well, I am not sick this morning, am I?”He had scarcely spoken the words, however, before his ear caught the sound of rain, and, looking out of the window, he saw, to his utter consternation, that it was pouring steadily down, and, from the wind and the gray uniformity of the clouds, there was every appearance of a settled storm.“What shall I do?”said Rollo.“What shall I do? Why did I not finish it on Saturday?”He dressed himself, went down stairs, and looked out at the clouds. There was no prospect of any thing but rain. He ate his breakfast, and then went out, and looked again. Rain, still. He studied and[pg 119]recited his morning lessons, and then again looked out. Rain, rain. He could not help hoping it would clear up before night; but, as it continued so steadily, he began to be seriously afraid that, after all, he should lose his garden.He spent the day very anxiously and unhappily. He knew, from what his father had said, that he could not hope to have another day allowed, and that all would depend on his being able to do the work before night.At last, about the middle of the afternoon, Rollo came into the room where his father and mother were sitting, and told his father that it did not rain a great deal then, and asked him if he might not go out and finish his weeding; he did not care, he said, if he did get wet.“But your getting wet will not injure you alone—it will spoil your clothes.”“Besides, you will take cold,”said his mother.“Perhaps he would not take cold, if he were to put on dry clothes as soon as he leaves working,”said his father;“but wetting his clothes would put you to a[pg 120]good deal of trouble. No; I'd rather you would not go, on the whole, Rollo.”Rollo turned away with tears in his eyes, and went out into the kitchen. He sat down on a bench in the shed where Jonas was working, and looked out towards the garden. Jonas pitied him, and would gladly have gone and done the work for him; but he knew that his father would not allow that. At last, a sudden thought struck him.“Rollo,”said he,“you might perhaps find some old clothes in the garret, which it would not hurt to get wet.”Rollo jumped up, and said,“Let us go and see.”They went up garret, and found, hanging up, quite a quantity of old clothes. Some belonged to Jonas, some to himself, and they selected the worst ones they could find, and carried them down into the shed.Then Rollo went and called his mother to come out, and he asked her if she thought it would hurt those old clothes to get wet. She laughed, and said no; and said she would go and ask his father to let him go out with them.[pg 121]In a few minutes, she came back, and said that his father consented, but that he must go himself, and put on the old clothes, without troubling his mother, and then, when he came back, he must rub himself dry with a towel, and put on his common dress, and put the wet ones somewhere in the shed to dry; and when they were dry, put them all back carefully in their places.Work in the Rain.Work in the Rain.[pg 122]Rollo ran up to his room, and rigged himself out, as well as he could, putting one of Jonas's great coats over him, and wearing an old broad-brimmed straw hat on his head. Thus equipped, he took his hoe, and sallied forth in the rain.At first he thought it was good fun; but, in about half an hour, he began to be tired, and to feel very uncomfortable. The rain spattered in his face, and leaked down the back of his neck; and then the ground was wet and slippery; and once or twice he almost gave up in despair.He persevered, however, and before dark he got it done. He raked off all the weeds, and smoothed the ground over carefully, for he knew his father would come out to examine it as soon as the storm was over. Then he went in, rubbed himself dry, changed his clothes, and went and took his seat by the kitchen fire.His father came out a few minutes after, and said,“Well, Rollo, have you got through?”“Yes, sir,”said Rollo.“Well, I amveryglad of it. I was afraid you would have lost your garden. As it is, perhaps it will do you good.”[pg 123]“How?”said Rollo.“What good?”“It will teach you, I hope, that it is dangerous to neglect or postpone doing one's duty. We cannot always depend on repairing the mischief. When the proper opportunity is once lost, it may never return.”Rollo said nothing, but he thought he should remember the lesson as long as he lived.He remembered it for the rest of that summer, at any rate, and did not run any more risks. He kept his ground very neat, and his father did not have to give him notice again. His corn grew finely, and he had many a good roasting ear from it; and his flowers helped ornament the parlor mantel-piece all the summer; and the green peas, and the beans, and the muskmelons, and the other vegetables, which his father took and paid for, amounted to more than two dollars.[pg 124]

Monday morning came, and, when he awoke, his first movement was, to jump out of bed, exclaiming,

“Well, I am not sick this morning, am I?”

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

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

He dressed himself, went down stairs, and looked out at the clouds. There was no prospect of any thing but rain. He ate his breakfast, and then went out, and looked again. Rain, still. He studied and[pg 119]recited his morning lessons, and then again looked out. Rain, rain. He could not help hoping it would clear up before night; but, as it continued so steadily, he began to be seriously afraid that, after all, he should lose his garden.

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

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

“But your getting wet will not injure you alone—it will spoil your clothes.”

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

“Perhaps he would not take cold, if he were to put on dry clothes as soon as he leaves working,”said his father;“but wetting his clothes would put you to a[pg 120]good deal of trouble. No; I'd rather you would not go, on the whole, Rollo.”

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

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

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

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

Then Rollo went and called his mother to come out, and he asked her if she thought it would hurt those old clothes to get wet. She laughed, and said no; and said she would go and ask his father to let him go out with them.

[pg 121]In a few minutes, she came back, and said that his father consented, but that he must go himself, and put on the old clothes, without troubling his mother, and then, when he came back, he must rub himself dry with a towel, and put on his common dress, and put the wet ones somewhere in the shed to dry; and when they were dry, put them all back carefully in their places.

Work in the Rain.Work in the Rain.

Work in the Rain.

[pg 122]Rollo ran up to his room, and rigged himself out, as well as he could, putting one of Jonas's great coats over him, and wearing an old broad-brimmed straw hat on his head. Thus equipped, he took his hoe, and sallied forth in the rain.

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

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

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

“Yes, sir,”said Rollo.

“Well, I amveryglad of it. I was afraid you would have lost your garden. As it is, perhaps it will do you good.”

[pg 123]“How?”said Rollo.“What good?”

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

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

He remembered it for the rest of that summer, at any rate, and did not run any more risks. He kept his ground very neat, and his father did not have to give him notice again. His corn grew finely, and he had many a good roasting ear from it; and his flowers helped ornament the parlor mantel-piece all the summer; and the green peas, and the beans, and the muskmelons, and the other vegetables, which his father took and paid for, amounted to more than two dollars.[pg 124]

Advice.“Well, Rollo,”said his father, one evening, as he was sitting on his cricket before a bright, glowing fire, late in the autumn, after all his fruits were gathered in,“you have really done some work this summer, haven't you?”“Yes, sir,”said Rollo; and he began to reckon up the amount of peas, and beans, and corn, and other things, that he had raised.“Yes,”said his father,“you have had a pretty good garden; but the best of it is your own improvement. You are really beginning to get over some of the faults ofboy work.”“What are the faults of boy work?”said Rollo.“One of the first is, confounding work with play,—or rather expecting the pleasure of play, while they are doing work. There is great pleasure in doing work, as I have told you before, when it is well and properly done, but it is very different from the pleasure of play. It comes later;[pg 125]generally after the work is done. While you are doing your work, it requiresexertionandself-denial, and sometimes the sameness is tiresome.“It is so withmenwhen they work, but they expect it will be so, and persevere notwithstanding; butboys, who have not learned this, expect their work will be play; and, when they find it is not so, they get tired, and want to leave it or to find some new way.“You showed your wish to make play of your work, that day when you were getting in your chips, by insisting on having just such a basket as you happened to fancy; and then, when you got a little tired of that, going for the wheelbarrow; and then leaving the chips altogether, and going to piling the wood.”“Well, father,”said Rollo,“do not men try to make their work as pleasant as they can?”“Yes, but they do not continually change from one thing to another in hopes to make itamusing. They always expect that it will be laborious and tiresome, and they understand this before[pg 126]hand, and go steadily forward notwithstanding. You are beginning to learn to do this.“Another fault, which you boys are very apt to fall into, is impatience. This comes from the first fault; for you expect, when you go to work, the kind of pleasure you have in play, and when you find you do not obtain it, or meet with any difficulties, you grow impatient, and get tired of what you are doing.“From this follows the third fault—changeableness, or want of perseverance. Instead of steadily going forward in the way they commence, boys are very apt to abandon one thing after another, and to try this new way, and that new way, so as to accomplish very little in any thing.”“Do you think I have overcome all these?”said Rollo.“In part,”said his father;“you begin to understand something about them, and to be on your guard against them. But you have only made a beginning.”“Only a beginning?”said Rollo;“why, I thought I had learned to work pretty well.”[pg 127]“So you have, for a little boy; but it is only a beginning, after all. I don't think you would succeed in persevering steadily, so as to accomplish any serious undertaking now.”“Why, father,Ithink I should.”“Suppose I should give you the Latin grammar to learn in three months, and tell you that, at the end of that time, I would hear you recite it all at once. Do you suppose you should be ready?”“Why, father, that is notwork.”“Yes,”said his father,“that is one kind of work,—and just such a kind of work, so far as patience, steadiness, and perseverance, are needed, as you will have most to do, in future years. But if I were to give it to you to do, and then say nothing to you about it till you had time to have learned the whole, I have some doubts whether you would recite a tenth part of it.”Rollo was silent; he knew it would be just so.“No, my little son,”said his father, putting him down and patting his head,“you have got a great deal to learn[pg 128]before you become a man; but then you have got some years to learn it in; that is a comfort. But now it is time for you to go to bed; so good night.”

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

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

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

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

“One of the first is, confounding work with play,—or rather expecting the pleasure of play, while they are doing work. There is great pleasure in doing work, as I have told you before, when it is well and properly done, but it is very different from the pleasure of play. It comes later;[pg 125]generally after the work is done. While you are doing your work, it requiresexertionandself-denial, and sometimes the sameness is tiresome.

“It is so withmenwhen they work, but they expect it will be so, and persevere notwithstanding; butboys, who have not learned this, expect their work will be play; and, when they find it is not so, they get tired, and want to leave it or to find some new way.

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

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

“Yes, but they do not continually change from one thing to another in hopes to make itamusing. They always expect that it will be laborious and tiresome, and they understand this before[pg 126]hand, and go steadily forward notwithstanding. You are beginning to learn to do this.

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

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

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

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

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

[pg 127]“So you have, for a little boy; but it is only a beginning, after all. I don't think you would succeed in persevering steadily, so as to accomplish any serious undertaking now.”

“Why, father,Ithink I should.”

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

“Why, father, that is notwork.”

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

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

“No, my little son,”said his father, putting him down and patting his head,“you have got a great deal to learn[pg 128]before you become a man; but then you have got some years to learn it in; that is a comfort. But now it is time for you to go to bed; so good night.”

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