Then Selfish and Shallow went out and found Wise playing beautifully with his ball in the yard; and he invited them to play with him. They would toss it up against the wall, and learn to catch it when it came down; and then they made some bat-sticks, and knocked it back and forth to one another, about the yard. The more they played with the ball, the more they liked it, and, as Wise was always very careful not to play near any holes, and to put it away safe when he had done with it, he kept it a long time, and gave them pleasure a great many times all summer long.
And then his inkstand box was a great treasure. He would get it out in the long winter evenings, and lend Selfish and Shallow, each, one of his pens; and they would all sit at the table, and make pictures, and write little letters, and seal them with small bits of the wafers. In fact, Wise kept his inkstand box safe till he grew up to be a man.
That is the end of the story.
The Toy-Shop.
"I wish I could get an inkstand box," said Rollo, when the story wasfinished.
"I think he was very foolish to throw away his grinning monkey," saidJames, "I wish I could see a grinning monkey."
They continued talking about this story some time, and at length they drewnigh to the city. They drove to a stable, where Jonas had the horse putup, and then they all walked on in search of a toy-shop.
They passed along through one or two streets, walking very slowly, so thatthe boys might look at the pictures and curious things in the shopwindows. At length they came to a toy-shop, and all went in.
They saw at once a great number and variety of playthings exhibited toview. All around the floor were arranged horses on wheels, little carts,wagons, and baskets. The counter had a great variety of images andfigures,--birds that would peep, and dogs that would bark, and drummersthat would drum--all by just turning a little handle. Then the shelves andthe window were filled with all sorts of boxes, and whips, and puzzles,and tea-sets, and dolls, dressed and not dressed. There were bows andarrows, and darts, and jumping ropes, and glass dogs, and littlerocking-horses, and a thousand other things.
When the boys first came in, there was a little girl standing by thecounter with a small slate in her hand. She looked like a poor girl,though she was neat and tidy in her dress. She was talking with theshopman about the slate.
"Don't you think," said she, "you could let me have it for ten cents?"
"No," said he, "I could not afford it for less than fifteen. It cost memore than ten."
The little girl laid the slate down, and looked disappointed and sad.Rollo's mother came up to her, took up the slate, and said,
"I should think you had better give him fifteen cents. It is a very goodslate. It is worth as much as that, certainly."
"Yes, madam, so I tell her," said the shopman.
"But I have not got but ten cents," said the little girl.
"Have not you?" said Rollo's mother. She stood still thinking a moment,and then she asked the little girl what her name was.
She said it was Maria.
She asked her what she wanted the slate for; and Maria said it was to dosums on, at school. She wanted to study arithmetic, and could not do sowithout a slate.
Jonas then came forward, and said that he should like to give her fivecents of Georgie's money, and that, with the ten she had, would be enough.He said that Georgie had given him authority to do what he thought bestwith his money, and he knew, if Georgie was here, he would wish to helpthe little girl.
Rollo and James were both sorry they had not thought of it themselves;and, as soon as Jonas mentioned it, they wanted to give some of theirmoney to the girl; but Jonas said he knew that Georgie would prefer to doit. At last, however, it was agreed that Rollo and James should furnishone cent each, and Georgie the rest. This was all agreed upon after a lowconversation by themselves in a corner of the store; and then Jonas cameforward, and told the shopman that they were going to pay the additionalfive cents, and that he might let the girl have the slate. So Jonas paidthe money, and it was agreed that Rollo and James should pay him backtheir share, when they got their money changed. The boys were very muchpleased to see the little girl go away so happy with her slate in herhand. It was neatly done up in paper, with two pencils which the shopmangave her, done up inside.
After Maria was gone, the boys looked around the shop, but could not findany thing which exactly pleased them; or at least they could not find anything which pleased them so much more than any thing else, that they coulddecide in favor of it. So they concluded to walk along, and look atanother shop.
They succeeded at last in finding some playthings that they liked, andJonas bought a variety of useful things for Georgie. On their way home,the carryall stopped at the house where Lucy lived and Rollo's mother lefthim and James there, to show Lucy their playthings.
One of the things they bought was a little boat with two sails, and theywent down behind the house to sail it. The other playthings and books theycarried down too, and had a fine time playing with them, with Lucy andanother little girl who was visiting her that afternoon.
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THE ROLLO SERIES
IS COMPOSED OF FOURTEEN VOLUMES, VIZ.
Rollo Learning to Talk. Rollo Learning to Read. Rollo at Work. Rollo at Play. Rollo at School. Rollo's Vacation. Rollo's Experiments. Rollo's Museum. Rollo's Travels. Rollo's Correspondence. Rollo's Philosophy--Water. Rollo's Philosophy--Air. Rollo's Philosophy--Fire. Rollo's Philosophy--Sky.
***F
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