"No," said the farmer, "that is not the reason. It is because they have ahead."
"A head?" said Rollo.
"Yes," said he, "a head; that is, one man to direct, and the rest obey."
"Which is it?" said George.
"It is that man who is pointing now," said the farmer, "to another stone.He is telling them which to take next. Watch them now, and you will seethat he directs every thing, and the rest do just as he says. But you areall directing and commanding together, and there is nobody to obey. If youwere moving those stones, you would be all advising and disputingtogether, and pulling in every direction at once, and the stone would notmove at all."
There, Said He, See How Men Work.]
"And do men always appoint a head," said Rollo, "when they work together?"
"No," said the farmer, "they do not always _appoint_ one regularly, butthey always _have_ one, in some way or other. Even when no one isparticularly authorized to direct, they generally let the one who isoldest, or who knows most about the business, take the lead, and the restdo as he says."
They all then walked slowly back to the garden-house, and the farmeradvised them to have a head, if they wanted their business to go onsmoothly and well.
"Who do you think ought to be our head?"
"The one who is the oldest, and knows most about the business," said thefarmer, "and that, I suppose, would be George. But perhaps you had bettertake turns, and let each one be head for one load, and then you will alllearn both to command and to obey."
So the boys agreed that George should command while they got the nextload, and James and Rollo agreed to obey. The farmer told them they mustobey exactly, and good-naturedly.
"You must not even _advise_ him what to do, or say any thing about it atall, except in some extraordinary case; but, when you talk, talk aboutother things altogether, and work on exactly as he shall say."
"What if we _know_ there is a better way? must not we tell him?" saidRollo.
"No," said the farmer, "unless it is something very uncommon. It is betterto go wrong sometimes, under a head, than to be endlessly talking anddisputing how you shall go. Therefore you must do exactly what he says,even if you know a better way, and see if you do not get along muchfaster."
The New Plan Tried.
The boys determined to try the plan, and, after putting their first loadof apples into the barrel, they set off again under George's command. Hetold Rollo and James to draw the wagon, while he ran along behind. Whenthey got to the tree, Rollo took up a pole, and began to beat down somemore apples; but George told him that they must first pick up what wereknocked down before; and he drew the wagon round to the place where hethought it was best for it to stand. The other boys made no objection, butworked industriously, picking up all the small and worm-eaten apples theycould find; and, in a very short time, they had the wagon loaded, and wereon their way to the house again.
Still, Rollo and James had to make so great an effort to avoid interferingwith George's directions, that they did not really enjoy this trip quiteso well as they did the first. It was pleasant to them to be more atliberty, and they thought, on the whole, that they did not like having ahead quite so well as being without one.
Instead of going up to the garden-house, George ordered them to take thisload to the barn, to put it in a bin where all such apples were to go.When they came back, the farmer came again to the door of thegarden-house.
"Well, boys," said he, "you have come rather quicker this time. How do youlike that way of working?"
"Why, not quite so well," said Rollo. "I do not think it is so pleasant asthe other way."
"It is not such good _play_, perhaps; but don't you think it makes better_work_?" said he.
The boys admitted that they got their apples in faster, and, as they wereat work then, and not at play, they resolved to continue the plan.
Farmer Cropwell then asked who was to take command the next time.
"Rollo," said the boys.
"Well, Rollo," said he, "I want you to have a large number of applesknocked down this time, and then select from them the largest and nicestyou can. I want one load for a particular purpose."
A Present.
The boys worked on industriously, and, before dinner-time, they hadgathered all the apples. The load of best apples, which the farmer hadrequested them to bring for a particular purpose, were put into a smallsquare box, until it was full, and then a cover was nailed on; the restwere laid upon the great bench. When, at length, the work was all done,and they were ready to go home, the farmer put this box into the wagon, sothat it stood up in the middle, leaving a considerable space before andbehind it. He put the loose apples into this space, some before and somebehind, until the wagon was full.
"Now, James and Rollo, I want you to draw these apples for me, when you gohome," said the farmer.
"Who are they for?" said Rollo.
"I will mark them," said he.
So he took down a little curious-looking tin dipper, with a top sloping inall around, and with a hole in the middle of it. A long, slenderbrush-handle was standing up in this hole.
When he took out the brush, the boys saw that it was blacking. With thisblacking-brush he wrote on the top of the box,--LUCY.
"Is that box for my cousin Lucy?" said Rollo.
"Yes," said he; "you can draw it to her, can you not?"
"Yes, sir," said Rollo, "we will. And who are the other apples for? Youcannot mark _them_."
"No," said the farmer; "but you will remember. Those before the box arefor you, and those behind it for James. So drive along. George will cometo your house, this afternoon, with the strawberry plants, and then he canbring the wagon home."
The Strawberry-Bed.
George Cropwell came, soon after, to Rollo's house, and helped him make afine strawberry-bed, which, he said, he thought would bear considerablythe next year. They dug up the ground, raked it over carefully, and thenput in the plants in rows.
After it was all done, Rollo got permission of his father to go back withGeorge to take the wagon home; and George proposed to take Rollo'swheelbarrow too. He had never seen such a pretty little wheelbarrow, andwas very much pleased with it. So George ran on before, trundling thewheelbarrow, and Rollo came after, drawing the wagon.
Just as they came near the farmer's house, George saw, on before him, aragged little boy, much smaller than Rollo, who was walking alongbarefooted.
"There's Tom," said George.
"Who?" said Rollo.
"Tom. See how I will frighten him."
As he said this, George darted forward with his wheelbarrow, and trundledit on directly towards Tom, as if he was going to run over him. Tom lookedround, and then ran away, the wheelbarrow at his heels. He was frightenedvery much, and began to scream; and, just then, Farmer Cropwell, who atthat moment happened to be coming up a lane, on the opposite side of theroad, called out,
"George!"
George stopped his wheelbarrow.
"Is that right?" said the farmer.
"Why, I was not going to hurt him," said George.
"You _did_ hurt him--you frightened him."
"Is frightening him hurting him, father?"
"Why, yes, it is giving him _pain_, and a very unpleasant kind of paintoo."
"I did not think of that," said George.
"Besides," said his father, "when you treat boys in that harsh, rough way,you make them your enemies; and it is a very bad plan to make enemies."
"Enemies, father!" said George, laughing; "Tom could not do me any harm,if he was my enemy."
"That makes me think of the story of the bear and the tomtit," said thefarmer; "and, if you and Rollo will jump up in the cart, I will tell it toyou."
Thus far, while they had been talking, the boys had walked along by theside of the road, keeping up with the farmer as he drove along in thecart. But now they jumped in, and sat down with the farmer on his seat,which was a board laid across from one side of the cart to the other. Assoon
as they were seated, the farmer began.
The Farmer's Story.
"The story I was going to tell you, boys, is an old fable about makingenemies. It is called 'The Bear and the Tomtit.' "
"What is a tomtit?" said Rollo.
"It is a kind of a bird, a very little bird; but he sings pleasantly.Well, one pleasant summer's day, a wolf and a bear were taking a walktogether in a lonely wood. They heard something singing.
" 'Brother,' said the bear, 'that is good singing: what sort of a bird doyou think that may be?'
" 'That's a tomtit,' said the wolf.
" 'I should like to see his nest,' said the bear; 'where do you think itis?'
" 'If we wait a little time, till his mate comes home, we shall see,' saidthe wolf.
"The bear and the wolf walked backward and forward some time, till hismate came home with some food in her mouth for her children. The wolf andthe bear watched her. She went to the tree where the bird was singing, andthey together flew to a little grove just by, and went to their nest.
" 'Now,' said the bear, 'let us go and see.'
" 'No,' said the wolf, 'we must wait till the old birds have gone awayagain.'
"So they noticed the place, and walked away.
"They did not stay long, for the bear was very impatient to see the nest.They returned, and the bear scrambled up the tree, expecting to amusehimself finely by frightening the young tomtits.
" 'Take care,' said the wolf; 'you had better be careful. The tomtits arelittle; but little enemies are sometimes very troublesome.'
" 'Who is afraid of a tomtit?' said the bear.
"So saying, he poked his great black nose into the nest.
" 'Who is here?' said he; 'what are you?'
"The poor birds screamed out with terror. 'Go away! Go away!' said they.
" 'What do you mean by making such a noise,' said he, 'and talking so tome? I will teach you better.' So he put his great paw on the nest, andcrowded it down until the poor little birds were almost stifled. Presentlyhe left them, and went away.
"The young tomtits were terribly frightened, and some of them were hurt.As soon as the bear was gone, their fright gave way to anger; and, soonafter, the old birds came home, and were very indignant too. They used tosee the bear, occasionally, prowling about the woods, but did not knowwhat they could do to bring him to punishment.
"Now, there was a famous glen, surrounded by high rocks, where the bearused to go and sleep, because it was a wild, solitary place. The tomtitsoften saw him there. One day, the bear was prowling around, and he saw, ata great distance, two huntsmen, with guns, coming towards the wood. Hefled to his glen in dismay, though he thought he should be safe there.
"The tomtits were flying about there, and presently they saw the huntsmen.'Now,' said one of them to the other, 'is the time to get rid of thetyrant; you go and see if he is in his glen, and then come back to whereyou hear me singing.'
"So he flew about from tree to tree, keeping in sight of the huntsmen, andsinging all the time; while the other went and found that the bear was inhis glen, crouched down in terror behind a rock.
"The tomtits then began to flutter around the huntsmen, and fly a littleway towards the glen, and then back again. This attracted the notice ofthe men, and they followed them to see what could be the matter.
"By and by, the bear saw the terrible huntsmen coming, led on by hislittle enemies, the tomtits. He sprang forward, and ran from one side ofthe glen to the other; but he could not escape. They shot him with twobullets through his head.
"The wolf happened to be near by, at that time, upon the rocks that werearound the glen; and, hearing all this noise, he came and peeped over. Assoon as he saw how the case stood, he thought it would be most prudent forhim to walk away; which he did, saying, as he went.
" 'Well, the bear has found out that it is better to have a person afriend than an enemy, whether he is great or small.' "
-------------------------------------
Here the farmer paused--he had ended the story.
"And what did they do with the bear?" said Rollo.
"O, they took off his skin to make caps of, and nailed his claws up on thebarn."
GEORGIE.
The Little Landing.
A short distance from where Rollo lives, there is a small, but verypleasant house, just under the hill, where you go down to the stone bridgeleading over the brook. There is a noble large apple tree on one side ofthe house, which bears a beautiful, sweet, and mellow kind of apple,called golden pippins. A great many other trees and flowers are around thehouse, and in the little garden on the side of it towards the brook. Thereis a small white gate that leads to the house, from the road; and there isa pleasant path leading right out from the front door, through the garden,down to the water. This is the house that Georgie lives in.
One evening, just before sunset, Rollo was coming along over the stonebridge, towards home. He stopped a moment to look over the railing, downinto the water. Presently he heard a very sweet-toned voice calling out tohim,
"Rol-lo."
Rollo looked along in the direction in which the sound came. It was fromthe bank of the stream, a little way from the road, at the place where thepath from Georgie's house came down to the water. The brook was broad, andthe water pretty smooth and still here; and it was a place where Rollo hadoften been to sail boats with Georgie. There was a little smooth, sandyplace on the shore, at the foot of the path, and they used to call itGeorgie's landing; and there was a seat close by, under the bushes.
Rollo thought it was Georgie's voice that called him, and in a minute, hesaw him sitting on his little seat, with his crutches by his side. Georgiewas a sick boy. He could not walk, but had to sit almost all day, at home,in a large easy chair, which his father had bought for him. In the winter,his chair was established in a particular corner, by the side of the fire,and he had a little case of shelves and drawers, painted green, by theside of him. In these shelves and drawers he had his books andplaythings,--his pen and ink,--his paint-box, brushes and pencils,--hisknife, and a little saw,--and a great many things which he used to makefor his amusement. Then, in the summer, his chair, and his shelves anddrawers, were moved to the end window, which looked out upon the gardenand brook. Sometimes, when he was better than usual, he could move about alittle upon crutches; and, at such times, when it was pleasant, he used togo out into the garden, and down, through it, to his landing, at thebrook.
Georgie had been sick a great many years, and when Rollo and Jonas firstknew him, he used to be very sad and unhappy. It was because the poorlittle fellow had nothing to do. His father had to work pretty hard to getfood and clothing for his family; he loved little Georgie very much, buthe could not buy him many things. Sometimes people who visited him, usedto give him playthings, and they would amuse him a little while, but hesoon grew tired of them, and had them put away. It is very hard for anybody to be happy who has not any thing to do.
It was Jonas that taught Georgie what to do. He lent him his knife, andbrought him some smooth, soft, pine wood, and taught him to makewind-mills and little boxes. Georgie liked this very much, and used to sitby his window in the summer mornings, and make playthings, hours at atime. After he had made several things, Jonas told the boys that livedabout there, that they had better buy them of him, when they had a fewcents to spend for toys; and they did. In fact, they liked the littlewindmills, and wagons, and small framed houses that Georgie made, betterthan sugar-plums and candy. Besides, they liked to go and see Georgie;for, whenever they went to buy any thing of him, he looked so contentedand happy, sitting in his easy chair, with his small and slender feetdrawn up under him, and his work on the table by his side.
Then he was a very beautiful boy too. His face was delicate and pale, butthere was such a kind and gentle expression in his mild blue eye, and somuch sweetness in the tone of his voice, that they loved very much to goand see him. In fact, all the boys were very fond of Georgie.
Ge
orgie's Money.
Georgie, at length, earned, in this way, quite a little sum of money. Itwas nearly all in cents; but then there was one fourpence which a ladygave him for a four-wheeled wagon that he made. He kept this money in acorner of his drawer, and, at last, there was quite a handful of it.
One summer evening, when Georgie's father came home from his work, he hungup his hat, and came and sat down in Georgie's corner, by the side of hislittle boy. Georgie looked up to him with a smile.
"Well, father," said he, "are you tired to-night?"
"You are the one to be tired, Georgie," said he, "sitting here alone allday."
"Hold up your hand, father," said Georgie, reaching out his own at thesame time, which was shut up, and appeared to have something in it.
"Why, what have you got for me?" said his father.
"Hold fast all I give you," replied he; and he dropped the money all intohis father's hand, and shut up his father's fingers over it.
"What is all this?" said his father.
"It is my money," said he, "for you. It is 'most all cents, but then thereis _one_ fourpence."
"I am sure, I am much obliged to you, Georgie, for this."
"O no," said Georgie, "it's only a _little_ of what you have to spend forme."
Georgie's father took the money, and put it in his pocket, and the nextday he went to Jonas, and told him about it, and asked Jonas to spend itin buying such things as he thought would be useful to Georgie; eitherplaythings, or tools, or materials to work with.