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Stuyvesant
_A FRANCONIA STORY_
BY JACOB ABBOTT
ILLUSTRATED
NEW YORK AND LONDON
HARPER & BROTHERS PUBLISHERS
1904
Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1853, by
HARPER & BROTHERS,
In the Clerk's Office of the Southern District of New York.
Copyright, 1881, by BENJAMIN VAUGHAN ABBOTT, AUSTIN
ABBOTT, LYMAN ABBOTT, and EDWARD ABBOTT.
[Illustration: THE BOYS AT THE MILL.]
PREFACE.
The development of the moral sentiments in the human heart, in early
life,--and every thing in fact which relates to the formation of
character,--is determined in a far greater degree by sympathy, and by
the influence of example, than by formal precepts and didactic
instruction. If a boy hears his father speaking kindly to a robin in
the spring,--welcoming its coming and offering it food,--there arises
at once in his own mind, a feeling of kindness toward the bird, and
toward all the animal creation, which is produced by a sort of
sympathetic action, a power somewhat similar to what in physical
philosophy is called _induction_. On the other hand, if the father,
instead of feeding the bird, goes eagerly for a gun, in order that he
may shoot it, the boy will sympathize in that desire, and growing up
under such an influence, there will be gradually formed within him,
through the mysterious tendency of the youthful heart to vibrate in
unison with hearts that are near, a disposition to kill and destroy
all helpless beings that come within his power. There is no need of
any formal instruction in either case. Of a thousand children brought
up under the former of the above-described influences, nearly every
one, when he sees a bird, will wish to go and get crumbs to feed it,
while in the latter case, nearly every one will just as certainly look
for a stone. Thus the growing up in the right atmosphere, rather than
the receiving of the right instruction, is the condition which it is
most important to secure, in plans for forming the characters of
children.
It is in accordance with this philosophy that these stories, though
written mainly with a view to their moral influence on the hearts and
dispositions of the readers, contain very little formal exhortation
and instruction. They present quiet and peaceful pictures of happy
domestic life, portraying generally such conduct, and expressing such
sentiments and feelings, as it is desirable to exhibit and express in
the presence of children.
The books, however, will be found, perhaps, after all, to be useful
mainly in entertaining and amusing the youthful readers who may peruse
them, as the writing of them has been the amusement and recreation of
the author in the intervals of more serious pursuits.
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER PAGE
I.--THE CAVERN, 11
II.--BOYISHNESS, 30
III.--THE PLOWING, 47
IV.--NEGOTIATIONS, 66
V.--PLANS FOR THE SQUIRREL, 85
VI.--DIFFICULTY, 96
VII.--THE WORK SHOP, 111
VIII.--A DISCOVERY, 130
IX.--THE ACCIDENT, 148
X.--GOOD ADVICE, 165
XI.--THE JOURNEY HOME, 181
ENGRAVINGS
PAGE
THE BOYS AT THE MILL--FRONTISPIECE.
GOING OUT THE GATE, 18
THE CAVERN, 27
THE TRAP, 40
THE HORNET'S NEST, 57
OXEN DRINKING, 60
BEECHNUT'S ADVICE, 89
THE APPEAL, 105
FRINK ON THE BEAM, 119
DOROTHY'S FIRE, 140
THE DOCTOR'S VISIT, 163
THE EFFIGY, 168
FRINK IN THE PARLOR, 179
THE DEPARTURE, 190
SCENE OF THE STORY.
Franconia, a place among the mountains at the North. The time is
summer.
PRINCIPAL PERSONS.
MRS. HENRY, a lady residing at Franconia.
ALPHONZO, commonly called Phonny, about nine years old.
MALLEVILLE, Phonny's cousin from New York, seven years old.
WALLACE, Malleville's brother, a college student, visiting Franconia
at this season.
STUYVESANT, Wallace's brother, about nine years old.
ANTOINE BIANCHINETTE, commonly called Beechnut, a French boy, now
about fourteen years old, living at Mrs. Henry's.
STUYVESANT.
CHAPTER I.
THE CAVERN.
One pleasant summer morning Alphonzo was amusing himself by swinging
on a gate in front of his mother's house. His cousin Malleville, who
was then about eight years old, was sitting upon a stone outside of
the gate, by the roadside, in a sort of corner that was formed between
the wall and a great tree which was growing there. Malleville was
employed in telling her kitten a story.
The kitten was sitting near Malleville, upon a higher stone.
Malleville was leaning upon this stone, looking the kitten in the
face. The kitten was looking down, but she seemed to be listening very
attentively.
"Now, Kitty," said Malleville, "if you will sit still and hark, I will
tell you a story,--a story about a mouse. I read it in a book. Once
there was a mouse, and he was white, and he lived in a cage. No I
forgot,--there were three mice. I'll begin again.
"Once there was a boy, and he had three white mice, and he kept them
in a cage."
Here Malleville's story was interrupted by Phonny, who suddenly called
out:
"Here comes Beechnut, Malleville."
"I don't care," said Malleville, "I'm telling a story to Kitty, and
you must not interrupt me."
Here the kitten jumped down from the stone and ran away.
"Now Phonny!" said Malleville, "see what you have done;--you have made
my Kitty go away."
"I didn't make her go away," said Phonny.
"Yes you did," said Malleville, "you interrupted my story, and that
made her go away."
Phonny laughed aloud at this assertion, though Malleville continued to
look very serious. Phonny then repeated that he did not make the
kitten go away, and besides, he said, he thought that it was very
childish to pretend to tell a story to a kitten.
Malleville said that she did not think it was childish at all; for
_her_ kitten liked to hear stories. Phonny, at this, laughed again,
and then Malleville, appearing to be still more displeased, said that
she was not any more childish than Phonny himself was.
By this time Beechnut, as Phonny called him, had come up. He was
driving a cart. The cart was loaded with wood. The wood consisted of
small and dry sticks, which Beechnut had gathered together in the
forest.
"Beechnut," said Phonny, "are you going into the woods again for
another load?"
"Yes," said Beechnut.
"And may I go with you?" said Phonny.
"Yes," said Beechnut.
"And I?" said Malleville.
"Yes," said Beechnut.
Beechnut drove on into the yard, and at length stopped near a great
woodpile. Beechnut began to throw off the wood. Phonny climbed up into
the cart too, to help Beechnut unload. Malleville sat down upon a log
lying near to see.
While they were at work thus, throwing off the wood, Phonny, instead
of taking the smallest sticks that came in his way, tried always to
get hold of the largest. He had three motives for doing this, all
mingled together. The first was a pleasure in exercising his own
strength; the second, a desire to show Malleville that he was no
child; and the third, to make a display of his strength to Beechnut.
After a while, when the load had been about half thrown off, Phonny
stopped his work, straightened himself up with an air of great
self-satisfaction and said,
"Malleville says I am childish; do you think I am, Beechnut?"
"No," said Malleville, "I did not say so." She began to be a little
frightened at this appeal to Beechnut.
"Yes," said Phonny, "you certainly did."
"No," said Malleville.
"What did you say?" asked Phonny.
"I said I was not childish myself, any more than you."
"Well, that is the same thing," said Phonny.
Malleville was silent. She thought that it was a different thing, but
she did not know very well how to explain the difference.
In the mean time Beechnut went on unloading the wood.
"Do _you_ think I am childish at all, Beechnut," said Phonny.
"Why I don't know," said Beechnut, doubtfully. "I don't know how many
childish things it is necessary for a boy to do, in order to be
considered as childish in character; but I have known you to do _two_
childish things within half an hour."
Phonny seemed a little surprised and a little confused at this, and
after a moment's pause he said:
"I know what one of them is, I guess."
"What?" asked Beechnut.
"Swinging on the gate."
"No," said Beechnut, "I did not mean that. You have done things a
great deal more childish than that."
"What?" said Phonny.
"The first was," said Beechnut, "making a dispute with Malleville, by
appealing to me to decide whether you were childish."
"Why I ought to know if I am childish," said Phonny, "so that if I am,
I may correct the fault."
"I don't think that that was your motive," said Beechnut, "in asking.
If you had wished to know my opinion in order to correct yourself of
the fault, you would have asked me some time privately. I think that
your motive was a wish to get a triumph over Malleville."
"Oh, Beechnut!" said Phonny.
Although Phonny said Oh Beechnut, he still had a secret conviction
that what Beechnut had said was true. He was silent a moment, and then
he asked what was the other childishness which Beechnut had seen
within half an hour.
"In unloading this wood," said Beechnut, "you tried to get hold of the
biggest sticks, even when they were partly buried under the little
ones, and thus worked to great disadvantage. _Men_ take the smaller
ones off first, and so clear the way to get at the larger ones. But
boys make a great ado in getting hold of the largest ones they can
see, by way of showing the by-standers how strong they are."
"Well," said Phonny, "I will throw off the little ones after this."
So Phonny went to work again, and in throwing off the remainder of the
load, he acted in a much more sensible and advantageous manner than he
had done before. The cart was soon empty. Beechnut then went into the
house and brought out a small chair; this he placed in the middle of
the cart, for Malleville. He also placed a board across the cart in
front, in such a manner that the ends of the board rested upon the
sides of the cart. The board thus formed a seat for Beechnut and
Phonny. Beechnut then gave the reins to Phonny, who had taken his seat
upon the board, while he, himself, went to help Malleville in.
He led Malleville up to the cart behind, and putting his hands under
her arms, he said "Jump!" Malleville jumped--Beechnut at the same time
lifting to help her. She did not however quite get up, and so Beechnut
let her down to the ground again.
"Once more," said Beechnut.
So Malleville tried again. She went a little higher this time than
before, but not quite high enough.
"That makes twice," said Beechnut. "The rule is,
"Try it once, try it twice,
And then once more, and that makes thrice."
The third time Malleville seemed to be endowed with some new and
supernatural strength in her jumping: for she bounded so high that her
feet rose almost to a level with the top of the seat, and then, as she
came down gently upon the floor of the cart, Beechnut released his
hold upon her, and she walked to her chair and sat down. Beechnut then
mounted to his place by the side of Phonny, and the whole party rode
away.
[Illustration: GOING OUT THE GATE.]
After riding along for some distance, Phonny asked Beechnut if he
really thought that he was childish.
"Why no," said Beechnut, "not particularly. You are a little boyish
sometimes, and I suppose that that is to be expected, since you are
really a boy. But you are growing older every year, and I see some
marks of manliness in you, now and then. How old are you now?"
"I am nine years and five months," said Phonny. "That is, I am about
half-past nine."
"That is pretty old," said Beechnut, "but then I suppose I must expect
you to be a boy some time longer."
"Beechnut," said Phonny, "did you know that my cousin Wallace was
coming here pretty soon?"
"Is he?" said Beechnut. "From college?"
"Yes," said Phonny, "it is his vacation. He is coming here to spend
his vacation."
"I am glad of that," said Beechnut. "I like to have him here."
"And my cousin Stuyvesant is coming too," said Phonny.
"Stuyvesant is my brother," said Malleville.
"How old is he?" asked Beechnut.
"He is only nine," said Phonny.
"Then he is not so old as you are," said Beechnut.
"Not quite," said Phonny.
"And I suppose of course, he will be more of a boy than you," said
Beechnut.
"I don't know," said Phonny.
"We shall see," said Beechnut.
Just then, Phonny heard the sound of wheels behind him. He turned
round and saw a wagon coming along the road.
"Here comes a wagon," said he. "I am going to whip up, so that they
shall not go by us."
"No," said Beechnut, "turn out to one side of the road, and walk the
horse, and let them go by."
"Why?" asked Phonny.
"I'll tell you presently," said Beechnut, "after the wagon has got
before us."
Phonny turned out of the road and let the wagon drive by, and then
Beechnut told him that the reason why he was not willing to have him
whip up and keep ahead was, that he wanted to use the strength of the
horse that day, in hauling wood, and not to waste it in galloping
along the road, racing with a wagon.
At length the party reached a place where there was a pair of bars by
the roadside, and a way leading in, to a sort of pasture. Phonny knew
that this was where Beechnut was going, and so he turned in. The road
was rough, and Malleville had to hold on very carefully to the side of
the cart as they went along. Presently the road went into a wood, and
after going on some way in this wood, Beechnut directed Phonny to
stop, and they all got out.
"Now, Phonny," said Beechnut, "you can have your choice either to work
or play."
"What do you think that I had better do?" said Phonny.
"Play, I rather think," said Beechnut.
"I thought you would say work," said Phonny.
"You had better play, in order to keep Malleville company," said
Beechnut.
"Well," said Phonny, "I will."
So while Beechnut went to work to get a new load of wood, Phonny and
Malleville went away to play.
There was a precipice of rocks near the place where Beechnut was
loading his cart, with a great many large rocks at the foot of it. The
top of the precipice was crowned with trees, and there were also a
great many bushes and trees growing among the rocks below. It was a
very wild and romantic place, and Phonny and Malleville liked to play
there very much indeed.
After a time Phonny called out to Beechnut to inquire whether he had
any matches in his pocket. He said that he and Malleville were going
to build a fire.
"Yes," said Beechnut, "I have. Come here and I will give you some."
So Phonny sent Malleville after the matches, while he collected dry
wood for a fire. When Malleville returned, she gave Phonny the
matches, and told him that Beechnut said that they must make the fire
on the _rocks_ somewhere, or in some other safe place, so that it
should not spread into the woods.
"Well," said Phonny, "I will look about and find a good place."
Accordingly, he began to walk along at the foot of the precipice,
examining every recess among the rocks, and all the nooks and corners
which seemed to promise well, as places of encampment. Malleville
could not quite keep up with him on account of the roughnesses and
inequalities of the way.
At last Malleville, who had fallen a little behind, heard Phonny
calling to her in tones of great delight. She hastened on. In a
moment she saw Phonny before her just coming out from among the bushes
and calling to her,
"Malleville! Malleville! come here quick!--I have found a cavern."
Malleville went on, and presently she came in view of what Phonny
called a cavern. It was a place where two immense fragments of rock
leaned over toward each other, so as to form a sort of roof, beneath
which was an inclosure which Phonny called a cavern. He might perhaps
have more properly called it a grotto. There was a great flat stone at
the bottom of the cavern, which made an excellent floor, and there was
an open place in the top behind, where Phonny thought that the smoke
would go out if he should make a fire.
"There, Malleville," said Phonny, when she came where she could see
the cavern, "that is what I call a discovery. We will play that we are
savages, and that we live in a cavern."
Phonny rolled two large stones into the cavern, and placed them in the
back part of it, where he intended to build his fire. These stones
were for andirons. Then he began to bring in logs, and sticks, and
branches of trees, such as he found lying upon the ground dead and
dry. These he piled up inside of the cavern in a sort of corner, where
there was a deep recess or crevice, which was very convenient for
holding the wood.
Malleville helped him do all this. When a sufficient supply of wood
was gathered, Phonny laid some of it across his stone andirons, and
then prepared to light the fire.
He rubbed one of his matches against a dry log, and the match
immediately kindled. Phonny looked at the blue flame a moment, and
then, as if some sudden thought had struck him, he blew it out again,
and said,
"On the whole, I will go and ask Beechnut. We may as well be sure."
So he ran down from the entrance of the cavern, and thence along by
the way that they had come, through the thicket, until he came in
sight of Beechnut.
"Beechnut," said he, calling out very loud, "we have found a
cavern;--may we build a fire in it?"
"Yes," said Beechnut.
Then Phonny went back, and telling Malleville that Beechnut had said
yes, he proceeded to kindle his fire.
It happened that there were two large stones, tolerably square in
form, each of them, and flat upon the upper side, which were lying in
the cavern in such places as to be very convenient for seats. When the
fire began to burn, Phonny sat down upon one of these seats, and gave
Malleville the other. The fire blazed up very cheerily, and the smoke
and sparks, winding their way up the side of the rock, which formed
the back of the cavern, escaped out through the opening at the top in
a very satisfactory manner.
"There," said Phonny, "this is what I call comfortable. If we only now
had something to eat, it is all I should want."
"I'll tell you what," said he again, after a moment's pause, "we will
send home by Beechnut, when he goes with his next load, to get us
something to eat."
"Well," said Malleville, "so we will."
Beechnut very readily undertook the commission of bringing Phonny and
Malleville something to eat. Accordingly, when his cart was loaded he
went away, leaving Phonny and Malleville in their cavern. While he was
gone the children employed themselves in bringing flat stones, and
making a fireplace by building walls on each side of their fire.
In due time Beechnut returned, bringing with him a large round box,
which he said that Mrs. Henry had sent to Phonny and Malleville. It
was too heavy for Phonny to lift easily, and so Beechnut drove his
cart along until it was nearly opposite the cavern. Then he took the
box out of the cart and carried it into the cavern, and laid it down
upon Malleville's seat.
Phonny opened it, and he found that it contained a variety of stores.
There were four potatoes and four apples, each rolled up in a separate
paper. There were also two crackers. These crackers were in a tin mug,
just big enough to hold them, one on the top of the other. The mug,
Phonny said, was for them to drink from, and as there was a spring by
the side of the cavern they had plenty of water.
"One cracker is for me," said Phonny, "and the other for you,
Malleville. I mean to split my cracker in two, and toast the halves."
At the bottom of the box there was half a pie.
[Illustration: THE CAVERN.]
Beechnut stopped to see what the box contained, and then he went away
to his work again. As he went away, he told the children that Mrs.
Henry said that they need not come home to dinner that day, unless
they chose to do so,--but might make their dinner, if they pleased, in
the cavern, from what she had sent them in the box.
The children were very much pleased with this plan. They remained in
the cavern a long time. They roasted their potatoes in the fire, and
their apples in front of it. They toasted their crackers and warmed
their pie, by placing them against a stone between the andirons; and
they got water, whenever they were thirsty, in the dipper from the
spring.
At length, about the middle of the afternoon, when their interest in
the cavern was beginning to decline, their thoughts were suddenly
turned away from it altogether, by the news which Beechnut announced
to them on his return from the house, after his eighth load, that
Wallace had arrived.
"And has my brother Stuyvesant come too?" asked Malleville.
"I suppose so," said Beechnut, "there was a boy with him, about as
large as Phonny, but I did not hear what his name was."
"Oh, it is he! it is he!" said Malleville, clapping her hands.
Phonny and Malleville mounted upon the top of the load as soon as
Beechnut got it ready, and rode home. They ran into the house, while
Beechnut went to unload his wood. Just as Beechnut was ready to go out
of the yard again with his empty cart, Phonny came out.
"Cousin Wallace has really come," said Phonny.
"Ah!" said Beechnut, "and what does he have to say?"
"Why, he says," replied Phonny, "that he is going to make a man of
me."
"Is he?" said Beechnut. "Well, I hope he will take proper time for it.
I have no great opinion of the plan of making men out of boys before
their time."
So saying, Beechnut drove away, and Phonny went in.