When the trees were green and the hedges full of wild roses, and birds
singing, and butterflies fluttering over the sweet clover-fields, in the
pleasant month of June, Willie and Alice Grey received an invitation to
go to their grandpapa's on the last day of hay-making, when the hay is
carted and stacked. Their grandpapa had a garden, a field, and a cow,
and a swing in the field; and at all times, to go to see him and their
aunts was a great pleasure, but at hay-making time it was more than ever
delightful; so they set out with their mama and their favourite dog
Ranger, in joyous spirits.
It was a bright sunny morning and very warm, and the road was very
dusty, so that, happy as they were, they could not help feeling tired
before half the walk was over; and when they came in sight of Farmer
Dale's they wished "this was grandpapa's," and sat down by the gate,
thinking it would be very nice if they might go by the fields instead
of the dusty road. At this moment they heard the sound of wheels, and
horses' feet coming tramp, tramp, behind the hedge, and looking through
the gate, they saw Farmer Dale's horse and wagon with Charley the
carter walking by the side.
"Ah Charley!" cried Willie, "where are you going?"
"To Squire Wakefield's," answered he, "to cart his hay."
"Then we shall see you again presently, for we are going to grandpapa's
too," said Willie.
"Wo! Smiler," said Charley, and the horse stopped.
Charley began to open the gate, then touched his hat, and asked Mrs.
Grey if she would please to walk in and go through the fields. She was
very much obliged to him, and the children were delighted to get on the
grass. They ran along by the side of the cart, looking at the great
horse as he went on so strongly, and as if he did not feel the weight of
the cart in the least.
"What is all that wood for, that you have in the wagon?" asked Alice.
"That is to lay under the hay-stack. The hay is laid on wood, not on the
damp ground, you see, Miss. If it was not for the wood, you and Master
Willie might have got into the cart and had a ride, but you might get
hurt some way if it shook about."
"Thank you, Charley; I should have liked it very much," said she.
"Wo! Smiler," said Charley again, and again Smiler stopped.
"You could both ride on Smiler's back, if you're not afraid," said
Charley.
"May we, mama?" cried Alice. "I should like it very much, only it looks
so high up."
"Suppose we should tumble off," said little Willie, rather doubtfully.
Their mama was a little afraid at first too, but Charley assured her he
would take great care of the young gentleman and lady; and presently
Willie felt quite courageous and was lifted up and seated very firmly,
and took fast hold of the collar. Then Charley lifted up Alice, and she
put her arm round Willie's waist. Then Ranger began to bark and leap up
as if he wanted to have a ride too.
"Stay by us, mama," cried Willie. "What a height we are from the
ground!"
"Oh yes, stay by us," said Alice, who could not help feeling a little
frightened too.
"I will stay by you," said their mama; "sit firm, and you are in no
danger."
"Now hold fast," cried Charley. "Gee wot! Smiler!" and away went
Smiler, tramp, tramp again. Very soon they got used to the motion, and
laughed and chatted, and enjoyed it very much. Ranger went on, jumping
and barking all the way; but Smiler did not mind: he never stopped. It
was all their mama could do to keep up with them.
"Open the gate. Look where we are," cried Willie, when they stopped at
their grandpapa's field, and smelt the sweet new hay. The gate was
thrown open, and in they went in triumph, and were soon surrounded by a
whole troop of merry people, with hay-forks and rakes in their hands and
lifted down and kissed and welcomed by all.
There were Aunt Lucy, and Aunt Emily, and Uncle John, and there were
their little cousins Mary and Janey, with their elder brother Robert,
and their friends Herbert and Meggy, with their papa and mama. And there
were Thomas, the gardener, and two hay-makers, whose names were Joe and
Roger, and Emma, the cook, and Harriet, the housemaid. All were in the
field, hard at work, spreading the large hay-cocks into long ridges
ready to cart.
Willie and Alice were first taken to the summer-house, in one corner of
the field, to have some cake and milk, and then a little rake was given
to each, and they went hard to work, raking the hay like the rest.
The wagon was standing behind the summer-house, by the place where the
stack was to be made, and Thomas was busy unloading it, and laying the
wood in a proper form, ready to lay the hay on. This was soon done, and
he got into the wagon himself, fork in hand.
"Who will have a ride down the field?" he cried.
"I will,--I will,--let me,--take me up," cried many voices, and in two
minutes every child there was seated in the wagon, and away went Smiler
with them down the field, and Charley led him to the end of one of the
long ridges of hay.
Now out they must all come as fast as they got in. Uncle John held out
his hands, and jumped them down one after another, on to the ridge of
hay, and ended by burying them under it. But Thomas called out, that it
was not time to play yet, so they all scrambled up as well as they could
for laughing. Joe and Roger, Uncle John and Robert, forked up the hay
and threw it into the wagon, and Thomas, standing up in it, packed it
all even; all the rest raked after them, collecting what was scattered,
and Charley led Smiler on and on, as they cleared. Soon there was a good
heaped load.
"Who will have a ride on the top of the hay?" cries Thomas.
All the children were ready. So now Uncle John must lift them up, and,
as Thomas received them, and seated them on the dry loose hay, they sunk
in it very comfortably, and their faces peeped out like the young birds
in a nest. When Smiler moved on they set up a shout, and grandpapa
himself came out to see what was doing.
"Here we are! Ah, grandpapa, come up too!" cried Alice and Willie; but
he laughed, and said, "that would never do for him."
Now they had to be handed down again, sliding and jumping as well as
they could, for the wagon was led to the right place, and the hay was to
be forked out and laid in order on the wood. Joe and Roger built the
stack; Thomas, Robert, and Uncle John threw the hay out of the wagon;
the rest had time to rest or play; only a few had to rake what was
scattered by the wind or dropped, and Thomas soon sent them all to shake
the rest of the cocks into ridges.
Now came a new visitor into the field: it was Daisy, the cow. All the
time the grass was growing, she had been kept in the cow-house, but now
Aunt Lucy had determined she should come and enjoy the pleasant air and
grass once more. Daisy was a pretty Guernsey cow, with short horns, a
small head, short legs, and was prettily spotted white and light brown.
She was very gentle and tame, but she was young and playful; so when she
found herself once more in her field, she set off, levelled her horns at
a large hay-cock, knocked it down, and ran round by the hedge with a
great bunch of hay on her head. Everybody laughed, and grandpapa
declared it was exactly as if she had said to the hay-cock, "So it was
for you I was shut up all this time! down with you!"
"You ought to have jumped over it, Daisy!" cried Uncle John.
"Uncle John must jump over a hay-cock!" cried Alice.
"Yes, yes, Uncle John. _Do_ jump over a hay-cock," exclaimed several
voices.
"To be sure I will," he said; so he laid down his fork, took off his
straw hat, chose out one of the tallest hay-cocks, went back several
paces, took a run, then a jump; but, high as he jumped, it was not high
enough. His foot came thump against the top of the hay-cock, knocked it
off, and he tumbled down on the other side, where he was buried under
the rest of it by the children the next minute.
There is no saying when he would have got out; but the sight of the
empty wagon, going down the field, made them all eager for a ride, and
Uncle John must crawl out and help them in; and then every one was hard
at work again.
By-and-bye it was dinner time. A cold dinner was ready for every one,
and it was surprising what appetites they had; but the children could
not sit long,--they must be off to the field again; and as the men were
not ready to go on yet, they began to play. They pelted each other with
hay. Little Willie was seized as he was running along with a load on his
head to throw at some one, laid on a hay-cock, and quite hid under a
heap; then out he got, and Alice was smothered, then all the others.
"Would anybody like a swing?" cried Robert, who had just come out.
Everybody liked swinging, so to the swing all went. It was hung to one
of the arms of a large elm tree. Alice was put in first, and Robert
swung her so high that she touched the green leaves and branches with
her feet, and she enjoyed it very much; but she soon called out to him
to stop, that some one else might come in. Herbert was such a bold
swinger that he liked to stand up on the board, and Janey stood up with
him; they held tight, and went up as high as Alice had done. Then
little Willie and Mary were put in side by side, and swung together, and
then Meggy had her turn; and while she was scudding through the air,
first touching the high branches with her head, then with the tips of
her toes, Thomas called all to work again.
Smiler had been taken out of the shafts and allowed to feed where he
liked, but now he must be fastened in again; and as Charley had gone a
message, Joe undertook to do it, and was a long time over it, for he did
not understand how to fasten the buckles; however, it was done at last,
and he led the wagon while the others loaded, and then the children were
mounted on the top as before. They had got to the lower part of the
field, and Smiler had to drag them up a steep bank. As he was straining
up, and had nearly reached the top, one of the buckles, not properly
fastened by Joe, gave way. Up went the shafts down went the back of the
wagon, and out fell all the hay and all the children with it on the
grass. Smiler walked off quietly, and began to eat grass very
contentedly; grandpapa, uncle, aunts, papas, mamas, rushed to the spot
in alarm. Nothing was to be seen of children, nothing but a great heap
of hay; but the hay began to shake, and out came a head, then a foot,
then a hand, then several heads, feet, and hands; then some were able
to laugh, others to cry, and others to answer the anxious question, "Are
you hurt?"
No one was hurt. Alice's bonnet was beaten flat over her eyes, but her
mama soon straightened it; Meggy's frock was torn, but Aunt Emily
brought out a needle and thread and mended it; Herbert lost a top out of
his pocket, and Willie could not find his cap, till the hay was nearly
all flung into the wagon again; but when they had shaken themselves
well, and had got the hay out of their mouths and hair as well as they
could, it was declared that no harm was done. It happened, however, that
though Charley now fastened the harness right and tight, no one asked to
get up on the next load or two; they preferred rather to run by the
side.
The sun began to go round towards the west, and the trees to cast a
longer shadow, and the field was nearly cleared; but now tea was ready
under a spreading beech. Such a great tea-pot, such an immense jug of
milk, such platefuls of cake and bread and butter, such piled heaps of
strawberries and cherries were there for them, as they had never seen
before; and much they enjoyed everything.
"What are those bright ribbons for, Aunt Lucy?" cried somebody. And, all
leaving the remains of the feast, found the grass covered with bits of
ribbon of every colour.
"Where are your rakes?" said she. "Choose your colours. All of you must
have a streamer on your rakes when the last load goes to be stacked."
Now there was a great bustle. One would have green, another blue,
another pink, another white. Then the forks were dressed; and then for
papas and mamas, who had not been at work, long sticks were cut, and
ribbons tied on them. Smiler must be dressed now. He had bunches of
green leaves at each ear; and, as ribbon failed, long strips of
bright-coloured calico were torn up and tied about his mane, tail, and
harness. Ranger was caught, and had a fine collar of blue and red, with
a large bow put on, and Herbert's little dog Ponto was made splendid, by
tying bright strips to his long white hair all over him.
The carting was going on, and rakers were soon called for. The field was
cleared; the wagon was about half full, and it was the last load.
All must mount now, rakes and forks in hand. Not only
children.--grandpapa was in, now papa, now mama, now Aunt Lucy, now Aunt
Emily and Uncle John, and Emma and Harriet. All were in. Charley walked
at the head, a long red streamer on his whip. Joe and Roger waited on
the stack, streamers on their forks.
"Now hold up your rakes and forks, and shout for the last load," cries
Thomas. He was obeyed; there was a famous shout.
They stopped at the stack. "Master must please to get up on the stack,
and Joe and Roger must come down."
Grandpapa mounted on the stack; all the rest stood up in the wagon.
"Three cheers for Squire Wakefield! whose hay we have got in this day,"
cries Thomas.
There were three capital cheers, and then Mr. Wakefield, thanking them,
told them supper would be ready in half an hour, and invited them all to
partake.
It was a lovely evening, and the long supper table was laid in the
garden, on the lawn. The children helped to lay the tables, and were
ready and delighted to wait on the company at supper. There was
abundance of everything, and the tables looked beautiful when the high
vases of flowers and heaped dishes of fruit were placed among the
substantial dishes.
The hay was stacked, Smiler put up in the stable, and Thomas and his two
assistants, with Charley, had come into the garden; and now the guests
began to arrive,--Thomas's wife and three children, Emma's brother and
sister, Harriet's father and sister, Charley's old mother, Joe's wife,
Roger's mother and sister. There were seats for everybody. Mr. Wakefield
and Aunt Lucy took the two ends of the table, and the children waited on
all. Everything was so well arranged that they found it quite easy, and
when they had no more to do they formed rings on the grass, and danced
to their own voices.
Then songs were sung, and the children sometimes joined in chorus, and
pleasant stories were told, and they stopped their dance to listen. The
sun had gone down in a golden sky, and the moon was up when the happy
party separated. The children stayed all night; every sofa and bed was
full, and the moon that lighted the other guests to their several homes,
peeped in at the windows of Mr. Wakefield's cottage on many little
eyelids fast closed in sleep after a very merry day.
[Illustration: ROSE AND HARRY.]