shining stone, which he called a silver stone. And thus they disputed,
and talked loudly and vociferously, and contradicted, interrupted,
pushed, and crowded each other. Still, they were all good-natured; that
is, they were not angry; the difficulty only arose from their eagerness
and their numbers,--and their disorganization.
"O dear me," said Rollo, at length, "I wish we had a regent again; we
got along very well, while Lucy was a regent. Let me be regent now.
Come, Henry and James, let me be regent, and I will direct, and then we
shall have order again."
"Well," said James.
"No," said Henry, "you have not been elected. You can't be regent,
unless you are chosen regularly."
Lucy said nothing, but stood behind the others in despair.
"Well, then, let Lucy be regent; she was chosen."
"But I was only chosen regent for the walk," said Lucy.
"O never mind," said Rollo, "let her be regent now."
But Henry was not disposed to submit to any doubtful authority. He kept
at work putting things in, in the way that pleased him most, without any
regard to Rollo's proposal for prolonging Lucy's authority. As Henry did
not acquiesce in this proposed measure, Rollo and James seemed to think
it was useless for them to do so, and so they went much as they had
begun, until they had pretty well filled up Jonas's cabinet with a
perfect medley of specimens, the worthy and the worthless all together.
They were at length interrupted by the sound of the bell, calling Rollo
in to tea; Henry then went home, and James, Lucy, and Rollo went into
the house.
ORGANIZATION.
James and Lucy staid and took tea with Rollo that evening; and, during
tea time, Rollo's father and mother were talking, and the boys were all
still. At last, just before they had finished their supper, Rollo's
father asked them how they had got along collecting curiosities.
"O, we had a very good time," said Rollo, "till we came to put our
curiosities away; and then we should have had a good time if the boys
had not pushed so, and made such a noise."
"What made them do so?" asked his mother.
"I don't know, unless it was because we did not have any regent."
"Any what?" said his father.
"Any regent," said Rollo. "We had Lucy for a regent while we were
walking, and then we got along very well; but she would not be regent
any longer, when we got home."
Rollo's father and mother scarcely knew what to make of this; for they
had never heard before of a regent in children's plays. But as they
looked towards Mary, and observed that she was smiling, they at once
understood that it was one of her plans. Rollo's father said he thought
it was an excellent idea.
"But why did not you have a regent when you were putting your things
away, just as you had before?" he asked.
"Why, Lucy said she was only chosen for the walk."
"And so she would not serve any longer?"
"No, sir."
"That was right, Lucy. Never attempt to command without a commission.
"But, Rollo," added his father, "I should think it would be best for you
to have some sort of organization, if you are going to attempt to do any
thing in company. Men never think that they can accomplish any thing in
company, without organization; and I should certainly think that
children would not be able to."
"Organization?" said Rollo; "what is that?"
"Why, some plan for investing some persons with authority. There must
always be authority to decide little questions without debate, and for
getting the opinions of all, on great questions, regularly.
"If a number of men," he continued, "were going to form a cabinet of
curiosities, they would form a _society_. They would choose one to be
president, and one to be secretary, and one to be cabinet keeper."
"What does the president do?" asked Lucy.
"The president decides who shall speak, when several want to speak at
the same time; and so he prevents all confusion. Nobody must speak
without his leave."
"Do they have to ask him?" said Rollo.
"Yes, in fact, they ask him, though not formally in words. They ask him
by rising. In large meetings among men, whoever wants to speak, stands
up, and then the president calls their name, and that is giving him
permission to speak. If more than one stand up at a time, then he calls
the name of one of them, and _he_ has leave to speak, and the other
must sit down."
"Which one does he call?" asked Rollo.
"The one whom he happens to notice first. He must be careful not to call
his friends more than he does other persons. He must be impartial. Then,
besides, the president _puts the question_."
"Puts the question?" asked Rollo; "what is putting the question?"
"Why, after all has been said about the plan that they want to say, the
president asks all that are in favor of it, to hold up their hands; and
he counts them. Then he asks all that are against it to hold up their
hands. He counts these too. And it is decided according to the number of
votes."
"Is that the way they do?" said Rollo.
"Yes," replied his father, "that is the way that men do; but boys all
talk together, and dispute. If some want to play ball, and some want to
play horses, they all talk together, and dispute; it is all,--'I say we
will,' and 'I say we won't,'--and those that make the most noise get the
victory."
"The men's way is the best," said Rollo.
"I think so myself," replied his father.
"And what does the secretary do?" asked Mary.
"The secretary keeps the record. He writes an account of every meeting."
"Does he write all that every body says?" asked Rollo.
"No," said his father, "only the decisions."
"Well," said Rollo, with a tone of satisfaction, "and the cabinet keeper
keeps the cabinet, I suppose."
"Yes," said his father, "and so all disputings about where the things
are to be placed in the cabinet, are avoided; for he decides the whole.
He must be a person of judgment and skill."
"Jonas would be a good cabinet keeper for us," said Rollo.
"I think you had better form a regular society, Rollo," said Mary.
"Well," said Rollo, "will you belong to it?"
"Yes," said Mary.
"And we can choose our officers by lilac ballots," said James.
"We'll have the first meeting to-morrow afternoon," said Rollo. "I will
go in the morning, and ask Henry to come,--if mother will let me."
* * * * *
His mother did let him, and the next afternoon the children all
collected in the yard, intending to form their society, and proceed
regularly. Mary promised to meet with them, and help them make their
arrangements. They were to meet in the play room.
Before the time of the meeting, Mary went in, and, with Rollo's help,
made some seats of boards, not far from the cabinet, so that all the
members of the society might sit down. The children played about in the
yard, some gathering lilac leaves for ballots, and some talking about
the curiosities they meant to collect, until, at length, Mary came down
and told them it was time to go and have their meeting. She had a great
many little papers in one hand, and some pencils in the other. James
asked her what she was going to do with those papers. She said they were
for ballots.
"O, we have been getting lilac leaves for ballots," said Lucy.
"Papers are better," said Mary, "when there is a good deal of balloting
to be done."
Then the children threw down the lilac leaves they had gathered, and
followed Mary into the play room. They all came around the cabinet, and
began to open it and talk about the curiosities. But Mary told them
that, if they were going to have a society, they must not touch the
cabinet until they had appointed a cabinet keeper--they ought all to go
and sit down.
So they went and sat down.
"And now you must not talk at all, until the president is chosen," said
Mary. "You must all write upon these papers the name of the person you
think best for president, and then bring them to me. You see," she
continued, as she distributed the papers around, to the other children,
"that I am acting as president just now, until we get one chosen. That
is the way men do. I asked father about it. He said that the oldest
person, or one of the oldest, generally took charge of the proceedings,
until a chairman was chosen."
"A chairman?" said Rollo.
[Illustration]
"Yes, or president; sometimes they call him a chairman."
So the children took their papers, and began to prepare for writing
their ballots.
"What shall we put our papers on, cousin Mary, to write?" said Lucy.
"O, you must write on the seat by the side of you,--or on this book;
here is a book for one."
"I can write on my cap," said James; and he placed his cap upon his
knees, and began to use that for a desk. One of the children took the
book, and others leaned over to one side, and put their papers upon the
seat, and prepared to write there. Some began to write very soon. Others
looked around mysteriously, considering which one of the company would
make the best president. Henry stood up by the great work bench, and
made that his writing-desk; keeping a sharp look-out all the time lest
Rollo should see what he should write. And thus the children prepared
their votes for president.
When the votes were all ready, the children brought them all together to
Mary, who put them on the corner of the great bench near which she was
standing; and the children all came up around them, to see who was
chosen.
But Mary gently put her hand over the votes, and told them that that was
not the way to count votes. "You must all go and sit down again," she
said, "and appoint some one to count them; and then he or she must come
alone, and look them over and tell you who is chosen."
"Well," said the children; and so they went back to their seats.
"I propose that Henry count them," said Mary.
"Well," said the children.
"No, let James," said Rollo.
"That is not right, Rollo," said Mary, "because it is of very little
consequence who counts the votes, and in societies the best way is to
let things that are of little consequence go according to the first
proposal. That saves time."
So Henry came up, and began to look over the votes.
"They are all for Mary but one, and that is for Lucy," said Henry.
"Then cousin Mary is president," said James, clapping his hands.
"Yes," said Mary, "it seems you have chosen me president; and I will be
president for a time, until I think that some of the rest of you have
learned how to preside, and then I shall resign, and leave you to manage
your society yourselves. Now you must write the votes for secretary." So
Mary took her seat in the chair which she had provided for the
president, and which, until this time, had been empty.
So the children began to write votes again, and as fast as they had
written them they brought them to Mary, and dropped them in her lap. As
soon as each one had put in his vote, he went back and took his seat.
When the votes were all in, Mary looked them over, and said,
"There are two votes for Lucy, and one for Rollo, and one for Henry."
"Then Lucy is chosen secretary," said James.
"No," said Mary, "because she has only half. The person that is chosen
must have more than half of all the votes. Lucy has two, and there are
two scattering."
"Scattering!" said Rollo, looking somewhat puzzled.
"Yes; that is, for other persons."
"What shall we do, then?" said Rollo.
"Why, you must vote again."
So the children wrote votes again, and brought them in to the president.
She smiled as she looked them over. Then she said,
"Now there is a tie."
"A tie, Mary!" said Rollo; "what is a tie?"
"Why, there are two votes for Rollo, and two for Lucy; that makes it
exactly balanced, and they call that a _tie_."
"And now what shall we do with the tie?" said Rollo.
"Why, you must vote again."
Just as the children were preparing to vote again, they heard a noise of
footsteps at the door, and, looking up, they saw Nathan coming in. He
had his little straw hat upon his head, and his whip in his hand. He was
playing market-man, and wanted to know if they wished to buy any
potatoes.
The children all laughed. Mary said, "No, Thanny, this is a society;
come, don't you want to belong to the society?"
"Yes," said Nathan; and down went his whip upon the floor, and he came
trotting along towards Mary. Mary told him to sit down upon the seat
next to Rollo.
Nathan took his seat, and began to look around with an air of great
curiosity, wondering what they were going to do; and by this time the
votes were ready. Mary looked them over and counted them, and then said
that they were just as they were before, two for Rollo, and two for
Lucy.
"What shall we do now?" said Rollo.
"We must vote again," said James.
"That won't do any good," said Henry.
"There's Thanny," said Lucy; "let him vote."
"Well," said Mary, "and that will break the tie."
"O, Thanny can't vote," said Rollo; "he can't write a word."
"He can vote without writing," said Mary. "Thanny, come here. Which do
you think will make the best secretary, Rollo, or Lucy?"
"Why--Lucy," said Thanny, after some hesitation.
"Lucy, he says; so Lucy is chosen," said Mary. "Now, Lucy, you must be
secretary; but I forgot to bring out some paper."
Rollo looked a little disappointed. He had hoped to have been secretary
himself. So when Nathan came back to his seat, he began to punch him a
little, good-naturedly, with his thumb, saying, "_Me_--why didn't you
say _me_, Thanny? Hey, Thanny! Why did not you say _me_?"
Just then, Mary asked Rollo to go into the house and get a sheet of
paper for the secretary; and when he came back, Lucy asked her what she
should write. Mary gave her the necessary directions, and then Lucy went
to the bench, and standing there, near the president's chair, she went
on writing the record, while the rest of the society proceeded with
their business. The next thing was to choose a cabinet keeper.
"You may prepare your votes for cabinet keeper."
"I think Jonas would be the best cabinet keeper," said Henry; "he made
the cabinet."
"O, Jonas does not belong to the society," said Rollo.
"But we can let him in," said Lucy.
"No, he can't belong to the society," said Rollo; "he has too much work
to do."
The fact was, that Rollo wanted to be cabinet keeper himself, and so he
was opposed to any arrangement which would be likely to result in the
election of Jonas. But Mary said that it was not necessary that any one
should be a member of the society, in order to be chosen cabinet keeper.
She said he might be chosen, if the children thought best, even if he
was not a member. "But then," said she, "you must consider all the
circumstances, and vote for the one who, you honestly think, will take
the best care of the curiosities, and arrange them best."
The children then wrote their ballots, and brought them to Mary. Mary
asked Lucy to count them. Lucy said she had not written her vote herself
yet.
"Well, write it quick then," said Mary.
"But I can't think," said Lucy, "whether I had better vote for Jonas or
Rollo."
"Well," said Mary, "you have only to consider whether it will be best
for the museum to be in Jonas's hands, or in Rollo's."
"But I have been thinking," said Lucy, "that it is all Rollo's plan, and
his museum; and that _he_ ought to be cabinet keeper, if he wants to
be."
"There is something in that," said Mary; "though generally, in choosing
officers, we ought to act for the good of the society, not for the good
of the officers."
"But it is _my_ cabinet," said Rollo; "Jonas made it for me."
"That may be," said Mary; "that is, it may have been yours at the
beginning; but when you invite us all to come and form a society, you
give up your claim to it, and it comes to belong to the society; at any
rate, the right to manage it belongs to the society, and we must do what
will be best for the whole."
Rollo did not look very much pleased at these remarks of his sister's;
but Lucy immediately wrote her vote, and put it with the others. She
then examined and counted them, and immediately afterwards, she said
there were three votes for Jonas, and one for Rollo. So Jonas was
chosen. The children did not know who wrote the vote which was given for
Rollo; but the fact was, he wrote it himself. He wanted to be cabinet
keeper very much indeed.
CAUGHT,--AND GONE AGAIN.
Rollo was sadly disappointed at not being chosen cabinet keeper. Older
and wiser persons than he have often been greatly vexed from similar
causes. When the society meeting was ended, Mary told Lucy that she must
tell Jonas that they had chosen him cabinet keeper, for she was
secretary, and it was the secretary's duty to do that. Mary then went
into the house. The children gathered around the cabinet, and began to
look at the things which had been put in the day before. Rollo undertook
to arrange one of the shelves differently from what it had been; but
Henry told him he must not touch the things, for Jonas was cabinet
keeper, and nobody but the cabinet keeper had any right to touch the
things.
"O, I am only going to change them a little," said Rollo.
"But you have no right to touch them at all," said Henry, pushing Rollo
back a little.
"Yes, I have," said Rollo, standing stiffly, and resisting Henry's push.
"It's _my_ cabinet, and I have a right to do what I please with it."
"No, it is not your cabinet," said Henry; "it belongs to the society."
"No, it doesn't," said Rollo.
"It does," said Henry.
Rollo was wrong--and, in fact, Henry was wrong. In disputes, it almost
always happens that both boys are wrong. Lucy stood by, looking
distressed. She was very sorry to have any disputing about the cabinet.
"O, never mind, Henry," said she; "let him move them. Jonas will put
them all right afterwards."
"No," said Rollo, "I am going to keep the cabinet myself."
This was not at all like Rollo, to be so unreasonable and angry. But
Henry's roughness had irritated and vexed him, and that, in connection
with his own determination to keep the charge of his cabinet, had got
him into a very wrong state of mind.
Lucy did not know what to do. She walked slowly along to the door, and
after standing there a moment, while Rollo was at work upon the
cabinet, she said,
"O, here comes Jonas, now."
James and Henry ran to the door, and, as they saw Jonas walking up the
lane, they ran towards him, followed by Lucy, and they all began eagerly
to tell him about the society, and about his having been chosen cabinet
keeper. Lucy came up to them before they had finished their account; and
as they had all turned round when they met Jonas, they came walking
along together towards the house. James and Henry talked very fast and
eagerly. They told Jonas about the society, and about their having
chosen Mary president, and Lucy secretary, and him cabinet keeper. When
they had finished their account, Lucy added, in a desponding tone,
"Only Rollo says _he_ means to be cabinet keeper."
"Does he?" said Jonas.
"Yes," replied Henry. "He says you made the cabinet for him, and he
_will_ have it."
"O, well," said Jonas, "let him be cabinet keeper; he will make a very
good cabinet keeper."
"No," said James, "we want you to be cabinet keeper. We chose you."
They saw Rollo at the door of the barn, looking at them, but not very
good-naturedly. When they came up, Lucy said,
"Come, Rollo, let Jonas be cabinet keeper; that's a good boy."
"No," said Rollo, "it's _my_ cabinet, and I mean to keep it myself."
"Then we won't help you get the curiosities," said Henry.
"I don't care," said Rollo.
"And we won't have any society," added James,--thinking that that threat
would compel Rollo to give up.
But Rollo only said,
"I don't care; I don't want any society. I can make a museum myself."
There is no doubt, but that many of the readers of this book will wonder
that Rollo should have acted in this manner. And yet they themselves act
in just such a way when they allow themselves to get out of temper. It
is very dangerous to allow ourselves to become vexed and angry. We then
do and say the most unreasonable things, without being aware,
ourselves, of their unreasonableness and folly. Rollo himself did not
know how his conduct appeared to the other children, and how it sunk him
in their good opinion.
Rollo would have had a miserable time in attempting to make a collection
of curiosities alone. He would very soon have got tired of it, and have
abandoned the plan altogether. It happened, however, that some
circumstances occurred to prevent the consequences that his ill humor
and obstinacy came so near occasioning.
Henry and James, finding that Rollo would not give up the cabinet to
Jonas's care, considered the plan of the society abandoned, and went to
play in the yard. Lucy went into the house to find her cousin Mary.
Rollo remained at the cabinet for some time, but he found it very dull
amusement to work there alone; besides, he heard the other boys' voices
out in the yard, and before long he began to feel a strong desire to go
and see what they were doing. He accordingly went to the door of the
barn. He saw that Henry and James had got a log of wood out, and had
placed a board across it, for a see-saw. Rollo slowly walked along
towards them.
Henry saw him gradually approaching, and so he whispered, or rather
spoke in a low tone to James, saying,
"Here comes Rollo, James; don't let's let him get on our see-saw."
But James felt in more of a forgiving mood than Henry. He did not like
quarrelling, and he knew very well that peace-makers must be prepared to
yield and forbear, even if they had not been themselves in the wrong. So
he said,
"O, yes, Henry, let him have a ride. He may get on my end.
"Rollo," he added, calling to Rollo, as he came up, "do you want to
see-saw? You may have my end."
Rollo did not quite expect this gentle treatment, and it made him feel a
little ashamed. He, however, took James's place, but he did not feel
quite easy there. He knew it was a place that he did not deserve. Pretty
soon he proposed that they should all go after raspberries down the
lane.
"Well," said Henry, "and I'll go and get my dipper."
"Your dipper?" said Rollo.
"Yes," said Henry, "I brought a dipper."
Henry then went to a wood pile which was lying in the yard, and, looking
behind it, among the logs, he drew out a small tin dipper, and showed it
to Rollo.
"O, I wish I had a dipper to carry!" said Rollo. "It is better than a
basket."
Rollo went into the house, and presently returned bringing two small
baskets.
"One for me?" said James, interrogatively, holding out his hand.
"Yes," said Rollo.
"Give me the other," said Henry, "and you shall have my dipper."
"Well," said Rollo.
"_I_ should rather have a basket," said James.
"No," said Rollo, "I think a dipper is better. I can get some drink with
it, if we come to any brook."
"But you must give me some drink out of the dipper, if I want any," said
Henry--
"Well," said Rollo, "I will."
"Though I can drink without a dipper," said Henry.
"How?" said Rollo.
"O, I can get a piece of elder, and punch out the pith, and that will
make a hollow reed; and I can draw up the water through that into my
mouth."
By this time, Rollo and Henry had exchanged the basket and the dipper,
and they were all walking along together. Rollo told the boys of several
other reasons why he would rather have the dipper on such an expedition;
but Henry preferred the basket, and so all were satisfied.
They went on down the lane. The berries were very thick. The boys ate a
great many, and they filled their baskets, and the dipper besides. When
they reached the bottom of the lane, Rollo proposed that they should go
on, through the woods, to the brook. They liked the plan. They
accordingly hid their baskets under the fence, heaping full of
raspberries. Rollo said that he should take his dipper with him, so as
to get a drink at the brook.
"But you can't use it to get a drink," said Henry; "it is full of
raspberries."
Rollo had not thought of this difficulty. He walked slowly along, with
the other boys, a few minutes, looking somewhat foolish; but in a moment
he said he meant to eat his raspberries up, and then his dipper would be
empty when he should get to the brook.
So he began to eat them. The other boys wanted some of them, and he gave
them some, on condition that they should help him fill up his dipper
again, when they returned up the lane on their way home. They assented
to this condition, and so the boys walked along, eating the raspberries
together, in great harmony.