trying to find something for them to eat. The little squirrels were
playing together very pleasantly, till Bunny pushed Creep against Peep,
and then shoved Bushy, telling them to move, for she had not room. In
truth, Bunny was often a very naughty squirrel, and made her father and
mother very unhappy. Very often they would lie awake at night thinking
how they should make her a better child, and kind and pleasant to her
brothers and sisters.
When they came home, the day I have mentioned, from their ramble in
search of something to eat, they saw that their children looked very
sober and unhappy, and Creep, who was the oldest, told them how Bunny
had behaved. Creep was a very good squirrel, and her parents could
always believe her. She never tried to make her brothers and sisters
seem more naughty than they were.
That night, Mr. and Mrs. Squirrel talked about Bunny before they went
to sleep, and concluded they _must_ put a stop to her naughty behavior.
The next morning, Bunny’s father got up and asked her to go and walk
with him. She went, and they walked in the beautiful wood. There were
nuts, and acorns, and berries, and Bunny longed to eat as many as she
wanted.
Presently her father told her how very wrong she had behaved, and that
he must punish her. So he took her up with his fore paw, and ran up a
tree. The tree was very tall, and it was a good while before they got
far up. Poor little Bunny was very much frightened. At last they came
to a small, dark hole, just large enough for her to turn round in. Here
her father put her in, and told her she must stay there. Then he went
away, and left her here alone, and she could hear her father’s feet pat
along the tree as he went down, and then the dry leaves on the ground
rustle as he ran over them.
Dinner time came, and Bunny hoped her father would come with some
dinner. But no,--he did not come. She began to cry, for she was hungry.
She felt with her paw all round, and could only find one little acorn
and some dried leaves. She looked out of the hole, but was afraid to go
out, it was so high up.
She now began to feel very sorry. She knew how unkind she had been to
her brothers and sisters. She cried, and thought if her father would
come and take her home, she would not crowd and push and fret any more.
Supper time came, but she could not hear any one coming.
The sun set,--it began to grow dark, and the winds blew and whistled
through the trees. At last, down poured the rain, and it came into the
hole, and poor little Bunny was completely wet.
Presently she thought she heard a scratching and a patting on the
leaves, and then upon the tree; and very soon up came her father. He
saw that little Bunny looked sorry. She told her father she would try
and be a good, pleasant squirrel if he would take her home, and give
her some supper. So he took her up with his paw, and down the tree
they went, and soon got home to their very warm nest. Here was a fine
supper of sweet acorns--and the family were all glad to see little
Bunny again, and whenever she began to be naughty, she thought of the
dark hole where she had been left alone and without supper, and she
became a very good little squirrel, and was ever afterwards a great
comfort to her parents.
THE RAFT.
Do you remember any thing about Jonas;--how they found him by the side
of the road and brought him home? When Rollo’s father found him, he
meant to have sent him to the poor-house, where all poor boys are taken
care of, but he kept him in his house a few days first, and he found
that he was a very good boy. He had a great many faults, but he was a
good-natured, pleasant boy, and he was willing to learn, and so Rollo’s
father thought he would let him stay and live with him, and work for
him.
Jonas was very industrious and faithful. Do you know what industrious
means? Do you know what faithful means? He was kind too. He was very
kind to Rollo. He used to help Rollo a great deal, and play with him,
and tell him stories.
There was a beautiful brook very near the house which Rollo lived in. I
have made you a picture of the elm yard, behind the house. By and by,
I shall make you a picture of all the house, and the trees, and fields
around it, and the brook, and then you will understand it all exactly.
Now I can only tell you there was a brook, and Jonas used to take Rollo
down to the brook sometimes to play. The brook was wide, and the water
flowed slowly and smoothly, but it was not very deep. Jonas liked to be
near the water. He had sailed over the seas, and he liked the water.
One day Jonas found two great logs on the shore of the brook. He rolled
them into the water. Then he went up to the house and got some pieces
of board, and a hammer and some nails. He gave Rollo the hammer and
nails to carry, and he carried the boards. He walked back then to the
pond. He floated the logs side by side, and nailed the boards across,
and then he stood upon it, and it bore him up on the water. Jonas
called it his raft. Then he took a pole and pushed himself off from the
shore and shouted, “HURRAH, HURRAH.”
Rollo stood upon the shore looking at him, and Rollo too shouted,
“HURRAH, HURRAH.”
Then Rollo said, “Let me get on and sail too.”
“No,” said Jonas, “not till I ask your mother if she is willing.”
That day when they went home, Rollo asked his father and mother if
they were willing that he should sail on Jonas’s raft. His father said
he would go down and look at it. When he came to the brook, he was
surprised to see such a good strong raft, and he said that Rollo might
sail on it, if they would both be careful. Then Jonas got on before,
and pushed with his pole, and Rollo sat behind and held on, and they
sailed away up towards the bridge. You can see them in the picture. You
can see the raft, and Jonas pushing with a pole, and Rollo holding on,
and the brook, and the bridge. Rollo and Jonas had a great many good
sails on this raft.
CONTRARY CHARLES.
Do you know what a contrary boy is? I will tell you. He is one who is
never satisfied with what he has, but always wants something different.
If I were to say to you, “Come, James, and see what a pretty _picture_
I have got here;” and you should say, “No, I don’t want a picture,
you said you would bring me a pretty book,”--that would be being
_contrary_. If your father should bring you home a little cart to draw
about the room, and you should say, “I don’t want a cart, I don’t like
carts, I want a horse and whip, like William’s;” that would be being
very contrary.
Now I knew a little boy once, who was unhappy a great deal of the time,
because he would not be pleased with the playthings he had, but always
wanted another kind, or something else. This little boy had a very kind
father and mother, who loved him very much, and who tried to make him
happy. They bought him good clothes to wear: they gave him good things
to eat whenever he was hungry, and they bought him a great many pretty
playthings. But though they were so kind, this boy was sometimes so
naughty as to cry when they gave him a new plaything, because he had
wanted a bunch of jack-straws, perhaps, instead of a pretty box of
wooden blocks. If they had bought him some jack-straws, he would have
wanted the blocks or something else. Nobody liked to give Charles any
playthings or sugar-plums or any thing, because they did not make him
happy: and they did not make him happy because he would not be pleased,
but always thought of something else which he fancied he would rather
have.
One day, Charles’ mother came into the room where he was playing, and
said, “Charles, little brother William is going to walk with Susan.
Should you like to go too?”
“Yes,” said he, “but I shall want to wear my new cap.”
“But I told you the other day,” said his mother, “that you could not
wear it for a whole week again, because you threw it upon the floor
when you came in yesterday, instead of hanging it on the nail.”
“Then I don’t want to go,” said Charles.
“Very well,” said his mother, and calling to Susan, she told her she
need not wait any longer.
“But I _shall_ want to go,” said Charles, beginning to cry.
“You must not go now,” said his mother, “for you said you did not want
to go, just because you felt contrary, and out of humor.”
His mother then sat down to work. Charles, finding it was useless to
cry, dried his tears, and began throwing his playthings about the room.
“Don’t you do so,” said his mother, “you will break that pretty box,
and your white cards, with the pretty colored letters, will get soiled,
and not fit to be used.”
“I don’t care if they do,” said Charles, “it is not a pretty box, and I
don’t like the cards.”
His mother rose, took away all his playthings, and left him sitting
upon the floor, with nothing to do. As she took no notice of his cross
looks, he presently went to the window, and stood on a little cricket,
looking to see the horses and carriages passing, and soon he began to
feel pleasantly again.
“Oh! mother,” said he, “there are two beautiful little dogs in the
street, and a little boy running after them. Oh! how I should like a
little dog. Mother, will you buy me one?” and he ran to his mother and
looked up in her face.
His mother laid down her work, and took him in her lap. “What would you
do with a dog,” said she, “if you had one?”
“Oh! I should play with him; I would put some things in my cart, and
tie the dog to it, and let him draw it to market; just like the dog in
William’s picture.”
“But I am afraid,” said his mother, “that if your father should buy
you a dog you would sometimes get out of humor with him, and then you
would say it was an ugly dog, and you did not want it any more.”
“No, I would not,” said Charles; “I should always love my little dog.”
“So you said, if I would buy you a new cap, you would be a good boy,
and never give me any trouble about it; but yesterday you forgot your
promise, and did not put it where it belongs; and to-day you have made
me very unhappy by your bad temper. And you have displeased God too,
for he was looking directly into your heart when you said you did not
want to go with Susan, and saw that you were saying what was not true.”
“But I will remember next time, if you will only get me a little dog.”
Just then William came into the room with a large piece of cake in
his hand, which a lady had given him. He went up to his brother, and
breaking it in two pieces offered him one of them.
“No, I want the other piece,” said Charles.
“But I can’t give it to you,” said William; “I want it myself.”
“Then I won’t have any,” said Charles, impatiently.
“Keep all the cake yourself, William,” said his mother; “Charles must
not have any, because he is not a good boy.”
“But I do want some,” said Charles, beginning to cry very loud. Then
his mother went to the door, and calling Susan, told her to take
Charles into the other room, and keep him there until he was perfectly
pleasant and good-humored. So you see Charles lost a pleasant walk, and
a nice piece of cake; and, after all, had to be sent away from his kind
mother just because he would be a contrary boy. Do you think he was
happy?
The next afternoon, as these two little boys were playing in the yard,
they looked up, and saw a carriage, drawn by two large, white horses,
stop at the door. It was their aunt’s. She had brought her little son
and daughter, named James and Mary, to spend the afternoon with their
cousins. As soon as they were out of the carriage, they ran to their
cousins, and all looked as happy as if they were expecting to have a
noble, good time; and so they were.
Their aunt went into the house, and the children played together out
in the yard. When they were tired of that, they went into the mowing
field, where the hay was spread to dry, and began to throw it upon
each other. This they enjoyed very much till Charles began to cry, and
say they should not throw the hay upon him. He wanted to _pelt_ the
others, but was not willing to have them pelt him. So this contrary boy
spoilt the whole play, and he cried so loud that his mother had to call
him into the house. When he was gone, James lay down in the hay, and
told his sister and cousin to cover him up in it. When he was hidden
entirely, so that they could not see him, he jumped up suddenly, and
ran to catch them with an arm full of hay, to _pay_ them for treating
him so. They laughed very loud, and were very happy, now they had no
one to disturb them with crying. They were soon called in to tea.
Charles had not been very well in the morning, and his mother was
afraid to give him as many strawberries in his milk as she did the
rest. So Charles began to cry, and said he would not have any. His
mother then sent him out of the room, and did not allow him to return
until his cousins had gone.
You see how many pleasant things he lost by being so contrary. His
mother said she could not buy him a dog until he had learned to be a
good, pleasant boy. His cousins said they did not want to go and see
him again, for he spoiled their play; and when his mother went to see
his aunt, she took William, but left Charles at home. She said she
could not take him with her until he was willing to do as others wished
to have him, and not always cry to have his own way. By and by, Charles
learned that it was better to be pleasant all the time, and not get
out of humor when things did not exactly suit him; and then every body
loved him, for he was a good little boy in every other respect.
FROST ON THE WINDOWS.
Charles was a little boy. One cold winter’s morning his mother brought
him down stairs. It was very early. She put him down on the carpet,
before a bright, warm fire. Then she opened the shutters to see if it
was light. Charles saw something white and shining upon the windows,
and called to her, and said, “Oh, mother, mother, how beautiful! See
how the windows are painted all white. _There_ is a mountain, and
another,--and--and I see another on the top of it; and there are some
trees, and flowers--and--”
“Yes, they are very beautiful,” said Charles’ mamma, as she stood
dressing her little boy.
“What makes it look so? It isn’t light like day,--and oh! mother, see,
there is a bright star in the sky!”
“It is not quite daylight yet; pretty soon it will grow lighter, and
the little star will not look so bright, and then the sky will grow
brighter, and it will be daylight.”
“What is it now; is it night?”
“No, it is day-dawn.”
“Day-dawn;--well, it’s very pretty, I think, mother. O, see, there’s a
cow! I think those are pictures painted on the window, aren’t they?”
“No, they are not pictures. Don’t you know what they are?”
“I see something that looks like a horse that hasn’t got any head,
and some trees that haven’t got any branches, and a great many more
mountains and rocks. I think they are pictures, but they look white,
just like snow.”
“Well, Charles, the cold made those pictures. We call it frost on the
windows, and it came last night while we were all asleep. It was very
cold indeed last night, and a great many things froze very hard. Now
hark, what do you hear?”
“Hark! I hear something that ticks just like a watch. What is it?”
“It is the cold frost which has frozen some water in the tumbler. Last
night it was water, and I drank some of it. Now look here; it is ice,
and it looks very beautiful. See all those little marks and spots.
Those are little bubbles. Now it goes _click, click_, again. See how
hard it is; I cannot break it with my finger.”
“Mother, will the frost stay all day on the windows, or go away when it
is daylight?”
“Not when it is daylight, but when the room is warm. There is a good,
bright fire in the grate, and it will make the room warm, and by and by
the sun will rise out of doors and shine on the glass, and warm it, and
the frost will melt. Then it will be water and run down in drops.”
“Well, I think it is very pretty frost, and I don’t think I could make
such horses, and trees, and cows.”
SHOOTING A BEAR.
Once there was a foolish man, who was always afraid of bears. He was
always afraid there were bears in the woods around him, and that they
would come and eat him up.
One day he thought he would take his gun and go out and shoot a bear.
So he took down his gun, and put in some powder to load it, and then he
put in some paper to keep the powder in, and then he put in a bullet
over that. The bullet was a round, heavy thing, like a round stone. He
put another piece of paper in next, to keep the bullet down. How do you
suppose he got the paper down to the bottom of his gun? Why, he had a
long, slender iron, which he called his ramrod, and he pushed the paper
down with his long, slender ramrod. Then he pulled the ramrod out, and
slid it into its proper place by the side of his gun.
Did you ever see any gunpowder? When you set it on fire, it flashes up
very quick. There is a picture of some boys burning gunpowder in Rollo
Learning to Talk. If the gunpowder is in a close place when it is set
on fire, it bursts out violently, and makes a noise. This man’s gun was
a close place, and he expected that when he should see the bear, he
should point his gun at the bear, and then set fire to the powder down
in the bottom of his gun, and that the powder would flash and burst
out, and drive out the round, heavy bullet, and make it _whiz_ through
the air very swiftly, and go into the bear and kill him.
But how do you think he was going to set fire to the powder which was
away down in the bottom of his gun, under the paper and the bullet? I
will tell you how. There was a little hole, a very little one, in the
side of his gun, opposite where the powder was, and he put a little
powder into that hole. The name of the hole is the touch-hole. Close by
that hole there were some things fixed which would strike together and
make sparks. They would strike together when he pulled a little thing.
The little thing he pulled was the trigger. So that when he should
be all ready, and should have the gun pointing at the bear, he would
only pull the trigger, and that would make the flint and steel strike
together, and that would make sparks which would fall upon the powder
in the little touch-hole, and it would burn in, quick, with a flash,
and set the powder in the gun on fire, and that would drive the bullet
out, and make it whiz through the air and kill the bear. That is the
way the man expected to shoot. That is the way they always shoot.
Just before he was ready to shoot, he always had to pull back the
flint, so as to get the flint and the trigger in the right place, and
when he did this it would say _click_. This would be _cocking_ his gun.
Then it would be ready to fire.
When the gun was all ready excepting being cocked, the man put it on
his shoulder, and went off into the woods. He looked all about him, but
for a long time he could not see any bear. At last he saw a strange
looking thing up in a tree, among the leaves.
“I wonder,” said he, “if that is not a bear.”
It looked rather strangely, and he could not tell what it was if it was
_not_ a bear. So he thought he might as well shoot it. He accordingly
took down his gun from his shoulder, and pulled back the flint, and
heard it say _click_. Then he pointed the gun up towards the strange
looking thing in the tree, and he pulled the trigger. _Crackle_ went
the sparks, _flash_ went the powder in the touch-hole, _pop_ went
the gun, _whiz_ went the bullet through the air, and the man looked,
expecting to see the bear fall down dead from the tree.
Instead of that he could see, when the smoke cleared away a little,
that the strange looking thing appeared exactly as it did before. He
went round a little to see it better, and what do you think it was?
Why, it was only a crooked branch of the tree.
“Ah,” said he, “I made a mistake. I ought to have waited until I saw
whether it moved. Bears move. Next time I will not fire at any thing
unless it moves.”
So he went along a little farther, looking around on all the trees. At
last he saw something upon a tree, moving; he thought that must be a
bear. So he took his gun down quick off of his shoulder, and he pulled
back the flint, and it said _click_, and he pointed the gun up into
the tree, and then he pulled the trigger. _Crackle_ went the sparks,
_flash_ went the powder in the little touch-hole, _pop_ went the gun,
_whiz_ went the bullet through the air, _puff_ went the smoke, and the
man looked, expecting to see the bear fall down dead from the tree.
Instead of that, what do you think he saw? Why, it was nothing but a
little squirrel, with a long, bushy tail, running away on a limb of
the tree, as fast as he could go. What the man saw moving was only the
tip of his tail; the rest of him was round behind the tree, and he
thought it was a bear round there.
“Ah,” said the man, “I made another little mistake. Bears are black.
This squirrel’s tail is gray. I must not fire at any thing again unless
it is _black_.”
So he walked along, looking about him carefully, and up into all the
trees. By and by he saw something moving. He looked up and saw that it
was black. It was the little tip of a black thing; he could only see a
little of it. The rest was round behind the tree.
“Now,” says the man, “I _know_ I have found a bear; for it is black,
and bears are black.”
So he loaded his gun, and got it all ready. _Click_, said the lock when
he cocked it. He pointed up towards the tree. In a minute he pulled
the trigger,--_flash_ went the powder in the touch-hole, _pop_ went
the gun, _whiz_ went the bullet through the air, and the man looked,
expecting to see the bear fall down dead from the tree.
Instead of that, what do you think he saw? Why, it was only a little
blackbird, flying off through the branches as fast as he could go. The
black thing which the man saw moving was only the blackbird’s tail,
_projecting_ out from behind the tree, and he thought it was a black
bear round there.
“Ah,” said the man, “I made a mistake again. Bears are _large_, as well
as black. This was very _little_. I must not fire at any thing again
unless it is large as well as black.”
So he walked along, looking about him carefully, and up into all the
trees. By and by he saw something very strange. It was a little way up
a tree, clinging to a branch. It was partly hid by the leaves, so that
he could not see it very well, but he knew that it was black, and it
was large, and it was moving.
“Now,” says the man, “I am certain I have found a bear, for it is large
and black, and bears are large and black. Besides, it moves.”
So he loaded his gun, and rammed down the bullet with his ramrod, and
pulled back the flint. It said _click_. Then he knew that all was
ready. He was sure of his bear this time, and he determined to drag him
home by the ears.
He pointed his gun up at the large, black thing, and pulled the
trigger. _Flash_, went the powder in the touch-hole, _pop_ went the
gun, _whiz_ went the bullet through the air, and the man looked,
expecting to see the bear fall down dead from the tree.
Instead of that, a man came rushing out of the bushes, calling out,
“Halloa there,--what are you shooting my coat for?”
The man was at first so astonished that he could hardly speak.
Presently he said,
“Who are you, sir?”
“I am a wood-cutter. I came out here to cut wood, and I hung my coat on
the tree; now you have shot a hole through it!!”
“Is that your coat?”
“Yes.”
“I thought it was a bear.”
“A bear!!” said the wood-cutter with astonishment.
“Yes, I thought there were bears in the woods, and that they would come
out and eat me up; so I came to shoot one.”
[Illustration: WHAT ARE YOU SHOOTING MY COAT FOR?--Page 144.]
“You silly man,” said the wood-cutter. “There are no bears in the woods
near such towns as we live in. Besides, if there were, they never would
come out of the woods and eat people up. Nobody is afraid of bears but
silly little children.”
JACK HILDIGO.
Jonas used to sit down with Rollo very often and amuse him by telling
him stories. The story which Rollo liked the best was the story of Jack
Hildigo. The story of Jack Hildigo was a very curious one. The reason
why I put it in this book is because it is very hard to read right, and
you must read it aloud and distinctly, till you learn to read it well.
When Jonas told this story, they called it _playing_ Jack Hildigo. It
took several children to play it well. Sometimes when John and Samuel,
who lived in another house, came over to play with Rollo, they would
all sit down together, on the platform, in the garden-yard, and have a
fine time playing Jack Hildigo.
Jonas would begin telling the story thus, the other children sitting
all around him:--
“Once there was a boy, and his name was Jack Hildigo. One day he went
round behind his father’s house, and found there a great hole leading
under the house. So he thought he would go into that hole, and see what
was there. He went in under the house, but he found nothing. So he
stood there, and began to growl like a bear, so,--
“U-r-r, u-r-r, u-r-r.”
Here Jonas, who was telling the story, said, U-r-r, u-r-r, u-r-r,
growling as much as he could like a bear.