play with Bingo--and there was no Bingo to be seen! He called
Bingo, but Bingo did not come. Then he decided to go down to the
big barn to look for him. As he passed near the chicken house he
heard a _tre-men-dous_ commotion--“Cluck, cluck, cluck, cluck,
CLUCK,” “Ooka-ooka-ooka-oooooooooo, ooka-ooka-ooka-oooooooooo,
ooka-ooka-ooka-ooooooooo” ... Bingo had been trying to get out again!
Then Charlie said, “Shoo, shoo, shoo!” and the hens and even the
rooster all got out of the way, and Bingo was free again! Oh, how glad
he was! He jumped, and pranced, and followed Charlie to the kitchen,
where his dinner was waiting for him.
But never again did Bingo bark at the chickens and chase them. He no
longer thought it an amusing game. In fact Bingo never went near that
chicken house again, he was so afraid of that terrible rooster.
[Illustration]
CHARLIE DELIVERS MAIL FOR THE STAGE DRIVER
Well, I can tell you that Charlie and Topsy and Bingo liked living in
the country very much. There were so many interesting things to do, and
so many interesting people to talk to, and every single thing in the
country was different from what it was in the city.
Charlie had different things to eat, and he wore different clothes. You
never can guess what kind of clothes Charlie wore when he was in the
country! Charlie wore blue denim overalls, just like the farm workers,
and his Mother bought them for him at the country store, which is
_ex-act-ly_ where the farm workers bought theirs!
One day Charlie ran out to the gate before breakfast to mail a letter
for his Auntie. In the country there are no post boxes at every corner
as there are in the city. Oh, no! When Charlie wanted to mail a letter
he just had to go down to the gate and put it in the box that was
fastened outside; then he had to take out an old red tobacco tin that
was inside the mail box, tied to it by a string, and leave it hanging
outside the box, so that the mailman would see it when he went past
and know that there was a letter for the mail. If he did not see the
tobacco tin hanging out, the stage driver would not stop at all--so it
was very important not to forget to hang the tobacco tin out.
Well, Charlie got to the gate just as the stage driver was driving up.
When he saw Charlie standing there, he said, “Hello, good morning.” And
Charlie said, “Hello, good morning,” too. Then he said, “Are you the
postman?” The stage driver laughed. “We-e-ll, I reckon that you can
say that’s what I am, though folks here about call me the stage driver.”
“That is very interesting,” said Charlie. “Do you know, in the city the
postman wears a gray cap and coat and trousers and he does not drive a
cart, he has to walk?”
The stage driver was most surprised. “Is that so?” he said. “Well, I
reckon there’s lots of things they do differently in the city, and you,
being a city boy, must surely know all about it. I certainly would like
to hear about city ways. Supposing you ask your Mother if she would let
you drive with me this afternoon when I take the afternoon mail up;
then you can show me how they deliver mail in the city.”
Oh, my goodness, but Charlie was excited! He ran to the house so fast
that he puffed and he blowed, and, as he ran, he called out, “Mother,
Auntie! The stage driver says that I can go with him and give out the
letters just like a real postman in the city! He says that I can go
this afternoon, if you say yes. Oh, Mother, oh, Auntie, I _can_ go,
can’t I?”
Of course his Mother and his Auntie were _de-light-ed_ when they heard
that Charlie was to go and help deliver the mail just like a real
postman, and of course they both said “Yes,” that Charlie might go.
Well, the very minute that Charlie had finished his dinner, he said
very politely, “Please excuse me, I don’t want to keep the stage driver
waiting.” Then the lady where they were boarding and his Mother and his
Auntie said, “Yes,” he might be excused.
So Charlie got his hat and his whistle, which belonged to his sailor
suit, because he knew he would need it as he was going to be a
postman--and he ran down to the gate as fast as ever he could. No,
Charlie did not keep the stage driver waiting. It was Charlie who had
to wait for the stage driver!
But at last he came driving down the road and, when he saw Charlie
waiting at the gate, he said, “Hello, young man, so you are coming with
me. That’s fine! Hop in.”
So Charlie hopped in and he showed the stage driver his whistle and how
he was going to blow it just like a real city postman.
The stage driver said, “First we are going to the station to get the
mail;” and he clicked with his whip and said, “Gid ap, gid ap!” to
the horses, and they _did_ “gid ap,” and their bells jingled as they
trotted along the road.
The station was a long way off from the farm where Charlie and his
Mother and his Auntie were staying, but the horses trotted so quickly,
so quickly, that they got there before the train did.
Charlie and the stage driver got down, and the stage driver hitched the
horses to the post, and then they both went on to the platform to wait
for the train.
Everybody in the station talked to Charlie--even the station master and
the man in the ticket office--and they said, “Is this the new stage
driver?” The stage driver said, “No; this boy is the new postman and he
is going to deliver the mail for me.”
You can believe that Charlie felt proud and important when he heard
them talk like that.
At last the train came in, and it was the same train that had carried
Charlie and his Mother and his Auntie and his Daddy and Topsy and Bingo
and Jane to the country. Yes, it was the very same train and the very
same engine that Charlie had ridden on, and the fireman was there, and
he looked out of the cab and called out, “Hello, Charlie!”
Well, the stage driver went to the baggage car and a lot of men were
unloading packages, and there was one great big sack.
Charlie asked what was in that great big sack--and the stage driver
told him that was the mail. Yes, all the letters that Charlie was going
to deliver were stuffed into that great big sack!
So the stage driver got the mail bag and the packages on to the stage.
The stage driver carried all the big packages and Charlie carried all
the little ones.
Then the stage driver said, “Gid ap!” and off they went again. First
they went to the post office and waited there a long time. They had to
wait till the postmaster had taken out of the mail sack all the mail
for the people who lived near the post office and who had to come and
get their mail for themselves. But at last the postmaster had finished
_his_ job, and it was time for Charlie and the stage driver to begin
theirs.
This, of course, was the interesting part of the drive. The stage
rattled along the road, the horses went so fast; and at last they came
to a house and the horses stopped of their own accord.
The stage driver gave Charlie some letters and told him to go and
deliver them.
So Charlie climbed down from the stage and he blew his whistle, one,
two, three times--but nobody came to the gate to get the letters from
the postman. No, even though Charlie blew again and again, nobody came
at all.
Then the stage driver said, “I reckon the folks at this farm are not
used to city postmen. I reckon they don’t even _know_ that that whistle
means that there is mail for them. You had better just slip the letters
in the box, the way we do in these parts, and we’ll drive on to the
next farm.”
So Charlie did as the stage driver said. He had to stand on tiptoe
because the box was so high. He felt a little sad that nobody had come
to get the letters from him--but it was fun putting the letters in the
box.
Then they drove on to the next farm. This time there were a whole lot
of letters and a parcel, too. Charlie carried the parcel himself, as it
was a little one. He said to the stage driver, “Perhaps I had better
not blow my whistle this time.” But the stage driver said, “Oh, go
ahead and blow your whistle, you know you are a city postman and you
must do as they do.”
So Charlie blew on his whistle--he blew a TREMENDOUS blast, and he blew
again and again. And--what do you think?
The farmer who was in the field, hoeing potatoes, threw down his hoe
and he came running, as fast as he could run, to see what Charlie’s
whistle meant.
And the farmer’s wife, who was in the kitchen frying doughnuts, the
minute she heard Charlie’s whistle, threw down her cooking spoon and
ran out of the kitchen door to see what Charlie’s whistle meant.
And the cat, who was sleeping on a rocking chair on the porch, sprang
straight up in the air when she heard the whistle; and _she_ came
tearing down to the gate to see _what in the world_ all that whistling
meant.
And the watch dog, who was tied up outside his kennel--he jumped and
pranced and tried to get loose because _he_ wanted to find out what all
that whistling meant!
And they all came rushing down to the gate, except the dog, and when
they saw Charlie with the parcel and the letters--my goodness, they
were surprised!
The farmer said, “Well, well, to think that we have a postman just the
same as they have in the city--well! well!” and he shook hands with
Charlie.
Then the farmer’s wife said, “Mr. Stage Driver, couldn’t you wait a
minute while I run into the house and get a doughnut apiece for you and
the postman?” The stage driver thought that would be very nice--so
the farmer’s wife brought the doughnuts and they were _delicious_.
[Illustration: _Charlie blew a tremendous blast_]
Then they said, “Good-by” to the nice farmer and his wife and thanked
her for the delicious doughnuts, and off they went to the next farm.
Charlie blew his whistle, and he blew his whistle every single time
they came to a farm, but nobody else came to the gate to see what was
the matter; so Charlie put the letters in the box every time.
Soon they came to a long stretch of road where there were no houses at
all, and Charlie and the stage driver could talk together without being
interrupted every minute by Charlie having to deliver letters.
Charlie told the stage driver all about the city and about his Mother
and his Auntie and his Daddy, and about Jane and Topsy and Bingo, and
about the iceman and the postman, and the letter boxes that are at the
corner of the streets where you mail your letters.
Then the stage driver told Charlie all about the country and what an
important person the stage driver is when he lives in the country--even
more important than the postman. For the stage driver not only brings
letters, and parcels for birthdays or Christmas, he brings _everything_
that the people in the country need--clothes, and furniture, and
medicine--every single thing that they use, except what they grow
themselves.
Everything is sent from the city by the train in great big packages.
And the stage driver puts the packages on to the stage, and carries
some of them to the country store, where the people can come and buy
the things they want--but some of the things go directly to the farmers
who live too far from the country store.
Charlie thought this very interesting. There were a whole lot of
questions that he wanted to ask. But now they had come to another
farm and there was a great big package all ready at the gate!
[Illustration: _Charlie and the stage driver talked together_]
The stage driver got down and put it on to the stage. Charlie was much
surprised. He said, “I thought you brought packages _to_ people, I did
not know that you took any away.”
Then the stage driver said, “I reckon you can’t guess what is inside
_this_ package and where it is going to be sent. Why, this package is
full of maple sugar, and it is going to be sent to the city because
people could not get maple sugar in the city unless the people in the
country sent it to them. This package is going to a big store in the
city, and when you go back home, maybe you and your Mother will go into
the store and buy a pound of this very same maple sugar that is in this
package!”
Yes, that is what the stage driver said, and Charlie was so interested
and surprised that the stage driver started to surprise him some more.
“See all those pretty blossoms on the apple trees. Well, by Fall they
will all have turned into apples. Then the farmer will gather them off
the trees, and he will put them in sacks, and I will take them to the
station on my stage and load them on to the train, and they will be
taken to the city, where you city folks will buy them. Same thing with
the wheat growing in the fields, and the vegetables, and everything
the farmer raises. Everything that he doesn’t need for his own use the
farmer sends to the city, first by the stage driver and then by the
train.”
My goodness! This gave Charlie a lot to think about! He said, “I think
that trains and mail stages are the most interesting things in the
world. I will either be a stage driver or a fireman when I grow up, and
I will take things to the country people that _they_ need and bring
back things to the city people that _they_ need.”
By this time _all_ the letters and _all_ the packages had been
delivered. And the stage driver was driving back the way they came.
At last they came to the farm where Charlie was staying. And the stage
driver said, “Here is one more letter for you to deliver, and then your
job will be finished. You have been a great help to me to-day. I think
you are a fine postman and I hope you will come with me another day and
deliver the mail for me. This letter is for your Mother.”
So Charlie thanked the stage driver and climbed down from the stage.
He ran all the way to the house; then he rang the bell and blew his
whistle just as the postman did at home. And who do you think opened
the door? It was his Mother.
She said, “Good afternoon, Postman, have you a letter for me?” And
Charlie said, “Yes, ma’am,” just like the postman. Then he couldn’t
help laughing, and he forgot that he was the postman, and he hugged his
Mother and said, “Is it a letter from Daddy?”
And it _was_. Yes, it was a letter from Daddy, and what do you think?
The letter said that Daddy found that after all he would be able to get
away from the city--and that he would arrive on Friday afternoon, and
Charlie was to be sure to come and meet him.
Then Charlie’s Mother hugged him again for bringing her such a nice
letter and his Auntie came downstairs, Topsy and Bingo prancing after
her. Bingo jumped up and down and Topsy climbed on to Charlie’s
shoulder, and they all listened to the adventures he had had that
afternoon when he was a postman.
[Illustration]
CHARLIE MAKES A POOL AND SAILS HIS BOAT
All the time that Charlie and his Mother and his Auntie were living in
the country Charlie’s Daddy came down every single Saturday to visit
them, and he stayed in the country with them until Sunday night, when
he had to go back to the city. And every Saturday, when Charlie’s Daddy
came to visit them in the country, he _always_ brought a present for
everybody!
One Saturday Charlie’s Daddy came and he brought Charlie’s Mother a
basket of peaches, and he brought his Auntie a box of candy, and he
brought Bingo a ball, and he brought Jane and Topsy a catnip mouse--and
what do you think he brought for Charlie? I will tell you. Charlie’s
Daddy brought Charlie a sailboat! It was a beautiful boat, painted
white with a green water line. It had a mast and two sails. His Daddy
told Charlie that the big sail at the back is called the _mainsail_ and
that the stick that holds it out at the bottom is called the _boom_;
and that the little three-cornered sail in front is called the _jib_
and the stick to which it is fastened is called the _bowsprit_.
Of course Charlie’s Daddy did not say “the front and back” of the ship
either. Oh, dear, no! Charlie’s Daddy called the front part of the ship
the _bow_, and he called the back part the _stern_, and the bottom of
the ship he called the _keel_--and, I can tell you, _nobody ought to
own a ship who does not know these things_.
Well, of course, the very first thing that Charlie wanted to do was to
go and sail his boat--but what do you think? The brook was so shallow
and full of stones that there was no place deep enough to sail the boat
at all! That was very sad.
Charlie and his Daddy walked a long way beside the brook looking for a
pool where the water was deeper, but they could not find one.
Then Charlie’s Daddy said, “Well, unless some rain comes to make the
brook get deeper, I guess you’ll have to wait to sail your boat till
you come back to town and can sail it in the bath tub. As long as you
are in the country you will have to say that the boat is in ‘dry dock.’”
But what do you think? Charlie didn’t even know what a dry dock _is_.
No, his Daddy had to explain to him all about it--how the ship is put
into “dry dock” when it has to be mended or painted below the water
line. First the ship sails into the dock, and then the dock is closed
up behind the ship and all the water is pumped out and the ship is
propped up straight with props from each side of the dock.
So Charlie and his Daddy made a dry dock for his ship on the bureau in
his room. They made the dock of books, and propped the ship up straight
with blocks on each side of the keel. The ship looked very beautiful on
the bureau, but Charlie _did_ wish that he could sail it and that he
did not have to keep it in “dry dock” all the time.
One day, when his Daddy had gone back to town, Charlie and his Mother
and his Auntie went for a walk.
They went for a new walk. Instead of just going along the road, they
thought it would be interesting to follow the creek. So they climbed a
wall and followed the creek through the fields and into a wood which
was “private property”; but there was a sign which said people could
walk there if they did not do any damage.
Then they came to a place where there was a stone wall built right
across the creek from side to side and above the stone wall was a great
_e-nor-mous_ pool! And the water pounded over the stone wall like a
waterfall. The pool was very deep and wide, but above the pool the
creek was all stony and shallow again.
Charlie was very much interested. He said, “Why is that stone wall
built across the creek, and what makes that pool so deep and broad when
the rest of the creek is shallow and narrow?”
Then his Mother explained to Charlie all about it. She explained to
him that the pool was a swimming pool, and that the stone wall built
across the creek from side to side was a _dam_. The dam keeps the water
in like a basin until it gets as deep as the dam is high and then the
water flows over the top.
Charlie was _very much interested_ when he heard this. He said to his
Mother, “Can anybody build a dam?”
And of course his Mother said that anybody could. She said that you
only had to heap a lot of mud and stones together just below where you
wanted the pool to be, and just as high as you wanted the pool to be
deep.
Oh, my goodness! Charlie _was_ excited then. I wonder if you can guess
what he said?
I will tell you. Charlie said, “Mother, Auntie, I want to go home
_im-me-di-ate-ly_, I AM GOING TO BUILD A DAM! Yes, I am going to
build a dam across the brook and make a great ENORMOUS pool to sail
my boat in.” Of course his Mother and his Auntie said they would go
home immediately when they heard that Charlie was going to do such an
important thing.
So they did go home, and Charlie put on his overalls and he ran down to
the brook and began to work at his dam.
First he found a place where the brook was a little wider and where the
banks were quite steep. Then he started scooping out the stones at the
bottom of the brook, so that there would be no rocks for his boat to
get wrecked on.
You may be sure that Bingo and Topsy were very much interested in what
Charlie was doing. Yes, they both came and watched him awhile. Then
Topsy began to dig a hole in the grass--he wanted to show that _he_
could dig a hole just as well as Charlie could. Bingo tried to dig a
hole, too, but he soon got tired of it and ran around and barked, “Yap,
yap!” He wanted Charlie and Topsy to come and play with him.
But Charlie was much too busy to pay any attention to Bingo. He just
went on bending over the brook, digging out the stones until he had the
bottom of the brook, where his pool was going to be, nicely cleaned
out. Then he started to work on the dam.
First Charlie hunted around until he had got together a nice lot of
flat stones, and he began to pile them up one on top of the other, and
he went on piling them up until the dam went right across the brook
from bank to bank.
At first the water paid no attention to Charlie’s dam at all. It just
went on flowing through the chinks between the stones, just as if
there were not any dam there at all! But Charlie piled up great banks
of mud, and put in more big stones and then little stones to fill the
chinks--and at last the water began to rise!
Yes, the water rose, and it rose until it was a nice big pool and came
up to the top of the banks on both sides, and then it began to dribble
over the top of the dam. So Charlie knew that the dam was finished! Of
course the water in the pool was _dreadfully_ muddy, but Charlie did
not mind a bit. Why should he, when the pool was so nice and wide and
deep? Yes, it was so deep that it came all the way up to his knees!
Then Charlie saw his Mother and his Auntie walking across the field
from the house. They had come to see how Charlie was getting along with
his dam.
And, my goodness, how astonished they were when they saw that Charlie
had _ac-tu-al-ly_ finished the dam and what a huge big pool he had made!
But both his Mother and his Auntie could not help laughing when they
saw how Charlie was all covered with mud. He had mud all over the front
of his overalls, and on his hands, and there was a big splash of mud
on the end of his nose!
Then his Mother said, “Now, Charlie, dinner will soon be ready, so you
must hurry home and wash your face and hands, and put on a clean suit.
Then after dinner you may sail your boat in your beautiful big pool.”
So Charlie ran to the house, and he washed his face, and he scrubbed
his hands, and he put on a clean blue sailor suit, and he ate his
dinner.
Then he gave Topsy and Bingo and Jane their dinner. And then--he and
his Mother and his Auntie went down to the pool to sail the boat. And,
what do you think? The mud had all settled at the bottom of the pool
while Charlie was eating his dinner, and the pool was as clear as glass
so that you could see to the very bottom and you could see the dam that
Charlie had built.
Then Charlie launched his boat. The pool was deep enough--but the boat
did not sail quite well even yet. No, the boat leaned a little to one
side and, when a gust of wind came, it would have turned right over if
Charlie had not caught hold of the mast just in time.
Charlie felt very sad that his boat would not sail properly when he had
built such a beautiful pool for it.
But his Auntie said, “Cheer up, Charlie, I know exactly what is the
matter with the boat so that it will not sail, and it can be fixed so
that it will sail _beautifully_. The trouble is that the boat has not
enough _ballast_. That means that the masts and the sails are too heavy
for the keel. But if we nail a strip of lead along the bottom of the
keel the boat will stay upright and will not lean to one side.”
Well, Charlie and his Auntie took the boat and went to the barn, where
the farmer was mending his mowing machine.
And his Auntie asked the farmer if he knew where they could get a strip
of lead to nail to the keel of Charlie’s boat.
The farmer said, “Right here I have all the lead that you can use.” And
he cut off a strip of lead just the size of the keel. Then the farmer
also gave Charlie some interesting-looking nails that he said could be
just the thing to nail the lead to the keel. They were crooked nails
that folded over and looked just like tiny croquet hoops.
Then Charlie’s Auntie took the mast and sails off, and she hammered the
nails over the lead so that it was fastened to the keel of the boat.
Then she put the masts and sails back. Don’t you think that she was a
clever Auntie? Yes, indeed, she was.
So they went back to the pool again, where Charlie’s Mother was waiting
to see if the boat would sail right _this_ time.
[Illustration: _The boat sailed beautifully_]
And what do you think? _It did!_ Yes, the boat sailed beautifully, it
sailed right away to the other side of the brook, and when Charlie
turned the rudder to the right the boat turned in the opposite
direction and sailed right back again!