Rollo at Work Read online

  Transcriber's Notes:

  The original print starts with a list of novels from the "Rollo series".This information has been moved to the back of the book.

  Unusual spellings that are used consistently have been kept as they werefound in the source. Some punctuation errors have been corrected silently.All other corrections are declared in the TEI master file, using the usualTEI elements for corrections.

  In particular, four asterisks that appear to be footnote marks without acorresponding footnote have been deleted.

  The

  Rollo Books

  by

  Jacob Abbott

  The Rollo Books by Jacob Abbott. Boston, Phillips, Sampson,& Co.]

  Boston, Phillips, Sampson, & Co.

  -------------------------------------

  Rollo At Work

  Or

  The Way to Be Industrious

  -------------------------------------

  NOTICE TO PARENTS.

  Although this little work, and its fellow, "ROLLO AT PLAY," are intendedprincipally as a means of entertainment for their little readers, it ishoped by the writer that they may aid in accomplishing some of thefollowing useful purposes:--

  1. In cultivating _the thinking powers_; as frequent occasions occur, inwhich the incidents of the narrative, and the conversations arising fromthem, are intended to awaken and engage the reasoning and reflectivefaculties of the little readers.

  2. In promoting the progress of children _in reading_ and in knowledge oflanguage; for the diction of the stories is intended to be often inadvance of the natural language of the reader, and yet so used as to beexplained by the connection.

  3. In cultivating the _amiable and gentle qualities of the heart_. Thescenes are laid in quiet and virtuous life, and the character and conductdescribed are generally--with the exception of some of the ordinaryexhibitions of childish folly--character and conduct to be imitated; forit is generally better, in dealing with children, to allure them to whatis right by agreeable pictures of it, than to attempt to drive them to itby repulsive delineations of what is wrong.

  CONTENTS

  Story 1. Labor Lost Elky. Preparations. A Bad Beginning. What Rollo Might Do. A New Plan. Hirrup! Hirrup! An Overturn.Story 2. The Two Little Wheelbarrows. Rides. The Corporal's. The Old Nails. A Conversation. Rollo Learns to Work at Last. The Corporal's Again.Story 3. Causey-Building. Sand-Men. The Gray Garden. A Contract. Instructions. Keeping Tally. Rights Defined. Calculation.Story 4. Rollo's Garden. Farmer Cropwell. Work and Play. Planting. The Trying Time. A Narrow Escape. Advice.Story 5. The Apple-Gathering. The Garden-House. Jolly. The Pet Lamb. The Meadow-Russet. Insubordination. Subordination. The New Plan Tried. A Present. The Strawberry-Bed. The Farmer's Story.Story 6. Georgie. The Little Landing. Georgie's Money. Two Good Friends. A Lecture On Playthings. The Young Drivers. The Toy-Shop.

  ENGRAVINGS

  Rollo Digging Holes in the Ground.Too Heavy.The Corporal's.Rollo Took Hold of His Wheelbarrow.The Cows.The Bull Chained by the Nose.Work in the Rain.The Harvesting Party.There, Said He, See How Men Work.Georgie's Apples.

  Rollo Digging Holes in the Ground.]

  LABOR LOST.

  Elky.

  When Rollo was between five and six years old, he was one day at work inhis little garden, planting some beans. His father had given him a littlesquare bed in a corner of the garden, which he had planted with corn twodays before. He watched his corn impatiently for two days, and, as it didnot come up, he thought he would plant it again with beans. He ought tohave waited longer.

  He was sitting on a little cricket, digging holes in the ground, when heheard a sudden noise. He started up, and saw a strange, monstrous headlooking at him over the garden wall. He jumped up, and ran as fast as hecould towards the house.

  It happened that Jonas, the boy, was at that time at work in the yard,cutting wood, and he called out, "What is the matter, Rollo?"

  Rollo had just looked round, and seeing that the head remained still whereit was, he was a little ashamed of his fears; so at first he did notanswer, but walked along towards Jonas.

  "That's the colt," said Jonas; "should not you like to go and see him?"

  Rollo looked round again, and true enough, it was a small horse's headthat was over the wall. It looked smaller now than it did when he firstsaw it.

  Now there was behind the garden a green field, with scattered trees uponit, and a thick wood at the farther side. Jonas took Rollo by the hand,and led him back into the garden, towards the colt. The colt took his headback over the fence as they approached, and walked away. He was now afraidof Rollo. Jonas and Rollo climbed up upon a stile which was built thereagainst the fence, and saw the colt trotting away slowly down towards thewood, looking back at Rollo and Jonas, by bending his head every minute,first on one side, and then on the other.

  "There comes father," said Rollo.

  Jonas looked and saw Rollo's father coming out of the wood, leading ahorse. The colt and the horse had been feeding together in the field, andRollo's father had caught the horse, for he wanted to take a ride. Rollo'sfather had a little basket in his hand, and when he saw the colt comingtowards him, he held it up and called him, "_Elky, Elky, Elky, Elky_," forthe colt's name was Elkin, though they often called him Elky. Elkin walkedslowly up to the basket, and put his nose in it. He found that there weresome oats in it; and Rollo's father poured them out on the grass, and thenstood by, patting Elky's head and neck while he ate them. Rollo thoughthis head looked beautifully; he wondered how he could have been afraid ofit.

  Rollo's father led the horse across the field, through a gate, into agreen lane which led along the side of the garden towards the house; andRollo said he would run round into the lane and meet him. So he jumped offof the stile, and ran up the garden, and Jonas followed him, and went backto his work.

  Rollo ran round to meet his father, who was coming up the green lane,leading the horse with a rope round his neck.

  "Father," said Rollo, "could you put me on?"

  His father smiled, and lifted Rollo up carefully, and placed him on thehorse's back. Then he walked slowly along.

  "Father," said Rollo, "are you going away?"

  "Yes," said he, "I am going to ride away in the wagon."

  "Why did not you catch Elky, and let him draw you?"

  "Elky? O, Elky is not old enough to work."

  "Not old enough to work!" said Rollo, "Why, he is pretty big. He is almostas big as the horse. I should think he could draw you alone in the wagon."

  "Perhaps he is strong enough for that; but Elky has never learned to workyet."

  "Never learned!" said Rollo, in great surprise. "Do horses have to _learn_to work? Why, they have nothing to do but to pull."

  "Why, suppose," said his father, "that he should dart off at once as soonas he is harnessed, and pull with all his strength, and furiously."

  "O, he must not do so: he must pull gently and slowly."

  "Well, suppose he pulls gently a minute, and then stops and looks round,and then I tell him to go on, and he pulls a minute again, and then stopsand looks round."

  "O no," said Rollo, laughing, "he must not do so; he must keep pullingsteadily all the time."

  "Yes, so you see he has something more to do than merely to pull; he mustpull right, and he must be taught to do this. Besides, he must learn toobey all my various commands. Why, a horse needs to be taught to work asmuch as a boy."

  "Why, father, I can work; and I have never been taught."

  "O no," said his father, smiling, "you cannot work."

  "I can plant beans," said Rollo.

  Just then, Rollo, who was all this time riding on the hor
se, looked downfrom his high seat into a little bush by the side of the road, and sawthere a little bunch that looked like a birdsnest; and he said, "O,father, please to take me down; I want to look at that birdsnest."

  His father knew that he would not hurt the birdsnest; so he took him offof the horse, and put him on the ground. Then he walked on with the horse,and Rollo turned back to see the nest. He climbed up upon a log that layby the side of the bush, and then gently opened the branches and lookedin. Four little, unfledged birds lifted up their heads, and opened theirmouths wide. They heard the noise which Rollo made, and thought it wastheir mother come to feed them.

  "Ah, you little dickeys," said Rollo; "hungry, are you? _I_ have not gotany thing for you to eat."

  Rollo looked at them a little while, and then slowly got down and walkedalong up the lane, saying to himself, "_They_ are not big enough to work,at any rate, but _I_ am, I know, and I do not believe but that _Elky_ is."

  Preparations.

  When Rollo got back into the yard, he found his father just getting intothe wagon to go away. Jonas stood by the horse, having just finishedharnessing him.

  "Father," said Rollo, "I can work. You thought I could not work, but Ican. I am going to work to-day while you are gone."

  "Are you?" said his father. "Very well; I should be glad to have you."

  "What should you like to have me do?" asked Rollo.

  "O, you may pick up chips, or pile that short wood in the shed. But standback from the wheel, for I am going to start now."

  So Rollo stood back, and his father drew up the reins which Jonas had justput into his hands, and guided the horse slowly and carefully out of theyard. Rollo ran along behind the wagon as far as the gate, to see hisfather go off, and stood there a few minutes, watching him as he rodealong, until he disappeared at a turn in the road. He then came back tothe yard, and sat down on a log by the side of Jonas, who was busily atwork mending the wheelbarrow.

  Rollo sat singing to himself for some time, and then he said,

  "Jonas, father thinks I am not big enough to work; don't you think I am?"

  "I don't know," said Jonas, hesitating. "You do not seem to be veryindustrious just now."

  "O, I am resting now," said Rollo; "I am going to work pretty soon."

  "What are you resting from?" said Jonas.

  "O, I am resting because I am tired."

  "What are you tired of?" said Jonas. "What have you been doing?"

  Rollo had no answer at hand, for he had not been doing any thing at all.The truth was, it was pleasanter for him to sit on the log and sing, andsee Jonas mend the wheelbarrow, than to go to work himself; and he mistookthat feeling for being tired. Boys often do so when they are set to work.

  Rollo, finding that he had no excuse for sitting there any longer,presently got up, and sauntered along towards the house, saying that hewas going to work, picking up chips.

  Now there was, in a certain corner of the yard, a considerable spacecovered with chips, which were the ones that Rollo had to pick up. He knewthat his father wished to have them put into a kind of a bin in the shed,called the _chip-bin_. So he went into the house for a basket.

  He found his mother busy; and she said she could not go and get a basketfor him; but she told him the chip-basket was probably in its place in theshed, and he might go and get that.

  "But," said Rollo, "that is too large. I cannot lift that great basketfull of chips."

  "You need not fill it full then," said his mother. "Put in just as many asyou can easily carry."

  Rollo still objected, saying that he wanted her very much to go and get asmaller one. He could not work without a smaller one.

  "Very well," said she, "I would rather that you should not work then. Theinterruption to me to get up now, and go to look for a smaller basket,will be greater than all the good you will do in picking up chips."

  Rollo then told her that his father wanted him to work, and he related toher all the conversation they had had. She then thought that she hadbetter do all in her power to give Rollo a fair experiment; so she lefther work, went down, got him a basket which he said was just big enough,and left him at the door, going out to his work in the yard.

  A Bad Beginning.

  Rollo sat down on the chips, and began picking them up, all around him,and throwing them into his basket. He soon filled it up, and then luggedit in, emptied it into the chip-bin, and then returned, and began to fillit again.

  He had not got his basket more than half full the second time, before hecame upon some very large chips, which were so square and flat, that hethought they would be good to build houses with. He thought he would justtry them a little, and began to stand them up in such a manner as to makethe four walls of a house. He found, however, an unexpected difficulty;for although the chips were large and square, yet the edges were so sharpthat they would not stand up very well.

  Some time was spent in trying experiments with them in various ways; buthe could not succeed very well; so he began again industriously to putthem into his basket.

  When he got the basket nearly full, the second time, he thought he wastired, and that it would be a good plan to take a little time for rest;and he would go and see Jonas a little while.

  Now his various interruptions and delays, his conversation with hismother, the delay in getting the basket, and his house-building, hadoccupied considerable time; so that, when he went back to Jonas, it wasfull half an hour from the time when he left him; and he found that Jonashad finished mending the wheelbarrow, and had put it in its place, and wasjust going away himself into the field.

  "Well, Rollo," said he, "how do you get along with your work?"

  "O, very well," said Rollo; "I have been picking up chips all the timesince I went away from you."

  Rollo did not mean to tell a falsehood. But he was not aware how much ofhis time he had idled away.

  "And how many have you got in?" said Jonas.

  "Guess," said Rollo.

  "Six baskets full," said Jonas.

  "No," said Rollo.

  "Eight."

  "No; not so many."

  "How many, then?" said Jonas, who began to be tired of guessing.

  "Two; that is, I have got one in, and the other is almost full."

  "Only two?" said Jonas. "Then you cannot have worked very steadily. Comehere and I will show you how to work."

  What Rollo Might Do.

  So Jonas walked along to the chips, and asked Rollo to fill up thatbasket, and carry it, and then come back, and he would tell him.

  So Rollo filled up the basket, carried it to the bin, and came back verysoon. Jonas told him then to fill it up again as full as it was before.

  "There," said Jonas, when it was done, "now it is as full as the otherwas, and I should think you have been less than two minutes in doing it.We will call it two minutes. Two minutes for each basket full would makethirty baskets full in an hour. Now, I don't think there are more thanthirty baskets full in all; so that, if you work steadily, but withouthurrying any, you would get them all in in an hour."

  "In an hour?" said Rollo. "Could I get them all in in an hour?"

  "Yes," said Jonas, "I have no doubt you can. But you must not hurry andget tired out. Work moderately, but _steadily_;--that is the way."

  So Jonas went to the field, leaving Rollo to go on with his thirtybaskets. Rollo thought it would be a fine thing to get the chips all inbefore his father should come home, and he went to work very busilyfilling his basket the third time.

  "I can do it quicker," said he to himself. "I can fill the basket a greatdeal faster than that. I will get it all done in half an hour."

  So he began to throw in the chips as fast as possible, taking up verylarge ones too, and tossing them in in any way. Now it happened that hedid fill it this time very quick; for the basket being small, and thechips that he now selected very large, they did not pack well, but lay upin every direction, so as apparently to fill up the basket quite full,when, in fact, there were g
reat empty spaces in it; and when he took it upto carry it, it felt very light, because it was in great part empty.

  He ran along with it, forgetting Jonas's advice not to hurry, and thinkingthat the reason why it seemed so light was because he was so strong. Whenhe got to the coal-bin, the chips would not come out easily. They were solarge that they had got wedged between the sides of the basket, and he hadhard work to get them out.

  This fretted him, and cooled his ardor somewhat; he walked back ratherslowly, and began again to fill his basket.

  A New Plan.

  Before he had got many chips in it, however, he happened to think that thewheelbarrow would be a better thing to get them in with. They would notstick in that as they did in the basket. "Men always use a wheelbarrow,"he said to himself, "and why should not I?"

  So he turned the chips out of his basket, thus losing so much labor, andwent after the wheelbarrow. He spent some time in looking to see how Jonashad mended it, and then he attempted to wheel it along to the chips. Hefound it quite heavy; but he contrived to get it along, and after losingconsiderable time in various delays, he at last had it fairly on theground, and began to fill it.

  He found that the chips would go into the wheelbarrow beautifully, and hewas quite pleased with his own ingenuity in thinking of it. He thought hewould take a noble load, and so he filled it almost full, but it took along time to do it, for the wheelbarrow was so large that he got tired,and stopped several times to rest.

  When, at length, it was full, he took hold of the handles, and lifted awayupon it. He found it very heavy. He made another desperate effort, andsucceeded in raising it from the ground a little; but unluckily, aswheelbarrows are very apt to do when the load is too heavy for theworkman, it tipped down to one side, and, though Rollo exerted all hisstrength to save it, it was in vain.