Rollo at Work Part 17

"Which is it?" said George.

"It is that man who is pointing now," said the farmer, "to another stone.

He is telling them which to take next. Watch them now, and you will see that he directs every thing, and the rest do just as he says. But you are all directing and commanding together, and there is n.o.body to obey. If you were moving those stones, you would be all advising and disputing together, and pulling in every direction at once, and the stone would not move at all."

[Ill.u.s.tration: There, Said He, See How Men Work.]

"And do men always appoint a head," said Rollo, "when they work together?"

"No," said the farmer, "they do not always _appoint_ one regularly, but they always _have_ one, in some way or other. Even when no one is particularly authorized to direct, they generally let the one who is oldest, or who knows most about the business, take the lead, and the rest do as he says."

They all then walked slowly back to the garden-house, and the farmer advised them to have a head, if they wanted their business to go on smoothly and well.

"Who do you think ought to be our head?"

"The one who is the oldest, and knows most about the business," said the farmer, "and that, I suppose, would be George. But perhaps you had better take turns, and let each one be head for one load, and then you will all learn both to command and to obey."

So the boys agreed that George should command while they got the next load, and James and Rollo agreed to obey. The farmer told them they must obey exactly, and good-naturedly.

"You must not even _advise_ him what to do, or say any thing about it at all, except in some extraordinary case; but, when you talk, talk about other things altogether, and work on exactly as he shall say."

"What if we _know_ there is a better way? must not we tell him?" said Rollo.

"No," said the farmer, "unless it is something very uncommon. It is better to go wrong sometimes, under a head, than to be endlessly talking and disputing how you shall go. Therefore you must do exactly what he says, even if you know a better way, and see if you do not get along much faster."

The New Plan Tried.

The boys determined to try the plan, and, after putting their first load of apples into the barrel, they set off again under George's command. He told Rollo and James to draw the wagon, while he ran along behind. When they got to the tree, Rollo took up a pole, and began to beat down some more apples; but George told him that they must first pick up what were knocked down before; and he drew the wagon round to the place where he thought it was best for it to stand. The other boys made no objection, but worked industriously, picking up all the small and worm-eaten apples they could find; and, in a very short time, they had the wagon loaded, and were on their way to the house again.

Still, Rollo and James had to make so great an effort to avoid interfering with George's directions, that they did not really enjoy this trip quite so well as they did the first. It was pleasant to them to be more at liberty, and they thought, on the whole, that they did not like having a head quite so well as being without one.

Instead of going up to the garden-house, George ordered them to take this load to the barn, to put it in a bin where all such apples were to go.

When they came back, the farmer came again to the door of the garden-house.

"Well, boys," said he, "you have come rather quicker this time. How do you like that way of working?"

"Why, not quite so well," said Rollo. "I do not think it is so pleasant as the other way."

"It is not such good _play_, perhaps; but don't you think it makes better _work_?" said he.

The boys admitted that they got their apples in faster, and, as they were at work then, and not at play, they resolved to continue the plan.

Farmer Cropwell then asked who was to take command the next time.

"Rollo," said the boys.

"Well, Rollo," said he, "I want you to have a large number of apples knocked down this time, and then select from them the largest and nicest you can. I want one load for a particular purpose."

A Present.

The boys worked on industriously, and, before dinner-time, they had gathered all the apples. The load of best apples, which the farmer had requested them to bring for a particular purpose, were put into a small square box, until it was full, and then a cover was nailed on; the rest were laid upon the great bench. When, at length, the work was all done, and they were ready to go home, the farmer put this box into the wagon, so that it stood up in the middle, leaving a considerable s.p.a.ce before and behind it. He put the loose apples into this s.p.a.ce, some before and some behind, until the wagon was full.

"Now, James and Rollo, I want you to draw these apples for me, when you go home," said the farmer.

"Who are they for?" said Rollo.

"I will mark them," said he.

So he took down a little curious-looking tin dipper, with a top sloping in all around, and with a hole in the middle of it. A long, slender brush-handle was standing up in this hole.

When he took out the brush, the boys saw that it was blacking. With this blacking-brush he wrote on the top of the box,--LUCY.

"Is that box for my cousin Lucy?" said Rollo.

"Yes," said he; "you can draw it to her, can you not?"

"Yes, sir," said Rollo, "we will. And who are the other apples for? You cannot mark _them_."

"No," said the farmer; "but you will remember. Those before the box are for you, and those behind it for James. So drive along. George will come to your house, this afternoon, with the strawberry plants, and then he can bring the wagon home."

The Strawberry-Bed.

George Cropwell came, soon after, to Rollo's house, and helped him make a fine strawberry-bed, which, he said, he thought would bear considerably the next year. They dug up the ground, raked it over carefully, and then put in the plants in rows.

After it was all done, Rollo got permission of his father to go back with George to take the wagon home; and George proposed to take Rollo's wheelbarrow too. He had never seen such a pretty little wheelbarrow, and was very much pleased with it. So George ran on before, trundling the wheelbarrow, and Rollo came after, drawing the wagon.

Just as they came near the farmer's house, George saw, on before him, a ragged little boy, much smaller than Rollo, who was walking along barefooted.

"There's Tom," said George.

"Who?" said Rollo.

"Tom. See how I will frighten him."

As he said this, George darted forward with his wheelbarrow, and trundled it on directly towards Tom, as if he was going to run over him. Tom looked round, and then ran away, the wheelbarrow at his heels. He was frightened very much, and began to scream; and, just then, Farmer Cropwell, who at that moment happened to be coming up a lane, on the opposite side of the road, called out,

"George!"