Jacob Abbott

“ They see the pleasure and they grasp at it. They do not see the consequences, and so they neglect them. The result is, they get into difficulty and do mischief. Other people lose confidence in them, and so they have to be restricted and watched, and subjected to limits and bounds, when if they were a little more considerate and manly, they might enjoy a much greater liberty, and many more pleasures.”
“I don’t think that I do so,” said Phonny.
“No,” rejoined Wallace, “I don’t think that you do; that is I don’t think that you do so more than other boys of your age. ”

“ We like to see them playful and joyous while they are boys.”
“I thought it was better to be sober,” said Phonny.
“No,” said Wallace, “not for boys. Boys ought to be sober at proper times; but in their plays and in their ordinary occupations, it is better for them to be frolicsome and light-hearted. Their time for care and thoughtful concern has not come. The only way by which they can form good healthy constitutions, is to run about a great deal, and have a great deal of frolicking and fun. ”

“ Stuyvesant is younger than Phonny, and he was brought up in a city, and yet he seems a great deal more of a man; which is very strange. In the first place he takes a great deal more interest in the hens, which are useful and productive animals, than he does in the squirrel, which is a mere plaything. Then he plans his work carefully, considers how much he can probably accomplish himself, and undertakes no more. He plans, he calculates, he measures, and then proceeds steadily and perseveringly till he finishes. ”

“ BEECHNUT’S ADVICE.
“Nonsense, Beechnut,” said Phonny, “you are only making fun. If I were to let him go off into the woods, he never would come back again.”
“Why, do you suppose,” said Beechnut, “that he would rather be running about in the woods than to live in that trap?”
[Pg 90]
“Yes,” said Phonny.
“Then,” said Beechnut, “you must make him a beautiful cage, and have it so convenient and comfortable for him, that he shall like it better than he does the woods. That would not be difficult, one would suppose, because he has nothing but holes in the ground and old hollow logs in the woods.” ”

“ This was true; for Stuyvesant’s instinctive good sense and sagacity had taught him that when traveling with a multitude of other people, who were almost all perfectly familiar with the usages of the road, a stranger would always find sufficient means of guidance in his observation of those about him. It gave Stuyvesant pleasure to think that he had found out the way to travel himself, and he was very glad to have the wisdom of the method which he had adopted, confirmed by Beechnut’s testimony. ”

“ He had thought [Pg 32] that he was manly—very manly; but it was evident that his cousin considered him boyish.
“I do not know,” continued Wallace, “but that you are as manly as other boys of your years.”
“Except Stuyvesant,” said Phonny.
“Yes, except Stuyvesant,” said Wallace, “I think that he is rather remarkable. I do not think that you are very boyish,—but you are growing up quite fast and you are getting to be pretty large. It is time for you to begin to evince some degree of the carefulness, and considerateness, and sense of responsibility, that belong to men. ”

“ Phonny and Malleville mounted upon the top of the load as soon as Beechnut got it ready, and rode home. They ran into the house, while Beechnut went to unload his wood. Just as Beechnut was ready to go out of the yard again with his empty cart, Phonny came out.
“Cousin Wallace has really come,” said Phonny.
“Ah!” said Beechnut, “and what does he have to say?”
“Why, he says,” replied Phonny, “that he is going to make a man of me.”
“Is he?” said Beechnut. “Well, I hope he will take proper time for it. I have no great opinion of the plan of making men out of boys before their time.” ”

“ The question is, which of you can have the pleasure and privilege of giving up to the other, instead of which shall be compelled to give up against his will. So you see it is now a very pleasant sort of a quarrel.”
“No,” said Phonny, “it is not any such thing. A quarrel is not pleasant, ever.”
“Oh, yes,” said Beechnut, “one of the greatest pleasures of life is to quarrel. ”

“ It is very right for boys to love frolicking and fun, but they should be very careful not to let their fun give other people trouble or pain.”
“But now, Phonny,” continued Wallace, “you are to be shut up for perhaps a week, and here is an opportunity for you to show some marks of manliness which we always like to see in boys.” ”

“ That is a great deal better trait of character than to be able to lay up money.”
Wallace thought this to himself as he rode along. He did not, however, express the thought, but went on a minute or two in silence. At length he said,
“So, then, you have got money enough to buy the squirrel?”
“Yes,” said Phonny, “if a quarter is enough.”
“It is enough,” said Wallace, “I have no doubt. So that one difficulty is disposed of. As to the second difficulty,” he continued, “that is, troubling the family about making the cage, we can dispose of that very easily, too, for I can help you about that myself. ”

“ It is the rule that I always travel by, and I find it will carry me safely anywhere. It is an excellent rule for ladies, who are traveling alone. If they would only trust themselves to it, it would be all the guidance that they would need.”
“Well,” said Stuyvesant, “I will decide to take the rule.”
Shortly after this, Beechnut and the children all went into the house, and Stuyvesant and Phonny went to bed. Stuyvesant was so much excited, however, at the thoughts of his journey, that it was a long time before he could get to sleep. ”

“ The reason of that is, that living in cities, they are brought up without having any thing to do.”
[Pg 63]
“They can go of errands,” said Stuyvesant.
“Yes,” said Beechnut, “they can go of errands, but there are not many errands to be done, so they are brought up in idleness. Country boys, on the other hand, generally have a great deal to do. They have to go for the cows, and catch the horses, and drive oxen, and a thousand other things, and so they are brought up in industry.”
“Is Phonny brought up in industry?” asked Stuyvesant. ”

“ Henry, “as boys’ tools generally are.”
“No,” said Phonny, “they are all sharp. We have sharpened them every one.”
“How did you do it?” asked Mrs. Henry.
“Why, we turned the grindstone for Beechnut while he ground his axes, and then he held our tools for us to sharpen them. We could not hold them ourselves very well.”
“We are going to keep them sharp,” continued Phonny,—“as sharp as razors. Won’t we, Stivy?”
“We are going to try it,” said Stuyvesant.
Phonny took up the plane to show his mother how sharp it was. ”

“ I see what I have got to do here.”
“What is it?” asked Phonny.
“I have got a small door to make, and a button for the large door, and a ladder to get up to the loft. Then I have got to clear the hen-house all out, and put it in order. What is in this barrel?”
“That is where the hens lay sometimes,” said Phonny, “when they don’t lay in the barn.”
So saying, Phonny walked into the corner where the barrel stood, and there he found three eggs in the nest.
“Three eggs,” said he. “I think Dorothy has not been out here to-day. ”

“ Men, generally, before they do any new or unusual thing, stop to consider what the results and consequences of it are going to be; but boys go on headlong, and find out what the consequences are when they come.”
While Wallace and Phonny had been conversing thus, they had been riding through a wood which extended along a mountain glen. Just at this time they came to a place where a cart path branched off from the main road, toward the right. Phonny proposed to go into this path to see where it would lead. Wallace had no objection to this plan, and so they turned their horses and went in. ”

“ One day Hazelnut came home and found that Johnny had taken out the long reins from the harness, and had fastened them to the branches of two trees in the back yard, to make a swing, and then he had loaded the swing with so many children, as to break it down.”
[Pg 37]
“Yes,” said Phonny, “that was me too; but I did not think that the reins would break.”
“I know it,” said Wallace. “You did not think. That is the nature of the kind of boyishness that I am speaking of. The boy does not think. ”

“ If it were only winter now, there would be a prospect that you might be blocked up in a snow storm.”
“Hoh!” said Phonny, “that would be a dreadful thing.”
“No,” replied Beechnut, “not dreadful at all. For people who are on business, and [Pg 188] who are in haste to get to the end of their journey, it is bad to meet with accidents and delays; but for boys, and for people who are traveling for pleasure, the more adventures they meet with the better.”
“Accidents are not adventures,” said Phonny.
“They lead to adventures,” replied Beechnut.
“But now for my directions,” said Stuyvesant. ”

“ They are especially remarkable for their sagacity in finding good places to drink in the fields and pastures where they feed or are employed at work, and for their good memory in recollecting where they are. An ox may be kept away from a particular field or pasture quite a long time, and yet know exactly where to go to find water to drink when he is admitted to it again.
Stuyvesant looked at the oxen as they went down the path, and then proposed to follow them. ”

“ One reason in fact why Beechnut had directed Stuyvesant not to open his note until he should reach the cars, was to give him something to occupy his attention and amuse his thoughts on first going away from home. The feeling of loneliness and home-sickness to be apprehended in traveling under such circumstances, is always much greater when first setting out on the journey than afterward, [Pg 192] and Beechnut being aware of this, thought it desirable to give Stuyvesant something to think of when he first drove away from the door. ”

“ Henry then pointed to the place upon the bandage, underneath which the cut lay, and she showed also the direction and length of the cut.
“Exactly,” said the doctor. “You could not have cut your ankle, Phonny, in a better place. A half an inch more, one side or the other, might have made you a cripple for life. [Pg 163] You hit the right place exactly. It is a great thing for a boy who has a hatchet for a plaything, to know how to cut himself in the right place.” ”

“ At one time the cars stopped, and all the passengers rose from their seats and seemed to be going out. Stuyvesant accordingly rose and went with them. There was a man on the platform, who called out as the people stepped down from the cars, “Passengers for Boston will take the forward cars on the right.” Stuyvesant followed the crowd and entered with them into the cars of another train. In fact the travelers had arrived at what is called a junction, that is to a place where they come upon a railroad belonging to another company, and here of course they took another train. ”

“ The children worked upon the collection of leaves a little while every day. They divided the duty, giving each one a share. Stuyvesant pressed the leaves and gummed them to their places in the book. Phonny, who was a pretty good composer, composed the descriptions, and afterward Stuyvesant would copy them upon the pieces of paper which were to be pasted into the book. Stuyvesant used to go out to the barn or the yard, to get all the information which Beechnut could give him in respect to the particular tree which happened, for the time being, to be the subject of inquiry. ”

“ During this conversation, Beechnut had been busily employed in yoking up the oxen. Stuyvesant looked on, watching the operations carefully, in order to see how the work of yoking up was done. He wished to see [Pg 51] whether the process was such that he could learn to yoke up oxen himself; or whether any thing that was required was beyond his strength.
“Can boys yoke up cattle?” said Stuyvesant at length.
“It takes a pretty stout boy,” said Beechnut.
“Could a boy as stout as I am do it?” asked Stuyvesant.
“It would be rather hard work for you,” said Beechnut, “the yoke is pretty heavy.” ”

“ Henry herself afterward asked Beechnut if he thought it would be safe for Stuyvesant to go alone.
“Just as safe,” said Beechnut, “as it would be for him to go under my charge. There is always danger of accidents, in traveling,” he added, “but there is no more danger for Stuyvesant alone than if he were in company.” ”

“ Espy ought to have tinned his trap.” So saying, Phonny stooped down and peeped into the trap again, through the crack under the lid.
“Who is Espy?” asked Wallace.
“Espy Ransom,” said Phonny. “He lives down by the mill. He is always setting traps for squirrels. I suppose that this road goes down to the mill, and that he came up here and set his trap. But it won’t do to leave the [Pg 45] squirrel here,” continued Phonny, looking at Wallace in a very earnest manner. “It never will do in the world.” ”

“ Phonny felt a considerable degree of interest in Stuyvesant’s plan of softening the nails, and so he left Wallace to go on boring the holes, while he went with Stuyvesant into the house.
“You never can get so many nails out of [Pg 138] the fire in the world,” said Phonny. “They will be lost in the ashes.” ”

“ By this time Phonny had become quiet. His mother, when she had finished bandaging the ankle, brought another stocking and put it on, to keep the bandage in its place.
“There!” said she, “that will do. Now the first thing is to get him into the other room.”
So Dorothy carried Phonny in, and laid him down upon the sofa in the great sitting-room.
That evening when Beechnut went to the village to get the letters at the post-office, he stopped at the doctor’s on his way, to ask the doctor to call that evening or in the morning at Mrs. Henry’s. The doctor came that evening. ”