"Why, you see I laid it down one day on a stone, where I was at work with it, and left it there, and there happened to come a rain in the night and rusted it. I did not know where it was, and so I didn"t find it for a good many days."
"Then, I presume," said Forester, "that James supposed that you would leave his knife out in the same way and spoil it."
"No," replied Marco, "that was not the reason."
"You are sure that you asked him for it distinctly, and he refused?"
"Yes," said Marco.
Here there was a moment"s pause. Marco thought that his cousin Forester was considering what should be done to James, for being so unaccommodating. He did not know but that he would report him to his father and have him turned away; though Marco did not really wish to have him turned away.
But Forester said, after reflecting a moment, "That makes me think of a story I have got here; listen and hear it."
[Ill.u.s.tration: MARCO"S ROOM.]
So Forester took out his pocket-book and opened it, and then appeared to be turning over the leaves, for a moment, to find a place. Then he began to read, or to appear to read, as follows:
Once there was a little girl named Anne. She came to her mother one day, as she was sitting in the parlor, and began to complain bitterly of her sister Mary. Her sister Mary was older than she was, and had a doll. Anne complained that Mary would not lend her her doll.
"Are you sure that she refused to lend you her doll?" asked her mother.
"Yes, mother, I am _sure_ she did," replied Anne.
"Perhaps she is playing with it herself," said her mother.
"No," replied Anne, "she is ironing in the kitchen."
"I think you must be mistaken," said her mother. "Go and ask her again. Don"t tell her I sent you, but ask her yourself, whether she really meant that she was not willing to lend you her doll."
So Anne ran off to put the question to Mary again; presently she returned with the same answer. "Mary," she said, "would not lend it to her."
"I am very sorry to hear it," said her mother, "for now I suppose I shall have to punish you."
"To punish _her_, you mean," said Anne.
"No," said her mother, "to punish you. I don"t suppose _she_ is to blame."
"Why, mother--how can _I_ be to blame, for her not being willing to lend me her doll?"
"You _are_, I"ve no doubt," said her mother. "Mary is a good-natured, accommodating girl,--always ready to do kindnesses, and if she has any unwillingness to lend any thing to you, it must be that you have created it yourself, by some misconduct. So that it will prove, no doubt, that you are the one to be punished."
Here Anne began to hang her head and look a little ashamed. Her mother"s supposition proved to be correct, for, on inquiring, it appeared that Mary had lent her doll to Anne a few days before, and that when she wanted it again, Anne was unwilling to give it to her, and when Mary insisted on her bringing it to her, she became angry and threw the doll out the window.
"I never heard that story before, cousin Forester," said Marco. "And I did not know that you had stories in your pocket-book."
Forester laughed and put up his pocket-book.
"I don"t believe there is any story there," said Marco. "You made it up for me, I verily believe."
"Yes," said Forester, "I did. Don"t it fit your case pretty well?"
"Why, I don"t know," said Marco. "I don"t see why he could not let me have his knife."
"Suppose _I_ had asked him for his knife; don"t you suppose he would have lent it to me?"
"Yes," said Marco, "I"ve no doubt he would; he would do any thing for _you_, of course, because you pay him--or uncle pays him, which is the same thing."
"I don"t think that that is the reason altogether," replied Forester.
"There was the man at the mill to-day, who said that I might take his boat and do any thing I chose to do with it."
"Yes," said Marco, "I noticed that."
"And perhaps you thought it was very much to his credit that he did so."
"Yes," said Marco.
"But the fact is," rejoined Forester, "as I think, it was more to my credit than his; because I have had his boat a great many times heretofore, and his having so much confidence in me now, shows how I have acted with his property before. I have always taken a great deal of pains to use it carefully, to bring it back to its place safely, to get the water out, if there was any in it, and leave every thing in order. I have done this, not only because it is just and right that I should not make him suffer inconvenience on account of his doing me a favor, but as a matter of policy."
"What do you mean by a matter of policy?" asked Marco.
"Why, regard to my own interest. If I did not do so, I should soon make people unwilling to lend me their things. And I think there must be some good reason why James is not willing to lend you his knife."
"Why, he says," answered Marco, "that I don"t bring back his things."
"Ah!" rejoined Forester, "that"s it. I thought there must be some such reason as that. You have lost your character with James, and I advise you to acquire a new one as soon as you can. Besides, you have done him injustice this evening. You represented him as refusing you his knife because he was unaccommodating and selfish, whereas it was only proper regard to the safety of his property. What you said was calculated to make an unfavorable impression on my mind against him, and one which would have been unjust."
Marco perceived that it was so, and was silent.
"I am sorry that your knife is rusty," resumed Forester. "Perhaps I can get it open for you."
"How?" asked Marco.
"Why, I believe the best way is to soak the joint in oil. The oil will insinuate itself into the joint, and then we can get hold of the blade with a pair of nippers, or something of the kind, and open it; and then, by working it to and fro a few times, the rust will work out, and the knife be as good as it was before. If it is very rusty indeed, this plan will not answer."
"What must be done in that case?" asked Marco.
"The only way then is to carry it to some kind of smith and get him to punch out the rivet. Then we can take the blade out entirely. By this means we can clean it of its rust, and then put it in again with a new rivet. If you will give me your knife to-morrow, I will try to put it in order for you again, in one or the other of these ways.
"And now," continued Forester, after a short pause, "it is time for me to go down, unless you have something which you wish to say."
Although it was not unusual for Forester to close his evening conversation in this manner, Marco"s attention was particularly arrested by the excellent opportunity which this remark afforded him to make his confession. He really wished to make it,--but he did not know how to begin. He wished that his cousin would ask him something about it, or introduce the subject in some way or other, but Forester was silent. Presently he rose, came to Marco"s bedside, and asked him if he was warm enough,--for the nights at this season of the year were beginning to be cool.
"Yes," said Marco, "I"m very comfortable."
"Well, then, good night." So Forester took the lamp and walked slowly toward the door.
"Cousin Forester," said Marco.