"What duty do you think we had better do?" asked Lucy.
"If I were you," replied Rollo"s mother, "I should first of all sit down and have a good reading lesson."
Rollo and Lucy hesitated a little, but they concluded to take their mother"s advice at last, and went to Rollo"s little library, and chose a book, and then went down to the back entry, and sat down there, on a long cricket, and began to read.
At first, it was rather hard to do it, for it did not look very pleasant to either of them to sit down and read, just at the time when they expected to be gathering blueberries on the mountain. Rollo said, when they were opening the hook and finding the place, that, if they had gone, they should, by that time, have just about arrived at the foot of the mountain.
"Yes," said Lucy, "but we must not think of that now. Besides, just see how it rains. It would be a fine time now to go up a mountain, wouldn"t it?"
Rollo looked out of the open door, and saw the rain pouring down into the yard, and felt again ashamed to recollect how he had insisted that it was not going to rain.
Lucy said it was beautiful to see it pouring down so fast. "Look," said she; "how it streams down from the spout at the corner of the barn!"
"Yes," said Rollo, "and see that little pond out by the garden gate. How it is all full of little bubbles! It will be a beautiful pond for me to sail boats in, when the rain is over. I can make paper-boats and pea boats!"
"Pea boats?" said Lucy; "what are pea-boats?"
"O! they are beautiful little boats," said he. "Jonas showed me how to make them. We take a pea-pod, a good large full pea-pod, and shave off the top from one end to the other, and then take out the peas, and it makes a beautiful little boat. I wish we had some; I could show you."
"Let us make some when we have done reading, and sail them. Only that pond will all go away when the rain is over."
"O no," said Rollo, "I will put some ground all around it, and then the water cannot run away."
"Yes, but it will soak down into the ground."
"Will it?" said Rollo. "Well, we can sail our boats on it a little while before it is gone."
"But it is so wet," said Lucy, "we cannot go out to get any pea-pods."
"I did not think of that," said Rollo. "Perhaps Jonas could get some for us, with an umbrella."
"_I_ could go with an umbrella," said Lucy, "just as well as not."
The children saw an umbrella behind the door, and they thought they would go both together, and they actually laid down their book, spread the umbrella, and went to the door. It then occurred to them that it would not be quite right to go out, without leave; so Rollo went to ask his mother.
His mother said it was not suitable for young ladies to go out in the rain, as their shoes, and their dress generally, were thin, and could not bear to be exposed to wet; but she said that Rollo himself might take off his shoes and stockings, and go out alone, when the rain held up.
"But, mother," said he, "why cannot I go out now, with the umbrella?"
"Because," she replied, "when it rains fast, some of the water spatters through the umbrella, and some will be driven against you by the wind."
"Well, I will wait, and as soon as it rains but little, I will go out.
But must I take off my shoes and stockings?"
"Yes," said his mother, "or else you will get them wet and muddy. And before you go you must get a dipper of water ready in the shed, to pour on your feet, and wash them, when you get back; and then wait till they are entirely dry, before you put on your shoes and stockings again. If you want the pea-pods enough to take all that trouble, you may go for them."
Rollo said he did want them enough for that, and he then went back and told Lucy what his mother had said, and they concluded to read until the rain should cease, and that then Rollo should go out into the garden.
They began to read; but their minds were so much upon the pea-pod boats, that the story did not interest them very much. Besides, children cannot read very well aloud, to one another; for if they succeed in calling all the words right, they do not generally give the stops and the emphasis, and the proper tones of voice, so as to make the story interesting to those that hear. Some boys and girls are vain enough to think that they can read very well, just because they can call all the words without stopping to spell them; but this is very far from being enough to make a good reader.
Rollo read a little way, and then Lucy read a little way; but they were not much interested, and thinking that the difficulty might be in the book, they got another, but with no better success. At last Rollo said they would go and get their mother to read to them. So they went together to her room, and Rollo said that they could not get along very well in rending themselves, and asked her if she would not be good enough to read to them.
"Why, what is the difficulty?" said she.
"O, I do not know, exactly: the story is not very interesting, and then we cannot read very well."
"In what respect will it be better for me to read to you?" she asked.
"Why, mother, you can choose us a prettier story; and then we should understand it better if you read it."
"I suppose you would; but I see you have made a great mistake."
"What mistake?" said both the children at once.
"Why is it that you are going to read at all?"
"Why, you advised us to, mother."
"Did I advise you to do it as a _duty_, or as a _pleasure_?"
"As a _duty_, mother; I recollect now." said Rollo.
"Yes: well, now the mistake you have made is, that you are looking upon it only as a pleasure, and instead of doing it faithfully, in such a way as will make it most useful to you, you are forgetting that altogether, and only intent upon having it interesting and pleasant. Is it not so?"
"Why--yes," said Rollo, hesitating, and looking down; and then turning round to Lucy, he said, "I suppose we had better go and read the story ourselves."
"Do just as you please," said his mother. "I have not commanded you to read, but only recommended it; and that not as a way of _interesting_ you, but as a way of spending an hour _usefully_, as a preparation for an hour of enjoyment afterwards. You can do as you please, however; but if you attempt to read at all, I advise you to do it not as _play_, but as a _lesson_."
"Well, come, Rollo," said Lucy, "let us go."
So the children ran back to the entry, and sat down to their story, taking pains to read carefully, as if their object was to learn to read; and though they did not expect it, they did, in fact, have a very pleasant time.
The rest of the adventures of Rollo and Lucy, during this day must be reserved for another story.
THE FRESHET.
[Ill.u.s.tration: "Going to see the freshet."]
THE FRESHET