Well, said Wallace, give me the bridle of your horse.
So Phonny threw the bridle over his horses head and gave it to Wallace. He then dismounted sliding down the side of the horse safely to the ground.
As soon as he found himself safely down, he threw his riding-stick upon the grass, and ran off toward the trap.
The trap was placed upon a small stone by the side of a larger one. It was in a very snug and sheltered place, almost out of view. In fact it probably would not have been observed by any ordinary passer-by.
Phonny ran up to the trap, and took hold of it. He lifted it up very cautiously. He shook it as well as he could, and then listened. He thought that he could hear or feel some slight motion within. He became very much excited.
He put the trap down upon the high rock, and began opening up the lid a little, very gently.
The trap was of the kind called by the boys a box-trap. It is in the form of a box, and the back part runs up high, to a point. The lid of the box has a string fastened to it, which string is carried up, over the high point, and thence down, and is fastened to an apparatus connected with the spindle.
The spindle is a slender rod of wood which passes through the end of the box into the interior. About half of the spindle is within the box and half without. There is a small notch in the outer part of the spindle, and another in the end of the box, a short distance above the spindle. There is a small bar of wood, with both ends sharpened, and made of such a length as just to reach from the notch in the end of the box, to the notch in the spindle. This bar is the apparatus to which the end of the string is fastened, as before described.
When the trap is to be set, the bar is fitted to the notches in such a manner as to catch in them, and then the weight of the lid, being sustained by the string, the lid is held up so that the squirrel can go in. The front of the box is attached to the lid, and rises with it, so that when the lid is raised a little the squirrel can creep directly in. The bait, which is generally a part of an ear of corn, is fastened to the end of the spindle, which is within the trap. The squirrel sees the bait, and creeps in to get it. He begins to nibble upon the corn. The ear is tied so firmly to the spindle that he can not get it away. In gnawing upon it to get off the corn, he finally disengages the end of the spindle from the bar, by working the lower end of the bar out of its notch; this lets the string up, and of course the lid comes down, and the squirrel is shut in, a captive.
When the lid first comes down, it makes so loud a noise as to terrify the poor captive very much. He runs this way and that, around the interior of the box, wondering what has happened, and why he can not get out as he came in. He has no more appetite for the corn, but is in great distress at his sudden and unaccountable captivity.
After trying in vain on all sides to escape, by forcing his way, and finding that the box is too strong for him in every part, he finally concludes to gnaw out. He accordingly selects the part of the box where there is the widest crack, and where consequently the brightest light shines through. He selects this place, partly because he supposes that the box is thinnest there, and partly because he likes to work in the light.1
There was a squirrel in the trap which Phonny had found. It was a large and handsome gray squirrel. He had been taken that morning. About an hour after the trap sprung upon him, he had begun to gnaw out, and he had got about half through the boards in the corner when Phonny found him. When Phonny shook the trap the squirrel clung to the bottom of it by his claws, so that Phonny did not shake him about much.
When Phonny had put the trap upon the great stone, he thought that he would lift up the lid a little way, and peep in. This is a very dangerous operation, for a squirrel will squeeze out through a very small aperture, and many a boy has lost a squirrel by the very means that he was taking to decide whether he had got one.
Phonny was aware of this danger, and so he was very careful. He raised the lid but very little, and looked under with the utmost caution. He saw two little round and very brilliant eyes peeping out at him.
Yes, Wallace, said he. Yes, yes, here he is. I see his eyes.
Wallace sat very composedly upon his horse, holding Phonnys bridle, while Phonny was uttering these exclamations, without appearing to share the enthusiasm which Phonny felt, at all.
He is here, Wallace, said Phonny. He is, truly.
I do not doubt it, said Wallace, but what are we to do about it?
Why why what would you do? asked Phonny.
I suppose that the best thing that we could do, said Wallace, is to ride along.
And leave the squirrel? said Phonny, in a tone of surprise.
Yes, said Wallace. I dont see any thing else that we can do.
Why, he will gnaw out, said Phonny. He will gnaw out in half an hour. He has gnawed half through the board already. 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 wont do to leave the squirrel here, continued Phonny, looking at Wallace in a very earnest manner. It never will do in the world.
What shall we do, then? asked Wallace.
Couldnt we carry him down to Espy? said Phonny.
I dont think that we have any right to carry him away. It is not our squirrel, and it may be that it is not Espys.
Phonny seemed perplexed. After a moments pause he added, Couldnt we go down and tell Espy that there is a squirrel in his trap?
Yes, said Wallace, that we can do.
Phonny stooped down and peeped into the trap again.
The rogue, said he. The moment that I am gone, he will go to gnawing again, I suppose, and so get out and run away. What a little fool he is.
Do you think he is a fool for trying to gnaw out of that trap? asked Wallace.
Why no, said Phonny, but I wish he wouldnt do it. We will go down quick and tell Espy.
So Phonny came back to the place where Wallace had remained in the road, holding the horses. Phonny let down the bars, and Wallace went through with the horses. Phonny immediately put the bars up again, took the bridle of his own horse from Wallaces hands, threw it up over the horses head, and then by the help of a large log which lay by the side of the road, he mounted. He did all this in a hurried manner, and ended with saying:
Now, Cousin Wallace, lets push on. I dont think its more than half a mile to the mill.
Chapter III
The Plowing
While Wallace and Phonny were taking their ride, as described in the last chapter, Stuyvesant and Beechnut were plowing.
Beechnut told Stuyvesant that he was ready to yoke up, as he called it, as soon as the horses had gone.
Well, said Stuyvesant, I will come. I have got to go up to my room a minute first.
So Stuyvesant went up to his room, feeling in his pockets as he ascended the stairs, to find the keys of his trunk. When he reached his room, he kneeled down before his trunk and unlocked it.
He raised the lid and began to take out the things. He took them out very carefully, and laid them in order upon a table which was near the trunk. There were clothes of various kinds, some books, and several parcels, put up neatly in paper. Stuyvesant stopped at one of these parcels, which seemed to be of an irregular shape, and began to feel of what it contained through the paper.
He raised the lid and began to take out the things. He took them out very carefully, and laid them in order upon a table which was near the trunk. There were clothes of various kinds, some books, and several parcels, put up neatly in paper. Stuyvesant stopped at one of these parcels, which seemed to be of an irregular shape, and began to feel of what it contained through the paper.
What is this? said he to himself. I wonder what it can be. Oh, I remember now, it is my watch-compass.
What Stuyvesant called his watch-compass, was a small pocket-compass made in the form of a watch. It was in a very pretty brass case, about as large as a ladys watch, and it had a little handle at the side, to fasten a watch-ribbon to. Stuyvesants uncle had given him this compass a great many years before. Stuyvesant had kept it very carefully in his drawer at home, intending when he should go into the country to take it with him, supposing that it would be useful to him in the woods. His sister had given him a black ribbon to fasten to the handle. The ribbon was long enough to go round Stuyvesants neck, while the compass was in his waistcoat pocket.
Stuyvesant untied the string, which was around the paper that contained his compass, and took it off. He then wound up this string into a neat sort of coil, somewhat in the manner in which fishing-lines are put up when for sale in shops. He put this coil of twine, together with the paper, upon the table. He looked at the compass a moment to see which was north in his chamber, and then putting the compass itself in his pocket, he passed the ribbon round his neck, and afterward went on taking the things out of his trunk.
When he came pretty near to the bottom of his trunk, he said to himself,
Ah! here it is.
At the same moment he took out a garment, which seemed to be a sort of frock. It was made of brown linen. He laid it aside upon a chair, and then began to put the things back into his trunk again. He laid them all in very carefully, each in its own place. When all were in, he shut down the lid of the trunk, locked it, and put the key in his pocket. Then he took the frock from the chair, and opening it, put it on.
It was made somewhat like a cartmans frock. Stuyvesant had had it made by the seamstress at his mothers house, in New York, before he came away. He was a very neat and tidy boy about his dress, and always felt uncomfortable if his clothes were soiled or torn. He concluded, therefore, that if he had a good, strong, serviceable frock to put on over his other clothes, it would be very convenient for him at Franconia.
As soon as his frock was on, he hastened down stairs and went out to the barn in search of Beechnut. He found him yoking up the cattle.
Why, Stuyvesant, said Beechnut, when he saw him, that is a capital frock that you have got. How much did it cost?
I dont know, said Stuyvesant; Mary made it for me.
Who is Mary? asked Beechnut.
She is the seamstress, said Stuyvesant. She lives at our house in New York.
Do you have a seamstress there all the time? said Beechnut.
Yes, said Stuyvesant.
And her name is Mary, said Beechnut.
Yes, said Stuyvesant.
Well, I wish she would take it into her head to make me such a frock as that, said Beechnut.
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 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.
The yoke was indeed quite heavy, and it was necessary to lift it one end at a time over the necks of the oxen. Stuyvesant observed that the oxen were fastened to the yoke, by means of bows shaped like the letter U. These bows were passed up under the necks of the oxen. The ends of them came up through the yokes and were fastened there by little pegs, which Beechnut called keys. There was a ring in the middle of the yoke on the under side to fasten the chain to, by which the cattle were to draw.
When the oxen were yoked, Beechnut drove them to the corner of the yard, where there was a drag with a plow upon it. Beechnut put an axe also upon the drag.
What do you want an axe for, asked Stuyvesant, in going to plow?
We always take an axe, said Beechnut, when we go away to work. We are pretty sure to want it for something or other.
Beechnut then gave Stuyvesant a goad stick, and told him that he might drive. Stuyvesant had observed very attentively what Beechnut had done in driving, and the gestures which he had made, and the calls which he had used, in speaking to the oxen, and though he had never attempted to drive such a team before, he succeeded quite well. His success, however, was partly owing to the sagacity of the oxen, who knew very well where they were to go and what they were to do.
At length, after passing through one or two pairs of bars, they came to the field.
Which is the easiest, said Stuyvesant, to drive the team or hold the plow?
That depends, said Beechnut, upon whether your capacity consists most in your strength or your skill.
Why so? asked Stuyvesant.
Because, said Beechnut, it requires more skill to drive, than to hold the plow, and more strength to hold the plow, than to drive. I think, therefore, that you had better drive, for as between you and I, it is I that have the most strength, and you that have the most skill.
Stuyvesant laughed.
Why you ought to have the most skill, said Beechnut coming from such a great city.
Beechnut took the plow off from the drag, and laid the drag on one side. He then attached the cattle to the plow. They were standing, when they did this, in the middle of one side of the field.
Now, said Beechnut, we are going first straight through the middle of the field. Do you see that elm-tree, the other side of the fence?
I see a large tree, said Stuyvesant.
It is an elm, said Beechnut.
There is a great bird upon the top of it, said Stuyvesant.
Yes, said Beechnut, it is a crow. Now you must keep the oxen headed directly for that tree. Go as straight as you can, and I shall try to keep the plow straight behind you. The thing is to make a straight furrow.
When all was ready, Stuyvesant gave the word to his oxen to move on, and they began to draw. Stuyvesant went on, keeping his eye alternately upon the oxen and upon the tree. He had some curiosity to look round and see how Beechnut was getting along with the furrow, but he recollected that his business was to drive, and so he gave his whole attention to his driving, in order that he might go as straight as possible across the field.
The crow flew away when he had got half across the field. He had a strong desire to know where she was going to fly to, but he did not look round to follow her in her flight. He went steadily on attending to his driving.
When he was about two thirds across the field, he saw a stump at a short distance before him, with a small hornets nest upon one side of it. His course would lead him, he saw, very near this nest. His first impulse was to stop the oxen and tell Beechnut about the hornets nest. He did in fact hesitate a moment, but he was instantly reassured by hearing Beechnut call out to him from behind, saying,