Cousin Lucy among the mountains

              RALPH BROWN DRAUGHON
LIBRARY
Spec
PS
1000
.a8
c6
1850
AUBURN UNIVERSITY
LIBRARIES
Presented by
Miss Grace Jemison
WON mCULATlNQ
^Q-USiN MJGY
AV0K8 THE
MO U IN T A I N S
BY THE
AUTHOR OF THE ROLLO BOOK^.
AUBURN, N. Y. ••
DERBY AND MILLER^
KJtTEnE* &CeOtOIKA to ACT or eORSREM, ffi THE TEA?- 1813, BT
B. ». MUfiBT, rSt THE etER«'9 OFFICE O*" THB r.tTBAet BOVRI
SI'EREOTYPKD AT TUB
BOSTON ivra" AND 8 rKRKOTT t>E FOUVI>Rr.
\
ii.'
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I. P^^
FoROIKOi t..*.. if
CHAPTER IL
Tux Gsnxral's, St
CHAPTER HI.
TUK 15SPSCT10.S, 36
CHAPTER IV.
A Walk, , 51
CHAPTER V.
Robzrt's Cl£arixg,...., ».•••....•» 64
CHAPTER VI.
PaiLosopur, 83
CHAPTER Vn.
Thx Slab, , %
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8 ^eeNTENTS.
CHAPTER Vm.
SUOPPIKO ^ 100
CHAPTER IX.
Ab Escape,^. 122
CHAPTER X. .
Errzcr 133
CHAPTER XI.
Tb£ Gap avlovq thz Mountains,.. 146
CHAPTER XII.
Puup-Makixo, 158
CHAPTER XIIL
Ths Rx7UB!r,..t**. t*. 1G7
CCp
LUCY AMONG THE MOUNTAINS. mOMS
OCT 6 1980
CHAPTER I.
FORDING.
One summef afternoon, in the fall of the year,
just after sunset, there was a chaise coming down
a long hill in the woods. The hill was steep, and
there was a rocky precipice on one side of the
road. There were lofty mountains all around.
In the chaise there were three persons—a gen-tleman,
a lady, and a litde girl. The girl was
Rollo's cousin Lucy. The gentleman and lady
were her father and mother. They were taking
a journey.
The country was very wild and mountainous,
and the road desolate and solitary. If it had been
morning, Lucy would have been pleased with the
cliffs and precipices, and the towering summits of
the mountains. But now, as the sun bad gone
10 LUCY AMONG THE MOUNTAINS.
down, it seemed lonely. In fact, Lucy was a
little afraid.
" How much farther have we got to go ? " she
asked.
" I don't know," said her father ; " it must be
several miles."
" Hark ! father," said Lucy, again ; " I hear a
roaring."
" Yes," said her father ; " it is down in the
valley below us."
Lucy said nothing in reply to this ; but, if her
father could have seen iier face, he would have
perceived that she looked anxious and pale. She
did not know what that roaring could be.
" 1 presume there is a stream there," said her
father,—" perhaps a small river."
" O," said Lucy, " a river roaring. I didn't
know but that it might be —some—some wild
beasts."
Lucy was a little ashamed of her fears, and sc
she spoke hesitatingly.
Her. mother smiled faintly, and then immedi-ately
looked serious again. In fact, her mother
was a little afraid herself. She did not like cross-ing
rivers so late, in strange and wild places.
She was afraid that the bridge might break down.
Lucy's fatlier, however, said that ho presumed
FORDING. 11
that the bridge was perfectly safe, for he thought
they would have a good bridge on a road so much
travelled as that appeared to be.
He was, however, in error in all his calculations
on the subject ; for, as it happened, there w^as no
bridge at all. He learned this befoi'e he came to
the river ; for, w hen they had reached the bottom
of the hill, they met a man on horseback, and so
they stopped to inquire of him about their road,
lliey asked him if there was a good bridge over
that stream ; and he said that there was no bridge
at all, but that there was a very good place to
ford.
'^ O, 1 am afraid to ford," said Lucy's mother.
"So am I," said Lucy.
" Is the water deep ? " said her father to the
man.
" No, sir," replied the man, " not if you keep in
the right place,—just in the edge of the rips."
So saying, the man rode on.
Lucy's father then moved his horse slowly on
down the road, which gradually descended into a
ravine, where Lucy could hear the water roaring.
Lucy said that she was afraid to have the horse
wade throuorh the river.
" So am 1," said her mother. -
13 LUCY AMONG THE MOUNTAINS.
" I don't quite like the adventure myself," said
her father, " but there is no other alternative."
" Can't we go back ? " said her mother.
'* Not very well. It is several miles back to
any place where we could spend the night, and
then we should have to^ome and ford this stream
to-morrow morning ; so that we shouldn't gain
much."
" Only it would be light,'* said Lucy.
" And perhaps we might find some other way,"
said her mother.
" We'll go down to the bank of the stream, and
see, at any rate," said her father. And he ac-cordingly
rode on. The rocks and precipices
were so high on each side of the road, and the
fiver itself so crooked, winding around among
them, that they could not see far before them.
At length, however, they came in sight of the
surface- of the water, gleaming through the trees
before them ; and in a few minutes more, they
came down to the bank of a very broad stream.
" O dear me 1 " said Lucy ; " I am sure I am
afraid to wade across such a big river as this."
Her father said nothing, but he stopped the
horse upon the sand of the shore, and began to
look up and down over the water.
FORDING. 13
" It looks very shallow," said he.
" What is shallow, sir ? " said Lucy.
" Why, not deep," replied her father.
" What did the man mean by the rips 1 " asked
Lucy's mother.
" He meant the ripples in the water there, all
across the stream, just below us." So saying,
Lucy's father pointed, and showed Lucy and her
mother where the water was roush, beino; full of
little waves, which tumbled along, making a sort
of rippling noise. These ripples extended quite
across the stream just below where they were.
But above them, the surface of the water was
calm and smooth, like glass. This calm surface
also, like the ripples below, extended across from
shore to shore.
The sun had been set for some time, but still
there was a great deal of light in the western part
of the sky. This light shone upon the water, and
enabled them to see, pretty distinctly, the line
of the rips, where the man had said that they
must go.
" I wouldn't go through the waves, father," said
Lucy ; " I would go where the water is smooth;"
" No," said her father ; " we'll follow the direc-tions."
As he said this, he began to drive the horse into
2
14 LUCY AMONG THE MOUNTAmS.
the water. The bottom was covered with fine
pebble-stones, so that it was by no means as
smooth as the road which they had been travelHng
in : still they got along very well. The water
gradually grew deeper and deeper, until it came
up to the step of the chaise. They were then
in about the middle of the river.
'' O father," said Lucy, " what a wide river!
"
" Yes," said her father, " it is pretty wide, and
I believe I'll stop the horse a minute or two, and
let you look about."
So he pulled the reins a litde, and said, whoa,
and the horse stopped ; while Lucy and her
mother looked up and down the river. Lucy
could see belter than her mother, for she was
seated in the middle of the chaise, upon a low
seat. It was a little farther forward than the seat
which her parents were sitting upon, so that she
could see up and down the river very well. The
reflection of the clouds in the water was very
beautiful, and there were trees upon the banks,
hansfinoj over into the stream. The river came
roynd between two high hills, a short distance
above where they were, and there were crags,
and precipices, and high mountains, all around.
" 1 see one house," said Lucy's mother.
" Where is it, mother ? " said Lucy.
FORDING. 17
Her mother pointed towards the house. It
seemed to be pretty far off on one side of the
valley, far above where they were. They could
not see its situation very distinctly, because it was
so nearly dark ; but it appeared to be on an
elevated table of land, with high mountains be-yond
it.
" There are three houses there," said Lucy.
" I can see three."
" No," replied her father; " those are the bams,
I presume ; however, we must drive on."
He accordingly drove on. Lucy watched the
house as long as she could. It was not very large,
and was painted white, and there was an enormous
elm handnor over it, like an umbrella. The barns,
which Lucy thought, at first, were other houses,
were very large ; but they were pardy hidden by
trees, so that she could not see them very distinctly.
And presently, when the horse drew near the
shore, the tops of some large pine-trees, which
grew upon the bank, came in the way, and they
lost sidit of the house alto";ether. When the
horse reached the opposite bank of the river, he
walked up the ascent, and then came to a smooth
and pleasant road, through a level mowing field,
with groves of trees upon one side along the bank
of tlie river. The level field did not extend very
2*
IS LUCY AMONG THE MOUNTAINS.
far ; and when they came to the end oi it, they
began to ascend a hill. A short distance before
them, they saw a man coming witli a cart and
oxen.
"I believe I'll stop," said Lucy's father, '*and
ask him how far it is to the next tavern."
" Yes," said Lucy ; " 1 would."
And just before they met the man, her mother
said, in a lower tone, " Ask him, too, whether
we shall have to ford another stream."
Just at that minute, they saw that the man was
driving his team out of the road, in order to make
room for them to pass ; for the road here was
quite narrow. When they got opposite to him,
he stood among the bushes, with one arm resting
upon the yoke of his oxen, waiting for them to
pass, lie nodded to them, widi a frank and pleas-ant
expression of countenance.
"Will you tell me, sir," said Lucy's father,
" how far it is to the next tavern ?
"
"Why, it's—not far from five miles—equal
to ten."
" How so ?
"
" O, it's right up and down hill all the way."
" It will take us two or three hours to set there,
tlien," said Lucy's father to her mother. Then
he turned to the man agaln^ and said, —
FORDING. 19
" Shall we have any otlier stream to ford be-fore
we get there ?
"
" No," said the man, *• no other stream ; but
you'll have to cross this same one again about four
miles from here."
" Ah ! " said her father.—" Is it a pretty good
place to cross ?
"
" Yes, very good," said the teamster.
" Better than it is down here, where we j.ist
came across ? " said Lucy's motiier.
"No," said the man, " not better than that;
we don't call it any thing crossing tliere, when the
water is as low as it is now."
Lucy's mother said no more, and her fatlier
was just about driving on, when he reined up
his horse again a moment to say,—
" Then there's no place nearer than five rnile^,
where we can put up to-night."
" Why, yes," replied the man, " there's the
General's. I presume you could get accommo-dated
up here at the General's."
" How far is it to the General's ?
"
" O, about a mile and a half," replied the
man.
" Does he make a practice of entertaining
travellers ? " said Lucy's father.
" Why, no," replied the man, " he does not
20 LUCY AMONG THE MOUNTAINS.
exactly make a practice of it ; but, then, he's very
glad to see them when they come."
" And he makes a regular charge for it, does
he?"
" O yes," said the man ; " you needn't be con-cerned
about that ; he's very reasonable in his
charges."
" Well, sir, I'm very much obliged to you,"
said Lucy's father ; and he immediately began to
whip up his horse, as if he was in a hurry to go
alon^. At the same time, he turned his face
away from the man towards Lucy, and seemed to
be trying to keep from laughing. Something ap-peared
to amuse him very much ; so much, in fact,'
that it seemed to be quite difBcult for him to keep
sober until he got by the man.
" What are you laughing at, father ? " said
Lucy.
Her father did not answer, but only laughed
the more.
" Father," repeated Lucy, earnestly, " what
are you laughing at ? 1 am sure I don't think we
oudit to ]au2:h at that man for tellino; us about
our way."
" I\o," replied her father ; " I was not laughing
at the man, but only at the queer mistake he
made."
FORDING. 21
" What mistake ? " said Lucy.
" Why, he thought I was afraid that the
General would charo^e too much for enteitainins:
us ; whereas all that I was afraid of was, that he
would not charge any thing at all."
" What do you mean by charge, father ? " said
Lucy.
*' Making us pay," re})lied her father.
" Well, what do you want him to make us pay
for ? " asked Lucy.
" O, we shall all feel a great deal more at
home at his house, if be is going to receive pay
for entertaininir us. I shouldn't like to w into a
farmer's house, and have him get us some supi)er,
and give us beds to sleep in, and then get us
some breakfast in the nioming, and then nut pay
him any thing for all that trouble, l^ut the man
thought that I was afraid we should have to pay
him too much."
Lucy did not understand exactly what her fa-ther
meant by speaking of a farmer's house ; for
the house where they were going was a general's
house, she tliought, and not a farmer's. However,
she said no more about it. Her father said tliat
be had forgotten to ask what the General's name
was, and her mother said that she thought the
General's bouse must be the one they saw up
22 LUCY AMONG THE MOUNTAINS.
among the hills, when they were coming across
the stream. ^
" Very hkely," said her father, in reply ; and
there the conversation ceased. They were all
tired, and so they rode on for nearly half an hour
in silence.
The road was generally up hill, though it was
level sometimes for a short distance ; and some-times
it even went down a litde way, and then
up again. It curved about also, winding along
around rocks and precipices, and sometimes up
narrow ravines. At one place there was a great
tree growing out from the brink of a precipice by
the side of the road, far above diem ; and the
tree hung over so far, that Lucy was afraid that
it would fall down upon their heads. But her
father said that he thought there was no danger.
They could hear tlie river I'oaring through the
valley far below them on one side of the road,
and now and then they got a glimpse of the wa-ter,
which was bright by the reflection of the sky.
At length they came to ground which seemed
to be more smooth. There began to be a fence
of rails on one side of the road. Presently tlje
fence stopped, and a wall began. The wall was
made of rough stones piled up in a row. Pretty
soon there was a wall on the other side of the road
FORDING. 215
too ; and beyond the wall on one side was an
orchard, the trees growing among large rocks,
which were scai^ered about the ground. On the
other side were broad, level fields, which looked
pretty smooth, though Lucy could not see them
verv well. Her father said that he thoufjht that
must be the General's mowing.
As they drove along, they could see that they
weve passinir different fields, having corn and
grain growing in them. These fields appeared to
be quite large, and the walls seemed to grow bet-ter
and more substantial the farther they ad-vanced.
Lucy's father said he had no idea that
there could have been such a place for a farm
among those mountains. Lucy, however, said
that she did not see any farm, nothing but some
fields.
They soon began to draw near the house.
They did not see the buildings until they came
very near them ; for there were forests and lofty
mountains behind them, which looked dark, and so
the bams, and sheds, and gi'anaries were concealed.
The house, too, did not show itself until they
got almost to it. Lucy saw it first by means of a
light from one of the windows. She did not see
the light very plainly at first, because it shone
through some trees which were in the way ; but
2'i LUCY AMONG THE MOUNTAINS.
presently, when they came into full view of it,
they saw that it was a very bright light.
" They've got a good fire," said Lucy's moth-er,
" and I'm glad of it, lor I feel cold."
" So do I," said Lucy. " I'm glad they've got
a good fire."
Just at this time, her father turned his horse up
into a large yard, which extended along by the
side of the house. There were various out-build-ings
all around the yard, and the great elm-tree
hung over it like a canopy. The elm-tree was
very large, and it stood pretty near the house, so
that one half of the branches overhung the house,
and the other half the yard. Lucy's father drove
up pretty near to the door.
25
CHAPTER II.
THE GENERAL'S.
Just as the chaise stopped in the yard, Lucy
saw a boy coming in from the barn towards the
house, with a basket in his hand. He ran along
towards the chaise, and Lucy's father asked him
if the General was at home.
" Yes, sir," said the boy ; " won't you walk in ?
I'll hold the horse while you get out."
" No," said Lucy's father ; " we won't get out
yet. But will you be good enough to ask him
if he will come to the door a moment."
The boy said he would, and he went into the
house. Lucy expected to see a man dressed in
uniform, with a gun in his hand, or at least a
sword ; and also with a feather in his cap, and
an epaulet on each shoulder. Instead of this,
however, much to her surprise, the boy came
out a moment after he had orone in, conducting
a plain -looking man, who appeared just like a
farmer.
3
26 LUCY AMONG THE MOUNTAINS.
" Is that the General ? " said Lucy, whispering
to her mother.
" Hush ! " said her mother.
The General had a plain, farmer-like look ; iiis
countenance, however, was intelligent and ex-pressive.
He seemed very glad to see the trav^-
ellers. He invited them to come in immediately, —even before he heard their story,—and when
Lucy's father had told him what their circum-stances
were, he said,
—
" Yes, yes,—I can accommodate you just as
well as not. I am very glad to see you."
Then he told the boy to hold the horse's head,
while he took Lucy out, and put her down upon
a great flat stone before the door. Then her
father and mother got out, and the General look
off the trunk, which was strapped on behind, and
set it down also upon the stone. He also took
out the other baggage, and then told the boy to
lead the horse off to the barn, and said that he
would send out Joseph to help him take care of
him. Then they all went into the house.
Just as they were going in at the door, Lucy
said, in a very low voice, to her mother, who was
leading her by the hand, —
" Mother, I thought that a general was a kind
of a soldier."
THE general's. 2T
" Hush ! hush ! Lucy," said her mother.
Lucy, therefore, said no more, but went in.
She found herself in a large room, with a very
large fireplace in one side of it. There were
a great many strange things,—that is, things
strange to Lucy,— all about the room. There
was a long wooden seat, with a very high back
to it, by the wall, upon one side of the fire.
There was a round-faced, happy-looking girl,
sitting on this seat, about as big as Joanna. She
was knitting. There was, also, a young man sit-ting
by a window ; this was Joseph ; and he got
up and went out when the party came in, in
order to go to the bam, and help take care of
the horse. The General and his wife put some
chairs before the fire, for Lucy and her father
and mother to sit down and warm themselves.
Lucy sat down with the rest, but she was so
much amazed at die strange things before her,—
the great hearth, made of monstrous flat stones,
the black iron andirons, \vith the tops turning over
in a curl, and the bright, blazing fire,—that she
did not think much about warming herself.
Then Lucy began to look about the room.
The light shone brightly upon the floor, and un-der
the tables. Under one table there was a
llarge black dog stretched out straight, with his
28 LUCY AMONG THE MOUNTAINS.
chin upon his fore paws, and watching Lucy
with the eye that was turned towards her. And
every time he heard a noise, he would raise his
head, and prick up his ears, and, after listening a
minute, lay it down again. In a minute or two,
Lucy saw him lift up his head very suddenly,
and look quite wild. Lucy heard, herself, at the
same moment, a low and distant sound of whis-tling,
v/hich seemed to be out in the yard. The
dog started up, and ran towards the door, and
stood there a moment, whining for somebody to
open it. An instant afterwards, a little girl, whom
Lucy had not seen before, came quick, and opened
the door, and let him out. Then she went back,
and took her seat again upon a cricket in the
corner. She seemed to be about as old as Lucy;
and Lucy thought to herself, that she wished she
was acquainted with her, and then she would go
and play with her. "And at any rate," said
she to herself, " I wish I knew what her name
was."
Her name, in fact, was Ellen. Lucy learned
her name pretty soon ; for the General's wife,
who was Ellen's mother, called her, in a few
minutes, to go and show Lucy and her mother
the way to the bedroom.
"Shall I light a candle, mother?" said Ellen.
THE general's* 29
" Yes," said her mother.
Lucy then observed that Ellen went to a sort
of open cupboard, by the side of the room, where
there were a great many dishes and tins in rows,
all nice and bright ; and she took down an iron
candlestick, with a short candle in it, and came
and lighted it by the fire. Then she conducted
Lucy's mother, and Lucy herself, out through a
door in the back side of the room. The door
led into a small passage-way ; and, from this
passage-way, Ellen opened a door which led into
a very pleasant little bedroom. There was a
bed in the back side of the room, and a little
tmndle-bed under it, which Lucy supposed was
for her. The middle of the floor was covered
with a small carpet. The rest of the floor was
painted. There were two windows, with white
curtains hanging before them, and between the
windows a table, covered with a white cloth.
Over the table was a lookin^-o-lass : and there
was a large pincushion hanging under the glass
There was also a lightstand in a corner of the
room, with a Bible upon it.
Lucy's father came in immediately afterwards,
bringing in some of the baggage; and, while he
was putting it down, Lucy went and lifted up
the curtain of the window to look ouL
3*
30 LUCY AMONG THE MOUNTAINS.
" O, what a strange-looking place !
*' said Lucy
" I never saw such a strange-looking place. Come
and see, mother."
Her mother went to the window to see. Di-rectly
before them, Under the window, there was
a little green yard, with a stone wall running
along the back side of it. Beyond the wall,
there were trees and bushes ; and the land
seemed to descend into a little valley, where
Lucy thought she could hear a brook tumbling
over stones. Beyond the brook there was a vast
forest, rising higher and higher up the declivities?
of the mountains. The mountains were so high,
that Lucy had to move away more of the curtain
before she could see the summits. They were
steep and gray. Lucy could see them very
distinctly; for the moon had come up, and was
shining upon them. In a place lower down,
there was a great, rocky precipice, which pro-jected
cut from among the trees. Lucy said to
herself, that she was glad Royal did not see it
;
for, if he did, she knew that he would want to
be climbing up to the top of it, and she should
be afraid that he would fall.
When Lucy went back into the great room
again with her mother, she found that there was
a round table set out in the middle of the floor,
THE GENERAL S. 31
and spread for supper. The girl, who was sitting
upon th.e great seat, beckoned to Lucy to come
and sit with her ; and Lacy went. She put
down her knitting, and took Lucy up in her lap.
At first, Lucy was a little afraid ; but the girl
looked so good-hunioredly and pleasantly upon
her, that she soon began to feel at her ease.
" What is your name ? '' said Lucy, looking
up into her face.
"Comfort," said the girl.
" Comfort ? " repeated Lucy.
"Yes," replied the gii'l.
" I never heard of such a name as Comfort,"
said Lucy.
" Wiiat is i/our name ? " said Comfort.
Lucy told her what her name was, and then
Comfort asked her various otlscr questions about
their journey ; and, at last, Lucy and Comfort
became quite well acquainted. In the mean
time, Ellen was very busy helping her mother
get the supper. There was a round, flat cake
set up before the fire, in an iron thing called a
spider, to bake, and a pie put down in a corner
to warm. At length, Lucy looked up to Com
fort ai^ain, and said,
—
"Why don't you help them get supper?"
32 LUCY AMONG THE MOUNTAINS.
*' O, I don't do the housework," said Com
fort ; " I spin."
" Spin ? " repeated Lucy ; " how do you spin ?
"
" With my spinning-wheel," said Comfort.
*' There it stands, in the corner."
Lucy looked in the direction where Comfort
pointed, and she saw a very curious-looking ma-chine,
with one great wheel, something like one
of the wheels of her father's chaise, only it was
up in the air, on tlie top of the machine. The
machine had three legs, too, to stand upon.
Lucy looked at it, wondering, when Comfort
asked her if she had never seen a spinning-wheel.
" No," said Lucy.
" And then you never saw any body spin ?
"
*' No," said Lucy.
'" You shall see me, then, to-morrow. I shall
spin all day to-mori'ow.
"
" 1 wish you would show me a little to-night,"
said Lucy.
" Well," said Comfort, " I will."
So Comfort put Lucy down, and led her to
the wheel ; and then she took up a long, slender
roll of wool, from a pile of such rolls, which was
lying across the forward part of the wheel, and
began to spin. The wheel made a loud, buzzing
noise, which seemed to Lucy to be very extra-
THE general's. 33
ordinary indeed. Lucy stood before the wheel,
with her hands behind her, looking; on, with "-reat
interest, at the spinning, and wondering what
made it buzz.
Presently, Comfort stopped, and led Lucy back
to her seat, saying, "To-morrow you shall see
me spin more."
^' But I am going away to-morrow," said Lu-cy,
" with my father and mother."
Just then, Lucy saw that the supper was ready,
and they were putting the ciiairs around the table.
Not long after supper, Lucy's mother took h^r
hito the bedroom, to put her to bed. While they
were in the bedroom together, Lucy said that she
wished her mother would stay there several days.
'• No." said her mother ; " we must go on to-morrow.
But perhaps we shall stop again when
we come back."
"When are we coming back? " said Lucy.
" In about a week," replied her mother.
"' Well, mother," said Lucy, " why can't you
and I stay here, and let father go on alone, and
call for us when he comes back ?
"
" i shmild like that," said her mother. " I will
ask him."
"Well," said Lucy, with an expression of great
salisfaction. " Then I can see Comfort spin."
34 LUCY AMONG THE MOUNTAINS.
So, after Lucy's mother had put her to Bed,
and was going out of the room, Lucy called out
to her, just as she was shutting the door,—
" You'll be sure and ask father."
" Yes," said her mother.
" And come back and tell me what he says."
" Perhaps so," said her mother. " Good night."
After her mother had gone, Lucy began talk-ing
to herself, as follows :—
" I hope we shall stay here ; then I can see
Comfort's lamb. Comfort says she's got a lamb.
I wish I had a lamb,— or a little spinning-wheel —if a litde one would only buzz. This is the
way it went : Buzz—buzz—uz—z-z—."
And in a few minutes, Lucy buzzed herself to
sleep.
35
CHAPTER III.
THE INSPECTION.
Lucy's plan, of having her mother and herself
remain at the General's while her father went on
to finisli his journey by himself, was adopted, to
her great joy.
Lucy stood under the elm-tree, and saw him
diive away, with great satisfaction, the next morn-ing,
soon after breakfast.
As soon as her father's chaise was Out of sight,
at a curve in the road, where some large trees
intercepted the view, Lucy turned round to go
mlo the house. Ellen was standing in the door.
Her brother, the boy who had held the horse the
evening before, was standing pretty near, and, as
he turned to go on towards the barn, he said to
Ellen,—
'•' Ellen, is not this inspection day ?
'*
" Yes," said Ellen, after hesitating a moment,
" 1 believe it is."
" Excellent ! " said the boy. " We shall have
3b LUCY AMONG THE MOUNTAINS.
some cakes. I am going to eat mine on my
clearing." .
" Inspection ? " said Lucy to herself; " I won-der
what they mean by inspection.^'
But Lucy did not like to ask, though she
wanted to know very much. She did not feel
enough acquainted even with Ellen, to ask. She
thou2;lit she would go in and ask her mother.
She found her mother in the little bedroom,
arranging; it. She had put a table before the
window, in a })iace where it would be pleasant
to sit. She had opened her trunk, and had ta-ken
out some paper and writing materials, so as
to be ready to write a letter. Wlien Lucy came
in, she said, —
-
" JMother, there is going to be an inspection."
" Is there ? " said her mother.
Lucy waited a moment ; but her mother did
not seem to be particularly interested in what she
had said, and asked her no questions about it, but
went on arranging some books upon the table^
just as if there was not going to be any inspec-tion
at all. At length, Lucy said,
—
''What is an inspection, mother?"
" An inspection ? " said her mother, looking up,
" why, it is a kind of a reviev/."
THE INSPECTION. 37
"A review, mother? 1 don't know what a
review is, any better than an inspection.''^
" Why, it is—a 1 don't know how to
explain it to you;—it is a sort of a training,
where several companies of soldiers come togeth-er,
and the general looks at them, and examines
their guns, and sees them exercise."
" What is it for, mother? " said Lucy.
"Why, to see if every thing is in good order.
But is there really going to be an inspection
about here, Lucy ?
"
" Yes, mother, I am sure there is," replied
Lucy, speaking very emphatically, and looking
very positive,—'• 1 am sure there is, for Robert
said there was."
" Is that boy's name Robert ? " asked her
mother.
" Yes," said Lucy ; " and he said there was
going to be an inspection. Do you think you
shall let me go and see it, mother?"
" Why, that depends," said her mother, " upon
when and where it is to be. I can't tell you till
you find out something more about it."
"Well," said Lucy, "I'll go and ask Comfort;
I am not afraid to ask Comfort."
So Lucy went out in pursuit of Comfort.
Lucy found Comfort at her spinning-wheel.
4
38 LUCY AMONG THE MOUNTAINS.
The wheel was in one corner of the kitchen, by
a window. It was a great way from the fire, for
the room was very large. Lucy was so much
interested, for a time, in seeing Comfort spin,
that she forgot about the inspection. Comfort
talked with her, and explained something about
the spinning-wheel, but did not stop her work.
First she would whirl the wheel around one way
very fast for a few minutes, and then she would
stop, and then begin to whirl it the other way.
Sometimes she would draw out a lono^ thread of
the yarn, and then the yarn would all run up on
the spindle.
" Why don't you turn your wheel always the
same way ? " asked Lucy.
" Because," said Comfort, " I have to turn it
one way to twist the thread, and then the other
to run it on the spindle."
Lucy did not understand the explanation very
well, and so she thouglit she would look on and
see how Comfort did it. But she did it so
fast that Lucy could not see. So, after she had
stood silently for some time, hearing the wheel
buzz, she asked Comfort if there was going to be
an inspection that day.
" Yes," said Comfort. v
" When is it going to be ? " asked Lucy.
THE INSPECTION. 39
" Right after dinner," said Comfort.
" How far is it," said Lucy, '* from here ?
"
"O, not far," said Comfort; "you shall go;
I'll show you."
So Lucy ran back to her mother, and told her
that the inspection was going to be right after din-ner,
and that it was not far, and that Comfort
would go and show it to her.
" Well," said her mother, " you may go when-ever
Comfort goes ; but it is very strange that
they are going to Lave an inspection up here. I
am sure I don't see where the troops are to come
from."
*'• Well," said Lucy, " I know there is going to
be one, because Comfort said so."
Lucy was right. There was going to be an
inspection, but it was very ditTerent from the kind
that she had imagined. For that day, at dinner,
Lucy's mother asked the farmer about the inspec-tion,
and where it was to be, and he said, " O, we
generally begin at the barn, and so go all around."
" Why, what kind of an inspection is it ? " said
Lucy's mother.
'•' Why, it is not a military inspection," said the
farmer, laugliing. " Did you think it was a mili-tary
inspection, Lucy ? " he added, turning to
Ijucy.
40 LUCY AMONG THE MOUNTAINS.
" Sir ? " said Lucy.
" It is not a military inspection r it is only an
inspection of my farm."
" An't there any soldiers ? " said Lucy.
" No," said the farmer, '• no soldiers. We in-spect
the barn, and the sheds, and shop, and then
we come into the house and inspect the roon)s,
anJ closets, and the cellar, to see if every thing is
in order. We cannot show you any soldiers."
" My njother said there were going to be some
soldiers," said Lucy.
" No," said Lucy's mother. " I said that i
supposed they meant an inspection of soldiers.
There may be an inspection of any thing."
Lucy was quite disappointed, when she found
that it was not to be an inspection of soldiers.
However, she concluded to go and see it, v>'hat-ever
it was ; and accordingly, after dinner, she put
on her bonnet, and went out to the door whh El-len,
and waited there for the rest to come.
In a few minutes, she saw Robert comino- from
a building between one of the barns and the shed,
with a sort of a box in his hand. The box was
somewhat similar to a knife-box m form ; and, as
in a knife-box, there was a handle in the middle,
coming up from the bottom of the box, which
Robert took hold of, and brought it by.
THE INSrECTlOiV, 41
" What is that, Robert ? " said Lucy.
" This is the tool-box," said Robert.
" What is it for ? " asked Lucy.
" Why, I always cany about a tool-box at the
inspection," said Robert. " Because, sometimes
father finds soniethins: broken, that he can mend
at once upon the spot."
By this time he came up to wliere Lucy was
standing, and he put down the box upon the great
stone step, so that she could look into it. The
box was not very deep, and it was divided off,
inside, into several compartments. There was
one long compartment upon one side, which ex-tended
from one end of the box to the other. In
this were several tools. There were a hammer
and a gimlet ; and, besides, there were several
other tools, which Lucy did not know the
names of.
Besides this long compartment, there were
several small, square divisions, which had nails
and screws in them, of different sizes. Lucy said
^he never saw so many different kinds of nails.
While she was looking at them, Robert began to
hear the rattling of wheels in the road, and he
exclaimed aloud,
—
" O, here comes Eben."
Lucy looked to see. A wagon, with a man
4*
42 LUCY AMONG THE MOUNTAINS.
and a small boy in it, stopped opposite to the
house. The boy appeared to be very young—
younger than Lucy. His face was round, and
his cheeks were red and full. He looked very
sober and anxious, for he was afraid that he could
not get out of the wagon, very well. The man
took hold of his ann, and helped him climb down.
Eben looked towards the ground with an anxious
expression of countenance, as if he thought it
was a great way down.
As soon, however, as his little feet touched the
road, his countenance changed very suddenly,
and he began to leap and scamper off towards
the house, with great glee.
" Well, Eben," said Ellen, " and how do they^
do at uncle's ?
"
" Pretty well," said Eben. " I'm going there
again some day, and am going to stay there a
whole while."
Lucy smiled, and Robert laughed aloud, at
such an unauthorized combination of terms as
Eben's luhole while. Eben, however, after look
ing at them in wonder a moment, said,—
" You needn't laugh ; I certainly am,"
Just then the General came out, and the whole
party proceeded to the barn. The General
looked carefully all around, to see if every thing
THE INSPECTION. 43
was in its place, and in order. From the bam
they went into a sort of room in a shed adjoining
it, where there were harnesses and chains, and a
number of tools of various kinds. The General
looked about, and examined them all. TherQ
were a parcel of ropes lying in a comer, and the
General asked where they came from. Robert
said that he found them up in the garret, and had
untied all the knots ; he was going to have them
for his sleds the next winter.
The General said that they ought to be hung
up ; and be took the hammer and some nails out
of Robert's tool-box, and drove up a row of nails,
just under a beam about as high as Robert's head.
Then all the children took up the pieces of ropes,
and hung them up, one piece on each nail.
" There," said the General, " now you can see
what you've got. They are out of the way there,
and when you want one, you can come and get
any length you like."
Every thing else in the harness room was
found in good order, and so they went into the
shed. There was a wood-pile there, and some
of the wood lay near the foot of the pile upon
the ground ; for this shed had no floor. One of
the logs had a wedge sticking into it. The log
M LUCY AMONG THE MOUNTAINS,
was cracked open a little, but not very far, and
the wedore was driven fast into it.
" How came this left so ? " said the General.
" V/hy, father/' said Robert, " I began to split
tliis log, but i couldn't."
While he was saying this, the General rolled
the lo^ over ; and he found two other wedges,
lying on the ground, under it, half covered in the
chips.
" One wedge in the log, and two in the chips,
make three signs of a bad woodman," said the
General.
" Why, you see, father," said Robert, " that
the ring of the beetle kept coming oiF, and so
I couldn't split it."
The General then took an axe, which was
standing in its place pretty near where they were,
and with a few heavy blows he split the log, and
liberated the wedge which had been held in the
cleft. Then he told Robert to put the three
Vv^edges upon their shelf, and to carry the beetle,
with the loose ring, into the shop, and to put it
with the tools that were to be mended.
" When is he going to mend it ? " said Lucy.
'• The first rainy day," said Ellen ; " he always
sends off all the broken things to the shop, and
then he mends them some rainy day.'*
THE INSPECTION. 45
Before Robert got back from the shop, the in-spection
party had gone up a back stairway
which led into a kind of garret, over the kitchen
part of the house. Here there were a great many
boxes and trunks, all, however, in good order.
There was a large shelf at one end, with a great
many herbs in bundles. Then they all went
through a narrow door into another garret over the
main body of the house ; and thence they came
down the front stairs. They found that the door at
the foot of the stairs would not shut very well
;
and the General, after looking at it a moment, said
that the latch was out of order.
" Yes, sir," said Ellen, " and I wish you would
mend it, for it troubles me every time 1 want to
come up stairs."
" Have you got a file among your tools,
Robert ? " said the General.
" Yes, sir," said Robert ; for Robert had come
back, before this time, from the shop, and was fol-low
in o- them with his box of tools.
The General took out the file, and also the
hammer. First he filed the iron of tlie latch a
little ; dien he hammered it a little, and thus very
soon put it in good order.
Ellen said that she was very glad.
46 LUCr AMONG THE MOUNTAINS.
They then went into all the rooms of the house,
except the little bedroom where Lucy's mother
was. They opened all the closet doors too, and
looked into them, to see if every thing was in
order. When tliey came into the little room
where Ellen slept, there was a little chest in it,
where she kept her clothes ; and she opened the
lid, and asked them all to look in and see if her
things were hot in order.
After they had thus examined the whole house,
they went out at the front door, and thence across
the yard into the garden. They walked up and
down all the alleys, looking at the beds and
borders, to see if all was in proper condition.
It was pretty late in the season, and there
were not many weeds growing. Ellen and
Robert both had some beds in one corner, where
they raised corn, and peas, and beans, for seed.
The General told thejn it was nearly time for
them to gather their beans.
When diey came out of the garden, Robert
asked liis father to look at the hinge of the gate,
which, he said, was coming off.
There was a narrow piece of board nailed upon
the post, and the hinges of the gate were nailed
to that. By some means or other, however, this
^
THE INSPECTIOX. 47
board had got split where the upper hinge
was fastened to it, and so the hinge was loose.
Robert pointed it out to his father.
" Ah, yes," said he ;
'• I am glad you showed
me this ; very soon the hinge would have come off,
and then the lower hinge would have got broken.
Now we shall save them."
The General then looked at the board, and
said it was split, and there must be a new one
made. So he took out some tools from Robert's
box, and took off the hinges very carefully. Then
he set the gate up by the fence on one side. Then
he took off the split board, and gave it to Eben.
" Can you carry that, Eben, into the shop ?
"
Eben v/as a very small boy, but he was very
glad to help when he could. He took the board,
which was not very heavy, but was about as
much as he could well cany, and began lugging
it along.
" Now, Robert," said tlie General, " some
time this afternoon, I want you to saw out a
piece of board just the size of that, and get it
all ready to put on. When it is done, carry it
out to the gate, and stand it up there. Also put
a tool-box there, and an axe, so that every thing
will be ready, and then remind me at supper-time
to go and put it on. I can put it on in a moment,
48 LUCY AMONG THE MOUNTAINS.
if you get every thing ready.— And now the in-spection
is over."
So saying, the General went away, and Ellen
said, —
" Well, Robert, you put your tools away, while
I go and get the cakes."
" The cakes ? " said Lucy ; " what cakes ?
"
" Why, mother always gives each of us a cake,
inspection day, "so that we may not forget to re-mind
father of it."
Lucy followed Ellen into the house. Slie
supposed that she would go and ask her mother
for the cakes, and Lucy wished that she was
going to have one too. But Ellen did not go
after her mother. She went directly to a closet.
As she was opening the door of the closet, she
said,
—
" Mother always puts our cakes here, on a
particular shelf—tlu'ee of them, all in a row."
They went into the closet, and there they
found the cakes ; only there were four, instead of
three.
" Why, here are four," said Ellen ; " mother
has made a mistake."
" No," said Lucy ;
'' one must be for me."
"So it is," said Ellen, "I've no doubt. I'll
go and ask mother."
THE INSPECTION. 49
She accordingly went off to ask her mother,
and presently came back saying that the fourth
was for Lucy. And she accordingly gave her
one. It was a round cake, not very thick, but
it looked as if it was sweet. Ellen carried the
other two out, to give them to Robert and Eben.
Lucy went to show hers to her mother. She
found her taking: a walk under the trees which
Lucy had seen from out the bedroom window.
Lucy took hold of her mother's hand with one of
hers, while she held the cake in the other ; and so
she walked along with her, and told her all about
the inspection.
Her mother listened with a 2;ood deal of in-lerest
; and when she had done, she said that she
thought it was an excellent plan to have an in-spection.
" Yes, mother, and so do I ; and I wish you
would have one when we go home."
'- 1 think I will," said her mother.
" Once a month, mother," said Lucy ; " it
must be once a month. The General has it once
a month."
'• Yes," said her mother, " I should think that
about right. I can inspect your Treasury."
" Yes, mother," said Lucy ; " I'll keep it in
excellent order.
5
50 LUCY AMONG THE MOUNTAINS.
"Only you couldn't mend the broken things
about the house, very well," continued. Lucy.
" No," said her mother ; " but, then, our in-spection
would not be just like a farmer's. We
should inspect drawers, and closets, and cup-boards,
and such places. I think it will be an
excellent plan."
" And a cake for me and Royal, at the end,"
said Lucy,
" Is that an essential part of the plan ? " asked
her mother.
" Essential ? " repeated Lucy ; " what is es-sential
?
"
" Why, necessary ; that is, is it an indispen-sable
part of the plan that there should be cakes
distributed ?
"
" Why, yes," said Lucy ; " that is to make us
remind you of it. You see, you would forget
when inspection day was coming, unless we re-minded
you ; and so we must have a cake."
On reflection, Lucy's mother concluded that
this was, as Lucy represented, a very important
part of the plan ; and she pretty nearly concluded
that, when she returned home, she would adopt
the inspection system, for her part of the house,
cakes and all.
51
CHAPTER IV.
A WALK.
That evening, after the inspection, Lucy and
lier nnotlier went out to take a walk upon a high
hill back of the General's house, to see the pros-pect.
Comfort told them that they could get to
the top of it without going through the grass
at all.
" Why don't you want to go through the giuss,
mother ? " said Lucy.
" Because there may be some dew upon it,
which might wet our feet," said her mother.
*• But are you sure. Comfort," said she, " that we
can get up to the top without getting into the
grass ?
"
" Yes," said Comfort, " I'm sure ; and I'll go,
if you wish, and show you the way."
Lucy's mother liked this plan very much ; and
so they set off together, about half an hour be-fore
sunset. They followed a cart-road down
into a litde valley, and went across the brook
;
52 LUCY AMONG THE MOUNTAINS.
and then they began to climb up by a nanow
and rocky path among the trees. The path was
very steep, and it was much farther than they
had supposed. In fact, Lucy's motlier soon be-gan
to be very tired. She was not accustomed
to climb up the hills.
Presently they came to a rocky place under
some cliffs, and Lucy's mother said that she be-lieved
that she would not go any farther.
" O mother," said Lucy, " 1 want to go to the
top very much."
a Very well," said her mother ; " you may go
with Comfort, if you wish to, and I will ramble
{ibout here. If you don't find me here when
you come down, you may conclude that I have
gone home."
So she turned off, and began to walk along
under the cliffs, gathering blue-bells and other
flowers that grew among the rocks. Comfort
and Lucy left her, and went on up the steep
path.
" O, what a steep place ! " said Lucy.
" This is not very steep," said Comfort.
" There are paths up the mountains much
steeper than this."
" Then I don't see how you get up," said
Lucy.
A WALK. 53
" O, we climb along," replied Comfori , " we
step up from one stone to another."
Tlie path was very tortuous ; that is, ic ?uraed
and twisted about a oo-reat deal amonfor the? rocks
and around the points of precipices. It wa3;> in
fact, a very wild and desolate-looking place ; and
pretty soon Lucy began to be afraid. She did
not know exacdy what she was afraid of, but she
began to wish that she had staid down below with
her mother.
She was not much accustomed to rocks and
mountains, and there was something friiijhtful to
her in the ragged precipices, the gloomy thickets,
and particularly in a dark ravine, which she could
look down into in one place. Besides, she
thought that perhaps there might be some bears
there.
She did not, however, like to acknowledge to
Comfort that she was afraid. So, after ihev had
been walking along a hltle while, she said,
—
" How much farther is it, Comfort ?
"
'-' Not a great way. Why, are you tired ?
"
" Why, no," said Lucy, " not exactly ; but I
wish my mother had come too."
" So do r," said Comfort ; "she would like the
prospect, I know. W^e can see aw^ay down to
the lower falls."
6*
54 LUCY AMONG THE MOUNTAINS.
'' How far is that ? " said Lucy.
" O, it is several miles, down the valley."
" Is it as many as seventy miles ? " said Lucy.
" No," said Comfort, " not quite seventy."
" Is it a hundred miles, then ? " said Lucy.
" Why, a hundred miles are more than seventy,
child."
While Lucy had been talking thus, she had
been lagging behind Comfort, and seemed reluc-tant
to advance. They had come to a steep
place, where they had to climb up a rocky ascent,
which turned, in a spiral manner, around the point
of a little precipice. There were bushes and
briers on each side, growing out of the crevices of
the rocks, and from the little patches of earth.
Comfort went up a few steps, and then stopped
for Lucy.
" Come, Lucy ; why don't you conie ? " said
she.
" Why, I think, Comfort," said Lucy, " that
we had better not go any farther. I think we had
better go back and find my mother."
" O, your mother is safe enough, child."
" But I am afraid she'll get lost," said Lucy.
Comfort laughed at Lucy for being afraid that
her mother would get lost.
" She can't get lost," said she. " She can't go
A WALK. 55
but a very little way under the cliffs before she
comes to the end."
" The end of what ? " said Lucy.
" Why, the end of the level place where she
can walk," said Comfort. " After you go out
there a little way, the rocks go right down, as
steep as the sides of a house."
" Then I'm afraid that she will fall down
there," said Lucv.
Comfort told her there was no danger ; but Lu-cy
would not be convinced. The more she ar-gued,
the less possibility there seemed to be of
making any impression. The truth was, Lucy
was not really afraid for her mother, but for her-self.
And the reason which she offered for wish-ing
to return, was only the ostensible reason, not
the real one ; that is, it was a reason that she
chose to offer, not the one that she really felt. It
is of no use to attempt to reply to reasons that are
only ostensible, because they are not the ones
that really influence the mind ; and so, even if
you show that such reasons are not good ones,
the person is not convinced any more than before.
If Comfort had known that the real reason why
Lucy did not want to go any farther, was, that
she was afraid herself, perhaps she would have
said something to encourage her, and lead her to
58 LUCY AMONG THE MOUNTAINS.
go on. But while she was only arguing against
Lucy's supposed fears for her nother, she was
doing no good at all ; for this wa^ -^^^ true
reason. When, therefore, we attempt
against people's objections to any thing which w<.
propose, it is very necessary first to be sure that
the objections which they offer are real objections,
not merely ostensible ones.
Presently Comfort proposed to Lucy that she
should go up a little farther, and she would come
to a place where they could see the house.
" How much farther is it ? " asked Lucy.
" Only up to the top of this rock," said Com-fort
;
" come, I'll help you."
So saying, Comfort came down to where Lucy
was standinoj, and held out her hand to her.
Lucy was still somewhat reluctant to go ; but
Comfort told her that they could see the house
and the yard, and very likely they could see the
people walking about there ; and so Lucy, on the
whole, concluded to go. Comfort helped her up
from one step to another over the ragged stones,
and presendy they reached the top.
• Then they went through some bushes a little
way, and came out, a moment afterwards, upon a
sort of shelf of rock, where they had a fine
view.
A WALK. 57
It was not a very extensive view, for the oilier
»^ocks and trees, rising on each side, intercc})tod
ihe prospect, excepting in the direction which
was down towards the General's house. The
house lay almost beneath tlieir feet ; and, as
Comfort had said, they could see all the build-ings,
and the yards, and the garden. Lucy saw a
large flock of sheep, too, coming up towards the
barn, from a green path behind it.
" There, Lucy," said Comfort, " is not this a
pleasant place ?
"
" Yes," said Lucy, " and there's my mother
now, just going into the house."
" So she is," said Comfort ; " she has got tired
of waiting for us, and has gone in. Now, you
can go up to the top of the rock with me, for, you
see, she is out of danger."
Lucy looked steadily at her mother, and in a
moment she began to call out to her with a loud
voice. —
" Mother, look at us."
But just as the words were uttered, her mother
opened the door, and went in, and Lucy saw the
door close after her. Lucy's attention was next
arrested by seeing several cows come along a lane
behind the house. Comfort said that they were
coming from the pasture. Behind the cows were
58 LUCY AMONG THE MOUNTAINS.
Robert and Eben Lucy could see that Eben
had a long switch in his hand, and Robert had
an axe over his shoulder.
" There are Robert and Eben," said Lucy, " I
verily believe."
" Yes," said Comfort, " they are driving home
the cows."
" So they are," replied Lucy ; " but Robert has
got an axe on his shoulder. What has he been
doing wuth his axe, I wonder ?
"
" O, I suppose," replied Comfort, " that he has
been at work upon his clearing this afternoon
;
and so, after he had done his work, he went and
got the cows."
The road in which the cows were coming, led
down through a valley, and it looked like a very
pleasant road indeed. Lucy asked Comfort
where it led to, and she said it led up to the
pasture. Then she asked Comfort what she
meant by Robert's dealing; and Comfort told
her that Robert was clearing a piece of land
somewhere up the road, but that she did not
know exactly where it was, or what sort of a
place it was.
"I mean to go down and ask Robert where
his clearing is," said Lucy.
A WALK. 59
" Then you will not go up to the top of the
rock with me," said Comfort.
" No," said Lucy, " not this time. We have
come hidi enouo;h for this time. I must go down
and find my mother. Perhaps she will want me."
" See," said Comfort, " she has just come to
the window of her bedroom."
Lucy looked. down in the direction in which
Comfort pointed, and she saw her mother just
taking a seat at the window. Lucy called to her,
and waved her hand at her a great deal, but she
could not make her hear. She thought that the
reason was, because the cow-bells made such a
noise ; but Comfort told her that it was much
farther than it appeared to be.
Lucy stopped to gather a few flowers around
the spot where they were standing, and then she
and Comfort descended. Lucy was not at all in
a hurry to get home, for her fears of the strange
and wild scenery around them were much dimin-ished,
when she found that they were going to-wards
home. She kept constandy stopping to
gather flowers, and to pick up curious fragments
of the rocks ; and in one place she found some
beautiful red berries, which she wanted to gather
and carry down to her mother; but Comfort told
tier that she believed that they were poisonous.
60 LUCY AMONG THE MOUNTAINS.
They remained some time at the cliffs where
her mother had stopped, and Lucy found a curious
place under the rocks, which she called a den.
It was a rude fissure under the precipice, and it
was large enough for Lucy to get into. She said
that, if she should be caught out on the mountains
m a shower, she could get into her den, and it
would not rain upon her.
When they got home again, as they were pass-ing
along by the barn, they saw the cows stand-ing
in a little green yard, and Robert was just
bringing his milking-stool and a tin pail. He was
going to milk the cows. Lucy asked Comfort to
let her go in and see him milk, and she told her
she might go ; only she said that she must be
careful not to go too near the cows.
So Comfort went into the house, and Lucy
went through a little gate into the yard. Ellen
came in just after her, bringing a little milking-stool,
and pail too, just as Robert had done.
" Are you going to milk, too, Ellen ? " said
Lucy.
" Yes," said Ellen ; " I milk every night."
So Ellen took her seat near one of the cows,
and began milking into her pail very fast.
" Why, how easy it is to milk ! " said Lucy.
" I did not know that it was so easy."
A WALK. 61
Lucy was mistaken in supposing that it was
very easy. It is a general rule, that whatever we
see done skilfully appears to be done with ease
;
and as Ellen was a very good little milkmaid,
and the milk came down in fine large streams into
the pail, Lucy supposed tliat it must be very
easy.
" I wish you would let me milk a little," said
Lucy.
" I don't think you can milk," replied Ellen.
".O, yes, I can," said Lucy ; " I do harder things
than that."
" But I don't think your hand is strong enough,'*
said Ellen.
Lucy held out her hand, and looked at it, and
thought it looked pretty strong.
" And, besides," said Ellen, " have you ever
learned to milk ?
"
" No," said Lucy, " I never had any oppor-r
tunity."
" Then Fra sure you can't milk," said Ellen
;
" for nobody can milk till they have learned."
" But I wish that you would let me try, and
see," said Lucy.
Ellen concluded, on the whole, to let Lucy try ;
so she rose from the milking-stool, and let Lucy
take her place.
6
62 LUCY AMONG THE MOUNTAINS.
Lucy tried very hard, but the milk would not
come. She was very much surprised.
" Why ! " said she. Then she tried again ;
she tugged away with all her strength. " Why !
How do you do it ? " said she.
Ellen laughed ; and the cow, perceiving that
some new and inexperienced hand was at work,
and not liking to be experimented upon, began to
move. Ellen had just time to catch up the pail,
when she walked quietly off, two or three steps,
and then stood still.
Lucy was frightened, and jumped up and ran.
Ellen took up her stool by its handle, and fol-lowed
the cow ; and, taking her seat again, went
on with her milking. Lucy walked off to Robert,
and asked him about his clearing.
She did not, however, have the opportunity to
get the information which she wished ; for just
then her mother, who began to think that it was
time for her to come down the hill, came to the
door to look for her ; and seeing her in the yard
amono" the cows, she called to her to come in.
When she got to the door, she asked her mother
if she was not willing to have her stay there a
little longer and see diem milk.
" Is Comfort there ? " asked her mother.
" No, mother," said Lucy, " but Ellen is."
A WALK. 63
"I am afraid you may get hurt," said her
mother. " The cows may hook you."
Lucy assured her mother that there was no
dano-er; but her mother thought it best for her
not to go there a^ain ; and so Lucy did not hear
any thing about I^bert's clearing until the next
morning.
64
CHAPTER V.
ROBERT'S CLEARING.
In fact, Lucy forgot to ask Robert about his
clearing until the next morning, after breakfast,
when she was out in the 3'ard, and saw him and
Ehen preparing to go awa} .
She asked them where they were going.
" We are going to my clearing," said Robert
;
" and I wish you'd go too, and be our teamster.
Theriyou shall own part of my lamb."
" Have you got a lamb ? " asked Lucy.
" No," replied Robert, " not yet ; but I am
going to have one. As soon as I have got
my clearing done, father is going to give me a
sheep and a lamb ; and you shall own part of the
lamb, if you will go and be my teamster."
" Your teamster ? " repeated Lucy.
"Yes," replied Robert; "I am swamper, and
• Kben is ox, and we want a teamster."
"What shall I have to do? " asked Lucy.
" O, you'll only have to drive Eben, when he
^ IS hauling the logs."
Robert's clearing. 65
" Eben can't haul logs," said Lucy.
" Yes he Can," said Robert ; " he's a very good
ox ; only we want a teamster."
" Well," said Lucy, " I'll go and ask my
mother."
Lucy accordingly went in and asked her mother.
Her mother wanted to know how far it was to
the clearing ; but Lucy could not tell. She then
wanted to know how long they were to be gone
;
but Lucy could not answer that question either.
Finally, her mother said that she might go and
ask Comfort if she thought that it would be safe
for her to go with the boys, and let her opinion
decide the question. -^
Comfort said there would be no danger if Lucy
was careful to keep out of the way of Robert's
axe. So they all set off together.
They followed the lane where Lucy had seen
the cows come down the evening before, for some
distance. It led, in a winding direction, up a val-ley,
with a brook upon one side of the road,
" What a pretty brook 1 " said Lucy.
" Yes," said Robert ; " that is the brook that I
am going to float down my logs upon." '
" Your logs ? " repeated Lucy.
" Yes," replied Robert, " the logs I get off my
clearing. I cut them down, and Eben hauls them
6 *
66 LUCY AMONG THE MOUNTAINS.
to the ed^e of the brook ; and then, when there
comes a freshet, we^'e going to tumble theni in,
and let them float down to the house."
" And then they'll go hy," said Lucy, " and
down into the river."
" No," said Robert ; " I shall have a boom to
stop them."
*' What is a boom 1 " asked Lucy.
" A long log of wood across the brook, to stop
my logs."
The brook which Robert said was going to
float down his lumber, was there a small stream,
tumbling ov^er rocks along the valley. Presently,
however, they came to a place where the valley
widened a little, and there was a level piece of
ground on one side of it. On the other side, the
land descended steep to the very brink of the
brook. The low piece of ground was covered
pretty thick with tall alder-bushes, twice as high
as a man^s head ; so that the stems of them, when
they were cut down, made pretty large poles.
There was one spot, where a considerable nuinber
of them had been cut down, in the middle of
this spot, there' was a pile of branches and tops,
heaped up pretty high. There were, also, near
the edge of the brook, some piles of the wood
wh'ch Robert had got out, and v/hich Ehen had
kobert's clearing. 67
hauled to the bank. Robert went into this place,
and began at once to cut down one of the tallest
bushes.
Lucy watched the blows of his axe, until, at
last, the tree began to fall. It would have fallen
over upon her, had not Robert called upon her to
run away. When it was down, Robert cut off
the top and all the branches, and these he put on
the heap. Then he cut the long pole in two, in
the middle. This made two short poles of it.
Then Eben came up with a small chain which
he had in his hand, and which he had brought
with him, and contrived to hook it around one
end of one of the poles, and then began to draw
it olf towards the brook.
" Is that the kind of log you meant, that Eben
could draw ? " asked Lucy.
" Yes," said Robert.
" O. I thoufjO-ht Jyou meant a lar^e loo;." CO
" No," said Robert ; " we call these our logs.
We are going to get a great many piles of them
by the brook ; and then, when there comes a freshet,
we are coming up here, and going to tumble them
in, and let them sail away down home."
Robert cut Lucy a long slick for a goad-stick,
and then she drove Eben back and forth several
68 LUCY AMONG THE MOUNTAINS.
times, drawing the logs, as Robert called them.
At length, Lucy stopped, and said,
—
" But, Robert, what do you mean by swamper 1
You said that you were swamper."
" Yes," said Robert ; " I'm swamper and chop-per
too."
" I don't understand what you mean by swamper
and chopper," said Lucy.
" Wliy, when they are cutting trees in the woods,
for timber, they always have a swamper, and a
chopper, and some oxen, and a teamster. The
swamper finds out which the good trees are, and
he makes a road to them, so that, when they are
cut down, they can haul them out. The chopper
cuts them down, and cuts off the top. Then the
teamster comes with his oxen, and hauls them off
to the river."
" Is that the way ? " said Lucy.
" Yes ; my father told me," said Robert.
" Why doesn't one man do it all ? " said Lucy.
"I don't know exactly," said Robert; "but I
wish I had some fire here, to set my heap on fire."
" Are you going to set that great heap on fii-e ?
"
asked Lucy.
"Yes," said Robert, "when I get it big
enough."
Robert's clearing. 69
"I don't believe it will burn," said Lucy; "it
is all green leaves."
'' It ivill bum," said Robert, " if I could only-get
it well on fire'. The trouble is, to set it
a-o-oino;."
So saying, he and Lucy went up to look at the
great heap of branches which he had made in the
middle of his clearing. Robert said that, if he
could find some good dry wood somewhere to begin
it with, it would make a noble fire ; and he also
said that he meant to have brought some fire that
morning, but he forgot it. Finally, he said that,
if Lucy and Eben would go and get some fire, he
would find some good dry wood, and they would
have a burnino;.
Lucy was at first afraid to attempt to bring
any fire ; but Robert told her that Comfort would
give her a lantern, so that it could be brought
without any difliculty or danger. Then she was
afraid that she should not be able to find her way.
But Robert said that Eben knew the way ; and
so, at last, after much hesitation, Lucy concluded
to go. Accordingly, Robert went over, across the
brook, to the side of the hill, which was covered
with large trees, to see if he could find some old
dry log or stump, which he could cut to pieces,
and use to kindle his fire. He found one with-
70 LUCY AMONG THE MOUNTAINS.
out much difficulty. It was the ruins of an old
tree, which the wind had blown over about ten
years before. It was leaning against the other
trees^ and was very much decayed. The limbs
had nearly all dropped off, and it looked so dry
that Robert thought that, if he could get it down,
and split it up, it would be excellent for his fire.
In the mean time, Lucy and Eben walked
along slowly towards the house. When they got
there, Lucy sat down upon a chopping-block in
the yard, while Eben went in to ask his mother for
the lantern. While he was gone, Lucy happened
to think that, perhaps, her mother would not like
to have her go and help make a fire in the woods,
and, at any rate, that she had better go and get
leave. She reflected that, if she went without
leave, she should feel uncertain and doubtful, all
the time, whether she was doing right or wrons;
:
and that would destroy the pleasure of the fire.
So she got up, and went into the house to find her
mother.
She found her seated at a window in the kitch-en,
with the General's wife and Ellen, all par-ing
apples for an apple-pudding which they were
going to have for dinner.
" O mother," said Lucy, " let me pare some
apples."
Robert's clearing. 71
" O, no, Lucy," said Ellen ; " you'll only cut
your fingers. It is harder to pare apples, than it
is to milk."
The farmer's wife then said that she had better
not attempt to pare any apples, but that she
might have some to eat ; and she gave Lucy
two. Just then, Eben came in, out of a back
room, with the lantern in his hand. This re-minded
Lucv of her errand, and so she told her
mother what Robert was going to do ; and she
asked her if she had any objection to her going to
see him.
" Why, this is a serious question," said her
mother. " I am afraid it would not be quite safe."
" Why, Eben says," replied Lucy, " that they
often make fires in the wood, and they never get
burnt."
" But you'd be in more danger than Eben,"
said her mother.
'•' Why, mother ? " asked Lucy.
" Because," said her mother, " in the first place,
you are not so accustomed to fires in the woods,
and wouldn't know so well where the danger
would lie. Besides, your clothes are of cotton,
and, if they should take fire, they would burn very
fast; but Eben's are woollen."
Lucy looked at her clothes, and at Eben's.
72 LUCY AMONG THE MOUNTAINS.
Eben stood by, listening very attentively to what
was said, but he made no reply.
" I've a great mind to go with you, and take
care of you," said Lucy's mother. '•' I should
like to see the fire myself."
" Well," said Lucy, " that will do. Eben and
1 will walk on, and you can come after us."
" Very well," replied her mother ; " run along."
Accordingly, Lucy and Eben set off together.
Eben had the lantern in his hand, and, after they
had gone a few steps, Lucy wanted to look in,
and see whether it had not gone out. It was not
quite out, but it burned very dimly. Lucy said it
was almost out.
" No," said Eben ;
" that is the way it always
looks."
" Then it isn't a very good lantern," said
Lucy.
" Yes, it is a good lantern," said Eben. " It
makes a good light in jour barn in the winter
nights."
" How do you know ? " said Lucy.
" Because," said Eben, " my father carries it
out ; and one morning I went out with him, and
we found some ef?2;s with it."
" Where did you find them ? " said Lucy.
73
*' O, on a beam. There were four eggs. My
father brousht in three, and I brought in three."
" O Eben," said Lucy, " that is not right.
Three and three don't make four."
" Then perhaps it was ten," said Eben.
" Yes, I believe it was ten."
" Why, no, Eben," said Lucy ; " it couldn't bs
ten."
" Why not ? " asked Eben.
" Because," said Lucy, " three and three don't
make ten."
'' What do they make ? " said Eben.
" Why, they make six," replied Lucy. " I'll
get a little stick, and make some marks upon the
ground, and show you."
So Lucy got a stick, and began making marks
upon a smooth place in the road, corresponding
with the number of eggs. On more mature re-flection,
Eben recollected that he brou2;ht in two
eggs, one in each hand, and that his father carried
in two in one hand, and one in the other. He
had one egg, he said, in the hand which held the
lantern.
" Then there must have been five e^C2O,s in all," '
said Lucy.
In order to prove this to Eben's satisfaction,
sho m?:*^ two marks for the eggs which he carried
f4 LUCY AMONG THE MOUNTAINS.
in, and then two more for those which his father
carried in in one hand, and then, finally, she
added another mark, for the one e^cr whioh his
father carried in in his lantern hand.
'• Now," said Lucy, " if you'll count them all
up, you'll see that it makes just five,—exactly.^'
So Eben began to count, —
" One—two—five—sb&—four."
" O dear me ! " said Lucy ; " why, that isn't
the way to count."
" That's the way /count," said Eben.
Lucy looked extremely perplexed, and did not
know what to say ; but just at that moment her
mother came up. She saw that the lantern
which Eben had put down upon the ground,
while he was listening to his lesson in aiithmetic,
vvELS leaning over to one side ; and she was afraid
that the light had got put out. So she took it up,
and looked into it.
" No,* said Lucy, " it has not gone out, but
it burns very dim. What makes it bum so dim,
mother?" she asked.
" O, it burns very ^^'ell. It looks rather dim,
but that is because it is bright daylight. A candle
burning in the daylight always looks dim."
Her mother then asked her what she was
making there in the road. Lucy told her tiiat
Robert's clearing. 77
she had been trying to explain to Eben that two
and three made five.
" But," said Lucy, in addition, " I cannot make
him understand it. He can't even count."
" Then, of course," replied her mother, " he
cannot understand. You are giving him your
instructions in the wrong order."
" How, mother ? " said Lucy.
" Why, you are trying to teach him addition
before he knows how to count. You perceive
that a boy who cannot count up to five and six
does not know what numbers the words five and
six stand for; and, of course, he cannot tell
whether two and three make five, or six, or what
they make."
" Then I'll teach him to count," said Lucy.
" Very well," said her mother ; " only let us
all go along now, for I want to see the fire."
" O, yes," said Lucy ; " I forgot all about the
fire."
So they all went along together ; only Lucy
and Eben walked on a little in advance, and Lucy
gave Eben some lessons in counting, while her
mother followed more slowly, looking for flowers
on each side of tl>e way, as she came along.
In a short time, they arrived at Robert's clear-
7*
78 LUCY AMONG THE MOUNTAINS.
ing. They found that he liad made fine prepara-tions
for the fire. He had cut down the old dead
tree, and chopped it up into short pieces ; and
he had pushed these in, under the pile. He also
Iiad some strips of birch bark, which he was going
to kindle with.
Lucy came up to the place with the lantern,
and set it down at Robert's feet. Her mothei
came up, too, with a large bouquet of flowers in
one hand.
^' That will make a good fire, Robert," said
she ; " only it seems to me that you have got the
wood in on the wrong side of the heap.'
" Why ? " said Robert.
" Because," replied she, "it ought to be put at
the side towards the wind. Then the wind will
blow the heat and flame directly through the
heap, and set it all on fire. There is not much
wind, but there is enoufjh to do some good."
" We'll try this side first, now I've got it
ready," said Robert.
So he took one of his pieces of birch bark, and,
opening the lantern door very carefully, he put it
in, and lighted it. Now, birch bark, when it is
burning, makes quite a smoke ; and Robert put
do\vn this burning piece near the place where he
had put his wood, in order t^ see which way
Robert's clearing. 79
the smoke would go. He found thai it was drift-ing
off slowly away from the heap of bushes.
" Now, we'll try it on the other side," said he.
He tried to take up his pieie of bark, but he
could not. It had curled itself up in a curious
manner, and was all enveloped in flame. So he
took another piece, and lighted it, and carried that
around to the other side of the heap. He put it
in just under the edge of the branches. The
smoke curled up among the branches and leaves,
and they were all very much pleased to observe,
that, instead of sailing off, as it had done on the
other side, away from the heap, it passed directly
throudi the centre : and in a few minutes it filled
the whole heap with smoke, which issued out all
over the top of it, as if it was all on fire under-neath.
" Yes," said Robert, " I'll move my kindling
wood round to this side."
So he brought his logs round one by one.
They were pretty large, but, being much decayed,
they were not heavy. Robert piled them to-gether
in as close and compact a manner as pos-sible
; for he said it was necessary to make a
solid fire.
" Why don't you set the bushes on fire, just
as they are ? " asked Lucy's mother.
80 LUCY AMONG THE MOUNTAINS.
" Why, we can't make such brush as this burn
well, alone," said Robert. " It will catch fire a
little, and then go right out, unless we have a
good solid fire underneath it. Then it will all
get to blazino; too; >tl:er."
" Let me try," said Lucy, " with a piece of
your birchbark."
" I'll light it for you," said her mother.
So they took a large piece of birch bark, which
Robert handed them, and lighted it in the lantern.
Then they placed it under the heap, at a place
where the sprigs and branches of the bushes
were thickest. The bark soon began to blaze
up well, and immediately the leaves and branches
above it began to take fire.
" There," said Lucy, " it bums."
" Wait," said her mother ; " let us see how it
will work."
It blazed up finely very soon, making a bright
flame, nearly a foot high, and the wind blew the
smoke and sparks directly through the top of the
heap. Lucy, and, in fact, her mother, expected
that it would set the whole heap on fire.
. Robert and Eben looked on in silence.
In a moment the blaze began to subside. It
burned fainter and fainter, and at last, after a few
minutes, it all died away, leaving nothing but a
ROBERT'S CLEARING. 81
Iiole in that part of the heap, with the bright ends
of the twigs, which had been burned off ail around,
pointing in towards the centre.
By this time, Robert was prepared to put fire
to his logs, and he soon got them well on fire.
He had pushed them in as far under the heap as
he could, and the wind carried the heat and
flame through the very heart of it. In a few
minutes, large volumes of white smoke came pour-ing
up, out of the top of the pile, in the most beau-tiful
manner. Flashes of flame soon began to
break out in the midst of this smoke, and in a
short time they all had to stand back firom the
heat produced by the high, crackling flames.
After some time, they all went up upon a bank
near by, under some trees, and sat down upon a
small log, to watch tfie progress of the fire.
82
CHAPTER VI.
PHILOSOPHY.
" What a noble great fire 1 " said Lucy.
" Yes," replied her mother ; " in the night I
ihmk that that fire would make quite a spectacle."
" Would it burn brighter in the niojht ? o o " said
Lucy.
" No, it would not really burn any brighter, but
it would look brifjhter. It would illuminate the
whole sky. It is a fine fire now ; but it does not
make such a display in the daytime, as it would
in the night. Just like the candle in your lantern ;
you remember how dim it looked. That was be-cause
it was surrounded by dayliglit."
" I should think we could see, things better by
daylight," said Lucy.
" We can, every thing but fires and lights,"
replied her mother. " Those we can see better
in the nidit."
" Why is it so, mother? " said Lucy.
*' Why, the light of the sun and of the day is
so bright that we can't see the light of the fire."
PHILOSOPHr. 83
" I don't see why we can't see both, mother,"
said Lucy.
" Why, you see," said Robert, " it dazzles our
eyes,—the light of the sun does,—and we can't
see so well."
"I am sure I can see better in the day than in
'
the night," said Lucy.
" That's a mistake," said her mother.
" O mother ! " said Lucy.
" In one sense you can ; that is, you can see
more things, because there is so much more light
;
but your eye is riot so sensitive."
' What do you mean by sensitive 1 " asked
Lucy.
" Why, let me see," said her mother ; " how
shall I explain it to you ?
"
Here she hesitated, and appeared to be thinking.
Lucy and Robert sat still, and did not interrupt
her. As for Eben, he began to be tired of this
philosophical discussion, and so he got off from
the log, and began to punch a stick down into a
hole under the root of a tree. He thouo;ht that it
was a sijuirrel's hole, and he wanted to make the
squirrel come out.
" Suppose," said Lucy's mother, after a mo-ment's
pause, " that I had a small box, tigfat all
around, excepting at one end, where there was a
84 LUCY AMONG THE MOUNTAINS,
small hole, just big enough to look through. Then
suppose that I should have a picture pasted agamst
the back side of the box opposite to the hole."
" We couldn't see it, mother," said Lucy ; " it
would be all dark."
" Yes, that's true," said her modier. " But now
suppose I should make another hole in the side of
the box to let in a litde hght."
" How could you make it, mother ? " said Lucy.
" O, I don't know,—I could get Royal to bore
it for me with his gimlet."
" That wouldn't be big enough," said Lucy.
" Hasn't he got a big one ? " asked her mother.
" Yes," said Lucy, " he lias got one, but it
does not make a good hole ; and then it almost
always splits the wood. I think it would spoil
the box to have him bore a hole in it with the
large one."
" O," said her mother, " it won't hurt the box
;
it is nothing but an imaginary box."
"An im.aginary box?" repealed Lucy.
" Yes," said her mother ; " it is only an ima-ginary
box, and it won't hurt it to bore an ima-ginary
hole in it."
Lucy laughed, and her mother went on with
the illustration
" Now, suppose," said she, " we had such a
PHILOSOPHY. 85
box, with a picture pasted on the back part, in-side,
and a small hole opposite to the picture to
look through. Suppose that there was also a hole
in the side of the box, to let in a litde light. Now,
suppose that you were to bring your eye up sud-denly
to the eye-hole, in the daytime, and also in
the night ; in which case do you tliink that you
could see the picture most distinctly ?
"
" I don't know," said Lucy.
" In the night," said Robert.
" Why ? " asked Lucy's mother.
" Because," said Robert, " I can always see
down cellar better in the night than I can in the
daytime : and that is something like it."
" But I can see down cellar better in the day-time,"
said Lucy.
'• That is because our cellar is lighted with
windows," said her mother. '' But yours, Robert,
is dark, I suppose."
" Yes, ma'am," said Robert ; " I never heard of
windows in a cellar."
" They sometimes have windows in a cellar,"
said Lucy's mother, in reply. " But where there
are no- windows, and you have to take a light
down, it is much more difficult to see in the day-time
than in the night. So it would be in such a
box. If you were to come up to it suddenly in the
8
86 LUCY AMONG THE MOUNTAINS.
daytime, you would find that you could see but
very little. But if it were possible for you to come
to it in the night, and look in, and yet have daylight
shine in through the hole in the side, just as be-fore,
you would find that you could see much
better." •
" I'm sure I don't see why," said Lucy.
*•' The reason is," said her mother, " that a
bright light changes the condition of the eye some
how or other,—I don't know exactly how, but I
know it changes it, —so that it is not so sensitive to
light. So, after we have been walking about in
the bright day, if we go down cellar with a candle,
we can't see very well. Our eyes have been
changed in some way by the great light of the
day, so that we can't distinguish the objects in
the cellar, which are illuminated only by the dim
light of the candle."
" If we stay down some time," said Robert,
" then we can see better."
" Yes," said Lucy's mother, " because then
your eyes become changed again, and adapted to
the faint light. They become more sensitive, and
then, of course, when you come out again into the
bright light of day, they are too sensitive, and you
are dazzled."
PHILOSOPHY. 87
" Yes, ma'am," said Robert ; " that is exactly
the way."
Lucy's attention was here taken up by watch-ing
Eben, who seemed very much interested in
looking into the hole which he had been punching.
He was trying whether he could see the squirrel
there. She jumped off the log, and went to the
hole, saying,
—
" Can you see him, Eben ?
"
" Yes," said Eben, " I believe I can see him."
" Let me look," said Lucy.
Lucy put her head pretty close to the hole,
and looked very intently.
" Can you see him ? " said her mother.
" I don't know," said Lucy, " whether I can
see him or not."
" If we had a dark closet here, where we could
shut you up a few minutes, then you could see
better down in the hole," said her mother.
" Won't it do for me to shut my eyes ? " said
Lucv.
" I don't know," replied her mother, " whether
that will produce the effect, or not. I don't know
what it is that causes the eye to change,—whether
t is the mere absence of light, or the effort we
make to see when lookinu; in the dark. If it
were the mere absence of light, then it would
88 LUCY AMONG THE MOUNTAINS.
answer for you to shut your eyes. You can
try it."
The children all tried the plan. They shut
their eyes, and held their hands over them, and so
kept -them as dark as they could for some minutes,
and then looked in. They thought that they
could see better. Robert said that what Eben
saw was only a root, and that he did not believe
that there was any squirrel there.
The children, therefore, presendy came back,
and took their seats upon the log again ; and Lu-cy
asked her mother to go on.
" I think it likely that what I have explained
to you may be the reason why a fire or a light
does not appear so bright by day as it does by.
night. The eye is accustomed to the glare, and
adapts itself to a strong light, and so becomes in
some measure insensible to a comparatively faint
one.
" That is the reason, I suppose," she continued,
" why we can't see the stars in the daytime."
" Yes, mother," said Lucy ; " I knew there
were stars in the daytime. Miss Ann told me."
" I saw a star one morning," said Robert.
" After it was light ? " asked Lucy.
" Yes," replied Robert ; " the sun was almost
up."
PHILOSOPrt . 89
" I presume It was the morning star," said Lu-cy's
mother. ^
" What is the morning star ? " said Lucy.
" Why, you must know," said her mother,
" that there is one planet which goes round and
round the sun, pretty near to him— a great deal
nearer than we are."
" What is a planet, mother ? " said Lucy.
" Why, it is a kind of a world," replied her
mother.
" As big as this world ?
"
" No ; the planet which I was speakmg of is
not quite so big as this world, I believe ; but it is
very large. It goes round and round the sun
;
and, of course, when the sun rises, and goes over
the sky, and sets, this planet keeps with him, going
round and round him all the time."
Here Lucy turned her face up to the sky, and
began to look for the sun. She put her arm over
her eyes, to shade them from the dazzling light.
" O, you can't see it now, Lucy," said her
mother.
" Why not ? " said Lucy.
" Because," said Robert, " the sun will dazzle
your eyes."
" And besides," said h&c mother, " the general
light makes your eyes less sensitive than they
8*
90 LUCY AMONG THE MOUNTAINS.
ouoht to be to see a star. We never see this
planet by day, although it goes with the sun,
sometimes a little before him, and sometimes a
little after him, but never a great way off."
" What makes it sometimes before him and
sometimes after him ? " asked Lucy.
" Why, that's of course," said Robert.
" No, not exactly of course," said her mother.
" It might revolve around the sun in such a way
as always to appear to be at the same distance.
But, as it happens, it does not. It goes round in
such a way that sometimes it appears before the
sun, and sometimes behind it, and sometimes it is
directly between us and the sun. It passes for-ward
between us and the sun until it gets before
him ; then it turns and wheels away around on
the other side, and goes on until it gets behind the
sun. Then it comes round on this side again ;
and so it keeps going and coming.
" But, then," she continued, " we can very sel-dom
see it. There are only three cases in which
we can see it. One is, that when it is before the
sun, we can see it in the morning ; because, then,
you see, it rises first, and so we can see it before it
becomes quite light."
" But Robert said it was very light when he
saw it," said Lucy.
PHILOSOPHY. 91
** Yes, it was much lighter than it had beerf
,
but it was not as light as it is at noon."
" j\o," said Robert ; " I only meant it was
broad daylight."
" It was much lighter than it was in the night,
I have no doubt," said Lucy's mother ; " so
light, in fact, that you could not see the other
stars. But this looks brighter than any other
stars."
" Why ? " asked Lucy.
" One reason is," replied her mother, " be^^^e
It is nearer to us ; and another reason is, that it is'^*-
very near the sun, and so is strongly illuminated
by his rays." 4
" But you said that the sun wa,s not up."
" No ; but still he was whereMie could shine
on Venus."'
" Venus ? " repeated Lucy.
" Yes," replied her mother ; " that's the name
of it. It is very bright. It looks like a little
moon when you look at it through a telescope."
" Does it ? " said Lucy. " How big does it
look ?
"
" That depends upon the power of the tele-scope,"
replied her mother.
" r mean to get up to-morrow morning, and see
it>'^ said Lucy,
#
92 LUCY AMONG THE MOUNTAINS.
" You said there were three ways to see it,"
saifl Robert.
" YeSj mother," said Lucy ; " what are the
other two ?
"
" Why, sometimes," replied her mother, " Ve-nus
falls behind the sun, and then you can't see it
in the morning ; for when the sun rises, Venus is
still down behind the horizon ; and then it does
not come up until after the sun. Consequently,
by the time it gets up, the whole sky is lighted
up, and our eyes are much less sensitive, and so
we can't see it.
" But now," continued she, " if we wait till
evening, the sun, which sets first, will be in ad-vance
of Venus, and leave her a Httle way up
in the sky. To be sure, Venus follows directly
on, and sets in a short time ; but then it generally
gets dark enough before she sets to mal^ our eyes
sensitive enough to see her. When Venus is in
that part of her path which makes her set after
the sun. so that we can see her in the evenins:,
we call her the eveniiig star. When she is
before the sun, so as to be seen in the morning,
she is called the morning star. So, you see,
Lucy, it will not do any good to get up early in
the morning to look for Venus, unless we know
whether she is now before or behind the sun.
PHILOSOPHY. 93
If she should rise later than the sun, we could
not see her."
" Now, there^s one more way," said Robert.
" Yes, mother," said Lucy ; " what is that ?
"
" Sometimes it happens," said her mother,
" that, while Venus, after having been behind the
sun, is passing round this side of it to go be-fore
it, that it goes exactly between us and the
sun, and so we can see it pass across his face."
" How does it look ? " said Lucy.
" It looks like a little black spot," said her
mother— "a little, round, black spot, moving
across the face of the sun."
'' What makes it look so black?" said Lucy.
f Why, it is only the side which is turned to-wards
the sun that is bright, and the part that is
turned towards us, when it passes between us and
the sun, will, of course, be dark. Besides," she
continued, " I suppose that, strictly speaking, we
don't really see Venus in that case at all. We
are only prevented from seeing a part of the sun.
Venus stops all the rays fi'om that part of the sun
which is exactly opposite to her, from coming to
us ; and it causes the appearance of a small, round,
dark spot, moving along over the face of the sun.
Thai 4s called a transit of Venus. But a transit
oi V^nus happens very seldom."
94 LUCY AMONG THE MOUNTAINS.
" T should think it would happen every time
Venus comes round," said Robert.
" So should I," said Lucy.
" No," said her mother. ^
" Because, you see," said Lucy, " that she
must go by the sun every time."
" Yes," said her mother ; " that is true. But
then sometimes she goes above the sun, and some-times
below it. It is very seldom that she goes
across, exactly opposite to him ; and it is only
then that there is a transit."
" I don't understand," said Robert, " how you
can see that little black spot on the sun, when it
does go across. I should think the light of the
rest of the sun would dazzle your eyes."
" Hark ! what's that ? " said Lucy.
Lucy listened, as if she heard a sound at a
distance.
" That's the horn," said Eben.
" Yes," said Robert, " the horn for dinner.
We must go home. But first I'll go and put my
fire together a little."
The fire had by this time nearly gone down.
It had burned out the whole middle of the pile,
leaving a circle of brands, ends of sticks, and
tops of bushes, all around. Robert pushed
them in to the centre, where they lay upoQ the
PHILOSOPHY. 95
burnino: embers, and soon beo;an to smoke and
blaze again. Then he followed Lucy, and her
mother, and Eben, who were walking slowly
along. When he came up to them, he told them
that he knew where there was another heap of
brush to bum, and he wished they could come up
in the evening, and set it on fire, when they could
see the light in all its brightness. This they
agreed to do. Then they all went home to try
the apple-pudding.
*
96
CHAPTER VII.
THE SLAB.
About an hour after dinner, Lucy and Eben
went into a shed not far from the barn, where
there was a wagon ; and Eben proposed that
they should get into it, and play have a ride.
" How can we get in ? " said Lucy.
" O, we can climb in," replied Eben.
Lucy thought that she could not climb up into
such a high wagon ; but Eben said that it was
very easy. So he went around to the front part,
and clambered in. Lucy then concluded to try,
and she found that she succeeded better than she
had expected. She sat down upon the seat of
the wagon.
'•' What a good seat ! " said Lucy. " This is
better than a chaise ; for a chaise tips down."
" Tips down ? " said Eben.
" Yes," replied Lucy, " when there is no horse
in it."
"iVhat makes it tip down ? " said Eben.
" I don't know," said Lucy ; " but it does, and
THE SLAB. 97
I can hardly keep in the seat. But your wagon
does not tip down at all."
Just then they heard somebody coming. They
looked round, and saw that it was Robert.
'' Come, boys and girls," said Robert, "jump
out of the wagon."
" Why can't you let us ride ? " said Eben.
" Because," said Robert, " I am going to put
the horse in."
" Are you going away ? " said Eben.
'' No, but Comfort is."
'' Where is she going? " asked Lucy.
*' I don't know," replied Robert ; and just
as he said so, he opened a door which led
out of the shed into the barn, and disappeared.
In a few minutes he returned, leading out a
horse.
He tied the horse to a ring, which was fastened
into a beam about as high as his head, and then
went into the harness-room after a harness.
While he was putting the harness upon the
horse, Lucy and Eben continued their ride ; and
presently he told them that they might stay in
the waggon, and he would give them a real ride as
far as the door. Accordinglyj when the horse
was harnessed, he backed the wagon out of the
shed, while Lucy and Eben sat in it j and then
9
98 LUCY AMONG THE MOUNTAINS.
lie led the horse up to the door, Lucy holding thp
reins, and making believe drive.
Robert fastened the horse to a post, and Lucy
and Eben, thinking that they would not get out
until they were obliged to, sat still. Presently
Comfort came to the door in a diiFerent dress
from the one wliich she had worn when she was
spinning, and with her bonnet on.
" Comfort," said Lucy, " are you going away
in this wagon ?
"
" Yes/' replied Comfort.
" Who is going to drive you ?
^' asked Lucy.
" I am going to drive myself/' replied Cc«ii-fort.
" Where are you going ? " said Lucy.
" I'm going a-shopping," said Comfort.
" A-shopping ? " said Lucy ; " I don't see
where you can go a-shopping. Only I wish/'
she added, after pausing a moment, " that my
mother would let me go with you."
" Well," said Comfort, " go and ask her."
Comfort helped Lucy down out of the wagon,
and she ran in to ask her mother. As she went
in. Comfort said,—
" Tell her that I should like to have you go
very much."
Lucy came back in a moment, leading hei
THE SLAB. 99
mother, who came out to see whether it was
really true that Comfort was perfectly willing to
have Lucy go. When she found that she was
willing, her mother consented. At first Eben
wanted to go, too ; but Robert persuaded him to
go with him. He was going off into the field
with a cart, and he said, if Eben would go with
him, he would let him ride in the cart. Eben, on
the whole, concluded that he would ride in the
cart ; and so he got cut of the wagon, and went
away ; and in a moment after, Comfort and Lucy
went riding out of the yard together.
Comfort turned the hoi^se in the opposite direc-tion
to the one from which Lucy had come with
her father and mother when they first came to
the General's. Lucy was glad of this, for she
wanted to go in a new road. After riding a
short distance along a smooth and level road,
they began to descend a hill which seemed to
be carrying them down into a dark and shady
valley.
The high mountains were all around them
;
and now and then Lucy had a view of water
down the valley far before them. Lucy thought,
loo, that she could hear the noise of water tum-bling
over rocks down in a deep and dark ravine,
filled with forests, on the side of the road.
100 LUCY AMONG THE MOUNTAINS.
" How far is the place where you are going a-shopping
from your father's ? " said Lucy.
" It is about half a mile," replied Comfort.
" O, what a short ride ! " said Lucy. " I'm
sorry it isn't farther."
" O, it's farther from here," said Comfort. " It
is almost two miles from ihe General's."
" But I thought the General's was your fa-ther's,"
said Lucy.
" No," .replied Comfort ; " my father lives down
in the valley, about half a mile from the comer."
" Then why don't you stay there ? " said Lu-cy.
" 1 should think you would stay at home,
and not come and live at the General's."
" O, I come to the General's to spin," replied
Comfort.
" 1 don't see why you come to spin for him."
" Why, he pays me for it," said Comfort.
" O," said Lucy, " then I suppose you spin to
get the money."
" Yes," replied Comfort ; " that is it."
" Is your father very poor, then ? " said Lucy.
" No, he is not poor at all. My father has got
a good farm, and is quite forehanded."
" Forehanded ? " repeated Lucy.
* " Yes," replied Comfort.
Lucy did not understand what Comfort meant
THE SLAB. 101
by forehanded ; nor did she see why Comfort
should go away from home, to hve at the Gener-al's,
to get money, unless her father was poor.
However, she was prevented from asking her any
more questions by something which here happened
to attract her attention.
For just at this time the road descended near
to the stream which Lucy had heard in the bot-tom
of the ravine ; and there was a large opening
through the trees, so that she could see down to
the water. It was foaming and tumbling]: like a
cataract, along a very rocky bed. The stream
was pretty broad, and there were several rocks
and rocky islands scattered about its bed. On
one of these islands, at a little distance from the
shore, they saw a httle boy sitting alone; and he-seemed
to be crying.
"Only look at that boy," said Comfort. "I
wonder how he came there."
So saying, Comfort drew up the reins, and
stopped tlie horse, in the middle of the road.
The boy looked up and saw them.
'•'What's the matter, my boy?" said Comfort,
in a loud voice.
* The boy answered something, but the roar of
the water was so loud that they could not hear
what he said.
9*
102 LUCY AMONG THE MOUNTAINS.
" Let's go down and see what's the matter,"
said Comfort.
" Well," said Lucy, '' so we will."
Comfort got out of the wagon, and then she
helped Lucy get out. She led the horse to one
side of the road, and fastened him. Then she be-gan
carefully to descend the bank, helping Lucy
down, too. At length they got down to the shore,
opposite to where the boy was. He was on the
end of a little rocky island, or rather of a large
rock, which was out a few steps from the shore.
There were scattered rocks about it, and between
it and the shore.
" What's the matter, my boy ? " said Com
fort.
" I can't get off the rocks," said the boy.
The boy did not take any further notice of
Comfort and Lucy, than just to answer Comfort's
question, but sat still, and continued to cry, just
as before.
"How did you get on the rocks?" said
Comfort. j|
" I don't know," said the boy; " I have forgot
the place."
" Why, that's very strange," said ComforL —" such a little boy as this, out on these rocks,
and saying he don't know how he came there."
THE SLAB. 103
" He isn't bigger than Eben," said Lucy.
The water was very siialiow in the stream,
and there were stones between where tlie boy
was, and the shore, ahuost near enough for step-ping-
stones. Comfort looked at them a moment,
and then she said,
—
" Can't you step over on these stones ?
"
" No," said the boy, " not unless they come
and help me."
" Who come and help you ?
"
" Why, Roger and the other boy."
" Who is Roger ? " said Comfort, " and where
is he?"
" I don't know where he is," said the boy.
" He does not know any thing," said Comfort
to Lucy, in an under tone. In fact, Comfort was
almost but of patience with the boy, because he
could not give anv better account of himself;
though she ought not to have been out of pa-tience
with him, for he was very small, and then
he was very much frightened, both at his situation
and on account of the strangers.
" Do you suppose, Lucy, that I could get over
on those stones, and help him off?"
" Why, yes," said Lucy, " perhaps so."
" I'm afraid I shall fall into the water,'* said
104 LUCY AMONG THE MOUNTAINS.
Comfort. " Now, if I only had a slab." So say-infj,
Comfort beo-an to look around on the shore.
" A slab ? " said Lucy ; " what is a slab ?
"
Lucy had, in fact, never heard of a slab. Com-fort
did not answer her, for she went immediately
away, and began to look about for a slab, Lucy
remaining near the boy.
A slab is the outside piece, which is sawed off
first, when they saw up a log into boards. Of
course, it is round on one side, and flat on the
other. Sometimes, too, it is very irregular in
shape, on account of the logs not being regular in
form. Slabs generally lie in considerable num-bers
about mills, because they are not of much
value ; and then, when the freshets come, they
get washed away, and carried down the stream.
IMany of them lodge along the banks, where they
get stopped by the trees, or wedged in among the
rocks ; so that they are often found lying along
the shores of such a stream as this was.
By this time, the boy had stopped crying ; and
he took up a slender litde pole, which was lying
by his side, and laid it across his lap. Lucy
looked at him a moment in silence.
'' VV^hat is your name, little boy ? " said Lucy.
" George," said the boy. *
THE SLAB. 105
*' Well, don't be afraid," said Lucy. "Cora-fort
has gone to get a slab."
George did not answer, but he seemed now to
be getting quite composed.
" What is that pole for ? " said Lucy, again.
" This is my fishing-pole," said the boy.
" Did ycu come a-fishing ? " said Lucy.
" Yes," replied the boy ; " and we caught
four."
Just at this moment, Lucy heard Comfort call-ing
out that she had found a slab. Lucy looked
in the direction from whicli the voice came, and
she .saw Comfort beyond a rocky point, a short
distance up the stream.
" I've found a slab," sakl Comfort ; " but it is
too heavy for me to bring along, and so I'm going
to sail it down."
Lucy could see that Comfort was stooping
down, as if she was pushing something off the
shore. At the same instant, she heard other
voices in the opposite direction. She looked
down the stream, and saw two boys coming up
along the bank, half hid by the bushes and rocks,
with fislnng-poles in their hands. They \\'cre
talking together, and did not see Lucy until they
got out of the buslies, and had advanced pretty
near to her. At the same time. Comfort came
106 LUCr AMONG THE MOUNTAINS.
down from above, guiding her slab along by a
lillle slender pole.
*' O boys ! " said Comfort, when she saw them,
" is this little fellow your brother ?
"
" Yes," said one of the boys, " he is my
brother."
" We couldn't think how he came here," said
Comfort.
*' Why, we were fishing," said the boy, " and
we wanted to go down and just try a new place
;
and we told him we'd come back for him in a
few minutes, if we found a good place."
"O," said Comfort, "I was just getting this
slab, to help him off."
"What did you want the slab for?" said
the boy.
" So as to get over where he Is," said Comfort.
" O, there's no need of any slab," said the
boy. And so, without saying any thing more,
he stepped across from one stone to another, as
easily as if he had walked along the shore. The
other boy followed him, and one of them helped
George to the shore, and the other took up a
small string of fishes, which was lying in a crevice
of the rocks, where Lucy had not seen them.
" You've caught some fishes, then," said Com-fort.
THE SLAB. 107
*' Yes," said the boy ; " but tihey . don't bite
very well."
" I hope they'll bite better down below," said
Comfort ; " and 1 woeWTi't leave that little fellow
alone ao;ain ; it frio-htens him."
" Well, we won't," said Roger.
So saying, the boys all walked along together
down the bank, and soon disappeared
" I think he ought to be ashamed of himself,"
said Lucy. " I would have given him a good
scolding."
" That wotddn't have done any good," replied
Comfort.
" Yes it would," said Lucy. " It would have
taught him not to do so next time."
" No," said Comfort ; " that would only have
made him more likely to do so again,"
" Let's make a bridge with your slab," said
Lucy, " and get out on that rock."
" No," said Comfoit ; " we might get in, and
get our feet wet."
" Why, Comfort ! " said Lucy ; " I don't see that
there is any more danger of getting in now, than
if the boy was on the rock, and you were going
out to get the boy."
" Yes," said Comfort ; " but that was an object
worth mnning a little risk for. There's no use
S
lOS LUCY AMONG THE MOUNTAINS.
in running the risk for nothing ; so, instead of
making a bridge of the slab, we'll make a ship
ofit."^
As she said this, she pushed one end of the
slab outwards, to make it point out into the stream.
It turned slowly, ar^d, when it was pointed in the
right direction, she gave it a long push, by which
it was sent, by a slow but steady motion, away
out into the current. The current immediately
turned it down the stream. It went swiftly along
the rapids, until presently the end struck against
a small rock, which happened to be in its course,
projecting a little above the surface of the water.
This stopped the force of the motion immediately,
and the upper end of the slab began to move
slowly round, and to drift sideways down tlie
stream. They watched it a few minutes, and
then they climbed up the steep, grassy, and rocky
bank, unfastened the horse, got into the wagon,
and rode on
109
CHAPTER VIII.
SHOPPING.
At the place where Comfort and Lucy had
found George on the island, the stream looked
like a brook, only it was very large for a brook.
It ran tumblino: alons amono: rocks iur^t like a
brook. Lucy found, however, after they had
rode along a little farther, that it began to change
;
and in a short time it appeared to turn into a
smooth and beautiful river. This was the sheet
of water which Lucy had had an occasional
glimpse of, higher up the valley. But now, at a
certain turn of the road, they came suddenly upon
a full view of it.
" O, what a beautiful river ! " said Lucy.
" That's the mill-pond," said Comfort.
" The mill-pond ? " repeated Lucy.
" Yes," replied Comfort.
" How did they make such a mill-pond ?
"
dsked Lucy.
" VV^hy, they built a dam across the stream,
10
110 LUCY AMONG THE MOUNTAINS.
down below here, and that stops the water, and
makes a pond."
" That's an excellent plan," said Lucy. " I
think it looks a great deal prettier."
• " O, but they didn't do it to make it look pret-tier,"
said Comfort.
" Wliat did thev do it for? " asked Lucv.
" Why, to make the mills go. They almost
always have a pond to make mills go."
" 1 don't see how a pond can make mills go,'*
said Lucy.
" VVhy, the dam makes the water rise very
higii," said Comfort ; " and then they build a
mill on the bank just below the dam, and have
a great wheel down in the bottom of the mill,
and they let the water out of the pond against the
wheel, and that carries it round so as to make the
mill go."
" Do they have a hole in the dam right oppo-site
to the wheel ? " asked Lucy.
" Yes, they have an opening," replied Comfort,
" and a kind of a long box, to lead the water
from the opening in the dam to the wheel. That
is what they call the flume. I'll show you the
flume when we get to the mill."
" Are we going to the mill ? " asked Lucy
SHOPPING. Ill
" Yes, we shall go over the bridge close to the
mill. The flume passes under one end of the
bridge."
Comfort and Lucy were now riding along a
beautiful road. The mill-pond was on one side,
with several islands in the middle, and with many
points and promontories extending into the water
from the shore, and crowned with trees. On the
other side was a great forest, covering the side of
a hill, and running higher and higher to the tops
of the mountains. On before them Lucy could
see a bridge, and a small village on the other
side of it. In about ten minutes, they reached
the bridge. *
> ;
Lucy could see the dam very distincllyt' It
was built of logs laid up like a wall, and extend-ing
entirely across the stream, from one side to
the other. A thin sheet of water was gliding
smoothly over the top, and faUing upon the rocks
below.
" Why don't they build the dam a little higher,"
said Lucy, " and so stop all the water ?
"
" That wouldn't do any good," said Cora-fort.
" Yes," said Lucy ; " then they would have
more water to make their mills go."
" But they've got water enough," said Com-
1 12 LUCY AMONG THE MOUNTAINS.
fort ; " and, besides, if they should make the dam
higher, they could not keep the water from run-ning
over the top; because, if they should do it..
it would onl}' slop the water in the pond for a
little while ; it would rise higher and higher, and
so, pretty soon, it would run over the top again,
just as it does now."
The mill was on the farther side of the bridge,
and below it, while the dam was above. Lucy
asked where the flume was. Comfort pointed
out to her a sort of a large box or trough, made
of timbers and planks, which proceeded from the
end of the dam on the other side, and passed un-der
the bridge to the mill.
When they got opposite to the flume, Comfort
stopped the horse a moment to let Lucy look
at it. There was a kind of a o^ratinof at one end
of it, towards the mill, and the water was whirling
and boiling, among the sticks and slabs which
were lying before the grating. Lucy saw that
the water was runnino~^ down through the o-ratino:, on O'
in underneath the mill, and she supposed it ran
under the water-wheel, and turned it round.
" What makes them throw all those sticks and
slabs into the flume ? " said Lucy.
" They don't throw them in," said Comfort.
" Those things wer« brought down by the stream,
SHOPPING. 113
and came floating along into the flume, and the
grating stopped them. That is the reason why
they have a grating, —in order to stop all such
things."
" Why must they stop them ? " said Lucy.
" Because," replied Comfort, " they would go
through, and strike against the water-wheel, I sup-pose,
and break it."
After Lucy had looked at the flume long
esnough. Comfort drove on. The horse ascended
a little hill, beyond the brook, and came into a
sort of village, though it was very small. It con-sisted
of only a very few houses and shops.
" Where are you going to do your shopping?
"
asked Lucy.
" I'm soin": to that store," said Comfort.
So saying, she pointed to a building in a comer,
not far from the mill, which was painted green.
It had a sign over the door, and some shawls
han";in^ in the window^.
" I shouldn't think there was much to buy in
that store," ^id Lucy.
" O, yes," said Comfort ; " it is quite a large
store."
There were several posts before the store.
Comfort drove up to one of them, ?ind got out
10*
114 LUCY AMONG THE MOUNTAINS.
and fnBtened the horse. Then she helped Lucy
out, and they both together went into the store.
]t was a much larger and pleasanter store than
Lucy had expected. There were two pretty
large counters. One was at the back side of the
store. There were a great many goods, of all
kinds, upon the shelves. At the back comer of
the store there was a door, which seemed to open
out into a pleasant yard. There were one or
two chairs near this door. Comfort conducted
Lucy along to this corner, and gave her a seat in
one of the chairs.
" Now, Lucy," said she, " I expect it will take
me ever so long to do my shopping ; and you may
amuse yourself here as well as you can. You
can look about the store, or sit here, or go out in
tlie yard."
" Well," said Lucy, " I shall do very well, I
don't doubt."
Comfort then w^ent away, and presently came
back with a piece of gingerbread, which she had
bought of the storekeeper, and gave it to Lucy.
Lucy was glad, both because she liked ginger-bread,
and also because she was a little hungry.
After she had begun to eat her fjinfrerbread, she
thought she heard a peeping sound out in the
SHOPPING. 115
yard. Lucy stepped out upon the step to see
what it was. She found there, in one corner of
the yard, a hen and a whole brood of chickens.
The hen looked rather fiercely at Lucy when
she saw that she was coming near her chickens,
and so Lucy kept back a little. She observed,
however, that the hen had a little leather strap
around one of her legs, and by means of that and
a string, she was tied to a stake. There was a
small cask lying down upon its side, for her to go
into, with her chickens.
Lucy broke off a small piece of her ginger-bread,
and threw it down to the hen. The hen
seized it very eagerly, and broke it into crumbs
with her bill, and called her chickens to come
and eat it. They all gathered around her, and
picked up the little crumbs as fast as they could.
Lucy thought that they ate it as if they never
had had any gingerbread before.
Lucy looked about the yard. It was a very
pleasant yard, descending a little from the street.
There was a fence around it painted white ; but
as the fence was not very high, and as the land
descended somewhat towards it, Lucy could see
over it. She could see the dam, and the bridge,
and the mill-pond, extending far away among the
islands and banks covered with trees. She could
116 LUCY AMONG THE MOUNTAINS.
also look right down the bank opposite to where
she stood upon that part of the stream which was
below the mill.
She watched the water gliding over the top of
the dam, and faUing down in a shower upon the
rocks below, for a few minutes, when she heard a
door open behind her. She looked round, and
found that there was another door, besides the
one which she had come out of, in the same
building. There were also some windows. In
fact, it seemed as if the back part of the building
was a house, and only the front part a store.
At any rate, the door opened, and a girl, about
as big as Lucy, came out with a saucer in her
hand, and a spoon in it. Lucy saw at once that
she had come out to feed the chickens. Lucy
went towards her, to see her ; for before she had
gone to the front part of the yard to see the
prospect.
" Are these your chickens ? " said Lucy.
" Yes," said the girl.
" They're beautiful chickens," said Lucy.
" Yes," said the girl, " only they came too
late."
While Lucy was considering what the girl
could mean, by saying that her chickens came too
late, the girl went on feeding them ; and after she
SHOPPING. 117
had done, she looked down to the stream which
ran off below the mill, and said, —
" Ah ! they've shut the gate."
" What gate ? " said Lucy, looking ; " I don't
see any gate."
" The water-gate, I mean," said the girl
;
'—" the gate that lets the water under the mill."
"How do you know that they've shut it?'*
said Lucy.
"Because," replied the girl, "don't you see'
that the water doesn't run under the mill ?
When the gate is up, and they are grinding, the
water comes tumbling through, under the mill, in
a gi*eat stream."
Lucy looked, and saw that there was a channel
behind the mill, beginning under it, which passed
down a little way, and gradually turned, and at
'
length, at a short distance, came out into the
main stream. The bottom was rocky, and now
nearly bare, only there was a small stream, which
ran among the rocks, flowing out towards the main
current. There is generally such a channel below
a mill, by which the waste water is discharged,
after it has performed its duty of giving impulse,
in its descent, to the float-boards of the- great
wheel.
At the place where this channel entered the
118 LUCY AMONG THE MOUNTAINS.
main stream, Lucy observed a large, flat surface
of rock, of a blue color, which seemed to be quite,
level and smooth. There was a bird upon it,
hopping about. The main current was running
very swiftly along that end of it which was to-wards
the stream, and there was a little water, too,
on each side of it ; so that it was a sort of an
island.
" I wish I could go down on that great blue
stone," said Lucy.
" It is very easy to get there," said the girl.
" I've been on it a hundred times."
" I mean to go and ask Comfort to let me go
down and get on it," said Lucy.
So Lucy went into the store, but in a moment
came out again. The girl asked what Comfort
said.
" She says I must not go now," said Lucy,
" but that, when she has done her shopping, she
will go with me."
" Is that the mill-pond up there? " said Lucy,
pointing to the sheet of water above the dam.
" Yes," said the girl.
" What a pretty little island ! " said Lucy.
While Lucy was looking at the island, she
happened to observe something upon the water,
very far off, and she did not know what it was.
SHOPPING. 119
It looked like a little black line drawn upon the
water.
" What is that ? " said Lucy, pointing to it.
" What ? " said the girl ; " I don't see any
thing."
" That little black thing, very straight, in the
watei', close by the island, where that great tree is."
" O, I don't know," said the girl ; " nothing but
a slab, or something floating down."
Lucy looked at it very, intently, and said,—
" I verily believe it is our slab I
"
Lucy ran into the store to tell Comfort. Com-fort
was standing before the counter, lookin«: at
some calico. The counter was covered with
calicoes.
" Comfort," said Lucy.
" That, you say, is one and ninepence," said
Comfort, speaking to the storekeeper.
" Comfort," said Lucy, putting her hand gently
on Comfort's arm. " Here's our slab floating
"down."
" And nine yards, at one and ninepence,
comes to how much ?—let me see—"
" Comfort," said Lucy.
" Let me see ; nine shillings and nine nine-pences
is—wait a minute, Lucy."
Lucy stood still. The storekeeper drew out
120 LUCY AMONG THE MOUNTAINS.
a little slate from under the counter, and began
making figures upon it. Lucy saw that Comfort
looked perplexed, and was very busy ; so she
left her, and ran out into the yard again, to watch
the slab.
Lucy thought that the slab had not moved at
all, while she had been gone. It seemed to be
in exactly the place where it was before. In fact,
it did not move very fast, because the water in
the mill-pond was almost still. It was, however,
slowly descending towards the dam.
" Why don't it come faster.? " said Lucy.
" Why, the water does not run very fast in the
mill-pond," replied the girl ; " we can sail all over
it in a boat ; so that the logs and slabs come down
slowly."
" Where will it go to ? " asked Lucy.
" O, it will come down over the dam ; or else
it will run into the flume, and get stopped by the
grating."
'•' I mean to watch it," said Lucy, '• and see."
" Then you had better go and stand on the
bridge," replied the girl. " You can see it better
on the bridge."
" I don't think Comfort would let me," said
Lucy.
. "You had better go and ask her," said the girl.
SHOPPING. 121
" No," said Lucy ; "it don't do any good to
aek any body any thing when they are a-shopping.
They are always talking about ninepence and
tenpence."
The girl laughed, and then went into the house.
Lucy looked at the slab a short time, and then,
as it did not move much, she got tired of watch-ing
it ; and so she turned to look at the chickens.
She gave them a little more of her gingerbread,
and ate the rest. Then she went into die store,
and amused herself in walking about, and looking
at the things which the storekeeper had to sell.
In about three quarters of an hour from the
time when they came into the store. Comfort was
ready to go. She had completed her purchases,
and the storekeeper had put them all up in one
great parcel, with some strong and coarse brown
paper wrapped around it. Comfort put her par-cel
Into the wagon, and then told Lucy that she
was ready to go.
" Yes," said Lucy, " only you must go down
with me to the great blue stone."'
" Well," said Comfort, " I will. YouVe been
very padent, and haven't troubled me at all."
So they walked along together towards the
bank of the stream below the mill.
11
122
CHAPTER IX.
AN ESCAPE.
•
They found some difficulty in getting down
the bank, it was so steep and rocky. There were,
however, little trees and bushes growing here
and there, which they could take hold of; and
there was a kind of a path, too, which was of
considerable service. The channel by which the
water came out from under the mill was almost
dry, so that they walked about all over it, step-ing
from stone to stone. They went up very
near the mill, so that they could see under it.
Lucy saw the great wheel, but it was still. She
said she wished they would let the water through
again, for she wanted to see it go.
" Why, Lucy ! " said Comfort ; " then the water
would come pouring down where we stand. And
I don't think that we ought to stay here much
longer, for they may hoist the great gate suddenly.
So let us go down to your blue stone."
They accordingly walked along over the rocks,
towai'ds the blue stone. In the lower part of the
AN ESCAPE. 123
bed of the channel, the stones and rocks were
wet where tliey had been covered with water.
The higher ones were dry, showing that where
the water came through under the mill, they were
not covered by it. Comfort told Lucy to step
along on the dry rocks, for the wet ones were apt
to be slippery.
At length, they reached the great blue stone.
Comfort said that it was a beautiful place to stop
and see the water. The middle part of the rock
was dry ; but it was wet all around the sides, and
there was a little water still standing on each side,
which they had to step over, in getting upon the
rock. There were several chips, and sticks^ and
small pieces of board on the edges of the rock.
They had floated on when the water was high,
and had been left there.
Lucy amused herself a few minutes throwing
these pieces of wood off into the middle of the
current, and seeing them float away down the
stream. Comfort took up a long, crooked pole,
and pushed off some which were lying in places
out of Lucy's reach. After a little while, when
Lucy had thrown off all that were upon the front
side of the stone, she turned and went to the
back side, to find some more. Comfort happened
to be standing, at that moment, on^he front side
124 LUCY AMONG THE MOUNTAINS.
of the stone, reaching out, and trying to push olFa
small log which was partly floating, and partly
lodged upon a rock. Just as she succeeded in
pushing off the log, she heard Lucy exclaim, in a
tone of surprise,
—
" Why ! why 1 how wide the water is 1 "'
Comfort looked round, and dropped her pole
instantly, and said, —
" So it is ; the water is rising. The men have
hoisted the gate. We must get off this rock as
quick as we can."
Comfort and Lucy ran all around the rock,
trying to find a place to get off; but it was too
late. The water, on each side, was before so
wide that they could hardly jump over it, and the
surface of the rocks beyond, which formed the
bed of the stream, sloped off so gradually, that a
very little rise in the water made it considerably
wider.
" What shall we do ? " said Comfort ; " what
shall we do ? " As she said this, she kept going
round and round the rock, trying to find some
place where it would do to jump off; but she
could not. Lucy was very much frightened, and
began to cry.
" O, Lucy, don't cry," said Comfort. " You
needn't be afmid."
AN ESCAPE. 125
" O dear me ! " said Lucy ; " we shall cer-tainly
be drowned."
" O, no " said Comfort ; " there's no danger of
being drowned. We can stay on this rock, safe,
till we contrive some way to get off."
" O, no," said Lucy ; " the water keeps rising
more and more, and it will cover us all up."
" No," said Comfort ; " don't you see that the
top of the rock is dry ; and that proves it is not
covered when the gate is up, and the water runs
through as fast as it wi]l."
Comfort looked at the water. It was rising
very rapidly ; and they could see a torrent of it
come pouring down upon them from under the
mill, which threatened to raise it much higher.
Still Comfort was not afraid. She was confident
that it would not come hicrher than to cover that
part of the rock which was wet before, and so
that they were safe upon the dry part. And the
result was as she had anticipated. The water
continued to rise, but it rose more and more slow-ly
; and when it arrived at die old high water
mark,—that is, the line where the rock had been
wet before,— it continued standing at that level.
" There," said Comfort, " it won't rise any
more now."
11*
1^6 Lucy AMaxG the mountains.
Lucy looked very anxious and unhappy. She
did not see liow they could get off.
" We shall have to stay here all the time,"
said she, in a very sad and desponding tone.
" No," said Comfort ; " there's one way we
can do, I'm sure. I can call out to the people in
the store, and they'll come and help us off."
" 1 don't see how they can help us off, if they
come," said Lucy.
" O, yes," replied Comfort ; " they can go and
shut the gate, if they can't do any other way."
- " Then that will stop the mill," said Lucy ;
" and 1 don't believe they will be willing to stop
their mill."
" Yes they will," said Comfort. " I know
Mr. Jameson, that owns the mill. He'll stop it
for us, I know."
" Well, then," said Lucy, " why don't you call
them ?
"
" Why, I want to look around, and think a
litde, first," said Comfort. " If we call them,
they'll come and help us, I know ; but then Mr.
Jameson will laugh at me well, and I don't want
to be lauorhed at."
" I had rather be laughed at than be drowned,'*
said Lucy.
AN ESCAPE. 127
" Yes," said Comfort ; " but we'll see. I want
to look around and think a li