Jonas on a Farm in Winter - Jacob Abbott (best books to read for teens TXT) 📗

them altogether out of their way. But Jonas considered that the responsibility properly belonged to him, and that he must act according to his own discretion. So he pushed forward steadily after Franco.

But his progress was now interrupted by hearing another loud call behind him, back upon the pond.

"What's that?" said Josey.

"Somebody calling," said Jonas.

"More travellers lost," said the woman.--"O dear me!"

He listened again, and heard the calls more distinctly. He thought he could distinguish his own name. He answered the call, and was himself answered in return by men's voices, which now seemed more distinct and nearer.

"I know now who it is," said Jonas. "It is your uncle and Amos, coming out after us. Franco was with them."

Jonas was right. In a few minutes, the farmer and Amos came up, and they were exceedingly surprised when they saw Jonas with his oxen, drawing a sleigh, with a woman in it, off the pond, instead of a sled load of rafters from the woods.

"Jonas," said he with astonishment, "how came you here?"

"I came to help Isaiah get off the pond," said Jonas. "But how did you find out where we were?"

"Franco guided us," said the farmer. "He followed the road along some time, and then he wanted to turn off suddenly towards the pond. We wouldn't follow him for some time; but he would go that way, and no other. When he came to the shore of the pond, we found your rafter laid there, and that made us think you must have gone upon the ice, but we couldn't imagine what for. At last, we found where you had left the sled, and then we began to halloo to you."

"But, uncle," said Josey, "didn't you see our heap of rafters, by the road where we turned off?"

"No," said his uncle.

"We put a load there."

"Then they must have got pretty well covered up," said he, "for we didn't observe them."

The whole party followed Franco, who led them out to the shore the shortest way. They took Isaiah and his mother to the house, and gave them some supper, and let them stay there that night. The next morning, when Jonas got up, he found that it was clearing away; and when, after breakfast, he looked out upon the pond, to see if he could see any thing of his sled, he observed, away out half a mile from shore, two short rows of stakes, sticking up in the snow, not far from on island. The body of the sled was wholly buried up and concealed from view.


CHAPTER VII.


A FIRE

The last of February drew nigh, which was the time fixed upon for Josey to go home. He had remained with his uncle much longer than his father had at first intended; but now they wanted him to return, before the roads broke up in the spring.

The evening before Josey was to go, the farmer was sitting by the fire, when Jonas came in from the barn.

"Jonas," said the farmer, "I have got to write a letter to my brother, to send by Josey to-morrow; why won't you take a sheet of paper and write for me, and I'll tell you what to say. You are rather handier with the pen than I am."

Jonas accordingly brought a sheet of paper and a pen and ink, and took his place at a table at the back side of the room, and the farmer dictated to him as follows:


"Dear Brother,

"I take this opportunity to inform you that we are all alive
and well, and I hope that you may be the same. This will be
handed to you by Josey, who leaves us to-morrow, according
to your orders. We have been very glad to have him with us,
though he hasn't had opportunity to learn much. However, I
suppose he'll fetch up again in his learning, when he gets
home. He has behaved pretty fair on the whole, as boys go.
He will make a smart man, I've no doubt, though he don't
seem to take much to farming.

"We hope to have you, and your wife and children, come and
pay us a visit this coming summer,--say in raspberry time,
which will be just after haying."

"There," said the farmer, "now fold it up, and write my brother's name on the back, and to-morrow morning I'll look it over, and sign my name to it."

Jonas accordingly folded the letter up, and wrote upon the back, Joseph Jones, Esq., Bristol. When it was done, he laid it on the table.

Amos came and took it up. "Jonas," said he, "I wish I could write as well as that."

The farmer had a daughter whose name was Isabella. She was about eighteen years old. She was at this time spinning in a corner of the room, near a window. She came forward to look at the letter.

"Yes, Jonas," said she, "you write beautifully. I wish you'd teach me to write like that."

"Very well," said Jonas, "that I can do."

"How can you do it?" said Isabella.

"Why, we can have an evening school, these long evenings," replied Jonas. "You get through your spinning in time to have half an hour for school before bed-time."

"Half an hour wouldn't be enough," said Amos.

"O, yes," replied Jonas; "half an hour every day will amount to a great deal in three months."

"Yes," said the farmer, "that's a very good plan; you shall have an evening school, and Jonas shall teach you;--an excellent plan."

"What shall we study?" said Isabella.

"Whatever you want to learn," replied Jonas. "You say you want to learn to write; that will do for one thing."

"And I want to learn more arithmetic," said Amos.

"Very well," said Jonas. "We'll have an evening school, half an hour every evening, beginning at eight o'clock. Have you got any school-books in the house, Isabella?"

Isabella said there were some on a shelf up stairs.

"Well," said Jonas, "bring them to me, and I'll look over them, and form a plan."

Isabella brought Jonas the school-books, and he looked them over, but said nothing then about his plan. He reflected upon the subject until the next day, because he did not wish to propose any thing to them, until it was well matured.

The next evening, at eight o'clock, Isabella put up her spinning, and took a seat by the fire, to hear Jonas's plan. Amos sat by a table at the back side of the room. The farmer's wife was sitting upon the settle, knitting; and the farmer himself was asleep in his arm-chair, at the opposite corner.

"Now," said Jonas, "I like the plan of having an evening school, and I am willing to be either teacher or pupil; only, if I am teacher, I must direct , and you must both do as I say."

"No," said Isabella, "you mustn't direct entirely; we'll talk over the plans, all together, and then do as we all agree."

"No," said Jonas, "I have no idea of having all school-time spent in talking. I'm perfectly willing that either of you should be teacher, and I'll obey. I'll set copies, or do any thing else you please, only I won't have any responsibility about the arrangements. Or, if you wish, I'm willing to be teacher; but then, in that case, I must direct every thing, just as I think is best,--and you must do just as I say."

"Well," said Isabella, "what are your orders? We'll obey."

Amos and Oliver also agreed that they would obey his directions. Jonas then consented to take the station of teacher, and he proceeded to give his directions.

"I have been looking at the books," said he, "and I find we haven't got but one of each kind."

"Then we can't have any classes in our school," said Oliver.

"Yes we can," said Jonas. "The first evening, Amos may take the arithmetic and the slate, and cipher, while Isabella writes, and Oliver studies a good long spelling lesson. Then, the second evening, Amos shall study the spelling lesson, and Isabella cipher, and Oliver write."

"But I don't want to cipher," said Isabella. "I don't like arithmetic; I never could understand it."

"You promised to obey my orders," said Jonas.

"Well," said Isabella, "I'll try; but I know I can't do the sums."

"Then, the third evening," said Jonas, "Isabella shall study the spelling lesson, Oliver the arithmetic, and Amos take the writing-book."

"What, ain't you going to have but one writing-book?"

"No," said Jonas; "one is enough; because you won't all write the same evening. So you can write one page, Oliver another, and Amos the third."

"No," said Isabella; "I don't like that. I want every scholar to have his own book."

"If you'll be the teacher," said Jonas, "you can have it so."

"But I want to have it so, and you be the teacher," said Isabella.

"No," said Jonas; "if I have the responsibility of teacher, I must have the power too."

"Well," said Isabella, "I suppose we had better submit."

"But what's the reason, Jonas," said Oliver, "that you ain't willing that we should all have writing-books of our own?"

"There are two or three reasons," said Jonas. "But it is very poor policy for a schoolmaster to spend his time in convincing his scholars that his regulations are good. He must make them obey, and let them see that the regulations turn out to be good in the end."

"But it seems to me, you've grown arbitrary all at once," said Amos, with a smile.

"Yes," said Jonas, "I'm always arbitrary when I'm in command; if you mean, by arbitrary, determined to have my own way. I won't usurp any power; but, if you put it upon me, I shall use it, you may depend upon it."

Jonas had two good reasons why he wanted to have only one writing-book for all his scholars. One was, that he thought it uncertain how long their school plan would last, and he did not want to trouble the farmer to look up some paper, and then make a parade of preparing so many writing-books; and then, perhaps, the whole plan might be abandoned, when they had written four or five pages in each. And, therefore, as he found one old writing-book of Oliver's, half full, he determined to make the blank leaves of that answer for all.

But he had another reason still. He thought that, if all his scholars should write, in succession, in the same book, their writing would come into such close juxtaposition and comparison, that each one would be stimulated to write with greater attention and care; as each one would wish his or her own page to look as neatly written as the rest. He knew that Isabella, when it came to her turn to write, would naturally, without any thing being said, look at Amos's work on the page before, and that she would observe its excellences and its faults, and that her page would