Cousin Lucy's Conversations

The children got this down upon a place where the ground was smooth and hard; and Lucy got so much interested in playing boat, that she entirely forgot her pricking for two hours; and then the first bell rang, to call them in to dinner.

The first bell always rang ten minutes before the second bell. This was to give Royal and Lucy time to come in and get ready. Lucy thought that she should just have time to finish the two lines, and she ran in to Miss Anne’s room to sit right down to her work. To her surprise, however, as soon as she got in, she saw that her chair was not before the little table, but had been set back; and the pin-cushion, pointer, and paper, had all entirely disappeared.

Lucy went into the parlor, and found Miss Anne placing the chairs around the dinner table.

“Miss Anne,” said she, in a tone of complaint, “somebody has taken away all my things.”

“That is some of my mischief, I suppose,” said Miss Anne.

“Did you take them away?” said Lucy.

“I put them away,” replied Miss Anne. “I went into my room, about an hour after I left you there, and found that you had gone away to play, and had left your work all out upon the table; and so I had to put it away.”

“Why, I was coming right back again,” said Lucy.

“And did you come right back?”

“Why, no,” said Lucy. “Royal wanted me to stay with him so much!”

“I thought you’d find it rather hard to earn money. You ought to have waited until you had finished your work, and then you could have gone out to play. – But I don’t mean that you did wrong. You had a right, if you chose, to give up the plan of earning money, and have your play instead.”

“Why, Miss Anne, I almost finished the work. I pricked all but two lines.”

“Yes, but then you left the work of putting the things away to me; and that gave me about as much trouble as all your pricking did good. So you did not earn any thing.”

“Well,” said Lucy, “I will try this afternoon, while Royal is at his studies; and then he won’t want me to go out and play.”

She took s for her letter that afternoon, and she pricked all that she could find on the page. Then she put her work carefully away, all except the page itself, which she brought to Miss Anne, so that she might examine it. Miss Anne found that she had done it very well. She had pricked almost every one. Miss Anne looked it over very carefully, and could only find two or three which Lucy had overlooked.

After this, Lucy persevered for several weeks in pricking letters. She took a new letter every day, and she generally spent about half an hour at each lesson. She learned to be very still while she was thus engaged, saying nothing except to pronounce aloud the name of the letter when she pricked it, which Miss Anne said was a very important part of the exercise.

In this way, in process of time, she learned all the letters of the alphabet; and her father paid her the eight sixpences. With one of these sixpences she bought a fine black lead pencil, to draw with, and a piece of India rubber, to rub out her marks when they were made wrong.

Miss Anne also taught her how to make a purse to keep the rest of her money in; and when the purse was done, Lucy put the money into it, and got Miss Anne to let her keep it in one of her drawers. She was afraid it would not be quite safe in her treasury.

CONVERSATION XIII

SKETCHING

Lucy asked Miss Anne if she would let her go with her the next time that she went out to make sketches, and let her try to see if she could not make sketches too, with her new pencil. Miss Anne had two or three pencils, which she kept in a little morocco case, and some small sheets of drawing paper in a portfolio. Sometimes, when she went out to walk, she used to take these drawing implements and materials with her, and sit down upon a bank, or upon a rock, and draw, while Lucy was playing around.

But now, as Lucy herself had a pencil, she wanted to carry it out, so that she could make sketches too.

Miss Anne said that she should like this plan very much; and accordingly, one pleasant summer afternoon, they set off. Miss Anne tied Lucy’s pencil and India rubber together, by a strong silk thread, so that the India rubber might not be so easily lost. The other necessary materials – namely, some paper, some pencils for Miss Anne, and two thin books with stiff covers, to lay their paper upon, while drawing – were all properly provided, and put in a bag, which Miss Anne had made, and which she always used for this purpose.

Lucy observed, also, that Miss Anne put something else in her bag. Lucy thought, from its appearance, that it was a square block; but it was folded up in a paper, and so she could not see. She asked Miss Anne what it was, and Miss Anne told her it was a secret.

They walked along without any particular adventure until they came to a bridge across a stream. It was the same stream where they had sat upon the rocks and seen George and the other boys fishing; but this was a different part of the stream, and the water was deep and still. Lucy and Miss Anne stopped upon the middle of the bridge, and looked over the railing down to the dark water far below.

“O, what deep water!” said Lucy.

“How could we get over this river if it were not for this bridge?”

“Not very conveniently,” said Miss Anne.

“We could not get over at all,” said Lucy.

“Perhaps we might,” said Miss Anne; “there are several ways of getting over a river besides going over upon a bridge.”

“What ways?” said Lucy.

“One is by a ferry.”

“What is a ferry?” said Lucy.

“It is a large boat which is always ready to carry persons across. The ferry-man generally lives in a house very near the bank of the river; and if any body wants to go across the river, they call at his house for him, and he takes them across in his boat. Then they pay him some money.”

“But suppose they are on the other side,” said Lucy.

“Then,” said Miss Anne, “they have to call or blow a trumpet. Sometimes they have a trumpet for people to blow when they want the ferry-man to come for them. But sometimes, where there are a great many travellers on the road that leads to the ferry, the boats are coming and going all the time; and then people don’t have to call or to blow any trumpet.”

“How much money do they have to pay,” said Lucy, “for carrying them across?”

“That depends upon circumstances,” said Miss Anne. “If a man goes alone, he does not have to pay so much as he does if he is in a chaise; and if he has a carriage and two horses, he has to pay more still.”

“Why, Miss Anne,” said Lucy, “can they carry over a carriage and two horses in a boat?”

“Yes,” said Miss Anne, “a stage-coach and six horses, if necessary. They have large, flat-bottomed boats for the carriages and carts, and small, narrow boats for men, when they want to go alone.”

While this conversation had been going on, Miss Anne and Lucy had walked along to some distance beyond the bridge. They took a road which led to an old, deserted farm-house, and some other buildings around it, all in a state of ruin and decay. The man who owned it had built himself a new house, when he found that this was getting too old to be comfortable to live in. The new house was upon another part of his farm, and it was another road which led to it; so that these old buildings had been left in a very secluded and solitary position. Miss Anne liked very much to come to this place, when she came out to make sketches, for she said that in all the views of the buildings, on every side, there were a great many beautiful drawing lessons.

The roof of the house in one place had tumbled in, and the shed had blown down altogether. There was one barn, however, that was pretty good; and, in fact, the farmer used it to store his surplus hay in it.

Lucy sat down, with Miss Anne, under the shade of some trees, at a little distance from the buildings, and they began to take out their drawing materials.

“Now, Miss Anne,” said Lucy, “what shall I draw?”

“I think that the well will be the best lesson for you.”

There was an old well at a little distance from the house, upon the green, with a group of venerable old lilac bushes near it. The water had been raised by a well-sweep, but the sweep itself had long since gone to decay, though the tall post with a fork at the top, which had supported the sweep, was still standing.

So Miss Anne recommended that Lucy should attempt to draw the well.

“But, Miss Anne,” said Lucy, “I want to draw the same thing that you do.”

“Very well,” said Miss Anne; “then we will both draw the well.”

“So we will,” said Lucy; “but, Miss Anne, you must tell me how. I don’t know how to draw, myself.”

Miss Anne gave Lucy some instructions, according to her request. She told her that she must mind the shape of the things more than anything else. “All depends upon the proportions,” said Miss Anne.

“What is proportion?” said Lucy. “Royal told me something about it, but I could not understand him very well.”

“Suppose you look over me a few minutes, and see how I do it,” said Miss Anne.

Lucy liked this proposal very much; and she stood very still, for some time, while Miss Anne, with her paper upon her book, and her book upon her knee, began to make her drawing, talking all the time as follows: —

“First, there is the post; I will draw that first. I must make it look just as long upon the paper as it does in reality. And do you think it stands quite upright?”

“No,” said Lucy, “it leans.”

“Which way does it lean?” asked Miss Anne.

“It leans towards the well, I think,” said Lucy.

“So it does; and I must draw a line for one side of the post, and make this line lean over towards the place where my well is going to be, just as much as the post really leans.”

Miss Anne then drew the line, and asked Lucy to look at it carefully, and see whether it leaned any more, or any less, than the real post did.

Lucy looked at it very carefully, but she could not see that there was any difference.

“Now,” continued Miss Anne, “I must begin to draw the well; and I must have it at just the right distance from the post.”

Then Miss Anne put down her pencil very near to the post, and asked Lucy if she thought that that was about right.

“O no,” said Lucy, “that is a great deal too near.”

Miss Anne then moved the point of her pencil off almost to the end of the paper.

“Would that be right?” said Miss Anne.

“O no; that is too far.”

“But it is not so far as it is in reality, on the ground, from the post to the well.”

“No,” said Lucy, “but you are not going to have the picture so large as the real well.”

“That is it, exactly,” said Miss Anne. “The picture itself is all going to be smaller than the reality; and the drawing of the well must be just as much smaller than the real well, as the drawing of the post is than the real post. Then it is all in proportion.”

“Now,” said Miss Anne, “I will move my pencil up nearer, and you may tell me when it is too far off, and when it is too near, for the proper place for me to draw the side of the well. Is that right?” she added, after placing the point of the pencil in a new position.

“That is too near,” said Lucy.

“And that?” said Miss Anne.

“That is about right,” said Lucy.

“Look again, carefully.”

“Hark! what’s that?” said Lucy.

“It sounds like thunder,” said Miss Anne; “but I rather think it is only a wagon going over the bridge.”

A few minutes afterwards, however, the sound was repeated, louder and more distinct than before, and Miss Anne said it was thunder, and that they must go home, or that they should get caught in a shower. They looked around, and saw that there were some large, dark-looking clouds rising in the west; and Miss Anne said that they must put away their things, and go home as fast as they could.

“But, Miss Anne,” said Lucy, “it is a great way home. I am afraid it will rain on us before we get there.”

“Why, if we can get across the bridge,” said Miss Anne, “we can go into some of the houses.”

“Are there no houses before we come to the bridge?” asked Lucy.

“No,” said Miss Anne; “but I think we shall have time to go farther than that.”

By this time they had put up their drawing materials, and began to walk along towards the main road. Miss Anne said that she presumed that they should have ample time to get home; for showers seldom came up so very suddenly as to prevent their getting home from a walk.

But when they had gone about half way to the bridge, Miss Anne began to be afraid that they should not get home. There was a large, black cloud spreading along the western sky, and the low and distant peals of thunder came oftener, and grew gradually louder and louder. Miss Anne walked very fast, leading Lucy, who ran along by her side.

Just as they came to the bridge, the great drops of rain began to fall.

“There!” said Lucy, – “it’s beginning.”

“Yes,” said Miss Anne, “and I have a great mind to go under the bridge.”

Miss Anne had just time to say “under the bridge,” when there came another heavy clap of thunder, which sounded louder and nearer than any which they had heard before. This decided Miss Anne at once. She turned off from the entrance to the bridge, and began to walk down the steep bank, leading Lucy. When they had descended to the margin of the stream, they found a narrow strip of sand between the water and the foundation of the bridge.

“Yes,” said Miss Anne, “here is plenty of room for us to stand.”

They found a good place to stand, with the water of the stream before them, and the great wall, which the bridge rested upon, behind them. There were also some large, smooth stones lying there, which they could sit down upon. A very few minutes after they had fixed themselves in this place of shelter, the rain began to come down in torrents. The thunder rolled and reverberated from one part of the heavens to another, and once or twice Lucy saw a faint flash of lightning.

Lucy was very much amused at the curious effect produced by the drops of rain falling upon the water. They covered the water all over with little bubbles. She kept calling upon Miss Anne to see; but Miss Anne looked anxious and afraid. By and by, the rain began to come down through the bridge, and they had to move a little to keep from getting wet. But they succeeded in getting a dry place, and keeping pretty comfortable.

“But what shall we do,” said Lucy, “if it rains all night? We can’t stay here all night.”

“Thunder showers don’t last long,” said Miss Anne. “I presume it will be pleasant by and by, only we shall get our feet wet going home; for the roads will be very wet, and full of pools of water.”

Just then they heard the noise of wheels in the road, as if a chaise or carriage of some sort were coming along towards them. The horse travelled very fast, and soon came upon the bridge, and went along over it, passing directly above their heads with great speed, and with a noise which sounded louder to them than any clap of thunder which they had heard. Lucy was sure that they would break through, and come down upon their heads; and even Miss Anne was a little frightened. They little knew who it was in the chaise. It was Royal going to find them, to bring them home. He thought it probable that they had gone into the old, ruined buildings, to be sheltered from the rain, and that he should find them there.

After looking there for them in vain, he came back, and he happened to come to the bridge just as Miss Anne and Lucy were coming out from under it. They were very glad to see him. The shower was over. The sun had come out; the grass and trees were glittering with the reflection of the bright light from the drops of rain; and there were two great rainbows in the east, one bright, and the other rather faint. Royal said that he would have the faint rainbow, and Lucy might have the bright one for hers. Lucy’s rainbow lasted until some time after they got home.

CONVERSATION XIV

DANGER

Lucy often had singular adventures with Royal and her father; but one, which interested her as much as any, was an adventure she once met with in crossing a river. The circumstances were these: —

They were on a journey; Lucy and Royal were travelling with their father and mother.

One evening, after they had reached the end of the journey for the day, the party stopped in a village, built upon an eminence, which overlooked a broad and very fertile-looking valley. It consisted of extensive intervals, level and green, and spotted with elms, and with a river winding through them, until its course was lost among the trees, a few miles below. After tea, Royal wanted to go down, across the intervals, to the bank of the river, to see the water.

“O yes,” said Lucy, “and let me go too, father.”

“O no,” said Royal, “you must not go.”

“Why not?” said Lucy.

“Because,” said Royal, “we may find a boat there, and want to take a sail in it; and you couldn’t go.”

“Why not?” said Lucy.

“Because,” said Royal, “you wouldn’t dare to go.”

“Yes I should,” said Lucy.

“No,” said Royal, “you don’t dare to sleep in a room alone at night, in a hotel.”

“But I think she will not be afraid to go in the boat,” said her father. “At any rate, we will let her go with us.”

Lucy then went to get her bonnet; and when they were all ready, she and Royal went out together; their father followed immediately afterwards. Their mother, being fatigued, preferred to remain at home.

From the principal street of the village, they passed out, through a pair of bars, into a cart road, which led through the mowing fields down towards the intervals.

They walked on together, until they came down to the intervals, which were level fields of grass and flowers, very beautiful, and extending on each side of them very far. The road gradually grew narrower, until at length it became a mere path, which finally conducted them to the bank of the river. Royal and Lucy stood upon the bank, and looked down into the water.

The bank was quite high and steep, formed of earth, which seemed to be, from time to time, caving into the water. It was green to the very brink, and some large masses of turf lay down below at the water’s edge, and partly in the water, where they had apparently fallen from above. The shore on the opposite side of the river was, however, very different. It was a low, sandy beach, with the water rippling along the pebbles, which lay upon the margin of it.

“O father,” said Royal, “I wish we could get over to that beach.”

“Yes,” said Lucy, “and then we could get down and throw stones into the water.”

“If we had a boat,” said Royal, “we could get across.”

“O no,” said their father, “this river is too shallow for a boat.”

“How do you know, father?” said Royal.

“Why, I can see the bottom all the way; and then I know by the rapidity of the current, that it must be quite shallow.”

Just then they observed some men coming down towards them, on the bank of the river. Royal’s father asked them, when they came up to where he was standing, if there were any boats on the river.

“Yes,” said the men, “there is a small boat just above here, which you can have if you want. Only bring it safe back again.”

“I am very much obliged to you,” said Lucy’s father; “are there any oars?”

“There are some paddles,” replied one of the men. “They’re hid in the bushes, just opposite the boat. There is a padlock on the boat, and it looks as if it was locked, but it is not. You can take the padlock right off.”

The men then went on their way down the river, and Lucy and Royal ran along the bank to see if they could find the boat. Their father followed them more slowly. Presently, however, they all came to the place where the boat was lying.

It was a very small boat indeed. It was drawn up partly upon the bank, which was here not quite so steep as where the children had first stood, but was yet considerably precipitous. The boat was fastened, by a chain, to the root of a large elm-tree, which was growing upon the bank, the roots having been laid bare by the action of the water. There was a padlock passing through a link of the chain in such a way as to give the boat the appearance of being fastened; but Lucy’s father found that the padlock would open easily, without any unlocking, and so they soon got the boat at liberty.

Royal then went to look around among the grass and bushes near, to see if he could find the paddles. Presently he called out, “Here they are!” and in a few minutes he brought them to his father.

“Now, Lucy,” said her father, “do you want to get in and sail across the river?”

“Isn’t there any danger?” said Lucy.

“Yes,” said her father, “I think there is considerable danger.”

“What! that we shall get drowned?” exclaimed Lucy.

“No,” replied her father; “only that we shall get upset.”

“Well, father,” said Lucy, “if we get upset, we shall certainly be drowned.”

“O no,” replied her father; “the water isn’t deep enough to drown us anywhere, if we stand upright upon the bottom. And then, besides, there is no danger that we shall be upset, unless where it is very shallow indeed. The current may sweep us away down the stream, so that we shall lose command of the boat, and then, if we strike a large stone, or a sunken log, the boat might fill or go over; but, then, in the places where the current is so rapid, the water is nowhere more than knee deep. Now you may go with us or not, just as you please.”

“Royal, what would you do?” said Lucy.

“O, I’d go,” said Royal, “by all means.”

“Would you, father?” asked Lucy.

“Yes,” said her father, “unless you are very much afraid.”

Lucy said she was a little afraid, but not much; and she cautiously stepped into the boat. Royal got in after her, and when the two children had taken their seats, their father followed them, and took his place in the stern, with one of the paddles. Royal had the other. The stern is the hinder part of a boat. The forward part is called the bows. There was a chain attached to the bows of the boat, by which it had been fastened to the shore.

“Now, Royal,” said his father, when they were all seated, “you must remember that, if you go with us, you must obey my orders exactly.”

“Yes, father, I will,” said Royal.

“And suppose,” said his father, “that I order you to jump into the river.”

“Then I’ll jump right in,” said Royal.

“Well,” said his father, “we shall see.”

Royal was seated forward, at the bows of the boat. The boat was flat-bottomed, and square at both ends, so that there was very little difference between the bows and the stern, and there was a place to sit at each. Royal put his paddle into the water, and began to paddle a little; but they made no progress, until his father was ready to work his paddle at the stem of the boat; and then it began slowly to glide up the river, keeping, however, all the time near the bank from which they had set out. The water appeared to be much deeper on this side than on the other, and the current was not so rapid. Lucy, however, by looking over the side of the boat, could plainly see the gravel-stones upon the bottom.

They went along very smoothly and prosperously, but yet very slowly, for some time; and at length Royal asked his father to put out more into the stream. So his father turned the head of the boat out, and in a very few minutes they found themselves in the middle of the river. Now, however, instead of moving up, they found, by looking upon the stones at the bottom, that they were drifting down. Royal observed, too, that the water had become much more shallow, and the current was stronger. He looked at his father, and found that he was exerting himself, with all his strength, to force the boat against the current, and keep it from being carried away.

But the water was so shallow, that the end of his paddle rubbed upon the bottom, and prevented his keeping the boat under command. Then he thought that he would use his paddle for a setting-pole, instead of a paddle; that is, that he would plant the lower end of it firmly into the gravel at the bottom, and then push against it, and so force the boat to go up the stream.

In attempting to do this, however, he lost the command of his boat still more. The current, setting strong against the bows, swept that end of the boat round, so as to bring her broadside to the stream; and then she was entirely at the mercy of the water, which here seemed to pour over the stones in a torrent. The boat went flying along over the rippling waves, within a very few inches of the pebble-stones below. Royal began to be seriously afraid.