Chapter II: Part 2

While Rollo's father was ringing the bell, Dorothy opened the door which led from the kitchen into the entry, and said to Rollo's father,

"Are you ringing for Rollo, sir?"

"Yes," he replied.

"He has gone to the village," said Dorothy. "He has gone back to look for a pocket-book, which he dropped, coming home, or else left at the apothecary's."

"A pocket-book?" said his father, with surprise.

"Yes, sir," said Dorothy. "He went to get some medicine for Sarah, and, when he came home, the pocket-book was missing."

"Was there any money in it?" said he.

"Yes, sir," replied Dorothy.

"How much?"

"I don't know, sir, how much."

Rollo's father then put the bell back into its place, and walked again into the parlor. He was afraid that there was a good deal of money in the pocket-book, and that it was all lost.

He, however, went on attending to his own business, until by and by he heard Rollo's voice in the kitchen. He called him in. Rollo and James came in together.

"Have you found the pocket-book?" asked Mr. Holiday.

"No, sir," said Rollo; "I have looked all along the road, and inquired at the apothecary's; but I can't find any thing of it."

"Well, now, I want you to tell me the whole story; and especially, if you have done wrong about it, in any way, don't attempt to smooth and gloss it over, but tell me that part more plainly and distinctly and fully than any other."

"Well, sir," said Rollo, with a very serious air, "I will.

"We went to the apothecary's to get some medicines for Sarah. When I was there, I put the change in the wallet, and put the wallet in this pocket."

"It was a wallet, then," said his father.

"Yes," replied Rollo, "a wallet, or a small pocket-book. I suppose now, that it would have been better to have put it in some other pocket; because that was pretty full. So in that, I suppose, I did wrong. Then James and I came home, only we did not walk along directly; we played about a little from one side of the road to the other, and then we went under the great hemlock-tree, to see if we could not find another hemlock-seed."

"Another hemlock-seed?" said his father.

"Yes, sir," said Rollo; "I suppose it is a hemlock-seed."

"What was it? a sort of a cone?"

"Yes, sir," said Rollo; "with ridges upon it."

Now it is true that pines, firs, and other evergreens bear a sort of cone, which contains their seed; and Rollo's father thought, from Rollo's description, that it was one of these cones which Rollo had found. In fact, the cone was somewhat similar in shape, though, if he had shown it to his father, he would have known immediately that it was a very different thing. Rollo put his hand into his pocket to show the supposed hemlock-seed to his father, but it was not there. He had left it out in the play room.

"Very well," said his father, "I don't know that I ever saw the cone of the hemlock; but, very probably, this is one of them. But go on, about the pocket-book."

"Well, sir,--when we got home, I took out the medicines, but the pocket-book was nowhere to be found; and I have been back with James, and we have looked all along the road, and under the hemlock-tree, and we have inquired at the apothecary's; but we cannot find it any where."

"How much money was there in the wallet?" said his father.

"Half a dollar, and a little more," said Rollo.

Rollo's father felt somewhat relieved at finding that the loss was, after all, not very large. He placed confidence in Rollo's account of the facts, and having thus ascertained how the case stood, he began to consider what was to be done.

"It is a case of bailment," said he to Rollo, "and the question is, whether you are liable."

"A case of _what_?" said Rollo.

"Bailment," said his father. "When one person intrusts another with his property for any purpose, it is called _bailing_ it to him. The wallet and the money were bailed to you. The law relating to such transactions is called _the law of bailment_. And the question is, whether, according to the law of bailment, you ought to pay for this loss."

Rollo seemed surprised at such a serious and legal view of the subject being taken; he waited, however, to hear what more his father had to say.

"I don't suppose," continued his father, "that Sarah will commence an action against you; but law is generally justice, and to know what we ought to do in cases like this, it is generally best to inquire what the law requires us to do."

"Well, sir," said Rollo, "and how is it?"

"Why, you see," said his father, "there are various kinds of bailments. A thing may be bailed to you for _your_ benefit; as, for instance, if James were to lend you his knife, the knife would be a bailment to you for your benefit. But if he were to ask you to carry his knife somewhere to be mended, and you should take it, then it would be a bailment to you for _his_ benefit."

"Well, sir, I took the wallet for Sarah's benefit, not mine," said Rollo.

"The law requires," continued his father, "that you should take greater care of any thing, if it is bailed to you for _your_ benefit, than it does if it is for the benefit of the bailor. For instance, if you were to borrow James's knife for your own benefit, and were to lose it, even without any special carelessness, you ought to get him another; for it was solely for your advantage, that you took it, and so it ought to be at your risk. But if he asked you to take the knife to get it mended for _his_ benefit; then, if you accidentally lose it, without any particular carelessness, you ought not to pay for it; for it was placed in your hands for his _advantage_, and so it ought to be at his _risk_."

"Well," said Rollo, "the wallet was given to me for Sarah's advantage, not mine; and so I ought not to pay for it."

"That depends upon whether it was lost through gross carelessness, or not. For when any thing is bailed to you for the benefit of the owner, if it is lost or injured through _gross carelessness_, then the law makes you liable. As, for instance, suppose you take James's knife to get it mended, and on your way you throw it over the fence among the grass, and then cannot find it, you ought to pay for it; for you were bound to take good ordinary care of it."

"Well, sir," said Rollo.

"Well," repeated his father, "now as this property was bailed to you solely for the advantage of the bailor, the question whether you ought to pay for the loss of it, depends on whether you was grossly careless, or not. If you took good ordinary care, and it was lost by accident, then you are not liable."

"Well, father, I think it was accident; I do, truly."

"I rather think so myself," said his father, with a smile, "and I am inclined to think that you are not responsible. If any body asks a boy like you to carry money for them, gratuitously, then they take themselves the ordinary risks of such a conveyance, and I think that, on the whole, this accident comes within the ordinary risks. There was not such gross carelessness as to make you liable. But then I am very sorry to have Sarah lose her money."

"So am I," said Rollo. "And the wallet is gone too."

"How good a wallet was it?" asked his father.

"O, pretty good; only it was considerably worn."

"Haven't you got one that is pretty much the same, that you don't care a great deal about?"

"Yes, sir," said Rollo; "it is in my desk. I had as lief that she would have it as not."

"Very well," said his father; "you give her your wallet, and I will replace the money."

So Rollo went to his desk, and soon came back, bringing his little wallet. He unfastened its steel clasp, and opened the wallet, and took out some little pictures which he had treasured up there, and some small pieces of white paper, which he said were marks. They were to put into his books to keep the place, when he was reading. He had got quite a quantity of them all prepared for use. When Rollo had got his wallet ready, his father took out half a dollar from his pocket, and also another small silver coin, about as large as Rollo said the one was, which was lost; and then sent Rollo to carry it to Dorothy.

In a few minutes, Rollo came back with the money in his hand, and said,

"She won't take it. She said I must bring it back. It was as much as I could do to get her to take the wallet."

"But she _must_ take it," replied his father. "You carry it to her again, and tell her she has nothing to do with the business. The money is for Sarah, and she must not refuse it, but take it and give it to her the first opportunity."

So Rollo carried the money again to Dorothy. She received it this time, and put it in the wallet, and then deposited both in a safe place in her work-table. Then Rollo came back to his father to ask him a little more about bailments.

"Father," said Rollo, when he came back, "if James should give me his knife, or any thing, for my own, would that be a bailment?"

"No," said his father. "A bailment is only where property is intrusted to another, for a certain purpose, to be returned again to the possession of the owner, when the purpose is accomplished. For instance, when Jonas is sawing wood with my saw, the saw is a bailment from me to him; it remains my property; but he is to use it for a specific purpose, and then return it to my possession."

"He does not bring it back to you," said Rollo.

"No, but he hangs it up in its place in my shed, which is putting it again in my possession. And so all the things which Dorothy uses in the kitchen are bailments."

"And if she breaks them, must she pay for them?"

"No, not unless she is grossly careless. If she exercises good ordinary care, such as prudent persons exercise about their own things, then she is not liable, because she is using them mainly for my benefit, and of course it must be at my risk. But if Sarah should come and borrow a pitcher to carry some milk home in, and should let it fall and break it by the way, even if it was not gross carelessness, she ought to pay for it; that is, the person that sent her ought to pay for it, for it was bailed to her for her benefit alone; and therefore it was at her risk."

"I should not think you would make her pay for it," said Rollo.

"No, I certainly should not. I am only telling what I should have a right to do if I chose.

"Sometimes a thing is bailed to a person," continued Rollo's father, "for the benefit of both persons, the bailor and the bailee."

"The bailee?" said James.

"Yes, the bailee is the person the thing is bailed to. For instance, if I leave my watch at the watchmaker's to be mended, and I am going to pay him for it, in that case you see it is for his advantage and mine too."

"And then, if it is lost, must he pay for it?"

"Yes; unless he takes _good_ care of it. If it is for his benefit alone, then he must take _special_ care of it, or else he is liable for the loss of it. If it is for my benefit alone, then he must take _ordinary_ care of it. For instance, suppose I had a very superior repeater watch, which the watchmaker should come and borrow of me, in order to see the construction of it. Then suppose I should leave another watch of mine,--a _lever_,--at his shop to be repaired. Suppose also I should have a third watch, a lady's watch, which I had just bought somewhere, and I should ask him to be kind enough to keep it for me, a day or two, till my watch was done. These would be three different kinds of bailments. The _repeater_ would be bailed to him for his benefit; the _lever_ for his and mine jointly, and the _lady's watch_ for my benefit alone.

"Now, you see," continued Rollo's father, "that if these watches should get lost or injured in any way, the question whether the watchmaker would have to pay for them or not, would depend upon the degree of care it would have required to save them. For instance, if he locked them all up with special care, and particularly the repeater, and then the building were struck with lightning and the watches all destroyed, he would not have to pay for any of them; for this would be an inevitable accident, which all his care could not guard against. It would have been as likely to have happened to my repeater, if I had kept it at home.

"But suppose now he should hang all three watches up at his window, and a boy in the street should accidentally throw a stone and hit the window, so that the stone should go through the glass and break one of the watches. Now, if the repeater was the one that was hit, I should think the man would be bound to pay for it: because he was bound to take _very special_ care of that, as it was borrowed for his benefit alone. But if it was the lady's watch, which he had taken only as an accommodation to me, then he would not be obliged to pay; for, by hanging it up with his other watches, he took _ordinary_ care of it, and that was all that he was obliged to take."

"I should think," said James, "that the boy would have to pay, if he broke the watches."

"Yes," said Rollo's father; "but we have nothing to do with the boy now, we are only considering the liabilities of the watchmaker."

"And if it had been the lever that was broken," asked Rollo, "what then?"

"Why, as to the lever," said his father, "he was bound to take _good_ care of it,--something more than mere ordinary care; and I don't know whether the law would consider hanging watches up at a window as _good_ care or not. It would depend upon that, I suppose. But the watches might be lost in another way. Suppose the watchmaker had sent the repeater home to me, and then, at night, had put the lever and the lady's watch into a small trunk with his other watches, and carried them to his house, as watchmakers do sometimes. Now suppose that, when he got home, he put the trunk of watches down in a corner of the room; and suppose that there was a leak in the roof of his house, so that the water could come in sometimes when it rained. In the night there comes up a shower, and the water gets into the trunk, and rusts and spoils the watches. Now I think it probable that he would not have to pay for the lady's watch, for he took ordinary care of that,--that is, the same care that he was accustomed to take of his own watches. But he might have to pay for the other; for he was bound to take _good_ care of that one, as it was partly for _his_ benefit that it was bailed to him; and putting them where they were at all exposed to be wet, would be considered, I suppose, as not taking good care of them."

"And so he would not have to pay for the lady's watch, in any case," said Rollo.

"Yes, he would, if he did not take _ordinary_ care of it; that is, if he was grossly negligent. For instance, if he should take all the rest of his watches home, and leave that in his shop upon the counter, where I had laid it down, and somebody should come in the night and steal it, then, perhaps he would be liable."

By this time, Rollo's father began to think that his law lecture had been long enough for such young students, and so he said that he would not tell them any more about it then. "But now," said he, in conclusion, "I want you to remember what I have said, and practise according to it. Boys bail things to one another very often, and a great many disputes arise among them, because they don't understand the law of bailment. It applies to boys as well as men. It is founded on principles of justice and common sense, and, of course, what is just and equitable among men, is just and equitable among boys.

"You must remember that whenever any thing belonging to one boy is intrusted to another in any way, if it is for the benefit of the bailee, if any accident happens to it, he must make it good; unless it was some _inevitable_ accident, which could not have been prevented by the utmost care. If it is for the benefit of the bailor, that is, the boy who intrusts it, then he can't require the other to pay for it, unless he was grossly negligent. And if it was for the common benefit of both, then if the bailee takes what may be called good care of it, he is not liable to pay; if he does not take good care, he is."

Here ended the lecture on the law of bailment. James soon after went home, and Rollo in due time went to bed. The next morning, when he got up and began to dress himself, he thought one of the legs of his pantaloons felt somewhat heavy. He put his hand down to ascertain what was there, and he felt something at the bottom, between the cloth and the lining. It was Sarah's pocket-book. When Rollo put it into his pocket, as he thought, he in reality slipped it inside of the lining, and it worked itself down to the bottom, as he was playing about. He pulled it out, and then, after he had dressed himself, he ran very joyfully to his father, to show it to him. His father was very glad that it was found, and told Rollo to carry it to Dorothy. Dorothy was very glad, too, for she was very sorry to have Rollo lose his own wallet, or his father lose his money. So she gave him back his wallet, and he replaced it in his desk where it was before, after giving his father back his money.

CONFUSION.

Rollo explained his plan of collecting a museum of curiosities to his cousins Lucy and James, and to his sister Mary, who was a good deal older than he was. He also informed Henry, a playmate of his, who lived not a great way from his father's house. All the children took a great deal of interest in the scheme, and promised to help him collect the curiosities.

At length, after a few days, Rollo, to his great joy, observed one evening signs of an approaching storm. The wind sighed through the trees, and thick, hazy clouds spread themselves over the sky.

"Don't you think it is going to rain?" said Rollo to his father, as he came in to tea.

"I don't know," said his father. "Which way is the wind?"

"I'll go and see," said Rollo.

He went out and looked at the vane which Jonas had placed upon the top of the barn.

When he came in, he told his father that the wind was east. Then his father said he thought it would rain, and Rollo clapped his hands with delight.

And it did rain. The next morning, when Rollo awoke, he heard the storm driving against the window of his chamber. After breakfast, he took an umbrella, and went out into the barn, and found Jonas already at work upon the cabinet. In the course of the morning he finished it. He put three good shelves into it, which, together with the bottom of the box, made four shelves. He also put the two covers on, with hinges, so as to make doors of them; and put a little hasp upon the doors, outside, to fasten them with. He then put it up in one corner of the play room, all ready for the curiosities. Rollo put in his hornets' nest, his pebble stones, and his hemlock-seed, as he called it; and then went to the barn door, and began to be as eager to have it clear up, as he had been before to have it rain. He wanted to go out and collect some more curiosities.

After a time it did clear up, and Rollo obtained his mother's leave to go and ask all the children who were going to have a share in the museum, to come one afternoon and begin to collect the curiosities. They all came--Lucy, James, and Henry. And when Rollo saw them all collected in the garden yard, with baskets in their hands all ready to go forth after curiosities, he capered about full of anticipations of delight.

"Now," said Henry, "let us go down to the hemlock-tree."

"No," said Rollo, "it will be better to go to the brook, where I found the pebbles."

"But I want to go and see if I can't find another hemlock-seed," said Henry.

Rollo was, however, very unwilling to go that way, and yet Henry insisted upon it. Lucy listened to the dispute with a countenance expressive of distress and anxiety. First, she proposed to Rollo to yield to Henry, and then to Henry to yield to Rollo; but in vain. Henry said that Rollo ought to let him decide, because he was the oldest; and Rollo said that he himself ought to decide, because it was his museum. They were both wrong. Neither ought to have insisted upon having his own way so strenuously. At length, after quite a long and unpleasant altercation, Lucy proposed that they should draw lots for it. The boys consented.

"I'll tell you a better plan than that," said a voice above them. They looked up, and saw Mary sitting at the window of the chamber. She had been reading, but, on hearing this dispute, she had closed her book, and now interposed to do what she could to aid in settling it.

When Rollo heard his sister Mary's voice, he felt a little ashamed of his pertinacity. Lucy asked Mary what the plan was.

"Why," said she, "in all expeditions where there are several children, it is very desirable to have a regent."

"A regent?" said Lucy.

"Yes," said Mary, "a commander, to take the lead, and decide the thousand little questions which are likely to occur. Unless there is somebody to decide them, there will be endless disputes."

"Well," said Henry, "I'll be regent."

"No," said Mary, "you must choose one. I'll tell you how. You must choose the regent by ballot. Lilac leaves make good ballots. Each one of you must consider who you think will be best for regent,--that is, who will have the most discretion and judgment, to decide wisely, and at the same time be mild and gentle, and amiable in manner, so as to be a pleasant commander. Of course, no one must vote for himself."

"But I don't understand," said Rollo. "What are the lilac leaves for?"

"For ballots; that is, for you to write your votes upon. You can write on the under side of a lilac leaf with the point of a pin."

"Can we?" said Lucy, with a look of curiosity and pleasure.

"Yes," said Mary, "you need not write the whole name. You can write the first letter--that will be enough. R. stands for Rollo, L. for Lucy, H. for Henry, J. for James, and N. for Nathan."

"Ho!" said Rollo, "Nathan won't do for a regent."

"Perhaps not," said Mary; "each one of you must vote for the one you think best. Now get your lilac leaves, and I will drop you down some pins."

The children ran off very eagerly to get the leaves, and then came back, and Mary dropped down four pins. They each took one, and, with the point of it, wrote a letter upon the back of the leaf. Then Mary asked Nathan to carry around his cap, and let them all drop their leaves into it, and then bring them up to her, and she would see who was chosen.

So Nathan, highly pleased with his office, collected the votes in his cap, and brought them up to his sister Mary. She looked them over as she sat at the window, the children all looking up from below, eagerly awaiting the result. At length, Mary told them that there were four leaves in Nathan's cap, and that three of them had the letter L upon it. "So," said she, "you see you have chosen Lucy for regent."

"Yes, I voted for Lucy," said Rollo. "I thought she would be the best."

"And so did I," said James and Henry.

Lucy looked down, and felt a little embarrassed at finding herself raised so suddenly to the dignity of regent; and she asked Mary what she was to do.

"O, walk along with them just as you would if you had not been chosen; only you will decide all the questions that come up, such as where you shall go, and how long you shall stay in the different places. The others may give you their opinions, if you ask them; but they must let you decide, and they must all submit to your decisions."

"Well, come," said Lucy; "we'll go down the lane first." So she took hold of Thanny's hand, and walked along, the other children following. They passed through the great gate, and soon disappeared from Mary's view.

They were gone two or three hours. At length, when the sun had nearly gone down, Mary heard voices in the front of the house. She left her back window, and went around to a front window to see. She found them returning, and all talking together with the greatest volubility. They had their baskets full of various commodities, and large bouquets of flowers and plants in their hands. They did not see Mary at the window, and as they all seemed to be good-natured and satisfied with their afternoon's work, Mary did not speak to them; and so they passed along into the yard undisturbed. They proceeded immediately to the cabinet in the play room, and then began to take out their treasures from their baskets, and pockets, and handkerchiefs, and to spread them out upon the floor, and upon the bench. In a short time, the floor was covered with specimens of plants and minerals, with shells, and pebbles, and little papers of sand, and nuts, and birds' nests which they had found deserted, and all sorts of wonders. The room was filled with the sound of their voices; questions, calls to one another, expressions of delight, exclamations of surprise, or of disappointment or pleasure. It was all,--"James, you are treading on my flowers!" "O Lucy, Lucy, see my toadstool!" "O, now my prettiest shell is broken!" "Move away a little, Rollo--I have not got room for all my pebbles"--"Where's my silk worm? now where's my silk worm?" "O Henry, give me some of your birch bark, do,"--and a hundred other similar ejaculations, all uttered together.

They soon began, one and another, to put their curiosities into the cabinet,--and then it was, as the old phrase is, confusion worse confounded. Lucy had some discretion and forbearance, and kept a little back, looking, however, uneasy and distressed, and attempting in vain to get an opportunity to put some of her things in. The boys crowded around the cabinet, each attempting to put his own curiosities into the most conspicuous places, and arranging them over and over again, according as each one's whims or fancies varied.

"O dear me," said Rollo, "I wish you would not keep moving these pebbles away, Henry."

"Why, you put them too far this way," said Henry; "I want my shells to go here."

"No," replied Rollo, "put your shells down on the next shelf. James! James! take care; don't touch that birds' nest."

"Yes, I want room for my silver stone," said James. He had found a shining stone, which he called a silver stone. And thus they disputed, and talked loudly and vociferously, and contradicted, interrupted, pushed, and crowded each other. Still, they were all good-natured; that is, they were not angry; the difficulty only arose from their eagerness and their numbers,--and their disorganization.

"O dear me," said Rollo, at length, "I wish we had a regent again; we got along very well, while Lucy was a regent. Let me be regent now. Come, Henry and James, let me be regent, and I will direct, and then we shall have order again."

"Well," said James.

"No," said Henry, "you have not been elected. You can't be regent, unless you are chosen regularly."

Lucy said nothing, but stood behind the others in despair.

"Well, then, let Lucy be regent; she was chosen."

"But I was only chosen regent for the walk," said Lucy.

"O never mind," said Rollo, "let her be regent now."

But Henry was not disposed to submit to any doubtful authority. He kept at work putting things in, in the way that pleased him most, without any regard to Rollo's proposal for prolonging Lucy's authority. As Henry did not acquiesce in this proposed measure, Rollo and James seemed to think it was useless for them to do so, and so they went much as they had begun, until they had pretty well filled up Jonas's cabinet with a perfect medley of specimens, the worthy and the worthless all together. They were at length interrupted by the sound of the bell, calling Rollo in to tea; Henry then went home, and James, Lucy, and Rollo went into the house.

ORGANIZATION.

James and Lucy staid and took tea with Rollo that evening; and, during tea time, Rollo's father and mother were talking, and the boys were all still. At last, just before they had finished their supper, Rollo's father asked them how they had got along collecting curiosities.

"O, we had a very good time," said Rollo, "till we came to put our curiosities away; and then we should have had a good time if the boys had not pushed so, and made such a noise."

"What made them do so?" asked his mother.

"I don't know, unless it was because we did not have any regent."

"Any what?" said his father.

"Any regent," said Rollo. "We had Lucy for a regent while we were walking, and then we got along very well; but she would not be regent any longer, when we got home."

Rollo's father and mother scarcely knew what to make of this; for they had never heard before of a regent in children's plays. But as they looked towards Mary, and observed that she was smiling, they at once understood that it was one of her plans. Rollo's father said he thought it was an excellent idea.

"But why did not you have a regent when you were putting your things away, just as you had before?" he asked.

"Why, Lucy said she was only chosen for the walk."

"And so she would not serve any longer?"

"No, sir."

"That was right, Lucy. Never attempt to command without a commission.

"But, Rollo," added his father, "I should think it would be best for you to have some sort of organization, if you are going to attempt to do any thing in company. Men never think that they can accomplish any thing in company, without organization; and I should certainly think that children would not be able to."

"Organization?" said Rollo; "what is that?"

"Why, some plan for investing some persons with authority. There must always be authority to decide little questions without debate, and for getting the opinions of all, on great questions, regularly.

"If a number of men," he continued, "were going to form a cabinet of curiosities, they would form a _society_. They would choose one to be president, and one to be secretary, and one to be cabinet keeper."

"What does the president do?" asked Lucy.

"The president decides who shall speak, when several want to speak at the same time; and so he prevents all confusion. Nobody must speak without his leave."

"Do they have to ask him?" said Rollo.

"Yes, in fact, they ask him, though not formally in words. They ask him by rising. In large meetings among men, whoever wants to speak, stands up, and then the president calls their name, and that is giving him permission to speak. If more than one stand up at a time, then he calls the name of one of them, and _he_ has leave to speak, and the other must sit down."

"Which one does he call?" asked Rollo.

"The one whom he happens to notice first. He must be careful not to call his friends more than he does other persons. He must be impartial. Then, besides, the president _puts the question_."

"Puts the question?" asked Rollo; "what is putting the question?"

"Why, after all has been said about the plan that they want to say, the president asks all that are in favor of it, to hold up their hands; and he counts them. Then he asks all that are against it to hold up their hands. He counts these too. And it is decided according to the number of votes."

"Is that the way they do?" said Rollo.

"Yes," replied his father, "that is the way that men do; but boys all talk together, and dispute. If some want to play ball, and some want to play horses, they all talk together, and dispute; it is all,--'I say we will,' and 'I say we won't,'--and those that make the most noise get the victory."

"The men's way is the best," said Rollo.

"I think so myself," replied his father.

"And what does the secretary do?" asked Mary.

"The secretary keeps the record. He writes an account of every meeting."

"Does he write all that every body says?" asked Rollo.

"No," said his father, "only the decisions."

"Well," said Rollo, with a tone of satisfaction, "and the cabinet keeper keeps the cabinet, I suppose."

"Yes," said his father, "and so all disputings about where the things are to be placed in the cabinet, are avoided; for he decides the whole. He must be a person of judgment and skill."

"Jonas would be a good cabinet keeper for us," said Rollo.

"I think you had better form a regular society, Rollo," said Mary.

"Well," said Rollo, "will you belong to it?"

"Yes," said Mary.

"And we can choose our officers by lilac ballots," said James.

"We'll have the first meeting to-morrow afternoon," said Rollo. "I will go in the morning, and ask Henry to come,--if mother will let me."

* * * * *

His mother did let him, and the next afternoon the children all collected in the yard, intending to form their society, and proceed regularly. Mary promised to meet with them, and help them make their arrangements. They were to meet in the play room.

Before the time of the meeting, Mary went in, and, with Rollo's help, made some seats of boards, not far from the cabinet, so that all the members of the society might sit down. The children played about in the yard, some gathering lilac leaves for ballots, and some talking about the curiosities they meant to collect, until, at length, Mary came down and told them it was time to go and have their meeting. She had a great many little papers in one hand, and some pencils in the other. James asked her what she was going to do with those papers. She said they were for ballots.

"O, we have been getting lilac leaves for ballots," said Lucy.

"Papers are better," said Mary, "when there is a good deal of balloting to be done."

Then the children threw down the lilac leaves they had gathered, and followed Mary into the play room. They all came around the cabinet, and began to open it and talk about the curiosities. But Mary told them that, if they were going to have a society, they must not touch the cabinet until they had appointed a cabinet keeper--they ought all to go and sit down.

So they went and sat down.

"And now you must not talk at all, until the president is chosen," said Mary. "You must all write upon these papers the name of the person you think best for president, and then bring them to me. You see," she continued, as she distributed the papers around, to the other children, "that I am acting as president just now, until we get one chosen. That is the way men do. I asked father about it. He said that the oldest person, or one of the oldest, generally took charge of the proceedings, until a chairman was chosen."

"A chairman?" said Rollo.

"Yes, or president; sometimes they call him a chairman."

So the children took their papers, and began to prepare for writing their ballots.

"What shall we put our papers on, cousin Mary, to write?" said Lucy.

"O, you must write on the seat by the side of you,--or on this book; here is a book for one."

"I can write on my cap," said James; and he placed his cap upon his knees, and began to use that for a desk. One of the children took the book, and others leaned over to one side, and put their papers upon the seat, and prepared to write there. Some began to write very soon. Others looked around mysteriously, considering which one of the company would make the best president. Henry stood up by the great work bench, and made that his writing-desk; keeping a sharp look-out all the time lest Rollo should see what he should write. And thus the children prepared their votes for president.

When the votes were all ready, the children brought them all together to Mary, who put them on the corner of the great bench near which she was standing; and the children all came up around them, to see who was chosen.

But Mary gently put her hand over the votes, and told them that that was not the way to count votes. "You must all go and sit down again," she said, "and appoint some one to count them; and then he or she must come alone, and look them over and tell you who is chosen."

"Well," said the children; and so they went back to their seats.

"I propose that Henry count them," said Mary.

"Well," said the children.

"No, let James," said Rollo.

"That is not right, Rollo," said Mary, "because it is of very little consequence who counts the votes, and in societies the best way is to let things that are of little consequence go according to the first proposal. That saves time."

So Henry came up, and began to look over the votes.

"They are all for Mary but one, and that is for Lucy," said Henry.

"Then cousin Mary is president," said James, clapping his hands.

"Yes," said Mary, "it seems you have chosen me president; and I will be president for a time, until I think that some of the rest of you have learned how to preside, and then I shall resign, and leave you to manage your society yourselves. Now you must write the votes for secretary." So Mary took her seat in the chair which she had provided for the president, and which, until this time, had been empty.

So the children began to write votes again, and as fast as they had written them they brought them to Mary, and dropped them in her lap. As soon as each one had put in his vote, he went back and took his seat. When the votes were all in, Mary looked them over, and said,

"There are two votes for Lucy, and one for Rollo, and one for Henry."

"Then Lucy is chosen secretary," said James.

"No," said Mary, "because she has only half. The person that is chosen must have more than half of all the votes. Lucy has two, and there are two scattering."

"Scattering!" said Rollo, looking somewhat puzzled.

"Yes; that is, for other persons."

"What shall we do, then?" said Rollo.

"Why, you must vote again."

So the children wrote votes again, and brought them in to the president. She smiled as she looked them over. Then she said,

"Now there is a tie."

"A tie, Mary!" said Rollo; "what is a tie?"

"Why, there are two votes for Rollo, and two for Lucy; that makes it exactly balanced, and they call that a _tie_."

"And now what shall we do with the tie?" said Rollo.

"Why, you must vote again."

Just as the children were preparing to vote again, they heard a noise of footsteps at the door, and, looking up, they saw Nathan coming in. He had his little straw hat upon his head, and his whip in his hand. He was playing market-man, and wanted to know if they wished to buy any potatoes.

The children all laughed. Mary said, "No, Thanny, this is a society; come, don't you want to belong to the society?"

"Yes," said Nathan; and down went his whip upon the floor, and he came trotting along towards Mary. Mary told him to sit down upon the seat next to Rollo.

Nathan took his seat, and began to look around with an air of great curiosity, wondering what they were going to do; and by this time the votes were ready. Mary looked them over and counted them, and then said that they were just as they were before, two for Rollo, and two for Lucy.

"What shall we do now?" said Rollo.

"We must vote again," said James.

"That won't do any good," said Henry.

"There's Thanny," said Lucy; "let him vote."

"Well," said Mary, "and that will break the tie."

"O, Thanny can't vote," said Rollo; "he can't write a word."

"He can vote without writing," said Mary. "Thanny, come here. Which do you think will make the best secretary, Rollo, or Lucy?"

"Why--Lucy," said Thanny, after some hesitation.

"Lucy, he says; so Lucy is chosen," said Mary. "Now, Lucy, you must be secretary; but I forgot to bring out some paper."

Rollo looked a little disappointed. He had hoped to have been secretary himself. So when Nathan came back to his seat, he began to punch him a little, good-naturedly, with his thumb, saying, "_Me_--why didn't you say _me_, Thanny? Hey, Thanny! Why did not you say _me_?"

Just then, Mary asked Rollo to go into the house and get a sheet of paper for the secretary; and when he came back, Lucy asked her what she should write. Mary gave her the necessary directions, and then Lucy went to the bench, and standing there, near the president's chair, she went on writing the record, while the rest of the society proceeded with their business. The next thing was to choose a cabinet keeper.

"You may prepare your votes for cabinet keeper."

"I think Jonas would be the best cabinet keeper," said Henry; "he made the cabinet."

"O, Jonas does not belong to the society," said Rollo.

"But we can let him in," said Lucy.

"No, he can't belong to the society," said Rollo; "he has too much work to do."

The fact was, that Rollo wanted to be cabinet keeper himself, and so he was opposed to any arrangement which would be likely to result in the election of Jonas. But Mary said that it was not necessary that any one should be a member of the society, in order to be chosen cabinet keeper. She said he might be chosen, if the children thought best, even if he was not a member. "But then," said she, "you must consider all the circumstances, and vote for the one who, you honestly think, will take the best care of the curiosities, and arrange them best."

The children then wrote their ballots, and brought them to Mary. Mary asked Lucy to count them. Lucy said she had not written her vote herself yet.

"Well, write it quick then," said Mary.

"But I can't think," said Lucy, "whether I had better vote for Jonas or Rollo."

"Well," said Mary, "you have only to consider whether it will be best for the museum to be in Jonas's hands, or in Rollo's."

"But I have been thinking," said Lucy, "that it is all Rollo's plan, and his museum; and that _he_ ought to be cabinet keeper, if he wants to be."

"There is something in that," said Mary; "though generally, in choosing officers, we ought to act for the good of the society, not for the good of the officers."

"But it is _my_ cabinet," said Rollo; "Jonas made it for me."

"That may be," said Mary; "that is, it may have been yours at the beginning; but when you invite us all to come and form a society, you give up your claim to it, and it comes to belong to the society; at any rate, the right to manage it belongs to the society, and we must do what will be best for the whole."

Rollo did not look very much pleased at these remarks of his sister's; but Lucy immediately wrote her vote, and put it with the others. She then examined and counted them, and immediately afterwards, she said there were three votes for Jonas, and one for Rollo. So Jonas was chosen. The children did not know who wrote the vote which was given for Rollo; but the fact was, he wrote it himself. He wanted to be cabinet keeper very much indeed.

CAUGHT,--AND GONE AGAIN.

Rollo was sadly disappointed at not being chosen cabinet keeper. Older and wiser persons than he have often been greatly vexed from similar causes. When the society meeting was ended, Mary told Lucy that she must tell Jonas that they had chosen him cabinet keeper, for she was secretary, and it was the secretary's duty to do that. Mary then went into the house. The children gathered around the cabinet, and began to look at the things which had been put in the day before. Rollo undertook to arrange one of the shelves differently from what it had been; but Henry told him he must not touch the things, for Jonas was cabinet keeper, and nobody but the cabinet keeper had any right to touch the things.

"O, I am only going to change them a little," said Rollo.

"But you have no right to touch them at all," said Henry, pushing Rollo back a little.

"Yes, I have," said Rollo, standing stiffly, and resisting Henry's push. "It's _my_ cabinet, and I have a right to do what I please with it."

"No, it is not your cabinet," said Henry; "it belongs to the society."

"No, it doesn't," said Rollo.

"It does," said Henry.

Rollo was wrong--and, in fact, Henry was wrong. In disputes, it almost always happens that both boys are wrong. Lucy stood by, looking distressed. She was very sorry to have any disputing about the cabinet.

"O, never mind, Henry," said she; "let him move them. Jonas will put them all right afterwards."

"No," said Rollo, "I am going to keep the cabinet myself."

This was not at all like Rollo, to be so unreasonable and angry. But Henry's roughness had irritated and vexed him, and that, in connection with his own determination to keep the charge of his cabinet, had got him into a very wrong state of mind.

Lucy did not know what to do. She walked slowly along to the door, and after standing there a moment, while Rollo was at work upon the cabinet, she said,

"O, here comes Jonas, now."

James and Henry ran to the door, and, as they saw Jonas walking up the lane, they ran towards him, followed by Lucy, and they all began eagerly to tell him about the society, and about his having been chosen cabinet keeper. Lucy came up to them before they had finished their account; and as they had all turned round when they met Jonas, they came walking along together towards the house. James and Henry talked very fast and eagerly. They told Jonas about the society, and about their having chosen Mary president, and Lucy secretary, and him cabinet keeper. When they had finished their account, Lucy added, in a desponding tone,

"Only Rollo says _he_ means to be cabinet keeper."

"Does he?" said Jonas.

"Yes," replied Henry. "He says you made the cabinet for him, and he _will_ have it."

"O, well," said Jonas, "let him be cabinet keeper; he will make a very good cabinet keeper."

"No," said James, "we want you to be cabinet keeper. We chose you."

They saw Rollo at the door of the barn, looking at them, but not very good-naturedly. When they came up, Lucy said,

"Come, Rollo, let Jonas be cabinet keeper; that's a good boy."

"No," said Rollo, "it's _my_ cabinet, and I mean to keep it myself."

"Then we won't help you get the curiosities," said Henry.

"I don't care," said Rollo.

"And we won't have any society," added James,--thinking that that threat would compel Rollo to give up.

But Rollo only said,

"I don't care; I don't want any society. I can make a museum myself."

There is no doubt, but that many of the readers of this book will wonder that Rollo should have acted in this manner. And yet they themselves act in just such a way when they allow themselves to get out of temper. It is very dangerous to allow ourselves to become vexed and angry. We then do and say the most unreasonable things, without being aware, ourselves, of their unreasonableness and folly. Rollo himself did not know how his conduct appeared to the other children, and how it sunk him in their good opinion.

Rollo would have had a miserable time in attempting to make a collection of curiosities alone. He would very soon have got tired of it, and have abandoned the plan altogether. It happened, however, that some circumstances occurred to prevent the consequences that his ill humor and obstinacy came so near occasioning.

Henry and James, finding that Rollo would not give up the cabinet to Jonas's care, considered the plan of the society abandoned, and went to play in the yard. Lucy went into the house to find her cousin Mary. Rollo remained at the cabinet for some time, but he found it very dull amusement to work there alone; besides, he heard the other boys' voices out in the yard, and before long he began to feel a strong desire to go and see what they were doing. He accordingly went to the door of the barn. He saw that Henry and James had got a log of wood out, and had placed a board across it, for a see-saw. Rollo slowly walked along towards them.

Henry saw him gradually approaching, and so he whispered, or rather spoke in a low tone to James, saying,

"Here comes Rollo, James; don't let's let him get on our see-saw."

But James felt in more of a forgiving mood than Henry. He did not like quarrelling, and he knew very well that peace-makers must be prepared to yield and forbear, even if they had not been themselves in the wrong. So he said,

"O, yes, Henry, let him have a ride. He may get on my end.

"Rollo," he added, calling to Rollo, as he came up, "do you want to see-saw? You may have my end."

Rollo did not quite expect this gentle treatment, and it made him feel a little ashamed. He, however, took James's place, but he did not feel quite easy there. He knew it was a place that he did not deserve. Pretty soon he proposed that they should all go after raspberries down the lane.

"Well," said Henry, "and I'll go and get my dipper."

"Your dipper?" said Rollo.

"Yes," said Henry, "I brought a dipper."

Henry then went to a wood pile which was lying in the yard, and, looking behind it, among the logs, he drew out a small tin dipper, and showed it to Rollo.

"O, I wish I had a dipper to carry!" said Rollo. "It is better than a basket."