Jonas on a Farm in Winter

by Jacob Abbott

  CHAPTER II.

  COMMANDING AND OBEYING

  About an hour after breakfast, Jonas with the oxen, and Oliver and Joseywith the horse, were slowly moving along up the road which led back fromthe pond towards the wood lot. The wood lot was a portion of the forest,which had been reserved, to furnish a supply of wood for the winterfires. The road followed for some distance the bank of the brook, whichemptied into the pond at the place where Jonas and Oliver had clearedland, when Jonas first came to live on this farm.

  It was a very pleasant road. The brook was visible here and therethrough the bushes and trees on one side of it. These bushes and treeswere of course bare of leaves, excepting the evergreens, and they wereloaded down with the snow. Some were bent over so that the tops nearlytouched the ground.

  The brook itself, too, was almost buried and concealed in the snow. Inthe still places, it had frozen over; and so the snow had been supportedby the ice, and thus it concealed both ice and water. At the littlecascades and waterfalls, however, which occurred here and there, thewater had not frozen. Water does not freeze easily where it runs withgreat velocity. At these places, therefore, the boys could see thewater, and hear it bubbling and gurgling as it fell, and disappearedunder the ice which had formed below.

  At last, they came to the wood lot. The wood which they were going tohaul had been cut before, and it had been piled up in long piles,extending here and there under the trees which had been left. Thesepiles were now, however, partly covered with the snow, which lay lightand unsullied all over the surface of the ground.

  The sticks of wood in these piles were of different sizes, though theywere all of the same length. Some had been cut from the tops of thetrees, or from the branches, and were, consequently, small in diameter;others were from the trunks, which would, of course, make large logs.These logs had, however, been split into quarters by a beetle andwedges, when the wood had been prepared, so that there were very fewsticks or logs so large, but that Jonas could pretty easily get them onto the sled.

  Jonas drove his team up near to one end of the pile, while Josey andOliver went to the other, where the wood was generally small. WhileJonas was loading, he heard a conversation something like this betweenthe other boys:--

  "Let's put some good large logs on our sled," said Josey.

  "Well," said Oliver, "as large as we can; only we'd better put thissmall wood on first."

  "I wish you'd go around to the other side, Oliver," said Josey again;"you're in my way."

  "No," said Oliver, "I can't work on that side very well."

  "Then I mean to move the old General round a little."

  "No," said Oliver, "the sled stands just right now; only you get up onthe top of the pile, and I'll stay here." "No," said Josey, "I'd ratherstand here myself."

  So the boys continued at work a few minutes longer, each being in theother's way.

  At length, Josey said again,--

  "O, here is a large log, and I mean to get it out, and put it upon oursled."

  The log was covered with smaller wood, so that Josey could only get holdof the end of it. He clasped his hands together under this end, andbegan to lift it up, endeavoring to get it free from the other wood. Hesucceeded in raising it a little, but it soon got wedged in again, worsethan before.

  "Come, Oliver," said Josey, "help me get out this log. It is rockmaple."

  "No," said Oliver, "I'm busy."

  "Jonas," said Josey, calling out aloud, "Jonas, here's a stick of wood,which I can't get out. I wish you'd come and help me."

  In answer to this request, Jonas only called both the boys to come tohim.

  They accordingly left the old General standing in the snow, with hissled partly loaded, and came to the end of the pile, where Jonas was atwork.

  "I see you don't get along very well," said Jonas.

  "Why, you see," said Josey, "that Oliver wouldn't help me put on a greatlog."

  "The difficulty is," said Jonas, "that you both want to be master.Whereas, when two people are working together, one must be master, andthe other servant."

  "_I_ don't want to be servant," said Josey.

  "It's better to be servant on some accounts," said Jonas; "then you haveno responsibility."

  "Responsibility?" repeated Josey.

  "Yes," said Jonas. "Power and responsibility always go together;--or atleast they ought to. But come, boys, be helping me load, while we aresettling this difficulty, so as not to lose our time."

  So the boys began to put wood upon Jonas's sled, while the conversationcontinued as follows:--

  "Can't two persons work together, unless one is master, and the otherservant?" asked Josey.

  "At least," replied Jonas, "one must take the lead, and the otherfollow, in order to work to advantage. There must be subordination. Foryou see that, in all sorts of work, there are a great many littlequestions coming up, which are of no great consequence, only they oughtto be decided, one way or the other, quick, or else the work won't goon. You act, in your work, like Jack and Jerry, when they ran againstthe horse-block."

  "Why, how was that?" said Josey.

  "They were drawing the wagon along to harness the horse in, and thehorse-block was in the way; so they both got hold of the shafts, andJack wanted to pull it around towards the right, while Jerry said itwould be better to have it go to the left. So they pulled, one one way,and the other the other, and thus they got it up chock against thehorse-block, one shaft on each side. Here they stood pulling inopposition for some time, and all the while their father was waiting forthem to turn the wagon, and harness the horse."

  "What did he say to them," said Oliver, "when he found it out?"

  "He made Jack bring it round Jerry's way, and then made Jerry draw itback again, and bring it along Jack's way.

  "When men are at work," continued Jonas, "one acts as director, and therest follows on, as he guides. Then all the unimportant questions aredecided promptly."

  "Well," said Josey, "let us do so, Oliver. I'll be director."

  "How do they decide who shall be director?" said Oliver.

  "The oldest and most experienced directs, generally; or, if one is theemployer, and the others are employed by him, then the employer directsthe others. If a man wants a stone bridge built, and hires three men todo it, there is always an understanding, at the beginning, who shallhave the direction of the work, and all the others obey.

  "So," continued Jonas, "if a carpenter were to send two of his men intothe woods to cut down a tree for timber, without saying which of themshould have the direction,--then the oldest or most experienced, or theone who had been the longest in the carpenter's employ, would take thedirection. He would say, 'Let us go out this way,' and the other wouldassent; or, 'I think we had better take this tree,' and the other wouldsay, perhaps, 'Here's one over here which looks rather straighter; won'tyou come and look at this?' But they would not dispute about it. Onewould leave it to the other to decide."

  "Suppose," said Josey, "one was just as old and experienced as theother."

  "Why, if there was no reason, whatever, why one should take the lead,rather than the other, then they would not either of them be tenaciousof their opinion. If one proposed to do a thing, the other would complywithout making any objection, unless he had a very decided objectionindeed. So they would get along peaceably.

  "Now," continued Jonas, "boys are very apt to have different opinions,and to be very tenacious of them, and so get into disputes anddifficulties when they are working together. Therefore, when boys areset to work, it is generally best to appoint one to take charge; forthey haven't, generally, good sense enough to find out, themselves,which it is most proper should be in charge.

  "For instance, now," continued Jonas, "which of you, do you think, onthe whole, is the proper one to take the direction of the work, when youare set to work together?"

  "I," said Josey, with great promptness.

  Oliver did not answer at all.

  "There's one reason why you ought _not
_ to be the one," said Jonas.

  "What is it?" said Josey.

  "Why, you don't obey very well. No person is well qualified to command,until he has learned to obey."

  "I obey," said Josey, "I'm sure."

  "Not always," said Jonas. "This morning, when you were upon the haymow,and I told you both to go down, Oliver went down immediately; but youremained up, and made excuses instead of obeying."

  Josey was silent. He perceived that Jonas's charge against him was just.

  "Besides," continued Jonas, "there are some other reasons why Olivershould command, rather than you. First he understands more of farmer'swork, being more accustomed to it; secondly, he is older."

  "No," interrupted Josey, "he isn't older. I'm the oldest."

  "Are you?" said Jonas.

  "Yes," replied Josey. "I'm two months older than he is."

  Oliver had so much more prudence and discretion, and being, besides, alittle larger than Josey, made Jonas think that he was older.

  "Well," said Jonas, "at any rate, he has more judgement and experience,and he certainly obeys better. So you may go back to your work, and letOliver take the command, and then, after a little while, if Oliver saysthat you have obeyed him well, I'll try the experiment of letting you,Josey, command."

  The boys accordingly went back, and finished loading up the old General.Oliver took the direction, and Josey obeyed very well. Now and then hewould forget for a moment, and begin to argue; but Josey would submitpretty readily, for he was very desirous that Jonas would let himcommand next time; and he thought that he would not allow him to commanduntil he had learned to obey.

  They had the two sleds loaded nearly at the same time, and then wentdown. When they were going back after the second load, they all got onto Jonas's sled, which was forward, to ride, leaving the old General tofollow with his sled. He was so well trained that he walked along verysteadily. Oliver fastened the reins to one of the stakes, so that theyshould not get down under the horse's feet. The boys all got togetherupon the forward sled, in order that they might talk with one another asthey were going back to the woods.

  "Now, Josey," said Jonas, "we will let you have the command for the nexttrip, and, while we are going back, I will give you both someinstructions."

  "About obeying?" said Josey.

  "Yes, and about commanding too," said Jonas. "It requires rather moreskill to know how to command, than how to obey; to know how to directwork, than to know how to execute it. A good director, in the firstplace, takes care to plan wisely, and he feels a responsibility aboutthe work, and a desire to have it go on to good advantage. If some menbuild a way, and, after it is finished, it tumbles down, the man who hadcharge of the work would feel more concerned about it than any of theothers, because the chief responsibility comes upon him. So with yourwork,--if you have the command, and you and Oliver idle away the time,and when my sled is loaded, yours has but little wood in it, you wouldbe more to blame than Oliver."

  "What, if I didn't play any more than Oliver?"

  "Yes," said Jonas, "because you are responsible. It is your duty to beindustrious, and it is also your duty to see that Oliver is industrious,if you are the director,--so that you neglect two duties.

  "It is a good plan, too," said Jonas, "for a director to give hisdirections in a mild and gentle tone. Some boys are very domineering andauthoritative in their manner."

  "How do you mean?" said Josey.

  "Why, they would say, for example, 'Get out of the way, John, quick.'Whereas, it would be better to say, 'John, you are in the way, where wewant to come along.' Some men give their directions with great noise andvociferation, and others give them quietly and gently."

  "I shouldn't think they'd mind 'em," said Josey.

  "Yes," said Jonas. "Directions ought to be given very distinctly, soas to be plainly understood; but they are not obeyed any better forviolence and noise in giving them.

  "A commander ought to have a regard for those under him," continuedJonas, "and deal justly by them. If a number of boys were going to ridea wagon, and their father put one of them in charge, he ought not tokeep the best seat in the wagon for himself."

  While talking thus, the oxen continued slowly advancing along the road.Their previous trip had broken out the road, but the pathway was filledwith loose snow of a pure and spotless white, through which the greatsled runners, following the oxen, ploughed their way. On each side ofthe track which they had made, the surface was smooth and unbroken,excepting under some of the trees, where masses of snow had fallen downfrom above. They saw, at length, as they were passing along by thebrook, a little track, like a double dotting, running along, in awinding way, under the trees,--then crossing the road, and disappearingunder the trees upon the other side.

  "What's that?" asked Josey.

  "That's a rabbit track," replied Oliver.

  "Let's go and catch him," said Josey.

  "No," said Jonas, "we must go on with our work."

  At a little distance farther on, they saw another track. It was largerthan the first, and not so regular.

  "What sort of a track is that?" said Josey.

  "I don't know," said Oliver; "it looks like a dog's track; but Ishouldn't think there would be a dog out here in the woods."

  They found that this track followed the road along for some distance.The animal which made it, seemed sometimes to have gone in the middleof the road, and sometimes out at the side; and Jonas said that he hadpassed there since they went down with the first load of wood.

  "How do you know?" said Oliver.

  "Because," said Jonas, "his track is made upon the broken snow, in themiddle of the road."

  They watched the track for some time, and then they lost sight of it.Presently, however, they saw it again.

  "I wonder which way he went," said Oliver.

  "I'll jump off, and look at the track," said Jonas.

  So saying, he jumped off the sled, and examined the track.

  "He went up," said Jonas, "the same way that we are going. It may be adog which has lost his master. Perhaps we shall find him up by our woodpiles."

  Jonas was right, for, when the boys arrived at the wood piles, theyfound there, waiting for them, a large black dog. He stood near one endof a wood pile, with his fore feet upon a log, by which his head andshoulders were raised, so that he could see better who was coming. Hewas of handsome form, and he had an intelligent and good-naturedexpression of countenance. He was looking very intently at the partycoming up, to see whether his master was among them.

  "Whose dog is that?" said Josey.

  "I don't know," said Oliver; "I never saw him before."

  "I wonder what his name is," said Josey. "Here! Towzer, Towzer, Towzer,"said he.

  "Here! Caesar, Caesar, Caesar," said Oliver.

  "Pompey, Pompey, Pompey," said Jonas.

  "He was looking very intently at the party coming up, tosee whether his master was among them."]

  The dog remained motionless in his position, until, just as the boys hadfinished their calls, and as the foremost sled was drawn pretty nearhim, he suddenly wheeled around with a leap, and bounded away throughthe snow, for half the length of the first wood pile, and then stopped,and again looked round.

  "I wish we had something for him to eat," said Jonas.

  "I've got a piece of bread and butter," said Josey. "I went in and gotit when you and Oliver were unloading."

  So Josey took his bread and butter out of his pocket. There were twosmall slices put together, and folded up in a piece of paper. Jonas tooka piece, and walked slowly towards the dog.

  "Here! Franco, Franco," said Jonas.

  "He's coming," said Josey, who remained with Oliver at the sled.

  The dog was slowly and timidly approaching the bread which Jonas heldout towards him.

  "He's coming," said Josey. "His name is Franco. I wonder how Jonasknew."

  "Franco, Franco," said Jonas again. "Come here, Franco. Good Franco!"

  The dog came timi
dly up to Jonas, and took the bread and butter fromJosey's hand, and devoured it eagerly. While he was doing it, Jonaspatted him on the head.

  "He's very hungry," said Jonas; "bring the rest of your bread andbutter, Josey."

  So Josey brought the rest of his luncheon, and the dog ate it all.

  After this, he seemed to be quite at ease with his new friends. He staidabout there with the boys until the sleds were loaded, and then he wentdown home with them. There they fed him again with a large bone. Jonassaid that he was undoubtedly a dog that had lost his master, and hadbeen wandering about to find him, until he became very hungry. So hesaid they would leave him in the yard to gnaw his bone, and that thenhe would probably go away. Josey wanted to shut him up and keep him, butJonas said it would be wrong.

  So the boys left the dog gnawing his bone, and went up after anotherload; but before they had half loaded their sleds, Oliver saw Francocoming, bounding up the road, towards them. He came up to Jonas, andstood before him, looking up into his face and wagging his tail.