Part 4

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.

[Illustration]

"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.