"Now to find the sheep and goats," said Ready, "and then my morning's
walk is over. Now, Romulus, now, Remus, boys, find them out," continued
he; and the dogs, who appeared to know what he was in search of, went
away in pursuit, and soon found the sheep and two of the goats, but the
third goat was not with them.
"Why, where can Black Nanny be?" muttered Ready, stopping a little
while; at last he heard a bleat, in a small copse of brush wood, to
which he directed his steps, followed by the dogs. "I thought as much,"
said he, as be perceived Nanny lying down in the copse with two
new-born kids at her side. "Come, my little fellows, we must find some
shelter for you," said he, taking one up under each arm. "Come, Nanny."
Ready walked back to the house, and brought in the kids, followed by
Nanny. He found Mr. and Mrs. Seagrave and the children all dressed.
Caroline and Tommy gave a scream of delight when they saw the little
kids, and even little Albert clapped his hands. As soon as Ready put
them down on the ground, Tommy and Caroline had each their arms round
one.
"I've brought an addition to our family, Mrs. Seagrave," said Ready:
"we must allow them to remain in the house until I can knock up a
little shelter for them. This is only a beginning; I expect we shall
soon have more."
As soon as the children could be persuaded to part with the kids, Nanny
was tied up in a corner, and was very content with fondling and nursing
her progeny. Juno and William brought in the breakfast, and as soon as
it was over, Mr. Seagrave said, "Now, Ready, I think we must hold a
council, and make arrangements as to our allotted duties and
employments during the rainy season. We have a great deal to do, and
must not be idle."
"Yes, sir, we have a great deal to do, and, to get through our work, we
must have order and method in our doings. I've lived long enough to
know how much can be done by regularity and discipline. Why, sir, there
is more work got out of men in a well-conducted man-of-war than there
can in the merchant service in double the time. And why so? Because
everything is in its place, and there is a place for everything."
"I agree with you," said Mrs. Seagrave; "method is everything. While
one careless little girl is looking for her thimble, another will have
finished her work."
"I assure you I never should have known what can be done by order and
arrangement, if I had not been pressed on board of a man-of-war. I
found that everything was done in silence. Every man was to his post;
everyone had a rope to haul upon, or a rope to let go; the boatswain
piped, and in a few seconds every sail was set or taken in as was
required. It seemed to me at first like magic. And you observe, Mr.
Seagrave, that when there is order and discipline, every man becomes of
individual importance. If I learnt nothing else on board of a
man-of-war, I learnt to make the most of time, and the most of the
strength which you could command."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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