This was about the middle of the forenoon; and Rollo, taking a piece of
bread for a luncheon, and a little tin dipper, to get some water with,
to drink, out of the brook, walked along towards the great gate which
led to the lane behind his father's house. It was a pleasant, green
lane, and there were rows of raspberry-bushes on each side of it, along
by the fences. Some years before, there had been no raspberries near the
house; but one autumn, when Jonas had a good deal of ploughing to do
down the lane, he ploughed up the ground by the fences in this lane,
making one furrow every time he went up and down to his other work.
Then in the spring he ploughed it again, and by this time the turf had
rotted, and so the land had become mellow. Then Jonas went away with the
wagon, one afternoon, about two miles, to a place where the raspberries
were very abundant, and dug up a large number of them, and set them out
along this lane, on both sides of it; and so, in a year or two, there
was a great abundance of raspberries very near the house.
Rollo stopped to eat some raspberries as he walked along. He thought
they would do exceedingly well with his bread, to give a little variety
to his luncheon. After he had eaten as many as he wanted, he thought he
would gather his dipper full for Jonas, as he was busy at work, and
could not have time to gather any for himself.
He got his dipper full very quick, for the raspberries were thick and
large. He thought it was an excellent plan for Jonas to plant the
raspberry-bushes there; but then he thought it was a great deal of
trouble to bring them all from so great a distance.
"I wonder," said he to himself, as he sat upon a log, thinking of the
subject, "why it would not have been just as well to plant raspberries
themselves, instead of setting out the bushes. The raspberries must be
the seeds. I mean to take some of these big ones, and try. I dare say
they'll grow."
But then he reflected that the spring was planting time, and he knew
very well that raspberries would not keep till spring; and so he
determined to ask Jonas about it. He accordingly rose up from the log,
and walked along, carrying his dipper, very carefully, in his hand.
At length, he reached the brook. There was a rude bridge over it made of
two logs, placed side by side, and short boards nailed across them for a
foot-way. It was only wide enough for persons to walk across. The cattle
and teams always went across through the water, at a shallow place, just
below the bridge.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account