They went on down the lane. The berries were very thick. The boys ate a
great many, and they filled their baskets, and the dipper besides. When
they reached the bottom of the lane, Rollo proposed that they should go
on, through the woods, to the brook. They liked the plan. They
accordingly hid their baskets under the fence, heaping full of
raspberries. Rollo said that he should take his dipper with him, so as
to get a drink at the brook.
"But you can't use it to get a drink," said Henry; "it is full of
raspberries."
Rollo had not thought of this difficulty. He walked slowly along, with
the other boys, a few minutes, looking somewhat foolish; but in a moment
he said he meant to eat his raspberries up, and then his dipper would be
empty when he should get to the brook.
So he began to eat them. The other boys wanted some of them, and he gave
them some, on condition that they should help him fill up his dipper
again, when they returned up the lane on their way home. They assented
to this condition, and so the boys walked along, eating the raspberries
together, in great harmony.
They rambled about in the woods, for some time, meeting with various
adventures, until they reached the brook. Neither of the boys were
thirsty, not even Rollo; but still he took a drink from the brook, for
the sake of using the dipper. He then amused himself, for some time, in
trying to scoop up skippers and roundabouts, but without much success.
The skippers and roundabouts have both been mentioned before. The latter
were a sort of bugs, which had a remarkable power of whirling round and
round with the greatest rapidity, upon the surface of the water. While
Rollo was endeavoring to entrap some of these animals, the other boys
were picking up pebbles, or gathering flowers, until at length their
attention was suddenly arrested by a loud and long exclamation of
surprise and pleasure from Rollo.
"What?" said Henry and James, looking towards Rollo.
They saw that he was standing at the edge of the water, gazing eagerly
into his dipper.
"What is it?" said the boys, running towards him.
"I have caught a little fish," said Rollo.
True enough, Rollo had caught a little fish. It was very small, and, as
it had been swimming about there, Rollo had, probably more by accident
than skill, got him into his dipper, and there he was safely imprisoned.
"O, what a splendid little fellow!" said Henry, crowding his head in
between Rollo's and James's, over the dipper. "See his fins!"
"Yes," said Rollo. "It is a trout,--a little trout."
"See his eyes!" said James. "How he swims about! What are you going to
do with him, Rollo?"
"O, I shall carry him home, and keep him."
"O, you can't keep him," said James; "you have not got any pond."
"Never mind," said Rollo, "I can keep him in a bowl in the house."
"What shall you give him to eat?" said James.
"Eat! fishes never eat; they only drink. I shall give him fresh water
every day, and that will keep him alive."
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