Bruno

In a few minutes more the gig was alongside. Two of the sailors that had come down in the gig got on board of the boys’ boat with their oars, and then both boats rowed up the harbor again, and in due time the boys reached home in safety.

Moral.

The moral of this story is, that in all cases of difficulty and danger it is best to keep quiet and composed in mind, and not to give way to excitement and terror. Being frightened never does any good, excepting when there is a chance to run away; in that case, it sometimes helps one to run a little faster. In all other cases, it is best to be cool and collected, and encounter whatever comes with calmness and equanimity.

BRUNO AND THE ROBIN

“Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.”

Hiram and Ralph. The robin.

At one time Bruno had for his master a boy named Hiram. Hiram had a friend and companion who lived in the next house to him, whose name was Ralph. This Ralph had a robin. He kept the robin in a cage.

The loft.

There was a small building near the bottom of Ralph’s father’s garden, which was used as a place of deposit for gardening implements, seeds, bundles of straw, matting for covering plants, and other similar articles employed about the garden. This building was called the “garden-house.” In the upper part of it was a loft, which Ralph had taken possession of as a storehouse for his wagons, trucks, traps, and other playthings. He used to go up to this loft by means of a number of large wooden pins, or pegs, that were driven into one of the posts of the frame of the garden-house, in a corner. Somebody once recommended to Ralph to have a staircase made to lead up to his loft, but he said he liked better to climb up by these pins than to have the best staircase that ever was made.

Ralph used frequently to carry his robin to this garden-house when he was playing about there, and on such occasions he would sometimes hang the cage on a nail out of the window of his loft. He drove the nail himself into the edge of a sort of a shelf, which was near the window on the outside. The shelf was put there for doves to light upon, in going in and out of their house, which was made in the peak of the roof, over Ralph’s loft.

Account of Ralph’s robin.

Ralph caught his robin when he was very young. He caught him in a net. He saw the nest when the birds were first building it. About a week after the birds had finished it, he thought it was time for the eggs to be laid. So he got a ladder, which was usually kept on the back side of the tool-house, and, having planted it against a tree, he began to go up. Just then, his little brother Eddy, who was walking along one of the alleys of the garden near where the bird’s nest was, saw him.

Eddy’s advice.

“Ralph,” said Eddy, “what are you going to do?”

“I’m going to get the eggs out of the nest,” said Ralph.

“No,” replied Eddy, “you must not do that.”

Ralph paid no regard to this, but went on slowly mounting the ladder. The top of the ladder, resting as it did against some of the branches of the tree, was not very steady, and so Ralph could not go up very fast. Besides, Ralph was somewhat afraid of the old birds; for they, seeing that their nest was in danger, were flying about him with very loud chirpings, being apparently in a state of great terror and distress.

“Ralph,” said Eddy, “you must not trouble those birds.”

Ralph went steadily on.

“Besides,” said Eddy, when he saw that his brother paid no heed to his remonstrances, “it would be a great deal better to wait till the eggs are hatched, and then get one of the birds.”

The plan changed.

Ralph paused when he heard this suggestion. He began to think that it might possibly be a better plan to wait, as Eddy proposed, and to get a bird instead of an egg. He paused a moment on the ladder, standing on one foot, and holding himself on by one hand.

“Would you, Eddy?” said he.

“Yes,” said Eddy, “I certainly would.”

Eddy proposed this plan, not so much from any desire he had that Ralph should get one of the birds when they were hatched, as to save the eggs from being taken away then. He had an instinctive feeling that it was wrong to take away the eggs, and he pitied the poor birds in their distress, and so he said what he thought was most likely to induce Ralph to desist from his design.

After hesitating a few minutes, Ralph said, “Well, I will.” He then came down to the ground again, and, taking up the ladder, he carried it away.

About a week after this, Ralph got the ladder one day when the birds were not there, and climbed up to the nest. He found three very pretty blue eggs in it.

The birds are hatched.

About a week after this he climbed up again, and he found that the eggs were hatched. There were three little birds there, not fledged. When they heard Ralph’s rustling of the branches over their heads, they opened their mouths very wide, expecting that the old birds had come to bring them something to eat.

About a week after this Ralph climbed up again, but, just before he reached the nest, the three birds, having now grown old enough to fly, all clambered out of the nest, and flew away in all directions.

“Here’s one!”

“Stop ’em! stop ’em! Eddy,” said Ralph, “or watch them at least, and see where they go, till I come down.”

“Here’s one,” said Eddy.

He pointed, as he said this, under some currant-bushes, near an alley where he was walking. The little bird was crouched down, and was looking about him full of wonder. In fact, he was quite astonished to find how far he had flown.

Ralph clambered down the ladder as fast as he could, and then ran off to the tool-house, saying as he ran,

“Keep him there, Eddy, till I go and get my net.”

“I can’t keep him,” said Eddy, “unless he has a mind to stay. But I will watch him.”

So Eddy stood still and watched the bird while Ralph went after his net. The bird hopped along a little way, and then stopped, and remained perfectly still until Ralph returned.

A bird pursued.

The net was a round net, the mouth of it being kept open by means of a hoop. It was fastened to the end of a long pole. Ralph crept up softly toward the place where the bird had alighted, and, when he was near enough, he extended the pole, and clapped the net down over the bird, and made it prisoner.

Caught and caged.

“I’ve caught him! I’ve caught him!” said Ralph, greatly excited. “Run, Eddy, and get the cage. Run quick. No, stop; you come here, and hold the net down, and I’ll go and get the cage myself.”

So Eddy held the net down, while Ralph went into the tool-house after the cage. He succeeded in putting the bird into the cage safely, and then went home.

The feeding.

Ralph attended his bird very carefully for many days, feeding him with strawberries and crumbs of bread. The natural food of most small birds consists of seeds, berries, and insects. Ralph knew, therefore, that strawberries would be good for his bird, and as for bread, he reflected that it was made from seeds, namely, the seeds of wheat. The only difference was, that in bread the seeds were ground up, mixed with water, and baked. So Ralph concluded that bread would be a very proper food for his robin.

The stile.

As soon as the robin grew old enough to hop about a little, Ralph used often to take him out of his cage and put him on the walk in the garden, or on the end of a fence, near a stile, where was a broad, flat place convenient for the little bird to stand on. In such cases, he would, himself, always stand at a little distance off, so as not to frighten the bird, and in this manner he gradually taught him to be very tame and familiar.

Bruno and Hiram. Description of the premises.

Although Ralph was thus very kind to his robin, he was generally a very unreasonable and selfish boy. Bruno, at this time, lived in the house next to the one where he lived. Bruno belonged, as has already been said, to a boy named Hiram. The two houses that these two boys lived in were pretty near together, and the gardens adjoined, being separated from each other only by a wall. At the foot of each garden was a gate, and there was a little path which led along from one gate to the other, through a field where there was a brook, and also a great many trees overshadowing the banks of it. The boys used often to visit each other by going from one of these gates to the other along this path. There was a space under Hiram’s gate where Bruno could get through. He used often to go through this opening, and pass down into the field, to drink in the brook, or to play about among the trees. Sometimes both the gates were left open, and then Bruno would go and look into Ralph’s garden; and once he went in, and walked along as far as the tool-house, looking about and examining the premises very curiously. As soon as he had seen what sort of a place it was, however, he turned round and ran out again, not knowing what might happen to him if he stayed there.

Ralph wishes to buy Bruno.