Rollo's Experiments

“Where?” said Rollo. “Let me see.”

“Why, when there is no crack,” said the boy, “you see the edge of the wedge comes against the solid wood, and when I drive, it only bruises and batters it; but the iron is hard, and goes in. But then, when a crack is made, the wedge can go in easily; for the edge does not touch; then only the sides rub against the wood.”

“How?” said Rollo. “I don’t understand.”

“I’ll show you in a minute,” said the boy. So he took the iron wedge, and went to work driving it into the log. It soon began to make a crack, which ran along the log, and opened wider and wider. When, at length, it was pretty wide, he put the wooden wedge in, and he showed Rollo that the edge of the wedge did not now have to force its way, but went easily into the crack, and only the sides came in contact with the two parts of the log which it was separating.

“That’s curious,” said Rollo.

“Yes,” said the boy.

“I wish I had a little beetle and wedge,” said Rollo. “I have got a hammer. That would do for a beetle, if I only had a wedge.”

“O, a hammer won’t do,” said the boy.

“Why not? Would not an axe do as well as a beetle?”

“No,” said the boy, “it would spoil the axe and the wedge too.”

“How?” asked Rollo.

“Why, it would bruise it all up,—hard iron knocking against the hard iron.”

“Would it?” said Rollo.

“Yes,” replied the farmer’s boy; “it would spoil the head of the axe, and the head of the wedge too.”

“Is that the reason why they make a wooden beetle?”

“Yes,” said the boy; “and they put iron rings around the ends to keep the wood from being bruised and battered.”

“O, I wish I had a little beetle and wedge!” said Rollo.

“Perhaps you might make one.”

“O, I could not make an iron wedge—nor the beetle rings.”

“No, but you might make wedges of wood,—pretty hard wood; that would do to split up pieces of pine boards, and then you would not need any rings to your beetle.”

“Jonas can help me,” said Rollo.

“Yes,” said the boy; “Jonas will know all about it.”

So Rollo set out to go home, full of the idea of making a wooden beetle and wedge, so as to split up pieces of boards. He determined, in case he should succeed, to make a smaller one still for Thanny.

THE LITTLE BEETLE AND WEDGE

When Rollo got home, he looked about for Jonas every where, but could not find him. He went around the house and yard, calling “Jonas! Jonas!” very loud. Presently Nathan came out to the door, and told him that his mother wanted to see him. So Rollo went in to his mother.

“You ought not to make such a noise,” said she, “calling Jonas. You disturb us all.”

“But, mother,” said he, “I want to find him very much.”

“No doubt,” said his mother; “but you must find him with your eyes, not with your tongue.”

“Why, mother,” said Rollo, laughing, “what do you mean by that?”

“Boys very generally have a habit of trying to find people with their tongues, that is, by calling them; but it is a very bad habit. You see,” she continued, “there are five or six persons now in and about the house, and if you go around calling out for Jonas, you disturb us all; but if you go about quietly, and look for him, you do not disturb any body.”

“But then it is not so easy to find him by looking for him,” said Rollo.

“Why not?” asked his mother.

“Because,” said Rollo, “I can call out for him, in a moment, in the yard, and then if he is any where within hearing, he answers; and so I know where he is. But it would take me some time to go to all the places that are within hearing.”

“True,” said his mother, “I see it is more trouble to find any body with your eyes, than with your voice; but then it is so much pleasanter for all the rest of us, that you must submit to it.”

So Rollo went away again to look for Jonas. He inquired of Dorothy in the kitchen, and she told him that she saw Jonas going out towards the barn a few minutes before. So Rollo went off in pursuit of him.

He found him at work in a little back room in the barn, looking over some harnesses.

“What are you doing, Jonas?” said Rollo.

“I am overhauling these harnesses, to get them all ready for winter.”

“For winter?” said Rollo.

“Yes,” replied Jonas; “they are sleigh-harnesses.”

“Well, Jonas,” said Rollo, “I wanted to see you about a beetle and wedge. Do you think you could help me about making a little beetle and wedge?”

“I can help you by my advice,” said Jonas.

“O, but I want you to help me make them.”

Then Jonas asked Rollo what made him think of a beetle and wedge; and Rollo told him of the conversation he had held with the farmer’s boy. Then Jonas talked a long time about it, giving him particular advice and direction about the plan, though he said he could not himself go and help him then, for he could not leave his harnesses.

The advice which Jonas gave him was, substantially, this:—

“The boy was right in what he said about the necessity of having iron wedges, to split up large logs of hard wood; but you had better have short pieces of pine boards for your logs, and then wedges of hard wood will do instead of iron; for hard wood is so much more solid than pine, that I think wedges of it will answer very well. There are some pieces of walnut under the bench, which will do finely, and I will give you one of them.”

“I’ll go, now, and get it,” said Rollo.

“No,” said Jonas, “not yet; let me tell you about making the beetle.”

So Rollo stood in the door way, waiting to hear what Jonas had to say about the beetle, but evidently quite impatient to go.

“If you make your wedges of hard wood, it will not be necessary to have iron rings to your beetle, because it will not get battered much, in driving wooden wedges. Now you must go to the wood pile, and look out a piece of round wood, about as large round as my arm, and bore a hole in it.”