Jonas on a Farm in Winter

by Jacob Abbott

  CHAPTER VIII.

  THE CARDING-MILL

  Jonas was often sent away to transact business for the farmer. He was avery excellent hand to do business. It requires several qualities tomake a boy good at business. He must be gentlemanly in his manners, soas to speak to the persons that he is sent to, in a respectful andproper manner; he must be faithful, so as not to neglect what isintrusted to him; and he must be patient and persevering. Then he mustalso have considerable judgment and discretion; for when he is sent awayfrom home on business, he must often be placed in circumstances that areunforeseen, and where he must act without instructions. In such cases,he will have to exercise his own judgment and discretion. Jonas wasplaced in such circumstances at one time, when he was sent to thecarding-mill to get some rolls for Isabella.

  The rolls which Isabella wanted were rolls of wool, as they are preparedat the mill ready for spinning. The wool is carded very fine, and then,by curious machinery, it is rolled out into rolls about three feet long,and as large round as a whip-handle at the middle. These rolls Isabellaused to spin into yarn, at her spinning-wheel.

  Isabella had spun nearly all her rolls, and she wanted Jonas to carrysome wool to the carding-mill, and get some more. The carding-mill wasnot in the village upon the outlet stream; but it was upon anotherstream, which emptied into the pond, instead of flowing from it. It wasthe same stream that flowed by the land which Jonas and Oliver hadcleared when he first came to live with the farmer; only the mill was atsome distance from the mouth of the stream, back towards the high land.It was more than two miles, by the road, from the farmer's house.

  The farmer told Jonas where to get the wool, and then gave him some morebusiness, at a place in the woods, about two miles beyond the mill.Oliver wanted to go too, and his father gave him leave. Oliver alwaysliked to go to the mill, as the machine for carding the wool was a greatcuriosity.

  Jonas put up the wool in a very large bundle, which almost filled up thebottom of the sleigh. Jonas himself sat upon the seat, with his feetunder the bundle; but Oliver sat upon the bundle. He said it made a verysoft seat.

  They rode along pleasantly towards the mill. The snow-drifts were veryhigh in some places on each side of the road; and the fences and wallswere almost buried up.

  "I wish that Josey was here," said Oliver. "I think that he would liketo see the carding-mill very much indeed."

  "Yes," said Jonas.

  "Only," replied Oliver, "perhaps it would be dangerous to take him."

  "Why?" said Jonas.

  "Why, because," said Oliver, "I suppose he would touch the machinery,and perhaps get his hands torn off."

  "Yes," said Jonas, "boys sometimes do get very badly hurt inmills,--careless and disobedient boys especially."

  "I think that he is a careless and disobedient boy," said Oliver.

  "He said it made a very soft seat."]

  "Yes, but it is his misfortune, rather than his fault," replied Jonas.

  "His misfortune?" repeated Oliver.

  "Yes," said Jonas; "his father's situation is such, that it is veryunfortunate for him. I expect he is very unhappily situated at home, inmany respects."

  "How?" said Oliver.

  "Why, in the first place," said Jonas, "he lives, I'm told, in a largeand handsome house."

  "Yes," said Oliver.

  "And then," continued Jonas, "your aunt, I have heard, is a very finewoman, and has a great deal of company."

  "Well," said Oliver.

  "And then," continued Jonas, "they can buy Josey any thing he wants, forplaythings."

  "Yes," said Oliver; "he told me he had got a rocking-horse. But I don'tcall that being unfortunate."

  "It is very fortunate for the father and mother, but such a kind of lifeis generally unfortunate for the child. You see, if a man has beenindustrious himself, when he was a boy, and has grown up to be a goodbusiness man, and to acquire a great deal of property, and builds agood house, and has plenty of books, and journeys, it is all very wellfor him. He can bear it, but it very often spoils his children."

  "Why does it spoil his children?" asked Oliver.

  "In the first place, it makes them conceited and vain,--not always, butoften. The children of wealthy men are very often conceited. They wearbetter clothes than some other boys, and have more books and prettierplaythings; and so they become vain, and think that they are veryimportant, when, in fact, they owe every thing to their fathers.

  "Then, besides," continued Jonas, "they don't form good habits ofindustry. Their fathers don't make them work, and so they don't acquireany habits of industry, and patience, and perseverance."

  "If I was a man, and had ever so much money," said Oliver, "I would makemy boys work."

  "That is very doubtful," said Jonas.

  "Why is it doubtful?" asked Oliver.

  "Because," said Jonas, "you would be very busy, and couldn't attend toit. It would be a great deal more trouble to make your boys do anything, than it would be to hire another man to do it; and so you wouldhire a man, to save your trouble."

  "Yes; but then, Jonas, farmers are very busy, and yet they make theirboys work."

  "True," replied Jonas; "but farmers are busy about such kind of work asthat their boys can help them do it,--so they can keep them at workwithout any special trouble. But men of property are employed in suchkind of business as boys cannot do; and so they must work, if they workat all, at something else; and that makes a good deal of trouble."

  "Then I'd send my boys to some farmer, and let him make them work," saidOliver.

  "Yes," said Jonas, "that would do pretty well."

  So saying, Jonas stopped the horse a moment, and stepped out of thesleigh. He was at the foot of a long, steep hill in the woods. He wasgoing to walk up. Oliver remained in the sleigh, and rode. When theyreached the top, Jonas got in again, and they rode on.

  "But then, Jonas," said Oliver, "there is one thing to be thought of,and that is, that rich men's sons will not have to work when they growup; and so they don't need so much to grow industrious."

  "O, yes, they will," said Jonas.

  "Why, Josey told me that he didn't expect to work when he should be aman."

  "No, he doesn't _expect_ to work, but he'll find that it is differentfrom what he had expected, when he grows up."

  "How?" said Oliver.

  "Why, a great many rich men's boys find, when they get to be twenty-one,that they have to go out into the world, and earn their own living,without any money."

  "Why?" said Oliver; "won't their fathers give them any money?"

  "Their fathers cannot generally give them enough to support them," saidJonas, "even if they are disposed to do it; because, you see, they havetheir own families still to support. Besides, if they were to dividetheir property at once among all their children, it would only be asmall portion for each one. It wouldn't be enough for the boys to liveas expensively as they have been living while at home. Therefore, asfast as they grow up young men, they have to go away into the world,and earn their own money by some kind of work, head work or hand work."

  Jonas would probably have given Oliver some further explanations on thissubject, were it not that about this time they arrived at the mill.Oliver tied the horse at a post, while Jonas took out the great bundleof wool, and went in. Oliver followed immediately after him.

  The machinery made a heavy, rumbling sound, which grew louder and louderas the boys went up stairs. Jonas opened a door into a large room, andat this the noise increased very loudly, so that Oliver and Jonas couldhardly hear each other talk. Jonas put down the bundle of wool by thedoor, and then he and Oliver went in among the wheels and machinery.There were a great many separate machines at different parts of theroom, with girls tending them. There was a large, round beam of wood,overhead, slowly revolving. There were wheels upon it in differentparts, with straps passing around these wheels, and also around otherwheels connected with the machines below.

  Oliver saw Jonas walk to a man who was writing at a des
k in the cornerof a room, and say something to him. Oliver could not hear what it was.Jonas pointed, while he was talking to the man, to the great bundle ofwool. Presently the man came and took the bundle of wool, and dragged itoff to one of the machines, which was not in motion. He called a girl tocome and tend it.

  At one end of the machine was a broad band of cloth, passing around tworollers. One roller was close to the wheels and other large rollers ofthe machine itself. The other was back from it a little; and the cloth,being extended from one of these to the other, formed a sort of flattable just before the machine.

  The girl who came to tend the machine immediately opened the greatbundle of wool, and then she took up a handful of it, and began tospread it evenly over the cloth. When she had got the cloth prettynearly covered she pulled a handle pretty near her, and that, in somemysterious way or other, set the machinery a-going. The cloth, with allthe wool upon it, began to move towards the great rollers of themachine. These rollers were covered with card teeth, and the wool, as itwas drawn in between them, was carded fine, and spread evenly over allthe surface; and in a few minutes Jonas and Oliver found that it beganto come out at the other end, in the shape of rolls. One roll afteranother dropped out, in a very singular manner. Oliver thought that itwas a very curious machine indeed, to take in wool in that way at oneend, and drop it out in beautiful long rolls at the other.

  "Now," said Jonas, after a few minutes, to Oliver, "I am going awayfarther, and shall come back here in about an hour. You may go with me,or you may stay here,--just which you prefer."

  "Well," said Oliver, "I'll stay here."

  "Good-by, then," said Jonas; "I shall be back again in about an hour."

  So Jonas went down stairs, and Oliver began to walk about the room alittle. There was a window in the back side of the room, which hehappened to pass pretty near to, and he stopped to look out at it. Hesaw the dam and the waterfall below. There was a large pond above thefall, which was made by the dam. The pond was frozen over, and the icewas covered with snow. The water was open for a short distance above theedge of the fall, and it was also open below the fall, where there was agreat foaming, and tumbling, and whirling of currents.

  Oliver looked at it a moment, and then he concluded that it would bebetter for him to go with Jonas.

  "I have seen," said he to himself, "pretty much all of the machinery,and I shall be very tired of waiting here an hour."

  So he concluded that he would run down, quick, and see if Jonas hadgone.

  When he got down stairs, and out at the door, he found that the sleighwas not at the post. He ran around the corner, and saw Jonas at somedistance, just at the foot of a hill. He ran after him, calling,"Jo-nas! Jo-nas!"

  Just at this time, Jonas stopped to let his horse walk up the hill, andso he heard Oliver calling; for the bells did not make so much noisewhen the horse was walking, as they did before.

  So Jonas stopped until Oliver overtook him; and they went on the rest ofthe way together.