Rollo at Play; Or, Safe Amusements

by Jacob Abbott

  BOASTING.

  "How pleasant it is here!" said Rollo to his cousin Lucy, as they weregathering blueberries high up on old Mount Benalgon, the day they wentup with Rollo's father and mother, and uncle; "and how thick theblueberries are, Lucy!"

  "Yes," said Lucy, "they are very thick, I think; and how far we can seenow, we are up here so high! I wish we were up on that great high rock."

  Rollo looked where Lucy pointed, and he saw, away above them, a rockysummit projecting out from the mountain. The front of the rock wasragged and precipitous, but it was flat and mossy upon the top, and firsand other evergreen trees grew there, some of them hanging over theedge.

  "I wish I could get up there," said Lucy.

  "I wish I could too," said Rollo. "I should like to climb up one ofthose trees which hangs over, and then I could look down."

  "O, Rollo," said Lucy, "you would not dare to climb up one of thosetrees."

  "Yes, I should dare to," said Rollo.

  Rollo was sometimes a proud, boasting boy, pretending that he could dogreat things, and talking very largely. This was one of his greatestfaults; and whenever he seemed to be in this boasting mood, he almostalways got into some difficulty after it. There is a text in the Biblethat was proved true, very often, in Rollo's case. It is this--"Pridecometh before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall." Rollohad a sad Tall this day, though it was not from that high rock. It was adifferent sort of a fall from that, as we shall presently see.

  "Lucy," said he again, "I do not believe but that I could get up uponthat rock myself. I can climb rocks."

  "O no, you could not," said Lucy.

  "Why, yes, I see a way."

  "Which way?"

  "O, round by that great black log There is a path there through thebushes."

  "O no," said Lucy, "you could not get up there. But there are some boysby that log; what boys are they?"

  Rollo looked. They were some boys which they had seen coming up themountain, and Rollo's father had warned him not to go near them. Theyhad wanted Rollo to go with them before, but his father had forbiddenit. Rollo wanted to go, and now he was glad to see them again; but Lucywas sorry.