Little Men

by Louisa May Alcott

  CHAPTER XVIII. CROPS

  The gardens did well that summer, and in September the little crops weregathered in with much rejoicing. Jack and Ned joined their farms andraised potatoes, those being a good salable article. They got twelvebushels, counting little ones and all, and sold them to Mr. Bhaer at afair price, for potatoes went fast in that house. Emil and Franz devotedthemselves to corn, and had a jolly little husking in the barn, afterwhich they took their corn to the mill, and came proudly home with mealenough to supply the family with hasty-pudding and Johnny-cake for alone time. They would not take money for their crop; because, as Franzsaid, "We never can pay Uncle for all he has done for us if we raisedcorn for the rest of our days."

  Nat had beans in such abundance that he despaired of ever shelling them,till Mrs. Jo proposed a new way, which succeeded admirably. The drypods were spread upon the barn-floor, Nat fiddled, and the boys dancedquadrilles on them, till they were thrashed out with much merriment andvery little labor.

  Tommy's six weeks' beans were a failure; for a dry spell early in theseason hurt them, because he gave them no water; and after that he wasso sure that they could take care of themselves, he let the poorthings struggle with bugs and weeds till they were exhausted and dieda lingering death. So Tommy had to dig his farm over again, and plantpeas. But they were late; the birds ate many; the bushes, not beingfirmly planted, blew down, and when the poor peas came at last, no onecared for them, as their day was over, and spring-lamb had growninto mutton. Tommy consoled himself with a charitable effort; for hetransplanted all the thistles he could find, and tended them carefullyfor Toby, who was fond of the prickly delicacy, and had eaten all hecould find on the place. The boys had great fun over Tom's thistlebed; but he insisted that it was better to care for poor Toby than forhimself, and declared that he would devote his entire farm next year tothistles, worms, and snails, that Demi's turtles and Nat's pet owl mighthave the food they loved, as well as the donkey. So like shiftless,kind-hearted, happy-go-lucky Tommy!

  Demi had supplied his grandmother with lettuce all summer, and in theautumn sent his grandfather a basket of turnips, each one scrubbed uptill it looked like a great white egg. His Grandma was fond of salad,and one of his Grandpa's favorite quotations was,

  "Lucullus, whom frugality could charm, Ate roasted turnips at the Sabine farm."

  Therefore these vegetable offerings to the dear domestic god and goddesswere affectionate, appropriate, and classical.

  Daisy had nothing but flowers in her little plot, and it bloomed allsummer long with a succession of gay or fragrant posies. She was veryfond of her garden, and delved away in it at all hours, watching overher roses, and pansies, sweet-peas, and mignonette, as faithfully andtenderly as she did over her dolls or her friends. Little nosegays weresent into town on all occasions, and certain vases about the housewere her especial care. She had all sorts of pretty fancies about herflowers, and loved to tell the children the story of the pansy, and showthem how the step-mother-leaf sat up in her green chair in purple andgold; how the two own children in gay yellow had each its little seat,while the step children, in dull colors, both sat on one small stool,and the poor little father in his red nightcap, was kept out of sightin the middle of the flower; that a monk's dark face looked out of themonk's-hood larkspur; that the flowers of the canary-vine were so likedainty birds fluttering their yellow wings, that one almost expectedto see them fly away, and the snapdragons that went off like littlepistol-shots when you cracked them. Splendid dollies did she make out ofscarlet and white poppies, with ruffled robes tied round the waist withgrass blade sashes, and astonishing hats of coreopsis on theirgreen heads. Pea-pod boats, with rose-leaf sails, received theseflower-people, and floated them about a placid pool in the most charmingstyle; for finding that there were no elves, Daisy made her own,and loved the fanciful little friends who played their parts in hersummer-life.

  Nan went in for herbs, and had a fine display of useful plants, whichshe tended with steadily increasing interest and care. Very busy wasshe in September cutting, drying, and tying up her sweet harvest, andwriting down in a little book how the different herbs are to be used.She had tried several experiments, and made several mistakes; so shewished to be particular lest she should give little Huz another fit byadministering wormwood instead of catnip.

  Dick, Dolly, and Rob each grubbed away on his small farm, and made morestir about it than all the rest put together. Parsnips and carrots werethe crops of the two D.'s; and they longed for it to be late enough topull up the precious vegetables. Dick did privately examine his carrots,and plant them again, feeling that Silas was right in saying it was toosoon for them yet.

  Rob's crop was four small squashes and one immense pumpkin. It reallywas a "bouncer," as every one said; and I assure you that two smallpersons could sit on it side by side. It seemed to have absorbed all thegoodness of the little garden, and all the sunshine that shone down onit, and lay there a great round, golden ball, full of rich suggestionsof pumpkin-pies for weeks to come. Robby was so proud of his mammothvegetable that he took every one to see it, and, when frosts began tonip, covered it up each night with an old bedquilt, tucking it round asif the pumpkin was a well-beloved baby. The day it was gathered he wouldlet no one touch it but himself, and nearly broke his back tugging itto the barn in his little wheelbarrow, with Dick and Dolly harnessedin front to give a heave up the path. His mother promised him that theThanksgiving-pies should be made from it, and hinted vaguely that shehad a plan in her head which would cover the prize pumpkin and its ownerwith glory.

  Poor Billy had planted cucumbers, but unfortunately hoed them up andleft the pig-weed. This mistake grieved him very much for tem minutes,then he forgot all about it, and sowed a handful of bright buttons whichhe had collected, evidently thinking in his feeble mind that theywere money, and would come up and multiply, so that he might make manyquarters, as Tommy did. No one disturbed him, and he did what he likedwith his plot, which soon looked as if a series of small earthquakeshad stirred it up. When the general harvest-day came, he would havehad nothing but stones and weeds to show, if kind old Asia had not hunghalf-a-dozen oranges on the dead tree he stuck up in the middle. Billywas delighted with his crop; and no one spoiled his pleasure in thelittle miracle which pity wrought for him, by making withered branchesbear strange fruit.

  Stuffy had various trials with his melons; for, being impatient to tastethem, he had a solitary revel before they were ripe, and made himself soill, that for a day or two it seemed doubtful if he would ever eatany more. But he pulled through it, and served up his first cantaloupewithout tasting a mouthful himself. They were excellent melons, for hehad a warm slope for them, and they ripened fast. The last and best werelingering on the vines, and Stuffy had announced that he should sellthem to a neighbor. This disappointed the boys, who had hoped to eatthe melons themselves, and they expressed their displeasure in a newand striking manner. Going one morning to gaze upon the three finewatermelons which he had kept for the market, Stuffy was horrified tofind the word "PIG" cut in white letters on the green rind, staringat him from every one. He was in a great rage, and flew to Mrs. Jo forredress. She listened, condoled with him, and then said,

  "If you want to turn the laugh, I'll tell you how, but you must give upthe melons."

  "Well, I will; for I can't thrash all the boys, but I'd like to givethem something to remember, the mean sneaks," growled Stuff, still in afume.

  Now Mrs. Jo was pretty sure who had done the trick, for she had seenthree heads suspiciously near to one another in the sofa-corner theevening before; and when these heads had nodded with chuckles andwhispers, this experienced woman knew mischief was afoot. A moonlightnight, a rustling in the old cherry-tree near Emil's window, a cut onTommy's finger, all helped to confirm her suspicions; and having cooledStuffy's wrath a little, she bade him bring his maltreated melons to herroom, and say not a word to any one of what had happened. He did so,and the three wags were amazed to find their joke so quietly ta
ken. Itspoilt the fun, and the entire disappearance of the melons made themuneasy. So did Stuffy's good-nature, for he looked more placid and plumpthan ever, and surveyed them with an air of calm pity that perplexedthem very much.

  At dinner-time they discovered why; for then Stuffy's vengeance fellupon them, and the laugh was turned against them. When the pudding waseaten, and the fruit was put on, Mary Ann re-appeared in a high state ofgiggle, bearing a large watermelon; Silas followed with another; andDan brought up the rear with a third. One was placed before each of thethree guilty lads; and they read on the smooth green skins this additionto their own work, "With the compliments of the PIG." Every one elseread it also, and the whole table was in a roar, for the trick had beenwhispered about; so every one understood the sequel. Emil, Ned,and Tommy did not know where to look, and had not a word to say forthemselves; so they wisely joined in the laugh, cut up the melons, andhanded them round, saying, what all the rest agreed to, that Stuffy hadtaken a wise and merry way to return good for evil.

  Dan had no garden, for he was away or lame the greater part of thesummer; so he had helped Silas wherever he could, chopped wood for Asia,and taken care of the lawn so well, that Mrs. Jo always had smooth pathsand nicely shaven turf before her door.

  When the others got in their crops, he looked sorry that he had solittle to show; but as autumn went on, he bethought himself of awoodland harvest which no one would dispute with him, and which waspeculiarly his own. Every Saturday he was away alone to the forests,fields, and hills, and always came back loaded with spoils; for heseemed to know the meadows where the best flag-root grew, the thicketwhere the sassafras was spiciest, the haunts where the squirrels wentfor nuts, the white oak whose bark was most valuable, and the littlegold-thread vine that Nursey liked to cure the canker with. All sorts ofsplendid red and yellow leaves did Dan bring home for Mrs. Jo to dressher parlor with, graceful-seeded grasses, clematis tassels, downy, soft,yellow wax-work berries, and mosses, red-brimmed, white, or emeraldgreen.

  "I need not sigh for the woods now, because Dan brings the woods to me,"Mrs. Jo used to say, as she glorified the walls with yellow maple boughsand scarlet woodbine wreaths, or filled her vases with russet ferns,hemlock sprays full of delicate cones, and hardy autumn flowers; forDan's crop suited her well.

  The great garret was full of the children's little stores and for a timewas one of the sights of the house. Daisy's flower seeds in neat littlepaper bags, all labelled, lay in a drawer of a three-legged table.Nan's herbs hung in bunches against the wall, filling the air with theiraromatic breath. Tommy had a basket of thistle-down with the tiny seedsattached, for he meant to plant them next year, if they did not all flyaway before that time. Emil had bunches of pop-corn hanging there todry, and Demi laid up acorns and different sorts of grain for the pets.But Dan's crop made the best show, for fully one half of the floor wascovered with the nuts he brought. All kinds were there, for he rangedthe woods for miles round, climbed the tallest trees, and forced his wayinto the thickest hedges for his plunder. Walnuts, chestnuts, hazelnuts,and beechnuts lay in separate compartments, getting brown, and dry, andsweet, ready for winter revels.

  There was one butternut-tree on the place, and Rob and Teddy called ittheirs. It bore well this year, and the great dingy nuts came droppingdown to hide among the dead leaves, where the busy squirrels found thembetter than the lazy Bhaers. Their father had told them (the boys, notthe squirrels) they should have the nuts if they would pick them up, butno one was to help. It was easy work, and Teddy liked it, only he soongot tired, and left his little basket half full for another day. But theother day was slow to arrive, and, meantime, the sly squirrels were hardat work, scampering up and down the old elm-trees stowing the nuts awaytill their holes were full, then all about the crotches of the boughs,to be removed at their leisure. Their funny little ways amused the boys,till one day Silas said,

  "Hev you sold them nuts to the squirrels?"

  "No," answered Rob, wondering what Silas meant.

  "Wal, then, you'd better fly round, or them spry little fellers won'tleave you none."

  "Oh, we can beat them when we begin. There are such lots of nuts weshall have a plenty."

  "There ain't many more to come down, and they have cleared the groundpretty well, see if they hain't."

  Robby ran to look, and was alarmed to find how few remained. He calledTeddy, and they worked hard all one afternoon, while the squirrels saton the fence and scolded.

  "Now, Ted, we must keep watch, and pick up just as fast as they fall, orwe shan't have more than a bushel, and every one will laugh at us if wedon't."

  "The naughty quillies tarn't have 'em. I'll pick fast and run and put'em in the barn twick," said Teddy, frowning at little Frisky, whochattered and whisked his tail indignantly.

  That night a high wind blew down hundreds of nuts, and when Mrs. Jo cameto wake her little sons, she said, briskly,

  "Come, my laddies, the squirrels are hard at it, and you will have towork well to-day, or they will have every nut on the ground."

  "No, they won't," and Robby tumbled up in a great hurry, gobbled hisbreakfast, and rushed out to save his property.

  Teddy went too, and worked like a little beaver, trotting to and frowith full and empty baskets. Another bushel was soon put away in thecorn-barn, and they were scrambling among the leaves for more nuts whenthe bell rang for school.

  "O father! let me stay out and pick. Those horrid squirrels will havemy nuts if you don't. I'll do my lessons by and by," cried Rob, runninginto the school-room, flushed and tousled by the fresh cold wind and hiseager work.

  "If you had been up early and done a little every morning there would beno hurry now. I told you that, Rob, and you never minded. I cannot havethe lessons neglected as the work has been. The squirrels will get morethan their share this year, and they deserve it, for they have workedbest. You may go an hour earlier, but that is all," and Mr. Bhaer ledRob to his place where the little man dashed at his books as if bent onmaking sure of the precious hour promised him.

  It was almost maddening to sit still and see the wind shaking down thelast nuts, and the lively thieves flying about, pausing now and then toeat one in his face, and flirt their tails, as if they said, saucily,"We'll have them in spite of you, lazy Rob." The only thing thatsustained the poor child in this trying moment was the sight ofTeddy working away all alone. It was really splendid the pluck andperseverance of the little lad. He picked and picked till his backached; he trudged to and fro till his small legs were tired; and hedefied wind, weariness, and wicked "quillies," till his mother lefther work and did the carrying for him, full of admiration for the kindlittle fellow who tried to help his brother. When Rob was dismissed, hefound Teddy reposing in the bushel-basket quite used up, but unwillingto quit the field; for he flapped his hat at the thieves with one grubbylittle hand, while he refreshed himself with the big apple held in theother.

  Rob fell to work and the ground was cleared before two o'clock, the nutssafely in the corn-barn loft, and the weary workers exulted in theirsuccess. But Frisky and his wife were not to be vanquished so easily;and when Rob went up to look at his nuts a few days later he was amazedto see how many had vanished. None of the boys could have stolen them,because the door had been locked; the doves could not have eaten them,and there were no rats about. There was great lamentation among theyoung Bhaers till Dick said,

  "I saw Frisky on the roof of the corn-barn, may be he took them."

  "I know he did! I'll have a trap, and kill him dead," cried Rob,disgusted with Frisky's grasping nature.

  "Perhaps if you watch, you can find out where he puts them, and I maybe able to get them back for you," said Dan, who was much amused by thefight between the boys and squirrels.

  So Rob watched and saw Mr. and Mrs. Frisky drop from the drooping elmboughs on to the roof of the corn-barn, dodge in at one of the littledoors, much to the disturbance of the doves, and come out with a nut ineach mouth. So laden they could not get back the way they came,
butran down the low roof, along the wall, and leaping off at a corner theyvanished a minute and re-appeared without their plunder. Rob ran to theplace, and in a hollow under the leaves he found a heap of the stolenproperty hidden away to be carried off to the holes by and by.

  "Oh, you little villains! I'll cheat you now, and not leave one," saidRob. So he cleared the corner and the corn-barn, and put the contestednuts in the garret, making sure that no broken window-pane couldanywhere let in the unprincipled squirrels. They seemed to feel that thecontest was over, and retired to their hole, but now and then could notresist throwing down nut-shells on Rob's head, and scolding violentlyas if they could not forgive him nor forget that he had the best of thebattle.

  Father and Mother Bhaer's crop was of a different sort, and not soeasily described; but they were satisfied with it, felt that theirsummer work had prospered well, and by and by had a harvest that madethem very happy.