Rollo at Play | Page 3

come and help you over."
"No," said Rollo, "I can come over myself. I can take hold of the branches for a railing."
So Rollo began to climb along the stem of the tree, holding on carefully by the branches. When he reached the middle of the stream, he stopped to look down into the water.
"This is a capital bridge of yours, Jonas," said he. "How beautiful the water looks down here! O, I see a little fish! He is swimming along by a great rock. Now he is standing perfectly still. O, Jonas, come and see him."
"No," said Jonas, "I must mind my work."
After a little time, Rollo went carefully on over the bridge, and sat down on the bank of the brook. But he did not have with him the parcel his mother gave him. He had left it on the other side.
After he had watched the fishes, and thrown pebble-stones into the brook some time, he began to be tired, and he asked Jonas what he had better do.
"I think you had better build a wigwam."
"A wigwam? What is a wigwam?" said Rollo.
"It is a little house made of bushes such as the Indians live in."
"O, I could not make a house," said Rollo.
"I think you could if I should tell you how, and help you a little."
"But you say you must mind your work."
"Yes,--I can mind my work and tell you at the same time."
Rollo thought he should like to build a wigwam very much. Jonas told him the first thing to be done was to find a good place, where the ground was level. Rollo looked at a good many places, but at last chose a smooth spot under a great oak tree, which Jonas said he was not going to cut down. It was near a beautiful turn in the brook, where the water was very deep.
Jonas told him that the first thing was to make a little stake, and drive it down in the middle of his wigwam-ground. Then Rollo recollected that he had left his hatchet over on the other side of the brook, together with the parcel his mother gave him; and he was going over to get them, when Jonas told him he would trim up the bridge a little, and then he could go over more easily.
So Jonas went upon the bridge, and began to cut away the branches that were in the way, leaving enough on each side to take hold of, and to keep Rollo from falling in. Rollo could then go back and forth easily. He held on with one hand, and carried his hatchet in the other. Then he went over again, and brought his parcel, and laid it down near the great oak tree.
Then he made a little stake, and drove it down in the middle of the wigwam-ground. Then he asked Jonas what he must do next.
"That is the centre of your wigwam; now you must strike a circle around it."
"What?" said Rollo.
"Don't you know how to strike a circle?" said Jonas.
Rollo said he did not, and then Jonas told him to do exactly as he should say, and that would show him.
"First," said Jonas, "have you got a string?"
Rollo felt in his pockets in vain, but he recollected his little parcel, which was tied with a piece of twine, and held it up to ask Jonas if that would do. Jonas said it would, and told him to take it off carefully, and tie one end of it to his centre stake.
And Rollo did so.
"Now," said Jonas, "make another little sharp stake for the marker, and tie the other end of the twine to that, near the sharp end."
Rollo worked busily for some time, and then called out,
"Jonas, it is done."
All this time, Jonas was at work in the bushes, at a little distance. He now came to Rollo's wigwam-ground, and took hold of the marker, and held it off as far from the middle stake as it would go, and then began to make a mark on the ground all around the middle stake. Now, as the marker was tied to the middle stake by the string, the mark was equally distant from the middle stake in every part, and that made it exactly round. Then Jonas laid down the marker, and pulled out the middle stake; and they looked down and saw that there was a round mark on the ground, about as large as a cart-wheel.
Then Jonas took the crowbar, and made deep holes all around, in this circle, so far apart that Rollo could just step from one to the other. But Rollo could not understand how he could make a house so.
"I will tell you," said Jonas. "You must now go and get some large branches of trees, and