The Summer Holidays | Page 3

was now dark the owl could easily fly away; and besides, as they did not wish to kill it, it could be of no use to them, if they should catch it. "It might do for cousin to look at," replied John; but he did not insist upon entering the house. As they were going away, Samuel asked his cousin if he did not think owls were ugly.
"No, indeed," answered John. "I would rather see an owl any time than these little birds that can do nothing but sing. See how soft his feathers are--all barred and spotted with black and brown, which is more handsome than to be all over red or yellow. I know he can't sing; but he's got nice, long ears, and that no other bird has. And how nice and round his head is. Then he sits on a tree, and looks wise, as father says. The Canary, and the mocking bird, are good enough to keep in cages, but of all birds, give me an owl."
Thomas and Samuel laughed at this notion, but John continued:
"Thomas, did not some people, who lived a long while ago, call the owl the 'bird of wisdom?'"
"Yes," replied Thomas. "I have heard father say that it was the Athenians."
"That shows how wise they were," said John. "I seems to me as though that owl, which we saw, was keeping house for poor old soldier Jack."
"Do hush about owls," said his brother, laughing; and they ran together through the gate, and into the yard.
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CHAPTER III.
A VISIT TO DADDY HALL.
Next morning, Mr. Harvey told his sons that they might go to see an old man, who lived in a small house, about two miles off, and who was so sickly that he could not work. This old man's name was Hall, and the boys of the school called him Daddy Hall. He had once been rich; but sickness and misfortune had reduced him to poverty, so that he now lived with his little son, in a small hut, near a hill. Every week he sent fruit and vegetables to market, in a cart, drawn by a donkey, which some of the neighbors had given to him. Every week Mr. Harvey sent either a servant, or one of the boys, to see how he was getting along, and to carry him something nice.
The two boys, with their cousin, were soon off, carrying with them a basket full of things for the old man. They went by the road across the meadows, and through a small gate in the hedge. Samuel observed, that the hawthorn of the hedge grew very thick and close, so that a bird could scarcely get through it. The roots and branches were twisted into each other, appearing like strong, thick chains woven together; and on the vines grew sharp thorns, longer than a needle. Mr. Harvey's boys told their cousin, that neither man nor beast could get through such a hedge; and that if a man were placed on the top, he could walk on the vines without sinking down, they were so strong and close. "It would be uneasy travelling, though," added John; "for his feet would be torn to pieces by these spiky thorns."
They now left the hedge, and went on through two wide fields, until they reached some hills that stood by themselves, and were steep and bare. Three of them had deep pits dug in them, while piles of rock, stones, and sand, were lying around. Samuel asked his cousins what place it was.
"It is an iron mine," said Thomas; but it is not worked any more, because there is not enough of iron found to pay for the trouble. All these stones lying about here are pieces of ore; but the quantity of iron in them is so small that it will not pay for the expense of taking it out from the ore."
"How is iron taken from the ore?" asked Samuel. Thomas replied:
"The ore is first crushed into coarse dust, and then washed. Afterwards this dust is melted in a hot furnace, and the iron is separated from the melted stone, or dross, in a manner which is very troublesome, and which father can explain to you better than I can. Sometimes the ore is almost all iron; John and I have some pieces in our cabinets, in which you cannot see any stone."
"But did men go down this deep well?" asked Samuel.
"Yes; they were lowered down in buckets. And the water was pumped out by a machine. The water was so cold, even in the middle of summer, that one could scarcely hold his hand in it."
The boys began to throw stones down one of the wells, so that they might guess by hearing them strike the bottom, how deep it