“Well,” said Lucy, “how far will you give me a ride?”
“O, I will give you a good long ride,” said Royal. “I will draw you away over to Rollo’s.”
Lucy’s cousin Rollo, who was at this time a very small boy, lived at not a great distance, and Royal and Lucy sometimes went over to play with him. So they made the agreement, that Royal was to draw Lucy over to Rollo’s and Lucy was to learn a lesson in arithmetic. But then there immediately arose a difficulty in determining which should take place first, the ride or the lesson: Royal wanted to have the lesson then, and the ride some other time; but Lucy wanted to make sure of the ride, and so postpone the lesson.
“Why, the rule is, Lucy,” said Royal, “always to pay when the work is done. I’ll pay you for the lesson when you have studied it.”
“No,” said Lucy, “the ride is the work. I’ll pay you for the ride when I have had it.”
Royal thought that the lesson ought to be considered the work, and the ride the pay; but he couldn’t think of any good reason to offer for this opinion, and he therefore, after some hesitation, came to Lucy’s terms. They brought out Lucy’s wagon, and, after obtaining permission of their mother, he helped Lucy into it, and then, he acting the part of horse, and Lucy that of driver, they went over to their cousin Rollo’s.
They went into a yard where there was a gravel walk, which led them around behind the house. Here they found Rollo sitting upon a bench near the door, trying to read in a picture-book. He had not learned to read much yet. The door was open, and there were a couple of bars across the door-way, pretty low down; and behind them was a little child, not old enough to walk, who was kept from falling out into the yard by the bars. This was Rollo’s little brother Nathan.
By the time that Royal had arrived at Rollo’s house, he had become quite interested in drawing Lucy in the wagon, and had forgotten his desire to teach her a lesson in arithmetic. So he said,—
“Lucy, if Rollo will go with us, I’ll draw you farther. Come, Rollo,” said he, “come and play travel with us. I’ll pull, and you push behind.”
“No,” said Rollo, “I can’t go; I must stay and take care of Nathan.”