“O, a hammer won’t do,” said the boy.
“Why not? Would not an axe do as well as a beetle?”
“No,” said the boy, “it would spoil the axe and the wedge too.”
“How?” asked Rollo.
“Why, it would bruise it all up,—hard iron knocking against the hard iron.”
“Would it?” said Rollo.
“Yes,” replied the farmer’s boy; “it would spoil the head of the axe, and the head of the wedge too.”
“Is that the reason why they make a wooden beetle?”
“Yes,” said the boy; “and they put iron rings around the ends to keep the wood from being bruised and battered.”