ROYAL commenced his pond that afternoon, though the commencement of the pond was the commencement of difficulties between him and Lucy respecting their agreement; for Lucy, after getting Joanna to give the duckling a little meal and water, according to Mary Jay’s directions, and leaving him safe in Joanna’s care in the kitchen, went out into the yard, and found Royal at work getting out a large box, which was behind the barn. The box was about as large every way as a common bureau drawer, being pretty long and broad, but very shallow.
“What are you going to do with that box?” said Lucy.
“I am going to make your duck pond with it,” said Royal.
“I don’t see how you are going to make a duck pond with a box,” said Lucy.
“Why, you see,” said Royal, “I am going to dig a square hole in the ground, in a corner of the yard, and set this box down in it, and then I am going to pour water in it, and so make the duck pond.”
“But that won’t be big enough,” said Lucy.
“O yes,” said Royal, “it will be plenty big enough for such a little duckling as ours. He can swim about in it a great deal.”
“It is not yours and mine,” said Lucy; “it is mine alone.”
“Yes,” said Royal, “it is part mine; you said if I would make you a duck pond, you would let me own it with you.”
“Yes, I said I would give it to you, after you had made the duck pond; but I haven’t given it to you yet.”
“Yes, but, Lucy, I am going to make the duck pond. I am doing it as fast as I can.”
“It won’t be big enough,” said Lucy. “I meant a duck pond as big as Mary Jay’s.”
“O Lucy, I could not possibly make such a big duck pond as that. That is a great brook.”
“Yes,” said Lucy, “and so I told you. I told you that you couldn’t make such a duck pond as I wanted.”
Royal insisted that the bargain was fairly made, and that he only agreed to make a duck pond big enough for a duck to swim in. And now he said that it was not fair for Lucy to take back her promise, and that he meant to go on and finish the pond, and then he should certainly have half the duck for his.
But Lucy, on the other hand, contended that she meant a large duck pond; whereas Royal was only going to make a box full of water. After considerable discussion, they very properly agreed to refer the case to Miss Anne. They both promised to abide by her decision.
They found Miss Anne swinging herself at a swing, near the back part of the garden. After hearing a full account of the case from each of the parties, Miss Anne said,—
“It is rather a difficult case to decide. Nothing was said about the size of the duck pond in the bargain, but yet Lucy says she meant a large one; and it is highly probable that she did. Now, it is hard for her to lose her duck, in a bargain which she did not mean to make.
“But, then, on the other hand,” continued Miss Anne, “Royal honestly understood her to mean a duck pond of any size, and so he began in good faith to fulfil his agreement; and now it is rather hard for him to be disappointed, and lose his work.”
“Why, Miss Anne,” said Lucy, “he hasn’t done any work; he has only taken out the box.”
“That is something,” said Miss Anne, “and then the disappointment is a good deal; so that it is a hard case to decide.”
She paused for a few moments, considering the case, and then she added,—
“You see, Royal—do you not?—that your claim is a somewhat doubtful one?”
“Why, I think,” said Royal, “that it was a fair bargain; and, besides, to make a small duck pond will be as much as the duckling is worth.”
“Still, that was not her understanding, and so the case is somewhat doubtful. Now, sometimes, in such a case, where a man has a claim which he perceives is, after all, a doubtful one, and the other party is not willing to allow it, he will not insist upon it. We all have just claims, which, considering all the circumstances of the case, we do not wish to insist upon.”
“How?” said Royal.
“Why, suppose, for instance, that I should lend a book to Mary Jay, and, while it was at her house, it should accidentally get injured.”
“But Mary Jay is very careful of books,” said Lucy.
“I have no doubt of that,” replied Miss Anne; “but then an accident might happen. A little child might get it.”
“But there are no little children there,” persisted Lucy.
“No matter,” replied Miss Anne; “we can certainly make the supposition, that the book got injured.”
Lucy thought that, even as a mere supposition, the idea that a book could get injured, while under Mary Jay’s care, was wholly inadmissible. However, she said no more, and Miss Anne proceeded.
“Now, if that were the case,” continued Miss Anne, “I should have a claim upon Mary Jay to buy me another book. If any body borrows any thing, and it gets injured while in her care, she is bound to get another; so I should have a fair and just claim upon her; but I should not insist upon it. I should not wish her to buy me another book. It would be a just claim, but yet I should not insist upon it.
“Now, cases of this kind very often happen,” she continued, “where persons have just claims, which they prefer to yield, rather than to insist upon. Now, you think, in this case, Royal, that you have a just claim upon Lucy; but, perhaps, considering all the circumstances of the case, you will conclude that you will not insist upon it. That will settle the whole question; and I shall be saved the necessity of deciding whether the share of the duck is justly yours or not.”
“Well,” said Royal, after a moment’s pause, “on the whole, I don’t care much. I believe I’ll make the duck pond, and you may have the duck yourself, Lucy, pond and all.”
Lucy was highly gratified at Royal’s generosity, in giving up his claim so pleasantly, and they went together out into the yard.
Royal then proceeded with his work. He dug a square hole in the corner of the yard, and put the earth, which came out of it, into his little wheelbarrow, and wheeled it away, reserving one wheelbarrow load. Then he put the box into its place, and rammed in the earth which he had reserved, compactly, all around it.
“And now,” said Lucy, “are you going to put the water in that?”
“Yes,” said Royal.
“I don’t think it will be a very good duck pond,” said Lucy.
“Why not?” asked Royal.
“Because,” said Lucy, “the sides are so steep, that my little duck can’t get out.”
“Ah, you’ll see that he can get out, when it is done.”
“But, Royal,” said Lucy, “what good does it do to put in the box? Why don’t you pour the water right into the hole.”
“Because,” said Royal, “it would all soak away into the ground. The sides of the box will keep the water from soaking away so much.”
“It will soak away through the cracks,” said Lucy.
“No,” said Royal, “I shall stop up the cracks.”
Accordingly, when Royal had finished placing his box in the ground, and had packed the earth in tight all around it, he went away with his wheelbarrow to a bank at some distance, down in the field, where there was some clay, and he brought a little of this in his wheelbarrow to the spot. He worked this clay over all the seams, and into the corners of the box, ramming it down hard.
“There,” said he, “now the water can’t get through. Clay is water-tight. Water can go through sand, but it can’t get through clay.”
“Is that what you mean by water-tight?” asked Lucy.
“Yes,” replied Royal. “After I have made my box water-tight, with clay, then I am going to put sand in.”
“What is that for?” said Lucy.
“You will see,” replied Royal.
So Royal, when his clay was all crowded into its place, around the bottom of the box, took his wheelbarrow again, and went after a load of sand and gravel. He had to go to some distance for this; but he succeeded at length in getting as much as he could wheel, of pretty clean sand and pebble-stones.
This load he put into the box, and he disposed of the sand and gravel in such a way, as that it filled the box nearly full around the sides, leaving a deep place in the middle. Then he went to get some water.
He brought pailful after pailful, until he had filled up his little pond level with the top. The water was somewhat turbid immediately after he had poured it in; but he told Lucy that in a little while it would subside and be clear.
“It will settle,” said he, “while I am making the duck house.”
“Are you going to make a duck house too?” asked Lucy.
“Yes,” replied Royal; “for, pretty soon, you see, the duck will be big enough to live out of doors, and then you will want a house for him.”
So Royal went and got another box. It was shaped like a trunk, and about as large, only it had no cover. Royal brought this, and placed it at one end of his duck pond, laying it down upon its side, so that the open part was towards the pond.
“There,” said he, “that will do for a house, only the top ought to be slanting.”
“What for?” said Lucy.
“Why, for the roof,—so that the water will run off when it rains.”
“Well, Royal,” said Lucy, “we can tip it back a little, and that will make the top slanting. Then you can put a stone under one side, to keep it so.”
“No,” replied Royal, “for that will make the bottom slant back too. You see the floor ought to be level, and only the roof slant back. But I know what I can do.”
Saying this, Royal went away, and got a short board, a little larger every way than the upper board of the box. This he placed over the box, in an inclined position. This was for a roof. The back part of the roof—that is, the part which was away from the pond—rested directly upon the box. The front part—that is, the part which was towards the pond, which was, of course, to be raised, in order to make the roof slant backward—Royal supported by a narrow board, which he placed under this edge to keep it up. He nailed the roof securely in its place.
When it was finished, there was, of course, a space between the upper part of the box and the roof. Royal said that this was the duck’s garret. “And now,” said he, “for the yard.”
“What! are you going to make a yard?” asked Lucy.
“Yes,” said Royal, “he must have a yard, or else he will run away. But while I am making a yard, Lucy, you must go into the barn, and get a little hay, and make him a nest.”
So Lucy went into the barn, and got some hay, while Royal took his wheelbarrow, and went away to find some boards for the yard. He brought three or four boards, and with these he made a yard. The boards were about six feet long. He placed them upon the ground, upon their edges. Each board made one side of the yard. He nailed them together at the four corners. One of the boards passed directly behind the duck house; the others extended on each side, and forward, so as to enclose the duck pond and considerable space besides, so that the duck could come out of his house, and either swim in his pond, or else walk about upon the ground, just as he pleased; only he could not get over the boards, so as to run away.
“That is a beautiful duck yard,” said Lucy, “only I wish there was a door for me to open, to go in.”
“O, you can step right over it,” said Royal.
“Yes,” said Lucy, “I know I can step over it; but I should like a door.”
“Well,” said Royal, “I will see if I can contrive some way to make a door.”
Royal then went and got a small block of wood, which he brought to the duck yard, and put it down before it, close to the board upon one side. When he had it properly placed, he said,—
“There, Lucy, that will do for a step, and you can step up by that, and so get over easily; and you can call that a door. Won’t that do?”
Lucy said that it would do very well; and she stepped over by means of her step, and back again, several times. She said it made a very good door indeed.
By the time that all this had been doing, the water in the little pond had become quite clear, and Lucy could see that it had a smooth, sandy bottom. So they both wanted to bring the duck out, and see it swim. Lucy was afraid that it was too little to swim; but Royal insisted that a duck could swim just as quick as it could get out of the shell. Lucy said that she meant to ask Joanna; and they accordingly both went into the house to ask Joanna if it would do to put their little duck into the water.
Joanna said that she thought he could swim, and, at any rate, that she would go out with them, and carry him, and see. Then they all went out together.
Joanna said that she liked the pond, and the house, and the yard, all very much indeed.
“But I think,” she added, “that it would be better to keep the little duck in the house at night, for a while, where he can be kept warm, until he gets a little older. Then, in the daytime, while the sun is out, you can keep him here in his house; and then, after some time, when he gets older and stronger, you can let him stay in his house all the time, day and night.”
So saying, Joanna gently put the duck down upon the edge of his pond, in order to see what he would do. He ran right into it at once, and immediately began to swim about as dexterously as if he had been accustomed to the water as long as his mother had been.
“‘He can swim!’ exclaimed Lucy; ‘see, Royal! he can swim!’”—
“He can swim!” exclaimed Lucy; “see, Royal! he can swim!”
The duck then began to dabble with his bill in the sand, upon the margin of the water. Then he took up a little water, and held his bill up to let the water run down his throat. Then he looked up with one eye towards Royal and Lucy, and then he swam across the pond again, and went to dabbling in the sand upon the other side.
“O ducky,” said Royal, “what a cunning little rogue you are!”
“Let’s give him something to eat,” said Lucy.
“Yes,” replied Joanna, “I brought him a little piece of bread;” and so saying, she proceeded to crumb her bread upon the ground, near the duckling. He came out upon the bank, and began to pick up some of the small crumbs immediately; and then he turned around, and jumped into the water again, and swam away, striking the water from beneath him with his little web feet. Joanna laughed heartily at his comical movements; and, after looking at him for a few minutes, she left him with the children, and went back to the house.
The children let the duck swim about in his pond for more than an hour, while they remained near, sometimes watching his motions, and sometimes playing at a little distance from his house and yard. They had some conversation about his name. Several names were talked of, but finally they concluded to call him Diver. They gave him as much bread as they thought he ought to have, and then Royal put the remainder of the pieces, which Joanna had brought out, in Diver’s garret, which he said would be a fine place to keep his provisions in.
“Yes,” said Lucy, “I think it will be an excellent place, and I am much obliged to you, Royal, for making me such a good duck pond, and house, and yard. I am very glad to have it. It is a great deal better than I expected that it would be. And I believe, on the whole, that I shall let you own Diver with me. We will own him, and his house, and his yard, and his pond, all together.”
“Yes,” said Royal, “so we will.”
The children went in and told Miss Anne how they had settled the business, and she said that she was glad of it. “It is much better,” she said, “to arrange such affairs in a spirit of kindness and good-will, than for each party to insist upon his or her claims, and have the case decided as a dispute between them; and I am very glad that you have settled it in an amicable manner.”
“What do you mean by amicable?” asked Lucy.
“Friendly,” replied Miss Anne.