Stuyvesant: A Franconia Story

scov

in. Phonny called out to him to shut the door as quick as possible. Wallace did so, while Phonny, in explanation of the urgency of his injunction in respec

ny," said

nny," said Phonny.

Wallace. "Who in

Beechnut said that his name was Frin

. He stood a moment surveying it in si

Stuyvesant do

aking a

r, Stuyvesant?

en-house," said Phonny, "though I don't s

ing to have the hen-house," said W

said St

were all exactly of a length, and he knew that they must have been pretty accurately measured. While Wallace was looking on, Stuyvesant was measuring

and nearer to the edge, and, what was a still greater difficulty, the holes in the lower board, which was to form the bottom of the cage, since their places too had been guessed at, did not correspond with those above, so that the wires, when they came to be put in, inclin

lengths, taking care however not to have any of them too short. The result was that the ends of the w

thinking of the difference between the two boys. The train of th

deal more interest in the hens, which are useful and productive animals, than he does in the squirrel, which is a mere plaything. Then he plans his work carefully, consid

ctions, Wallace was called

age for me. I am tired of boring all these ho

ies. He finally concluded to undertake the work. So he took the cage down from the bench and put it upon the floor; he borrowed the iron square and the compasses from Stuyvesant; he ruled a line along the top of the box at the right dis

y of nails of all sizes, some crooked and some straight, some whole and some broken, and all mixed up in confusion with a mass of old iron, such as rings, parts of hinges, old lo

large," s

want the nail to go through and come out o

aid Phonny. "They are cut nails, and they

ten them first,"

aid Phonny, "how

m in the fire,"

them, can he, Wal

he can soften them so

y water. At the same instant that the nail is cut off from the end of the plate by the cutting part of the engine, the end of it is flattened into a head by another part,

hard. The consequence is, that such nails are very stiff, and if bent much, they break off. This is no disadvantage, provided that the wood to be nailed is such that the nail is to be driven str

d there, the stiffness of the iron in a cut-nail constitutes a serious difficulty; for the end of the nail where it comes through, instead of bending over and sinking into the w

ting the iron red hot, the metal seems to expand to its original condition of ductile iron, and it loses the

e had asked him the reason. He, therefore, understood the whole process, and his plan

his would make twelve nailings. Stuyvesant concluded that he would have four nails at each nailing, and multiplying twelve by four, he found that forty-eight was

plan of softening the nails, and so he left Wallace to go on b

of the fire in the world," said Pho

m on the shovel,

ho was still ironing at a table near the window, and asked he

I will go and move the flat-

ould have considered it very rude and wrong to have been noisy in it, or to take possession of, and use without her leave, the things which were under her charge there. Dorothy obser

these coals was a row of flat-irons. Stuyvesant put his nails upon a long-handled shovel, and Dorothy moved a

them to get hot, and I will go and clear out

Phonny, "I wi

hen you take up your irons, and if you see that they get red-hot, take the

but what are you going

fness out of them

?" replied Dorothy. "What

"and I should like to have you take them off th

HY'S

d Dorothy,

t went away, while Doro

s, &c., to the door. They then with a fork pitched this rubbish into the wheel-barrow, and wheeled it out, and made a heap of it i

ver the floor of the hen-house, which made the apartment look extremely neat and comfo

n we have got our ladder done, we

" said

hat?" said

g. I wonder if it is possible

Stuyvesant, "when we

ur ladder; and the nails-it is time to go an

ay from the fire, and they were now almost cool. Stuyvesant slid them off from the shovel upo

d put them in. He had, however, now become so much interested in the operation of making the ladder, that he concluded to put off

e said they could drive the nails without boring. Stuyvesant said that there were three objections to this: first, they might not go straight, se

in, driving it as far as he had driven the first one. This was the topmost cross-bar of the ladder, and it was held securely in its place by the two nails. Stuyvesant then took the bottom cross-bar and secured that in the same way. Then he put on the othe

b up on it,"

uyvesant,-"wait ti

was coming through, and then driving. The point of the nail when it reached the axe, was deflected and turned, and bending round entered the wood again,

to carry it out, the door

adder particularly, and said that it was made in a very workmanlike manner. Phonny showed Beechnu

all," said Beechnut. "You have got a ve

ge?" ask

age for him than that box,-I think, and

out of this sho

an he would gnaw out of

e of the pine which formed the interior. He perceived th

hat," said Phonny "I

ting his arm into the box and nailing tin there, wh

the whole shop, to-night, and now

or that Stuyvesant had made, and the button of the large door, while Stuyvesant w

r of the loft, and immediate

and I verily believe that she is setting; I

come back, away from the hen, while he went up to see. She was upon a nest there, squatted

o doubt; and as she has been missing a long tim

said B

they heard a faint peep

d toward the b

sed. Beechnut said that he thought that they had better go away and leave the hen to herself, a

ascertain whether they are eggs or chickens under the hen. For if they are egg

presume they were all eggs when we made the bargain. To-morrow we will get them all down,

e half the care of them, and offered to give Stuyvesant half of his squirrel in return. Stuyvesant said that he

lete order, and the next, to make the prettiest hen-coop they could contrive, in a corner of the yard. This they did, and Beechnut got the hen and