They accordingly put on their caps, and went. They found that the snow was pretty deep. It was heaped up upon the fence and against the windows; and there was a curious-shaped drift, with the top curled over in a singular manner, running along from the corner of the shed towards the garden gate.
"Ah," says Rollo, "when it clears up, I mean to go and wade through it."
"And I too," said Nathan.
"O Nathan," said Rollo, "it is over your head."
"Hark!" said Nathan; "who is that pounding in the barn?"
"It is Jonas, I suppose," said Rollo. "I mean to go out and see what he is doing."
"How are you going to get there?" said Nathan.
"O, I can put on my boots," said Rollo, "and go right out through the snow."
"I wish I could go," said Nathan.
"Well," said Rollo, "I can carry you on my back."
Nathan clapped his hands at this proposal, being doubly pleased at the prospect of both getting into the barn to see what Jonas was doing, and also of having a ride, on the way.
So Rollo put on his boots, while Nathan went and got Rollo his straps, to fasten his pantaloons around them. When all was ready, Rollo sat down upon the step of the door, in order that Nathan might get on easily.
"We'll play that I am a camel," said Rollo, "and that I'm kneeling down for you to get on."
"Do camels kneel down," said Nathan, "when the men want to ride?"
"Yes," said Rollo; and so saying, he rose laboriously, with his heavy burden upon his shoulders. He staggered along with some difficulty, but yet safely, until he came to the great drift; and, after wallowing into the midst of it, he lost his balance, and both camel and driver rolled over together into the snow. The snow got up under Nathan's sleeve, and he began to cry.
"O Nathan," said Rollo, "don't cry. I'll run and get Jonas to come and carry you in."
So Rollo ran into the barn, and called to Jonas to come quick. Jonas laid down his hammer upon the bench, and followed Rollo. He found Nathan in the snow, and took him up in his arms, and carried him into the barn.
As soon as he got him under cover, he brushed the snow off, and told him not to cry. "I've got a fire in the shop," said he, "and you shall see me do my work. I'm mending the bellows."
So he led Nathan through the barn, and thence along under a shed to a sort of shop-room, where there was a large fireplace and a fire. Rollo put on some sticks, which made a great blaze; and so Nathan soon got warm and dry, and forgot all his troubles. Then Jonas sat him up, upon a high stool, near the bench, where he could see him work. He was just drawing out some of the nails, by which the leather of the bellows was nailed to the sides.
"What is the matter with the bellows?" said Nathan.
"The valve is out of order," replied Jonas.
"The valve," repeated Nathan; "what is the valve?"
"The valve is a kind of clapper," said Jonas. "I will show it to you in a few minutes."
So Jonas proceeded to take off the leather from one of the sides of the bellows. There was a hole in one of the sides, but no hole in the other. Nathan had often noticed the hole, but he did not know what it was for.
"What is the hole for?" said Nathan.
"That is to let the air in," said Jonas.
"What do they want the air to come in for?" said Nathan.
"To make wind of," said Jonas.
"Do they make wind out of air?" said Nathan.
"Yes," said Jonas, "they get the bellows full of air, and then blow it out through the nose, and that makes wind."
"Wind is air, put in motion," said Rollo. "I read it in a book."
By this time, Jonas had taken off the leather so far that Nathan could see into the bellows. He saw that there was a little clapper over the hole, in one of the sides of the bellows.
"Is that the valve?" said he to Jonas.
"Yes," said Jonas.
"What is it for?" said Nathan.
"It is to keep the wind from coming out of that hole."
"Why don't they want the wind to go out of that hole?" said Nathan.
"Because," said Jonas, "they want it to go to the fire,-to blow the fire."
"You see," said Rollo, "it can't go out of the hole, and so it has to go out of the long nose, which is pointed towards the fire."
"What makes it go out at all?" said Nathan.
"Why, when we blow the bellows, we press the two sides together, and that presses the wind out. It can't go out of the hole whence it came in, because the clapper stops it up, and so it goes out the long nose, right into the fire, and makes the fire burn."
By this time, Jonas had got the leather off so far, that he could get at the clapper to mend it. He told the boys that it was old and worn out, and he must make a new one.
"How are you going to make it?" said Rollo.
"You'll see," said Jonas, "if you watch me closely."
So Jonas took some leather, and cut out a piece, of an oblong shape, a little wider than the hole, and about twice as long. Then he laid this down over the hole. It covered it entirely. Then he took some small carpet nails, and nailed one of the ends of the leather down to the board. Then Jonas put his hand down under the board, and run one of his fingers up through the hole, and pushed the leather up a little way.
"There," said he to the boys, "you see I have nailed the leather, so that, when it lies down in its place, it covers the hole completely; and yet I can push it up a little with my fingers, so that there will be an opening."
Then Jonas cut a small leather strap, and nailed one end of it down upon one side of the clapper, and the other end upon the other side of the clapper. He put one little carpet nail into each end of the strap. The strap, when it was nailed, passed directly across the clapper or valve. It was not drawn tight across, but it lay upon the clapper loosely. The ends were nailed tight, but the middle rested loosely upon the clapper.
"Now," said Jonas, "I can push the clapper up a little way, but I can't push it far. The strap keeps it from coming up far."
"But why," said Nathan, "do you want it to go up at all?"
"To let the air in," said Jonas. "When I get the leather all nailed on again, I'll show you the whole operation of it."
"And you can be telling us about it in the mean time," said Rollo.
"Well, then," said Jonas, "when I lift up the upper side of the bellows by the handle, to blow, the air comes in by the hole. The clapper lifts up a little way, and lets it in. Then, when I press down the handle again, it presses the air out through the nose, because it can't go back through the valve hole."
"Why not?" said Nathan.
"Because," said Jonas, "the valve falls down over the hole, and stops it up. It is made so as to lift up easily, and then to fall down and cover the hole exactly, and prevent the air going out the same way it came in. So, as it cannot get out by the valve, it has all to go out through the nose. If the nose were stopped up, it could not get out at all."
"And what then?" said Rollo.
"Why, then," replied Jonas, "you could not bring the two sides of the bellows together again. The air between would keep them apart."
"I should like to try," said Rollo.
"Well," said Jonas; "and there are some other experiments you may perform with it too."
At length, Jonas said that he had got the leather all nailed on, and they might try the experiment. He took hold of the nose of the bellows, and held his thumb near the end of it, ready to stop up the hole.
"Now, Nathan, you may take hold of the handles, and pull them apart as if you were going to blow."
Nathan did so. He pulled the handles apart, and held them open.
"Now," said Jonas, "I will stop up the nose, and the valve will close itself; and then you will find that you cannot bring the sides together again."