"No," said James, holding fast to his pole; "no, I'd rather knock them down."
"No," said Rollo, "I can knock them down better."
"But I got the pole first, and I ought to have it."
Rollo, finding that James was not willing to give up his pole, left him, and went to George, and asked George to let him have the pole; but George said he was taller, and could use it better than Rollo.
Rollo was a little out of humor at this, and stood aside and looked on. James soon got tired of his pole, and laid it down; and then Rollo seized it, and began knocking the apples off of the tree. But it fatigued him very much to reach up so high; and, in fact, they all three got tired of the poles very soon, and began picking up the apples.
But they did not go on any more harmoniously with this than with the other. After Rollo and James had thrown in several apples, George came and turned them all out.
"You must not put them in so," said he; "all the good and bad ones together."
"How must we put them in?" asked Rollo.
"Why, first we must get a load of good, large, whole, round apples, and then a load of small and wormy ones. We only put the good ones into the barrels."
"And what do you do with the little ones?" said James.
"O, we give them to the pigs."
"Well," said Rollo, "we can pick them all up together now, and separate them when we get home."
As he said this, he threw in a handful of small apples among the good ones which George had been putting in.
"Be still," said George; "you must not do so. I tell you we must not mix them at all." And he poured the apples out upon the ground again.
"O, I'll tell you what we will do," said James; "we will get a load of little ones first, and then the big ones. I want to see the pigs eat them up."
But George thought it was best to take the big ones first, and so they had quite a discussion about it, and a great deal of time was lost before they could agree.
Thus they went on for some time, discussing every thing, and each wanting to do the work in his own way. They did not dispute much, it is true, for neither of them wished to make difficulty. But each thought he might direct as well as the others, and so they had much talk and clamor, and but very little work. When one wanted the wagon to be on one side of the tree, the others wanted it the other; and when George thought it was time to draw the load along towards home, Rollo and James thought it was not nearly full enough. So they were all pulling in different directions, and made very slow progress in their work. It took them a long time to get their wagon full.
When they got the load ready, and were fairly set off on the road, they went on smoothly and pleasantly for a time, until they got up near the door of the garden-house, when Rollo was going to turn the wagon round so as to back it up to the door, and George began to pull in the other direction.
"Not so, Rollo," said George; "go right up straight."
"No," said Rollo, "it is better to back it up."
James had something to say, too; and they all pulled, and talked loud and all together, so that there was nothing but noise and clamor. In the mean time, the wagon, being pulled every way, of course did not move at all.
Subordination.
Presently Farmer Cropwell made his appearance at the door of the garden-house.
"Well, boys," said he, "you seem to be pretty good-natured, and I am glad of that; but you are certainly the noisiest workmen, of your size, that I ever heard."
"Why, father," said George, "I want to go right up to the door, straight, and Rollo won't let me."
"Must not we back it up?" said Rollo.
"Is that the way you have been working all the morning?" said the farmer.
"How?" said George.
"Why, all generals and no soldiers."
"Sir?" said George.
"All of you commanding, and none obeying. There is nothing but confusion and noise. I don't see how you can gather apples so. How many have you got in?"
So saying, he went and looked into the barrels.
"None," said he; "I thought so."
He stood still a minute, as if thinking what to do; and then he told them to leave the wagon there, and go with him, and he would show them the way to work.
The boys accordingly walked along after him, through the garden-house, into the yard. They then went across the road, and down behind a barn, to a place where some men were building a stone bridge. They stopped upon a bank at some distance, and looked down upon them.
"There," said he, "see how men work!"
It happened, at that time, that all the men were engaged in moving a great stone with iron bars. There was scarcely any thing said by any of them. Every thing went on silently, but the stone moved regularly into its place.
"Now, boys, do you understand," said the farmer, "how they get along so quietly?"
"Why, it is because they are men, and not boys," said Rollo.
"No," said the farmer, "that is not the reason. It is because they have a head."
"A head?" said Rollo.
"Yes," said he, "a head; that is, one man to direct, and the rest obey."
"Which is it?" said George.
"It is that man who is pointing now," said the farmer, "to another stone. He is telling them which to take next. Watch them now, and you will see that he directs every thing, and the rest do just as he says. But you are all directing and commanding together, and there is nobody to obey. If you were moving those stones, you would be all advising and disputing together, and pulling in every direction at once, and the stone would not move at all."
[Illustration: There, Said He, See How Men Work.]
"And do men always appoint a head," said Rollo, "when they work together?"
"No," said the farmer, "they do not always appoint one regularly, but they always have one, in some way or other. Even when no one is particularly authorized to direct, they generally let the one who is oldest, or who knows most about the business, take the lead, and the rest do as he says."
They all then walked slowly back to the garden-house, and the farmer advised them to have a head, if they wanted their business to go on smoothly and well.
"Who do you think ought to be our head?"
"The one who is the oldest, and knows most about the business," said the farmer, "and that, I suppose, would be George. But perhaps you had better take turns, and let each one be head for one load, and then you will all learn both to command and to obey."
So the boys agreed that George should command while they got the next load, and James and Rollo agreed to obey. The farmer told them they must obey exactly, and good-naturedly.
"You must not even advise him what to do, or say any thing about it at all, except in some extraordinary case; but, when you talk, talk about other things altogether, and work on exactly as he shall say."
"What if we know there is a better way? must not we tell him?" said Rollo.
"No," said the farmer, "unless it is something very uncommon. It is better to go wrong sometimes, under a head, than to be endlessly talking and disputing how you shall go. Therefore you must do exactly what he says, even if you know a better way, and see if you do not get along much faster."
The New Plan Tried.
The boys determined to try the plan, and, after putting their first load of apples into the barrel, they set off again under George's command. He told Rollo and James to draw the wagon, while he ran along behind. When they got to the tree, Rollo took up a pole, and began to beat down some more apples; but George told him that they must first pick up what were knocked down before; and he drew the wagon round to the place where he thought it was best for it to stand. The other boys made no objection, but worked industriously, picking up all the small and worm-eaten apples they could find; and, in a very short time, they had the wagon loaded, and were on their way to the house again.