The Make and mend club. A story of boys' adventures, sports and experiments

CHAPTER I. THE CJjUB IS FORMED

It was just after suudown on an evening in September that four boys met on the porch of a handsome cottage situated in a country place, the name of which it is not necessary for our purpose to mention here

They had not yet rung the bell when the door opened and a merry and cordial voic* was heard exclaiming:

“ Hurrah, boys, here we are again ! Come right in ; glad to see you-, did you have agooa time this summer ?”

“First-rate, Charley/' was the reply of a dark-haired boy with a jolly-looking face ; a face the sight of which was sufficient to in¬ form any person of the reason why his companions had given him the soubriquet of “ Jolly Joe.”

The b ys on entering were met bv a pleasant- faced lady, who in¬ quired

“ Well, boys, can I expect to see your fathers and mothers this evening ?”

“Mine’s coming,” said Joe.

“ And mine also,” uttered a light haired youth of fifteen, who was known among his elders as “ Thoughtful Ben.”

It may be as well to state here that in this pretty country town there were three families, living not far from each other, who were very intimate.

After the close of school in June these families had gone their separate ways for the summer They had but recently returned, and Mrs. Amberly had sent a request to her friends, Mrs. Stedman and Mrs. Walden, that they would call on this evening. The boys had preceded their parents.

A short time afterward Mr. and Mrs. Stedman arrived.

Greetings were hardly exchanged, when Mr. and Mrs. Walden were announced.

Ceremony among these three families was a thing unheard of,

THE MAKE AND MEND CLUB.

and, instead of sitting primly in the parlor, they made themselves more at home in the comfortable and pleasant sitting-room, where the boys were permitted to do about as they pleased, while the elders engaged in conversation on subjects of interest to them¬ selves.

The boys had withdrawn into the far corner of the room, whence now and then came bursts of laughter, indicating that they were having a good time among themselves.

It was about as nice a looking group of boys as one could wish to see*

There was fat and cheery Charley and his brother, Harry, the sons of Mr. and Mrs. Amberly, in whose house this meeting oc¬ curred; there was Jolly Toe and his more serious brother, Mark, sons of Mr. and Mrs. Stedman: then there was “ Thoughtful Ben ” and “Practical George,” the sons of Mr. and Mrs. Walden.

Singular to say, in each of these families there were but two children— these boys— so that the three families numbered the six seated there in the corner ana evidently enjoying themselves.

During tht evening Mrs. Steaman remarked :

“ Why, Mrs. Amberly, have you replaced the vase that was brok¬ en last spring?”

“ No, that is th«- same one.,* with a glance toward the mantel.

“ Why, that one was broken into a number of pieces ! Surely it can’t be the same.”

“It is, though,” Mrs. Amberly said, smiling. “ If you will exam¬ ine it, you will see that it has been mended.”

“Sure enough,” Mrs Stedman remarked, after a moment’s close scrutiny ; “ but it is so well done as almost to defy detection. Did you have to send it to town to a professional mender ?”

“No, the restoration is due to Harry’s genius.”

“ Yes,” came from Harry in the corner, “ and mother gave me twenty-five cents for doing it.”

“ I think shv' would be perfectly willing to give you that much or more for so neat a piece of mending,” Mrs. Stedman said.

“I say,” remarked Joe to Harry in an undertone, and then Mrs. Stedman failed to hear what followed.

A little while later Joe approached his mother, and said :

“There is a job of mending mother to be done at our house, and if you will pay me as well as Mrs. Amberly paid Harry I will do it.”

“What is it?”

“To unite the parts of the broken arch on the alabaster clock, and set it properly.”

“ I am afraid you cannot do that.”

“I am sure I cant”

“ Has Harry been telling you how ?”

“Well, that doesn’t make any differenfee, does it? Isn’t it suf¬ ficient if I do it?”

“Yes; and if you will do it you shall have twenty-five cents the same as Harry.”

This little incident impressed Mr. Amberly quite forcibly, and when Joe had returned to the corner, he remarked :

“Don’t you think it would be a good idea if we could in some way develop in our boys an interest for mechanical pursuits?”

“A good idea,” Mr. Stedman returned.

Mr. Walden signified a hearty acquiescence in the scheme, and the three gentlemen began discussing as to how it might best be accomplished.

The result of their conference became evident when Mr. Amber¬ ly called the boys to him.

“Boys,” he said, beaming good-naturedly upon them, “how would you like to form a little club among yourselves, having for an object learning how to make and mend ?”

There was a simultaneous cry from all of the boys, of :

“First rate!”

“Your hearty reply pleases me, as I am sure it also pleases Mr. Walden and Mr. Stedman. Such tools as you may require we will be glad to purchase for you.”

“This idea just tickles me,” Joe remarked, laughing.

“ The first thing we have to do,” Serious Mark slowly said, “ is to get a name for our club.”

“ That’s easily done,” rejoined Ben. “ Mr. Amberly has already suggested a good title.”

“What was it?”

“ Why, he said the object of our club was to be making and mending; now what better name could we have than The Make and Mend Club?”

Everybody thought the title a very happy one.

“ The next thing in order,” said Mr. Amberly, “ will be for you to adopt a set of by-laws and elect officers.”

Upon receiving this suggestion the boys asked permission to re¬ tire1 to the dining-room that they might hold their first meeting in privacy.

Ben had an idea that he knew something of parliamentary law. Whether he did or not makes very little difference, for the others gave him credit with being possessed of this knowledge and com¬ menced proceedings by electing him as chairman of the meeting, whereupon he bowed his thanks and took his place with consider¬ able dignity at the head of the table.

Being called upon for a speech, he arose, and in a self-possessed manner, said :

“ Gentlemen, we have matters of more importance on hand than the making of speeches. This is not a court of law nor a rostrum, but a business meeting, and I, as chairman of it, say let business commence at once ! I now appoint Mark Stedman and George

Walden a committee to draft a set of by-laws for our future government.”

Mark bowed gravely, coughed, and said :

“ For the great honor conferred upon us, Mr. Chairman, we re¬ turn our thanks, and will at once proceed with the delicate duty intrusted to us, bringing to the task all the abilities that we may possess.”

The result of half an hour’s labor was the following :

BY-LAWS OF “THE MAKE AND MEND CLUB.”

Section I. The members of this club must not purchase any¬ thing within their ability to make, doing which will subject the offending member to a fine of twenty-five cents; or, if the offense be very grave, to a sum as much greater as the majority of the other members shall decide.

Section II. This club limits its membership to six, believing that number is as many as can work conveniently together.

Section III. A member must not infringe on the ideas of an¬ other, and shall advise and assist to the best of his ability any other member who may call upon him for such advice or as¬ sistance.

Section IV. Members can draw from the treasury any sum less than one dollar, to be used in making or mending any article de¬ signed for personal use; but if employed in making or mending for a person not a member, the proceeds must be returned into the treasury.

Section V. Only those who will promise faithfully to be gov¬ erned by our by-laws can become members.

Section VI. Honorary members may be admitted ; but they shall have no vote nor voice in the proceedings or business of the club ; and each of them shall be required to pay into our treasury twenty-five cents each time a member makes or mends an article in a sensible and practical manner.

Section VII. Benjamin Walden, Esq., is herewith declared to be our first honorable presiding officer. Mark Stedman is here¬ with declared to be our first honorable secretary and treasurer.

After these by-laws had been approved there arose a discussion among the boys as to whether it would not have been proper to define the duties of th officers but this being decided in th nega¬ tive, a movement to adjourn into the sitting room was held to be in order.

“Well,” Mr. Amberly said, when they entered, “is the club regularly constituted now ?”

“ It is, sir,” Ben returned. “I have the honor to be its first presi¬ dent and Mark here is our secretary, in which capacity he will have the pleasure of reading to you the by-laws this night adopted.’

There was a smile of approval on the faces of all as the opening sections wer read : the smile grew into a laugh when that section was reached wherein the privileges and penalties attaching to honorary members were set forth.

When he had finished reading this, Mark modestly said :

“We have not yet purchased a book in which to write our min¬ utes, hence I trust you will exouse my reading several resolutions passed by us, and hastily jotted down on these scraps of paper I hold in my hand.

“ ‘ Resolved, That the members of The Make and Mend Club unanimously and heartily concur in the acceptance of a set of tools proffered us by the Messrs. Amberly, Steaman and Walden, and that we thus express our thanks, which shall be engrossed in the minutes, and a copy of this resolution forwarded to them by our secretary. ’

“ Resolved, That w hereby elect as honorary members of The Make and Menu Club th< Messrs. Amberly Stedman and Wal¬ den, and trust they will promptly respond when our secretary callr upon them for numerous quarters of a dollar ’ ”

“I expected it,” laughed Mr Stedman.* u I thought that blunderbus of a sixth section was aimed at us.”

“ Mr. Amberly, don’t you think that is rather a sharp dodge?” Mr. Walden inquired.

“ Rather, I must say. But they have caught us fairly, and I for one shall not back out. So, Mr. Secretary, you may call upon me as soon as you like.”

Chapter II. Mending

As soon as school was out the next day Joe Stedman started for home. Several inducements that were held out to him to "join dif¬ ferent parties of boys were of no avail, He had the mending of that alabaster clock in his mind, and until it was accomplished he could not rest easy.

He had already invested in five cents’ worth of plaster of Paris, so there was no occasion for his stopping on the way home.

Having borrowed a large apron and tied it around him so that his clothing should not be soiled by the plaster, he then put about a thimble full into a dry cup. In th< kitchen he obtained a table knife, the blade of which was worn very thin with long service. The broken alabaster arch was lying on the table, together with several small blocks of w od. the latter being intended for sup¬ porting th arch after the two pieces had been joined and while the plaster was drying

Having placed everything handy, he poured a small quantity of water on the plaster in the cup, finding which was absorbed read¬ ily he poured in a little more, and kept on gradually adding water until the mixture was quite thin, so that when taken on the knifeblade it would drop easily from it.

Having spread a thin coat of the mixture on one end of the fracture, previously assuring himself that it was free from dirt, he then brought the two parts together, and by means of the blocks of wood held them firmly in place.

Allowing half an hour for the plaster to set, by which we mean to part, with its moisture, he then found that the two parts were fastened.

The pressure applied when the fractured parts were joined had caused a little of the plaster to exude above the surface ; this he n> w removed very carefully with the knife, doing it cautiously that the alabaster might not b scratched.

The arch was now complete, and ready to be returned to its proper position, where it had been previously secured by the same means adopted by him to join the sundered parts.

With the knife he now removed such of the old and dry plaster as remained fixed to the ends of the arch, as well as the bases on which it had been supported.

The mixture that he had in the first instance made was by this time hard and unfit to be used; hence he cleaned the cup out, and, using about th, same quantity of plaster, made a new mixture, this time slightly thicker than before.

With nis knife he placed a thin film of it on the ends of the arch, which he then qui kly adjusted in its proper position, and pressed it down gently but firmly.

Securing it so that it could not fall, and result in further injury, he then left it to harden, after which he removed with the knife such portion of the plaster as had squeezed out from beneath the bases of the arch.

His mother being called in to examine his work, pronounced it as well done as it could have been done by any jeweler to whom she might have taken it, and who at once gave him the sum prom¬ ised.

Ben heard of .Toe’s success with a thoughtful face, and forthwith determined that he w. uld find something in his house that wanted mending.

Home was no sooner reached than a search was commenced for some broken article, the mending of which would fall within his ability.

It would have been a singular house had there not been one or more broken articles about it.

“ l say, mother!” he exclaimed, bursting into the cozy room where his mother was at work, “don’t you want that lamp mended ?”

“What lamp?”

“ Why, the one that we used in the dining-room ?”

“ I am afraid you can’t mend that. The base which fits on the glass body, and into which the burner screws, is off.”

“ I know that, mother ; and that’s just what I propose to mend.”

“ Do you think that you can securely fasten the brass collar on?”

I do, mother, and I don t want you to give me anything unless I make a perfect job of it.”

THE MAKE AND MEND CLUB.

Receiving his mother’s sanction to make a trial Ben hurried down stairs and possessed himself of the lamp.

From Joe he borrowed some plaster, and in the cellar he found an empty bottle, that, fortunately, had a cork in it.

This cork he inserted into the brass collar from the top, pressing it in as far as it would go.

He cleaned the raised portion, or neck, of glass at the opening, and placing the lamp within easy reach he now mixed some plaster in a cup, making it quite thin.

The brass collar being placed in an inverted position he took up the cup containing the plaster solution, and poured the brass nearly full.

Now taking up the lamp and turning it upside down, he placed the hole above the cork, following which down brought the neck of glass within the brass rim, causing a portion of the plaster to overflow ; he did not attempt to remove this now, only took means to hold the lamp steady in its upright position.

An hour later he returned, and, lifting up the lamp, found the brass securely fastened to it.

He now removed the cork carefully, so as not to rupture the connecting substance, and then with a pocket-knife cleaned out such excess of plaster as was found.

His father and mother pronounced the job a perfect one in every respect, as, indeed, it could not well help being, since he had in a simple way performed exactly the same operation as had secured it in the first instance.

His demand for twenty-five cents was duly honored.

This was for repairing alone, and belonged to him. But there was another twenty-five cents that his father, as an honorary mem¬ ber of The Make and Mend Club, was compelled to pay into its treasury.

In addition to this Mr. Walden was called upon to pay twenty-five cents for the mending of the alabaster clock. The other two gentlemen, being called upon to pay fifty cents each, the sum total in the treasury was $1.50.

At a meeting, informally held the next afternoon the six boys united in declaring The Make and Mend Club to be a glorious in¬ stitution.

Stimulated by the success thus far met with, each of the six boys began casting about him for an opportunity to exercise his ingen¬ uity in making or mending something.

Each discovered many a thing to make or mend which, unfortu¬ nately, required more skill than he possessed.

It was left to Harry, “the ingenious,” to first discover an out¬ let for the consuming desire to do something.

Mrs. Amberly was the owner of a canary, a cute little fellow, as yellow as yellow could be, and a beautiful songster. He had been honored by the name of Nebuchadnezzar, but this being rather too large a mouthful for common use, it had been shortened to Neb.

“Now, Neb,” Harry one day said, nodding his head at the canary, who was gazing intently at him with one bright little bead of an eye; “now, Neb, I’m going to teach you a trick that will make you the admiration of all who see you. I’ve asked mother’s permission and she has given it, so I’m going to commence work at once. Understand?”

Neb lifted his head, then the feathers at his throat ruf&ed them¬ selves, and he piped a few complacent, self-satisfied notes that as much as said :

“Understand? Of course I do, and I am anxious to see what you mean to do.”

Neb betrayed no fear when Harry began making sundry meas¬ urements about the cage.

Presently, drawing back, the boy thoughtfully surveyed the cage for a full minute, and then he nodded two or three times, his face brightening in unison with the movement.

“That will do it exactly,” he said to himself, and then made his way to the kitchen in search of a small tin box that would hold water without leaking.

He soon found what he wanted, a box a little over an inch deep and barely as wide.

He now hunted up a bit of brass wire and then went to his mother for a thimble. She had an old one which she gave him, and having provided himself with a pair of nippers and a sharppointed awl, he went to the room where Neb’s cage hung.

Taking down the cage, Harry placed it gently on a table and then removed the drinking fountain, which had been held in place by the elasticity of the wires on either side of it.

An opening was left like “a,” figure 1. Taking his nippers, he bent his piece of wire so as to make a little elbow like “ b,” figure

2. He next fastened this wire to the cage as shown at “ c,” figure

3, accomplishing the task so quietly that Neb was not in the feast alarmed.

THE MAKE AND MEND CLUB.

With the awl Harry now punched two holes in the thimble, close under the rim, exercising considerable care to get them ex¬ actly opposite. With a bit of very light wire, he made a bail or handle which he fastened in the holes, thus completing a minia¬ ture bucket. The bail was bent as shown in figure 4.

Into the loop “ d ” he fastened a piece of string, which being carried into the groove or elbow “ b,” was dropped inside the cage and the end secured to the perch. The string was just long enough to prevent the thimble touching the projecting rim of the cage’s bottom, on which he so placed the tin box that the miniature bucket depended in it.

He now filled the tin box with water and then thus addressed the canary :

“ Now, my dear Neb, when you want a drink you must earn it by drawing it from a well. Ha!— that is right!” for Neb, who had eyed all these preparations in silence, now began picking away at the string, and shutting his bill over it giving it sundry little vicious tweaks.

A canary will nearly always tug and peck at a string placed in his cage, and it is owing to this habit that they can so easily be taught to perform the trick Harry meant Neb should learn.

Harry watched Neb’s operations with an absorbed air, doubt teeing uppermost in his mind one moment and hope the next. Finding there was only a slight resistance when he pulled the string Neb began backing away on his perch, tightly holding it in his bill. Finally coming to a halt he perched his head on one side in a knowing way, giving one the impression that he was considing something deeply; after a second or two of indecision Neb brought his bill close to the perch and pinned the string to it with one pink claw. Every nerve in Harry’s body was tingling expect¬ antly now. What would Neb do next ?

Why, Neb just took a new hold of the string with his bill, drew in some more, and secured it beneath the same claw, having to Harry’s great delight, drawn the bucket out of the well.

Neb kept on pulling, until finally the bucket hung in front of the opening. If he was not a surprised bird when he saw that strange thing hanging there, no bird ever was surprised. After a little he grew so oold as to examine it, and possibly being rendered thirsty by his exertions he no sooner discovered that the bucket contained water than he helped himself to a drink.

The sight caused Harry to boil over as he expressed it, and he uttered a yell of exultation that^would have done credit to a Camanche warrior.

“ Oh ! if he will only do that to-night after father comes home!” exclaimed Harry. ‘‘That means seventy-five cents more for The Make and Mend Club. Uncle Frank will be here also, and— and —I shouldn’t wonder a bit if he suggested some improvement, for Uucle Frank knows very so much.”

Of course all the boys were delighted with Neb’s accomplish¬ ment, and we are almost inclined to think, from the frequency with which thirst afflicted Neb, that he knew it was something of which to be proud.

Uncle Frank did have a suggestion to make, to the effect that a prettier bucket could be manufactured from the shell of a hazel-nut, or filbert, as some people call them ; the base of the nut, the white part, should be rubbed on a stone, he said, until it was ground entirely away, when the meat could be extracted and holes bored into it to receive the bail or handle.

Uncle Frank had traveled nearly all over the world, and there were very few things of which he did not know something, and which he was able to describe in an interesting manner. In re¬ sponse to questions, he said :

“ Canary birds were first known in the sixteenth century, when a vessel that was bound for Leghorn was driven ashore in a storm and wrecked on the coast of Italy.

“On board were some canaries, which, surviving the wreck, were bred from, and the climate being a favorable one increased rapidly in numbers.

“Their exquisite singing made them eagerly sought for, and in a very short time they were to be found all over Europe.

“ At the present time they are extensively bred in the Hartz Mountains, Germany, and the Tyrol, and a great many persons earn a living in raising them.

“ Neb, there, was hatched out on the Hartz Mountains, and his first wants were probably attended to by a rosy-cheeked peasant maiden.

“ Canaries are delicate birds, and are subject to many distempers, one of the most common of which is produced by over feeding, re¬ sulting in surfeit, and sometimes in what we may call ‘bird apo plexy.’

“ If they begin to swell and show evidences of being in pain, they should be fed sparingly, and kept very warm.

“The bird should at this time have white oatmeal placed with his seed, to scour him, and a little liquorice in his water. If the bird should be very ill, let him have a little biscuit, steeped in wine, and force a little of it down his throat.

“ Sometimes a canary will have a small abscess appear under the feathers of the rump. When this is ripe, it may be opened with a small needle, and all the matter gently squeezed out of it; after¬ ward a little bit of sugar, moistened by the mouth and put on the wound, will cause it to heal.

“Sometimes a kind of scurf appears on the head of the canary; this may be cured by the application of the oil of sweet almonds, or a little very fresh butter.

“ Moulting is natural to all birds, and while it lasts the health of | the bird is often precarious. When birds begin to moult, that is, change their feathers, they appear roving, melancholy, and drowsy. In the first year of moulting, the bird casts only his down and small feathers, but in the second his tail and wing feathers. When in moult, birds should be kept warm, and have j good nourishing food. Biscuit, bread, and hard-boiled egg, bruised hemp and lettuce seed, and rape seed, are then good for them, and a little saffron in their water, which will greatly help them to cast their feathers.

“ Among birds the canary is one of the most intelligent, and can readily be taught many simple tricks. Neb appears to be a brighter bird than usual, for it generally takes hours, and sometimes sev¬ eral days, to teach one to draw water from a well. By exercising patience, however, any boy can teach a canary to perform this trick.”

When the secretary called on the honorary members for twenty-five cents each, the demur was made that while Harry’s ingenuity was both pleasing and praiseworthy, he had accomplished nothing of a practical nature.

Each week the parents of the six boys met at the house of one or the other, and at the first meeting subsequent to this it was ar¬ ranged that each week when they all came together the boys should submit for consideration whatever they had done, and if a majority voted that any certain thing was practical or useful the secretary might at once collect what was due.

Chapter III. At Work

On the Saturday following this meeting a good sized box was delivered at Mr. Stedman’s house by the expressman, addressed to The Make and Mend Club, hence the chums had no hesitation in opening it. Cries of delight fell from the lips of all at sight of its contents, for before their eyes were the promised set of tools.

First there was a vise, which as Mark turned over in his hand, he remarked:

“ This means that we must put up a work-bench, for it is of no use otherwise.”

“Well,” said Joe, “we ought to have brains and skill enough among us to make a work-bench.”

Just at this moment Uncle Frank put in an appearance, and as he took various tools out of the box explained their uses.

THE MAKE AND MEND CLUB.

“This,” he said, “is a jack-plane, and is used to take the rough surface from a board.

It should be held steadily by fixing the right hand at the handle (h) and the left over the top and side at (s) and pushed forward on the wood, when the knife (k) will take oft a shaving which runs through the hole (o) and falls on the side.

“ This,” Uncle Frank went on, “is a long plane, and is intended to be used after you are done with the jack-plane.”

Fig. 7.

“And this,” taking up a short one, “is a smoothing plane, and you will probably find it to be the most useful to you.”

“ Here you have a handsaw with large teeth bent considerable outward. It is a ‘ rip-saw ’ and intended for use when sawing with the grain of a board. This saw with smaller teeth is a ‘ cross-cut,’ and is used in sawing across the grain.”