ave been pretty accurately measured. While Wallace was looking on,
Stuyvesant was measuring off the distances upon the side pieces of the
ladder, so as to have the steps of equal length. Wallace observed that
he did this all very carefully.

Wallace then looked back to Phonny's work. He saw that Phonny was
guessing his way along. The holes were not equidistant from each
other, and then they were not at the same distance from the edge of
the board. As he had advanced along the line, he had drawn gradually
nearer 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, inclined some this way, and some that. In some places the
wires came very near together, and in others the spaces between them
were so wide, that Wallace thought that the squirrel, if by any chance
he should ever get put into the cage, would be very likely to squeeze
his way out.

Then, besides, Phonny had not measured his wires in respect to length,
but had cut them off of various lengths, taking care however not to
have any of them too short. The result was that the ends of the wires
projected to various distances above the board, presenting a ragged
and unworkmanlike appearance.

Wallace was silent while he was looking at these things. He was
thinking of the difference between the two boys. The train of thought
which was passing through his mind was somewhat as follows.

Stuyvesant is younger than Phonny, and he was brought up in a city,
and yet he seems a great deal more of a man; which is very strange. In
the first place he takes a great 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, considers how
much he can probably accomplish himself, and undertakes no more. He
plans, he calculates, he measures, and then proceeds steadily and
perseveringly till he finishes.

In the midst of these reflections, Wallace was called away by Phonny,
as follows.

"Cousin Wallace, I wish you would finish my cage for me. I am tired of
boring all these holes, and besides I can't bore them straight."

Wallace looked at the work a moment in uncertainty. He did not like to
throw away his own time in finishing an undertaking so clumsily begun,
and on