rather than
to go up the mountain; and he induced Rollo to join him in a request
that Mr. George would let them go out on the lake, while he went up the
mountain, if he wished to ascend it.

"We can have a boat and a boatman," said Waldron. "The boatman will row
us, and take care of us, and that will be perfectly safe. And Rollo
would like that plan best, too."

In forming this scheme Waldron and Rollo made a mistake; and it was a
mistake that boys are very apt to fall into when they are invited to go
on excursions with their parents, or uncles, or older brothers. It is
naturally to be supposed that the tastes and inclinations of boys, in
such cases, should often be different from those of the grown persons
they are with, and should lead them to wish frequently to deviate, more
or less, from the plans formed. But it is a great source of
inconvenience to those whom they are with to have them often propose
such deviations. In this case, for example, Mr. George had come a long
distance, and incurred very heavy expenses, for the purpose of seeing
the Scottish Highlands. Unless he could now really see them, of course
all his time and money would be lost. The pleasure of going a-fishing
is, doubtless, often very great, but this was not the time nor the place
for enjoying it. In acceding to the arrangement to come with Mr. George
to the Highlands, the boys ought to have considered themselves joined
with him in a tour for instruction and improvement, and as committed to
the plans which he might form, from time to time, for accomplishing the
objects of the tour. By proposing, as they did, to deviate on every
occasion from these plans, and wishing to turn aside from the proper
duty of tourists, in search of such boyish pleasures as might be enjoyed
just as well at home, they failed signally in fulfilling the obligations
which they incurred in undertaking the tour under Mr. George's charge.

Let all the boys and girls, therefore, who read this book, remember that
whenever, either by invitation or otherwise, they are joined to any
party of which a grown person has charge, or when they accompany a grown
person on any excursion whatever, they go to share _his_ pleasures, not
to substitute their own for his, and thus to interfere with and thwart
the plans which he had formed. Boys often violate this rule from want of
thought, and without intending to do any thing wrong. This was the case
in this instance, in respect to Waldron and