es, in the distance, he caught a glimpse of the beautiful,
graceful deer, which were too timid to permit him to come very near
them.

Just in front of the house was a wooden dock where Johnnie Jones liked
to play, but where he was never allowed to go alone as the water about
it was very deep. "Teach me to swim," he said to his father. "Then I
shall be able to play wherever I please."

Father had been intending to give Johnnie Jones lessons in swimming and
was only waiting for a warm, sunshiny day. Such a day came very soon,
and, about twelve o'clock, he and Johnnie Jones, dressed in their
bathing suits, went in the water. The little boy considered bathing
great fun as long as he remained close to shore where the water was
shallow but he did not like it so well when Father carried him out to
the raft, where the water was so deep that it reached the shoulders of
the grown people standing in it.

"Now, son," Mr. Jones said, "I want you to stand on the raft, and jump
when I count three. I will catch you in my arms, let you go down under
the water, and bring you up again. Remember to hold your breath, so that
you will not take any of the water into your nose or mouth. Perhaps you
had better keep one hand over your face for fear you might forget and
try to breathe before you reach the surface. Now jump, I am quite ready
to catch you."

Johnnie Jones stood on the raft and looked down at the water. He did not
want to jump into it, but neither did he want to disappoint his father.
Besides he wished very much to learn to swim.

"Will you be certain to catch me?" he asked Father.

"I promise you I will," he answered.

Johnnie Jones knew that Father always kept his promise, so, after a
moment or two, he said he was ready.

"One, two, three, jump!" said Father. And Johnnie Jones obeyed.

As soon as he touched the water he felt Father's strong arms about
him, and then he did not mind going down, down, into it. In a second
he came to the surface again, of course dripping wet, but without
having swallowed any water, as he had remembered to hold his breath.

After the first plunge, he enjoyed taking others, and jumped into the
water as many times as Father would catch him. Next day they went in
bathing again, and Father carried Johnnie Jones out to the raft as
before. But when the little boy was ready to jump, Father said: "To-day,
I shall not catch you when you first touch the water; I shall wait until
you come to the surfa