ld be cured by court-plaster.

It was a great wonder, however, that more harm had not been done; for
when the child blew so forcibly down the chimney, the wick shot up out of
the lamp and the chimney shivered in pieces; one of the pieces had struck
his face, making the cut, while the hot air and smoke flashing into his
eyes caused them to smart fiercely. August had neglected to fill the lamp
at the proper time, and the oil had burned nearly out. It was the sudden
forcing of air down the tube which caused the explosion.

"I thought you said 'twas a safety lamp!" said Katie indignantly.

"'Tisn't half so good as our un-safety ones;" declared Robbie.

"It's never safe to blow directly down upon a full flame in any lamp,"
said mamma. "The wick should always be turned down first and the flame
gently blown."

"Accident the third;" said August ruefully. "Mamma, do you feel like
trusting me any farther?"

His mother smiled. "The usual experience of inventors, my son."

Sunday passed quietly. Monday with its school duties was well over.
Tuesday morning--"Three weeks to-day!" said August, and half fearfully
opened his incubator.

"_Peep! Peep! Peep!_"

The lad trembled with excitement, and a flush of joy spread over his
face. He could hardly believe his ears. "One, two, three," he hurriedly
counted, "four, five, six." On he counted, up to twenty eggs chipped or
cracked. One chicken was half out of its shell, and one, quite
independent, was scrambling over the rest of the eggs.

August held his breath and looked at them as long as he dared to keep the
incubator open. Then softly closing the lid, he rushed down stairs.

"Hurrah! Hurrah!" he shouted at the door of his mother's room. "They're
hatching, mamma! They're hatching!"

"Are they, really?" asked mamma, pleased enough, and she hurried up the
stairs, closely followed by the children, whom August's joyful cry had
aroused from their sleep. In great excitement they clustered around the
barrel.

"Oh! what a cunning, fluffy one!" cried little Katie, as she spied the
oldest chick.

"But what is the matter with that other one?" asked Tommy.

"He has just left the shell and is not dry yet," August explained. "As
soon as he is dry he will be downy like the other."

"Hear em say '_peep! peep!_'" cried little Robbie, grasping the edge of
the barrel with both hands, and stretching his short legs to their utmost
extent in order to get his eyes high enough to look over th