ld repay the risk, and calling to mind some
lines I had heard,--

'Softly, gently touch a nettle,
It will sting thee for thy pains;
Grasp it like a man of mettle,
Soft and harmless it remains,--'

I told him that I would assist him. He assured me that if I
could only get a rope around the limb above and fasten it to the
one on which the bees were, then saw off that limb and lower it
down, he could secure them without much trouble.

With saw and rope in hand I ascended the tree, and, after due
preparation, severed the limb and carefully lowered it within
the deacon's reach. I was surprised, and felt repaid for my
trouble, to see with what ease and unconcern Dea. Hubbard, with
his bare hands, scooped and brushed the swarm of bees into a
sheet he had prepared, and how readily he got them into a vacant
hive. Many thanks did the deacon proffer me for my timely
assistance, and moreover insisted on my staying with him to
dine. It seemed to me that I was never in a more comfortable
house, and I am sure I never received a more cordial greeting
than that bestowed upon me by his venerable spouse.

The place where I boarded with several other boys was with a
widow lady by the name of White, who was very kind to me, but
who had the misfortune to have had three husbands, and her
daughters did not all revere the memory of the same father, and
consequently there were oftentimes differences among them.

For several days after this transaction I had noticed on the
table at our daily meal a nice dish of honey, an unusual treat,
but to which we boys paid due respect.

My term at school expired, and I went home to my father's, a
distance of some thirty miles, and assisted him on the farm
during the fall months, employing much of my leisure time in
studying.

My father was a stern, straight-forward man--a member of the
Orthodox church, and one who professed to believe in all the
proprieties of life, and endeavored to impress the same on the
minds of his children.

One day, after dinner, he said to me, in his stern way of
speaking,--'Gilbert, what kind of scrape did you get into in
G----?'

For my life I could not tell what I had been doing, and had but
little chance to think, ere he tossed a letter across the table
and said, 'Read that, and tell me what it means!' T