s not breaking. But this the
oldest boy would not listen to; the trunk might snap, and then
somebody would be hurt, and he felt, in a measure, responsible for
the rest of the class. At length a good plan was proposed by a boy
who had studied mechanics.

"What we ought to do with that tree," said he, "is to put a hinge
into her. Then we could let her down gently, pick off the fruit, and
set her up again.

"But how are you going to do it?" asked the others.

"This is the way," said the boy who had studied mechanics. "You take
a saw, and then, about two feet from the ground, you begin and saw
down diagonally, for a foot and a half, to the centre of the trunk.
Then you go on the other side, and saw down in the same way, the two
outs meeting each other. Now you have the upper part of the trunk
ending in a wedge, which fits into a cleft in the lower part of the
trunk. Then, about nine inches below the place where you first began
to saw, you bore a hole straight through both sides of the cleft and
the wedge between them. Then you put an iron bolt through this hole,
and you have your tree on a hinge, only she wont be apt to move
because she fits in so snug and tight. Then you get a long rope, and
put one end in a slipknot loosely around the trunk. Then you get a
lot of poles, and tie them end to end, and push this slip-knot up
until it is somewhere near the top, when you pull it tight. Then you
take another rope with a slip-knot, and push this a little more than
half-way up the trunk. By having two ropes, that way, you prevent too
much strain coming on any one part of the trunk. Then, after that,
you take a mallet and chisel and round off the lower corners of the
wedge, so that it will turn easily in the cleft. Then we take hold of
the ropes, let her down gently, pick off the fruit, and haul her up
again. That will all be easy enough."

This plan delighted the boys, and they all pronounced in its favor;
but the oldest one suggested that it would be better to fasten the
ropes to the trunk before they began to saw upon it, and another boy
asked how they were going to keep the tree standing when they hauled
her up again.

"Oh, that is easy," said the one who had studied mechanics; "you just
bore another hole about six inches above the first one, and put in
another bolt. Then, of course, she can't move."

This settled all the difficulties, and it was agreed to start out
early the next morning, gather the fruit, and claim th