all; there would be time for study
afterwards.

The Agassiz boys had a few short lessons in the morning with their
father or mother, and then they roamed through the woods and fields the
rest of the day. Of course they found plenty to interest them and never
came home from these jaunts with empty hands. They had pet mice, birds,
rabbits, and fish.

There was a stone basin in his father's yard, with spring water flowing
through it. In this Louis put his fish and then watched their habits. As
I told you, nothing escaped his eyes. He proved this more than once.

It was the custom in Swiss cantons for different kinds of workmen to
travel from house to house, making such things at the door as each
family might need. Louis watched the cobbler, and after he had gone away
surprised his sister with a pair of boots he himself had made for her
doll. And after the cooper had made his father some casks and barrels,
Louis made a tiny, water-tight barrel, as perfect as could be. He kept
his sharpest gaze on the tailor, and Papa Agassiz said to his wife: "Let
us see, now, if Louis can make a suit!" They did not, in the end, ask
him to try, but no doubt he knew pretty well how it was done.

At the age of ten, Louis was sent to a college twenty miles from Motier,
where his parents lived. He was keen at his lessons and asked questions
until he mastered whatever he studied. The second year he went to this
college he was joined by his brother, Auguste. The two boys liked the
same things and never wanted to be away from each other. Whenever a
vacation came, the boys walked home--all that twenty miles--and did not
make any fuss about it!

By and by the boys wanted to own books which would tell them about
birds, fishes, and rocks. These were the things Louis was thinking of
all the time. The boys saved every cent of their spending money for
these books. They were always talking about animals. One day, as they
were walking from Zurich to Motier, they were overtaken by a gentleman
in a carriage. He asked them to ride with him and to share his lunch.
They did so and talked to him about their studies. He was greatly taken
with Louis, who was a handsome, graceful lad, as he told the stranger
his fondness for books. The gentleman hardly took his eyes from the boy,
and a few days later Reverend Mr. Agassiz had a letter from him saying
that he was very rich and that he wanted to adopt Louis. He said he was
sure that the boy was a genius.

Loui