ss which had been cut down in the
forenoon. The Old Squire and the Elder commonly raked side by side, and
often fell into argument on the subject of man's free moral agency, on
which they held somewhat diverse views. Upon the second afternoon, Asa
Doane maneuvered to get them both into a yellow-backed bumble-bees'
nest, which was under an old stump in the hay.

The Elder was just saying, "I tell you, Squire, man was designed for--"
when a yellow-back stung him on his neck, and he finished his sentence
with a rather funny exclamation! Another insect punched Gramp at almost
the same moment, and they had a lively time of it, brandishing their
rakes, and throwing the hay about. The others raked on, laughing
inwardly without seeming to notice their trouble.

But that night after supper, while we were grinding scythes, the Elder
called Gramp out behind the barn, and I overheard him very gravely ask,
in an undertone, "Squire, when we were amongst those bumble-bees, this
afternoon, I hope I didn't say anything unbecoming a minister. I was a
reckless young man once, Squire; and even now, when anything comes
acrost me sudden, like those bumble-bees, the old words are a-dancing at
my tongue's end before I know they are there.

"Because, if I did make a mistake," he continued, "I want to make public
confession of it before these young men."

But the Squire had been too busy with his own bumble-bees to remember.
So the matter passed, by default of evidence; but the Elder felt uneasy
about it, and watched our faces pretty sharply for a day or two.

The heat troubled me not a little, and I then knew no better than to
drink inordinately of cold water. I would drink every five minutes when
I could get where there was water, even after the Old Squire had pointed
out to me the ill effects that follow such indulgence. But it seemed to
me that I must drink, and the more I drank the more I wanted, till by
Friday of that first week I was taken ill. Sharp pain is a severe yet
often useful teacher. I was obliged to desist from frequent potations,
and Gram gave me some bits of snake-root to hold in my mouth and chew.

Both the Doanes were great jokers. There was something in the way of fun
going on, nearly all the time; either there was racing, while mowing, or
raking the heels of the boys ahead of them. They were brimming over with
hay-makers' tricks, and I well remember what a prank they played on me
during the second week.

It befell w