ere at the expense and trouble of going to Trenton, and
there he refused to perform his promise, to their great loss and
disappointment.

As soon as the loss of the wagons and horses was generally known, all
the owners came upon me for the valuation which I had given bond to pay.
Their demands gave me a great deal of trouble, my acquainting them that
the money was ready in the paymaster's hands, but that orders for paying
it must first be obtained from General Shirley, and my assuring them
that I had applied to that general by letter, but he being at a
distance, an answer could not soon be received, and they must have
patience; all this was not sufficient to satisfy, and some began to sue
me. General Shirley at length relieved me from this terrible situation
by appointing commissioners to examine the claims, and ordering payment.
They amounted to nearly twenty thousand pounds, which to pay would have
ruined me.

Before we had the news of this defeat, the two Doctors Bond came to me
with a subscription paper for raising money to defray the expense of a
grand firework, which it was intended to exhibit at a rejoicing on
receipt of the news of our taking Fort Duquesne. I looked grave, and
said it would, I thought, be time enough to prepare for the rejoicing
when we knew we should have occasion to rejoice. They seemed surprised
that I did not immediately comply with their proposal. "Why...!" says
one of them, "you surely don't suppose that the fort will not be taken?"
"I don't know that it will not be taken, but I know that the events of
war are subject to great uncertainty." I gave them the reasons of my
doubting; the subscription was dropped, and the projectors thereby
missed the mortification they would have undergone if the firework had
been prepared. Dr. Bond, on some other occasion afterward, said that he
did not like Franklin's forebodings.

READING HISTORY

Lively or exciting stories are so interesting that we are inclined to
read too many of them, and to read them too carelessly. By so doing, we
fail to get the highest pleasure reading can give, and never receive the
great benefit that is ours for the taking. If we let our arms rest idle
for a long time, they become weak and useless; if a boy takes no
exercise he cannot expect to be a strong man. So, if he reads nothing
that makes him exert his mind, he becomes a weakling in intellect and
never feels the pure delight that the man has who can read in a
m