728 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY, 



ppor old pastures on a sparsely wooded slope of the Ardennes. Of 

 this pasture-land he bought some ten or twelve acres, including a hill- 

 top with a few shade-trees and a fine view toward the valley of the 

 Sarabre. At the first opportunity one of Pierre's garden-chairs was 

 sent up to the lookout point, but rain and rough usage soon reduced 

 it to its component elements scrap-iron and loose cudgels. Pierre 

 volunteered to repair it, and was supplied with such a variety of ma- 

 terial and tools that he made two more chairs, and while he was about 

 it also a rustic round-table with a center-hole, corresponding to the 

 diameter of one of the shade-trees. The hill was only two miles 



from town, and soon became a favorite evening resort of the G 



family ; but the road was rather steep, and Mrs. G appealed to the 



ingenuity of her constructive nephew : could he not try and make a 

 winding trail by knocking some of the rocks and bushes out of the 

 way? Pierre tried, and his success, the uncle declared, proved him 

 and intuitive engineer, the peer of Haussmann and Brunei. That new 

 road had so increased the value of the old pasture that it would be 

 worth while to put up a pavilion and make it a regular hill-top resort. 

 The only drawback upon the advantage of its situation was the want 

 of good di'inking-water ; but there was a sort of a spring in an adjoin- 

 ing pasture on the opposite slope of the ridge : would Pierre make an 

 estimate of the number of bricks requisite to wall it up and keep the 

 cattle from muddling it ? The requisition proved an under-estimate, 

 but Pierre made up the deficiency by collecting a lot of passably 

 square stones. The water now became drinkable, and somehow the 

 rumor got abroad that Pierre had discovered the spring, whereupon 

 his uncle's neighbor urged him to exercise his talent for the benefit of 

 his valley-meadow, in all but the want of water the best pasture in the 

 parish. Pierre selected a spot where a lot of day -laborers were set to 

 work and actually struck water by digging deep enough. The grati- 

 tude of the farmer was almost too demonstrative for the modest lad, 

 who, however, agreed with his uncle that a talent of that sort might 

 make its possessor a public benefactor, and ought to be cultivated. 

 Would Pierre undertake to locate a well on his uncle's hill-pasture, a 

 little nearer to the lookout point ? The brick-spring was too far down, 

 and it would be so convenient to have water on one's own premises ! 

 Judging from analogies, the young hydrologist fixed upon a spot at 

 the junction of two ravines, but too near the upper boundary of 

 arboreal vegetation, and after digging down to a stratum of dry sand- 

 stone detritus, the workmen gave up the job in disgust. But Pierre 

 himself would not yield his point, and offered to dig the well alone if 

 they would give him time, and a boy to turn the windlass of the sand- 

 bucket. His wish was granted, and before he had been a week at 

 work, his asthma had left him, his digestion improved, and his appetite 

 became ravenous. The well-project had finally to be relinquished, but 

 his uncle consoled him by purchasing the adjoining lot and letting him 



