720 Mr. W. R. Ogilvie- Grant : Boyd Alexander 



their horror, through a crack in the boards they could see 

 him lying with his head in a pool of blood. Fortunately 

 they sighted a labourer who was working in a neighbouring 

 field, and at length with his help the door was broken 

 open and poor Boyd was brought out and laid upon a heap 

 of straw. Water was fetched from a well near by, and 

 after a little while he revived. It Mas then seen that in 

 falling he had struck the rafters with his jaw and that 

 three of his teeth were broken off. It was close on lunch- 

 time and they were about half a mile from home. His 

 brothers urged him to let one of them run back and bring 

 the pony cart, but he would not hear of it, fearing that if 

 his mishap became known to the elders, a stop would be put 

 to their independence and all their fun spoilt for the future. 

 So he struggled home in his shaken and crippled state 

 and actually made the attempt to endure his pains through 

 lunch as if nothing had happened. But his dazed condition 

 and battered face at length attracted notice, though not 

 before he had won the day for his brothers and himself, for 

 the serious nature of his accident was never realised by his 

 parents, their chief fear being lest his appearance should be 

 permanently damaged. So this was by no means the last of 

 the adventures the boys had in the pursuit of their pet hobby. 

 Side by side with his taste for natural history another 

 excellent boyish characteristic was developed in the form of 

 a steadfast hero-worship, the objects of which were never 

 dethroned from his regard, but remained his pattern heroes 

 to the end of his life. These were Napoleon and General 

 Gordon. In viewing the record of Alexander's achieve- 

 ments, so remarkable for so young a man and one that has 

 placed him among the great explorers of history, and 

 remembering this early hero-worship of bis, it is interesting 

 to observe how " the child was father to the man." For 

 this was the inspiration which largely helped him in after 

 years to overcome well-nigh insurmountable difficulties. 

 When alone in the midst of dangers, and fighting the leagued 

 forces that Fate arrayed against him, of savage men, aud 



