A MOUNTAIN POND 85 



coin into his hand. The shot took effect at 

 once. Father and mother found their voices, 

 and said in the same breath, " Say thank 

 you ! " How natural that sounded ! It is 

 part of the universal language. Every par- 

 ent will have his child polite. But the boy, 

 poor thing, was utterly tongue-tied, and 

 could only smile ; which, after all, was about 

 the best thing he could have done. The 

 father, too, was still inclined to silence, find- 

 ing nothing in particular to say, though I 

 did my best to encourage him ; but he took 

 pains to keep along with me, halting when- 

 ever I did so, and making it manifest that 

 he meant to be with me at the turn in the 

 road, about which I had inquired (needlessly, 

 there is no harm in my now confessing), so 

 that I should by no possibility go astray. 

 Nothing could have been more friendly, and 

 at the corner both he and his wife bade me 

 good-by with simple heartiness. " Good-by, 

 little boy," said I. "Tell him good-by," 

 called both father and mother ; but the boy 

 could n't, and there was an end of it. " He 's 

 just as I was at his age ; bashful, that 's all." 

 This little speech set matters right. The 

 parents smiled, the boy did likewise, and we 



