224 Daniel Pratt 



cluster. I could hear loud boyish shouts of laughter 

 long before I reached the lake ; and when at last 

 the sheet of water came into view, I could see a 

 number of boys playing with Daniel on the bank 

 opposite to where I stood. Daniel was in the water, 

 where he had evidently gone to retrieve a stick that 

 one of the boys had thrown in, and was now swim- 

 ming back toward the land. But whenever he ap- 

 proached the shore he was pelted with a shower of 

 sticks and stones, and in his attempts to avoid them 

 he was forced back into the lake again. Just as I 

 reached the bank I saw a large stone thrown by a 

 big boy strike Daniel on the head, and he sank be- 

 neath the water. The sight naturally aroused my 

 indignation. I shouted to the boys, and they looked 

 around quickly. As they did so, one of them missed 

 his footing, fell headlong into the lake, and was 

 instantly lost to sight. I knew the water was very 

 deep where he had fallen in, and I started to run 

 around the little lake to help him. 



Although Daniel must have been dazed by the 

 crushing blow he had received, yet a moment later 

 he seemed to realize the situation as clearly as I did. 



