6 LOUIS AGASSIZ. 



quiring for them among the troop of urchins 

 coming down the village street she learned 

 on what errand they had gone. Her anxiety 

 may be imagined. The lake was not less 

 than two miles across, and she was by no 

 means sure that the ice was safe. She hur- 

 ried to an upper window with a spy-glass to 

 see if she could descry them anywhere. At 

 the moment she caught sight of them, already 

 far on their journey, Louis had laid himself 

 down across a fissure in the ice, thus making 

 a bridge for his little brother, who was creep- 

 ing over his back. Their mother directed a 

 workman, an excellent skater, to follow them 

 as swiftly as possible. He overtook them 

 just as they had gained the shore, but it did 

 not occur to him that they could return other- 

 wise than they had come, and he skated back 

 with them across the lake. Weary, hungry, 

 and disappointed, the boys reached the house 

 without having seen the fair or enjoyed the 

 drive home with their father in the afternoon. 

 When he was ten years old, Agassiz was 

 sent to the college for boys at Bienne, thus 

 exchanging the easy rule of domestic instruc- 

 tion for the more serious studies of a public 

 school. He found himself on a level with his 

 class, however, for his father was an admirable 



