98 



THE SPRING OF THE YEAR 



"Would I get him some turtle eggs? he called. 

 Yes, I would. And would I get them to Cambridge 

 within three hours from the time they were laid? Yes, 

 I would. And I did. And it was worth the doing. 

 But I did it only once. 



" When I promised Agassiz those eggs, I knew 

 where I was going to get them. I had got turtle eggs 

 there before at a particular patch of sandy shore 

 along a pond, a few miles distant from the acad- 

 emy. 



" Three hours was the limit. From the railroad 

 station to Boston was thirty-five miles ; from the 

 pond to the station was perhaps three or four miles; 

 from Boston to Cambridge we called about three 

 miles. Forty miles in round numbers ! We figured 

 it all out before he returned, and got the trip down 

 to two hours, record time : driving from the 

 pond to the station ; from the station by express train 

 to Boston ; from Boston by cab to Cambridge. This 

 left an easy hour for accidents and delays. 



" Cab and car and carriage we reckoned into our 

 time-table ; but what we did n't figure on was the 

 turtle." And he paused abruptly. 



" Young man," he went on, his shaggy brows 

 and spectacles hardly hiding the twinkle in the eyes 

 that were bent severely upon me, "young man, 

 when you go after turtle eggs, take into account the < 

 turtle. No! No! that's bad advice. Youth never 

 reckons on the turtle and youth seldom ought to. 



1 



