lity was overcome to the point 



of trial, and he grasped his ^^ 



wasp with true heroism, holding 



his breath meanwhile, and bringing all his hypnotic 



power, as he said, to bear upon the victim, and to this 



alone he attributed his escape from the insect's sting; 



for he handled it without the slightest harm. 



" You are right," he said ; " it is all in the way you 

 do it." 



But his next essay was not so conspicuous a success, 

 and I express it but mildly when I say that he has done 

 with this sort of amusement for all time. 



There is, in truth, a right way and a wrong way in 

 the handling of a wasp. I read a few winters ago what 

 was considered a surprising statement, in a Boston 

 newspaper, that a " boy caught a butterfly at South 

 End yesterday, in midwinter;" in commenting upon 

 which a New York natural -history editor sententiously 

 remarked, " It may be all right to catch a butterfly at 

 'South End] but when you grab a wasp it is safer to 

 take him at the north end." 



But this is not my secret. There is a knack about 



