144 LOUIS AGASSIZ 



was for the best interests of education, 

 and for that alone. Having explained 

 the object and stated the emergency, he 

 asked whether, under these circumstances 

 the next day was properly for rest or 

 for work. They all answered, 'for 

 work.' They accordingly worked the 

 following day from dawn till dark, and 

 by nightfall the floors were laid. 77 



One day more, and the necessary nails 

 were driven just as the expected steamer 

 touched the wharf. Agassiz was wait- 

 ing with a welcome at the landing-place, 

 his face aglow with pleasure and thank- 

 fulness. To the barn where the swal- 

 lows 7 nests were still undisturbed between 

 the rafters, and the birds kept flying in 

 and out of the wide doors, the teachers 

 and guests went for the "Opening address ; 

 and as Agassiz stood looking at his fifty 

 chosen pupils, his finished buildings, his 

 blue sea beyond them teeming with the 

 life they were to study, in a burst of un- 

 ashamed emotion he called on all present 



