An aickward Adventure. 8 



the men to place a long ladder for him, which 

 he ascended; hut he then found the nest al- 

 most beyond his reach. Determined not to be 

 foiled, he stretched out at full length over a 

 lath, and had just grasped the prize, when 

 away went the ladder from imder him, and he 

 was left hanging to the lath by one hand, as 

 he is represented in the accompanying sketch, 

 which he made at the request of a friend many 

 years after. A boy of only ordinary nerve 

 would have dropped to the ground in a minute 

 or two, and been either killed on the spot, or 

 crippled for life, for the height was at least 

 forty feet ; but Tom Smith, though only twelve 

 years old, had a good share of the extraor- 

 dinary nerve that he has since had the oppor- 

 tunity of showing in divers "moving accidents 

 by flood and field," and was equal to the 

 emergency. He was alone, and though he 

 screamed for help, he had little hope of re- 

 ceiving it; so he at once set about helping 

 himself. He thrust his disengaged hand be- 



