20 BRAGGADOCIO.

obliged to take off his coat, and now and then
he drew his shirt-sleeve across his forehead, to
_ wipe off the drops of perspiration. But it was
pleasant work for all that; and Bessie looked
on with delight to see how ingeniously her
brother brought the rough wood into shape.
How he got the right slope, so that the pieces
at the sides and the ends of the boat would
match together, seemed to her wonderful ; and
it did require some skill, and some knowledge
of geometry, too, though Tom had studied
very little geometry. At sunset, Tom was
obliged to leave, to take care of the pigs, who
were grunting for their supper.