124 UNOPENED FARCELS.

‘That men may rise on stepping-stones
Of their dead selves to higher things.’

And those are the words which state it most
forcibly to my mind, besides being intimately con-
nected with a very interesting case which I should
like to tell you about.”

I edged my stool closer than ever to my father,
and he began : :

“When I was a boy at school my life was saved
by a lad a year older than myself, and far out of
reach of my acquaintance in school. A party of
us were out bathing, and I had sillily struck out
beyond our appointed bounds—to peep round a
rock or some such nonsense—when an unexpected
current carried me away. I battled against it as
long as I could alone, for I was ashamed to call
for help; but presently cramp seized me, and
then, as you may suppose, I shouted pretty lustily.
No one-had noticed my disappearance, and they
had some difficulty at first in finding out where
the cry came from ; but at last the lad I speak of
saw me, and swam at once to my rescue. Before
he could reach me I was almost exhausted, and