Three Men in a Boat

ERLY,FAMILY-MAN PUTS UP A PICTURE. - GEORGE MAKES A SENSIBLE, REMARK

we again assembled, to discuss a

you get the grocery catalogue,George, and somebody give me a bit of pencil, and then I'll make out alist."That

s when my Uncle Podgerundertook to do a job. A picture would have come home from the frame-maker's, and be standing in

ould take off his coat, and begin. He would send the girlout for sixpen'orth of nails, and then one of the boys

hall wantsomebody to hold me the light; and when the girl comes back, she must goout again for a bit of picture-cord; and Tom! - where's Tom? - Tom, youcome here; I shall want you to hand me up the picture."And then he would lift up the picture, and drop it, and it would come outof the frame, and he would try to save the glass, and cut himsel

life - upon my word I didn't. Six of you! -and you can't find a coat that I put down not five minutes

n got, and the tools, and the ladder, and the chair, and thecandle had been brought, he would have another go, the whole family,including the girl and the charwoman, standing round in a semi-circle,ready to help. Two

d all have to go down on our knees and grovel for it, while hewould stand on t

t last, but by that time he

What did I do with th

il was to go in, and eachof us had to get up on the chair, beside him, and see if we could findit; and we would each discover it in a different place, and he would callus all fools, one after anothe

tresults, and sneer at one another. And in the general row, the original

e, andtrying to reach a point three inches beyond what was possible for him toreach, the string would slip, and down he would slide on to

e would not allow the children to

on it with his left hand, and take the hammer in his righthand. And, with the first

er a nail into the wall, she hoped he'd let her know in time, so thatshe could

tle job of thissort."And then he would have another try, and, at the second blow, the nailwould go clean through the plaster,

t, the picture would be up - very crooked andinsecure, the wall for yards round looking as if i

y off the chair on to thecharwoman's corns, and

arris will be just that sort of man when he grows up, I know, and I toldhim

made out had to be discarded. It was clear that theupper reaches of the Thames would not allow of the navigation of a boa

orge

es. You'd be surprised. Icall that downright wisdom, not merely as regards the present case, butwith reference to our trip up the river of life, generally. How manypeople, on that voyage, lo

ree ha'pence for;with expensive entertainments that nobody enjoys, with formalities andfashions, with pretence and ostentation, and with - oh, heaviest, maddestlumber of all! - the dread of what

nxiety and care, never gain a moment's rest for dreamy laziness -no time to watch the windy shadows skimming lightly o'er the shallows, orthe glittering sunbeams flitting in and out among the ripples, or theg

mple pleasures, one or twofriends, worth the name, someone to love and someone to love you, a cat,a dog, and a pip

d, plainmerchandise will stand water. You will have time to think as well as towork. Time to drink in life's sunshine - time to listen t

he list to George

ave ever seen the thing I mean. You fix iron hoops up over the boat,and stretch a huge canvas over them, and fasten it down all round, fromstem to stern, and it converts the boat into a sort of litt

tooth-powder, some shaving tackle (sounds like a French exercise, doesn't it?),and a couple of big-towels for bathing. I notice that people

er in London - that I'll get up early everymorning, and go and have a dip before breakfast, a

so. Butwhen I get to the sea I don't feel somehow that I want th

smally off. But Ihaven't enjoyed it. They seem to keep a specially cutting east wind,waiting for me, when I go to bathe in the early morning; and they pickout all the three-cornered stones, and put them on the top, and theysharpen up the rocks and cover the

out to mid-ocean. I begin to strike out franticallyfor the shore, and wonder if I shall ever see home and friends again, andwish I'd been kinder to my little sister when a boy (when I was a boy, Imean). Just when I have given up all ho

ll talked as if we were going t

ere was nothinglike a swim before breakfast to give you an appetite. He said it alwaysgave him an appetite. George said that

hard work in towing sufficient foodf

nd fresh about the boat, even if we did have to take a fewmore hundredweight of provi

ld take THREE bath towels, so a

wecould wash them ourselves, in the river, when they got dirty. We ask

nough to fancy he knew whathe was talking about, and that three respectable young men, withoutposition or influence, an

rable impostor, who could evidently have known nothing whateverabout the matter. If

t upset and wanted a change; also plenty ofhandkerchiefs, as they would do to wipe things, an