“He hooked his horses to the axle of the stalled automobile and soon had the car upon high ground. I was struck by the brightness of the lad and the skill he had shown in extricating the heavy car from the mire. After I had paid him I led him into conversation, taking occasion to compliment him upon his smartness. “‘Well,’ he said, ‘I’ve had considerable practice, Mister. This makes the third car that I’ve pulled out of this mudhole to-day.’ “‘Did each one of them pay you two dollars?’ I asked. “‘Yep,’ he said. ‘That’s my regular price for this job.’ “‘Then you’ve earned six dollars to-day?’ “‘Yep, that’s right,’ he said. “‘Pretty fair wages for a boy of your age, I should say,’ I commented. “Before answering me, the youngster withdrew from my immediate vicinity and mounted one of his horses. “‘Well,’ he said, ‘this has been a ’specially good day. I don’t always earn this much, and anyhow, ’tain’t as easy as you might think for me to earn this money. All day I’ve got to be hangin’ ’round waitin’ for one of you city fellers to get bogged down and start callin’ for help and that ain’t the worst of it neither; except when it rains, I’ve got to be around here a good part of every night.’ “‘What do you do here at night?’ I asked. “He drew his team off the road and started away through the woods. Then, over his shoulder, as he vanished, he replied: “‘Oh, night-times I have to draw water and fill up this here mudhole so as it’ll be ready for business the next day.’” § 342 Returning in the Regular Manner This one was a favorite with the late Joseph H. Choate. I heard him use it more than once when he was making after-dinner speeches. “I had a friend once, named Smith,” said Mr. Choate, “whose son, although of comparatively tender years, was addicted to the reprehensible habit of indulging in alcoholic beverages. The father packed him off to Harvard in the hope that the youth might become interested in educational matters and lose his craving for hard liquor. “It appeared that the father’s hopes were to be gratified, because the young man, in writing home to ask that his allowance be increased, told his sire that he had mended his ways and now was devoting himself exclusively to the undertaking of acquiring learning. The senior was most highly gratified. He decided to run up to Cambridge and personally congratulate his offspring upon the reformation which had been effected. To make the meeting more pleasant he would take the youngster by surprise. So, without announcing his intention, he started. “But the train was delayed and Mr. Smith did not reach Cambridge until after midnight. He got in a cab and rode to the boy’s boarding-house. The building was dark. “He felt his way up the walk, rang the doorbell and pounded on the door. Eventually an upstairs window was opened and an elderly lady, the proprietor of the establishment, showed her head. “‘Well,’ she called out, ‘what is wanted?’