way the thing presented itself to the good-natured college-student
acting as private tutor in the family. But Mrs. Simpson, the portly
and practical housewife, had no such idea of the fitness of things.

It was the day before Thanksgiving, and the farmer who had agreed to
supply her with a turkey had brought it, but had not weighed it, and,
of course, they could not agree on its weight, all of which ended in
the startling proposition with which we began.

"Well, if you aint the laziest man--! Just as though it was going to
hurt you any to take this bird to the corner and back!" she went on,
as she saw me looking, apparently, for a hole to crawl into, but, in
reality, for the broom, which, when I found, I made use of in putting
into execution a plan I had formed for weighing the turkey at home.

I hung the broom-handle to the gas-jet by a wire loop, and slid it
along in the loop until it balanced. By this time all were curious to
see what I was about.

I then fixed a wire to the turkey's feet and hooked it so that it
would slide on the broom-handle. Next I got a flat-iron and fixed it
in the same way. When the broom was nicely balanced, I hung the turkey
on the broom end of the stick, two inches from the balancing loop.
Then I hung the flat-iron on the other side, and shoved it along until
it balanced the turkey. Next I measured the distances of the turkey
and flat-iron from the balancing loop, and found that the turkey hung
two inches and the flat-iron eight inches from the balancing loop.
That was all. I had found the weight of the turkey, and told them:
Twenty-four pounds.