"
"Ah! that is the way you insure your lives, is it, trusting to the
priests rather than to Providence? For my own part, I should prefer a
policy of insurance--that is to say, if my life were of any value."
"Next to steeples," continued Jack, "come tall trees, such as poplars
and pines. Should you ever be caught by a storm in the open country,
Willis, never take shelter under a tree; face the storm bravely, and
submit to be deluged by the rain. Dread even bushes, if they are
isolated. An entire forest is less dangerous than a single reed when
it stands alone."
"But you forget, brother, that when a man stands alone he is quite as
prominent an object as the trunk of a tree four or five feet high,
particularly in an open plain."
"Quite so. It is therefore advisable, when severe storms are close
upon us, to lie down flat on the ground."
"Suppose," remarked Fritz, smiling, "a brigade of soldiers on the
march suddenly to collapse in this way, as if before a discharge of
grape."
"And why not? If it is done in the case of grape-shot, why may it not
be done when the artillery is a thousand times more effective?"
"Well, I suspect it would rather astonish the commanding officer,
that is all."
"Then, Willis," continued Jack, "you must not run during a storm,
because the air you put in motion by so doing may draw the electricity
into the current.
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