"But, Doctor, what should the poor fellow do in such a case?" he was asked.
"I suspect Dr. Gordon would have used a large feather?"
"Indeed!"
"Yes, he would have rumpled its plume, so as to reverse the direction of the feathery part, and would have thrust that down the throat, below the pin or bone. On withdrawing the feather, the substance would be either found adhering to its wet sides, or raised on end, so that it could be easily swallowed."
With many thanks for this suggestion, the promise was made that the young readers of Robert and Harold should have the benefit of his advice. But I think that the best plan is to avoid the fish-bones.
Being not quite so humble as he was polite, however, he began to condemn the fish instead of himself for his accident. His father told him he had no right to say one word against the fish, which was remarkably free from bones, and was just preparing to give him a gentle lecture on gormandizing, when Frank, foreseeing what was to come, was adroit enough to seize a moment's pause in the conversation, and to divert the subject, by asking with a very droll air,
"I wonder, father, if these sheephead are of the same kind with that one that butted the dumplings?"
"I do not know what dumplings you mean," said his father.
"O, did you never hear the story of the sheep's head and the dumplings? Well, brother Robert can tell you all about it."
"No, no," returned his father, who saw through the little fellow's stratagem. "No, no, Frank, it is your own story, and you must go through with it."