Tom observed that he had not thought of that difficulty, and did not know how he could get over it. His father told him, that he must look at the surface of the water, and mark the moment it was disturbed by the stone.
“Now, Mr. Twaddleton,” exclaimed Mr. Seymour, “are you ready to count the seconds?”
“Quite ready.”
“Then drop the stone.”
“One,--two,--three,--four--”
“There,” said Tom, “it touched the water.”
“And there, there,” cried several voices, “what a noise it made!”
“Facilis descensus Averni,” exclaimed the vicar; “the stone descended in four seconds.”
“Now, my boy, make your calculation.”
Mr. Seymour furnished pencil and paper, and Tom proceeded;--“Sixteen feet for the first second,--I put that down.”--