The bright summer-time--sport at Frank's--the dog "Trip" playing hy-spy--the boys hiding--Trip finding them--the result of the first game--the second game--the court scene--talk about it with Sylvester Jones--Nat goes to court--the prisoners are two of his schoolmates--his sympathy for them--examination of witnesses--the remarks of the justice--Nat proposes to plead their case--the sensation and result--what was said of it--another instance of Nat's sympathy--what it foreshadowed--Howard--Wilberforce--Buxton 28-37
The excursion--John's proposition--decision to go--the cherry-tree--is it wild?--a discussion--filling their caps--surprised by the owner--their escape--Nat's and Frank's caps left behind--the owner carries them to the house--Nat's resolve to go to his house--rapping at the door--his explanation and confession--the caps restored with a plenty of cherries--the end thereof 38-47
Bathing--a passion for it--a particular swim--Nat the best swimmer--swimming under water--a trial--a game of ball--Nat the best player--the result of the game--remarks of spectators--the fastest runner--a principle to be best--excelled in athletic sports through same elements of character that made him excel in school--the best shoe-black--Reynolds made every picture best--Buxton's sports in boyhood, and Sir Walter Scott's--Wellington's remark--Nat's remark twenty-five years after--Nat saving a boy from drowning--his picture of the scene--how he used his experience in athletic games 48-56
Winter school again--the skating proposition--the proposed grammar class--Nat does not accede--discussion on the way to the pond--Nat the best skater--the palm yielded to him--home to supper--teacher's remarks next day about grammar--advice to Nat and Charlie--his reference to Benjamin Franklin and Patrick Henry--Nat and Charlie join the class--conversation among the boys, and with Nat in particular--Sam put into the objective case, and his mischief-making propensity--tying a tin-pail to a dog's tail--the delight of Sam--the sorrow of Nat, and verdict of the boys--Sam an _im_proper noun--the end of school 57-68
Proposed visit to Prospect Hill--a hundred churches--situation and description of the hill--view from the top--Trip accompanies them--meeting with Sam and Ben Drake--Sam's assault upon Trip--Frank's feelings--Nat's love of nature--this characterizes youth generally who become renowned--Sir Francis Chantrey--Robert Burns--Hugh Miller--more hope of boys who love the beautiful of nature and art--reaching the summit--a fire in the city--Sam's anger--counting the churches--Sam kicks Trip down the precipice--Frank and Nat crying--Sam's ridicule--Sam and Ben leave--Nat tells a story--carrying dead Trip home 69-82