After I became a wage-
earner I lost my desire to make a fortune, but the
college dream grew with the years; and though my
college career seemed as remote as the most distant
star, I hitched my little wagon to that star and never
afterward wholly lost sight of its friendly gleam.
When I was fifteen years old I was offered a situa-
tion as school-teacher. By this time the com-
munity was growing around us with the rapidity
characteristic of these Western settlements, and we
had nearer neighbors whose children needed instruc-
tion. I passed an examination before a school-
board consisting of three nervous and self-conscious
men whose certificate I still hold, and I at once
began my professional career on the modest salary
of two dollars a week and my board. The school
was four miles from my home, so I ``boarded round''
with the families of my pupils, staying two weeks
in each place, and often walking from three to six
miles a day to and from my little log school-house
in every kind of weather. During the first year I
had about fourteen pupils, of varying ages, sizes,
and temperaments, and there was hardly a book in
the school-room except those I owned. One little
girl, I remember, read from an almanac, while a
second used a hymn-book.
In winter the school-house was heated by a wood-
stove, to which the teacher had to give close personal
attention. I could not depend on my pupils to
make the fires or carry in the fuel; and it was often
necessary to fetch the wood myself, sometimes for
long distances through the forest.
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