As certainly as I have ever
known anything, I KNEW that I was going to college!
III
HIGH-SCHOOL AND COLLEGE DAYS
The end of the Civil War brought freedom to
me, too. When peace was declared my father
and brothers returned to the claim in the wilderness
which we women of the family had labored so des-
perately to hold while they were gone. To us, as to
others, the final years of the war had brought many
changes. My sister Eleanor's place was empty.
Mary, as I have said, had married and gone to live in
Big Rapids, and my mother and I were alone with my
brother Harry, now a boy of fourteen. After the
return of our men it was no longer necessary to de-
vote every penny of my earnings to the maintenance
of our home. For the first time I could begin to
save a portion of my income toward the fulfilment
of my college dream, but even yet there was a long,
arid stretch ahead of me before the college doors
came even distantly into sight.
The largest salary I could earn by teaching in our
Northern woods was one hundred and fifty-six dollars
a year, for two terms of thirteen weeks each; and
from this, of course, I had to deduct the cost of my
board and clothing--the sole expenditure I allowed
myself. The dollars for an education accumulated
very, very slowly, until at last, in desperation, weary
of seeing the years of my youth rush past, bearing
my hopes with them, I took a sudden and radical
step.
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