He could run, jump, wrestle,
swim and fight when manhood called. He knew the language of the winds
and clouds, and spoke the tongues of woods and field.
And he could read and write. His mother's passionate yearning and
quenchless enthusiasm had placed in his hand the key to books and the
secrets of the ages were his for the asking.
He would never see the walls of a college, but he had already taken his
degree in Industry, Patience, Caution, Courage, Pity and Gentleness.
The beauty and glory of this remarkable spring brought him into still
closer communion with his mother's spirit. They had read every story of
the Bible, some of them twice or three times, and his stubborn mind had
fought with her many a friendly battle over their teachings. Always too
wise and patient to command his faith, she waited its growth in the
fulness of time. He had read every tale in "AEsop's Fables" and brought a
thousand smiles to his mother's dark face by his quaint comments. She
was dreaming now of new books to place in his eager hands. Corn was ten
cents a bushel, wheat twenty-five, and a cow was only worth six dollars.
Whiskey, hams and tobacco were legal tender and used instead of money.
She had ceased to dream of wealth in goods and chattels until conditions
were changed. Her one aim in life was to train the minds of her children
and to this joyous task she gave her soul and body.
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