The Story of My Childhood
27
me. I could never understand this discourtesy of Button.
This was one of the many jokes reserved for me as I grew older. But far above and beyond it all, as the years sped on, and the hands were still, shone the gleam of the far-sighted mother's watchfulness that neither toil could obscure, nor mirth relax.
My home instruction was by no
means permitted to stand in the way
of the "regular school," which consisted
of two terms each year, of three
months each. The winter term included
not only the large boys and
girls, but in reality the young men
and young women of the neighborhood.
An exceptionally fine teacher
often drew the daily attendance of advanced
scholars for several miles. Our
