34
The Story of My Childhood
er, relieving me of my burden of books, took me tenderly on her lap and did her best to reassure and calm me. At length I was given my seat, with a desk in front for my atlas and slate, my toes at least a foot from the floor, and that became my daily, happy home for the next three months.
I partially recall an event which occurred
when I was five years old; the
incidents which I could not have personally
remembered, must have been
supplied by later relations. It seems
that I was suddenly discovered to be
alarmingly ill. In response to the
terror of the moment, the saddle was
thrown on Black Stallion, the king of
the herd, his rough rider mounted and
away for the doctor, on "Oxford
Plain," five miles away. "Not at
