ment of the disease, but it was generally believed that a change of climate was beneficial. This advice was given and Frances accepted it and began to consider plans for a new location. It never occurred to her that she should give up her work.
Isaac Nash had a friend and correspondent in the "new west" of Illinois. This man, named John Wilson, wrote of the deplorable lack of educational facilities in the pioneer countries, and suggested that Isaac's young sister-in-law come out and take charge of a school which a group of the pioneers were anxious to establish. This seemed to Frances the opportunity she needed. After much consultation and correspondence with the Illinois settlers, she and Miss Gregory whom she induced to accompany her, decided to tackle the job.
At this time Frances was a tall, slender girl with straight dark brown hair and bright blue eyes, wide and deep set. Her face was oval and her brow broad and smooth. You would not call her a "pretty girl," but there was something very engaging in her hearing, and ready sympathy expressed in her warm smile. You instinctively felt that here was a person of extraordinary ability and energy, and moreover one whom you could trust.
Cinderella was shorter and slighter. Her hair was light brown and her eyes grey. She was very sprightly in manner, but nevertheless she felt the dignity of a school mistress and displayed it on occasion.
CHAPTER THREE—THE NEW WEST
By the year 1853 when the attention of Frances Wood and Cinderella Gregory was called to the educational needs of northwestern Illinois, that section of our country had passed through a period of very rapid development. The great Northwest Territory had been divided and sub-divided. Illinois, one of the states constructed out of this tract was made a territory in 1809 and a state in 1818. This was after a prolonged period of exploration, settlement and development. There had been much experience in learning to live with the harsh elements of nature and with the native inhabitants. The particular settlement called Mount Carroll to which Frances and Cinderella were invited to come was on the stage route from Galena, the oldest town in northern Illinois, to Peoria to the southwest by way of Dixon's Ferry. Galena had been the scene of great excitement when, in 1824, some miners from Kentucky or Indiana, perhaps both, had discovered lead. They proceeded at once to develop mines. The next year the town was laid out and in two years more the boundaries of a whole county were made, that of Jo Daviess. With the exception of the miners and a few fur traders scattered among the hills there were no white settlers in all northern Illinois. Galena grew with amazing rapidity. Thousands of persons were attracted by the lead mining, and many remained as permanent settlers. The town is older than Chicago and for many years it was much larger than that metropolis. It is now a sleepy old village picturesquely built on the high bluffs overlooking the Mississippi River, and one of the most interesting historically in the whole state.
(To be continued in next issue)
