it would almost seem that
Booker Washington was the poorest. Do what he would, he could not help
small arrears of college dues accumulating; and when vacation time came
round, he might be the only one of the household who could not afford to
rejoin his friends at home. Instead of thinking of doing this, there was
pressing necessity for finding work in the town which would bring in
supplies towards paying off old scores, and which would help him to
tide over the next term. Education under such conditions would have a
deadening effect, or it would prove a discipline of the most bracing
kind, fostering habits of independence and self-reliance. To Booker
Washington it was of the latter kind. He formed good habits; he was a
ready learner; he was thankful for any advice which those above him
could impart. Reverence for Scripture is a very characteristic trait of
the negro race; and the habit of reading daily a portion of the Bible
which was formed at Hampton has never since been given up. While making
progress at ordinary school or college work, he also added to his
knowledge of certain outdoor industries, which was a valuable
acquisition to be turned to account in future days. Then, the
enlargement of his knowledge of human nature was likely to be of no
small advantage to him. He may not have known before that the desire for
education was so general among his own people, nor that the capacity for
turning it to good account was so self-evident. He learned still
further, that white men and women of social standing and high culture
were willing to make personal self-sacrifices on behalf of the coloured
race by becoming their teachers and their helpers. From such persons of
culture and refinement he even learned the dignity of labour. He learned
from their everyday example that education did not merely mean settling
down into a more genteel life, but meant larger responsibilities and
harder work. In other words, he came to see that the sharpening of the
mental faculties was to ensure the hands working more efficiently, while
it might be necessary to spend strength and talent for the benefit of
others.

The all-round work at the Institute continued as it had begun. As
regarded the general studies, every hour was turned to full account. The
housework expected of the janitor was never either neglected or half
done; and when each vacation time came round outside service had to be
procured. During all this time both his mother and hi