I thank God for his mercy in
sparing me from the fate which generally and naturally overtakes such
a neglected child.

At the age of twelve, after I had passed through the common school of
the town, I was admitted to the Parkville Liberal Institute, which I
wished to attend because a friend of mine in the town was there. My
uncle did not object--he never objected to anything. Without pride or
vanity I may say that I was a good scholar, and I took the highest
rank at the academy. When I was about twelve years old, some
instructions which I received in the Sunday school produced a strong
impression on my mind, and led me to take my stand for life. I tried
to be true to God and myself, to be just and manly in all things.
Whatever the world may sneeringly say of goodness and truth, I am sure
that I owe my popularity among the boys of the Parkville Liberal
Institute to these endeavors--not always successful--to do right.

CHAPTER II.

IN WHICH THERE IS TROUBLE IN THE PARKVILLE LIBERAL INSTITUTE.

I wish to say in the beginning, and once for all, that I did not set
myself up as a saint, or even as a model boy. I made no pretensions,
but I did try to be good and true. I felt that I had no one in this
world to rely upon for my future; everything depended upon myself
alone, and I realized the responsibility of building up my own
character. I do not mean to assert that I had all these ideas and
purposes clearly defined in my own mind; only that I had a simple
abstract desire to be good, and to do good, without knowing precisely
in what the being and the doing consisted. My notions, many of them, I
am now aware, were crude and undefined.

I have observed that I was a favorite among the boys of the
Institute, a kind of leader and oracle among them, though I was not
fully conscious of the fact at the time. While I now think I owe the
greater portion of the esteem and regard in which I was held by my
companions to my desire to be good and true, I must acknowledge that
other circumstances had their influence upon them. I was the owner of
the best boat on Lake Adieno, and to the boys this was a matter of no
small consequence. There were half a dozen row-boats belonging to the
academy, but nothing that carried a sail.

I always had money. I had only to ask my uncle for any sum I wanted,
and it was given me, without a question as to its intended use. I
mention the fact to his discredit, and it would have been a luxury to