in caring for the younger
children. I was constant, however, in my endeavor to find work, and
finally a companion and I succeeded in getting an old farmhouse about
three miles from the village in which to live. In a measure this suited
me, for I loved the country.

The house was an old, dilapidated one, and I do not see now how we stood
that first severe winter; but though I was in rags and my food was often
roasted potatoes or peas with a little salt, I did not miss a single
day's schooling that year, and great was my joy and satisfaction when,
at the end of the year, I stood at the head of my class.

During this time I had done such work in the surrounding neighborhood as
could be obtained. My Saturdays and afternoons were spent in splitting
rails, chopping wood, driving garden palings, and doing any other work
that would enable me to exist. Although I had stinted myself and had
often gone without food, at the end of the year I was $12 in debt. But
this was not sufficient to make me despair.

When vacation came I immediately sought work, and though I was diligent
in my application to it when I had obtained it, steady employment was
not to be had. My wages were never more than fifty cents a day, but I
often received less. For two years I lived in this way. At the
expiration of that time I decided that it would benefit me to enter a
higher institution of learning. I knew that this would mean that I must
have more remunerative employment.

By some means my attention was directed to the orange industry of
Florida, and in the summer of 1894 I regretfully left my companions and
relatives, went to Deland, Fla., and secured the desired work. The
winter proved to be an unusually cold one, and the orange industry was
greatly hindered; therefore I was soon out of employment, and at the
season of the year when I most needed it. I was not long idle, however,
for the very cause of my loss of work opened another avenue; I was kept
busy chopping wood. Though I went to Florida penniless, at the end of
six months I had saved $60.

It was at Deland that I learned of the magnificent opportunities
afforded earnest young men and women at Tuskegee Institute. I at once
made application to become a student. That morning I did not know that
such a school existed; that night, while I slept, the Southern Railway
was bearing my letter of application to Mr. Washington. My anxiety
almost reached fever-heat during those few intervening days tha