been invisible
in the dust I raised. Showing it to my father, I was told that I ought
not to have taken it; but I explained how helpless I had been, and
repeated word for word what the man had said, and, unintentionally,
somewhat copied his tone and manner. The twinkle in my father's eye
showed that he understood. That copper was my first-earned money; if it
had only been put out at compound interest, I ought, if the
mathematicians are right, to be now living in _otium cum dignitate_,[2]
perhaps.

[Footnote 2: _Otium cum dignitate_ is a Latin expression meaning _ease
with dignity_.]

[Illustration: HE FISHED OUT AN OLD BUNGTOWN CENT]

Steve Peck was one of the most notable of the marked characters above
hinted at. He was a roistering blade, who captained all the harumscarums
of the section. Peck was a surveyor and had helped at the laying out of
Milwaukee. Many were the stories told of his escapades, but space will
not permit of their rehearsal here. He had selected a choice piece of
land and built a good house; then he induced the daughter of an Aberdeen
ex-merchant of aristocratic family but broken fortune, who had sought a
new chance in the wilds of Wisconsin, to share them with him. But wife
and children could not hold him to a settled life, and he sold out one
day to a German immigrant, gave his wife a few dollars and disappeared,
not to be seen or heard of in those parts again.

Another character was a man named Needham, who also was somewhat of a
mystery. The women considered that he had been "crossed in love." He
affected a sombre style, rather imitating the manners and habits of the
Indians. His cabin was near the river, and he was a constant hunter.
Many times when playing by the shore I would become conscious of a
strange, noiseless presence, and looking up would see Needham paddling
by, swift and silent. It always gave me the shudders and sent me to the
house. One day, on coming home from school, I saw a great platter of red
meat on the table. I asked who had killed the beef; it was a practice to
share the meat with the neighbors, whenever a large animal was killed,
taking pay in kind. I was told it was not beef, and being unable to
guess was at last informed that it was bear meat, which Mr. Needham had
left. As he had killed the animal near where I hunted the cows every
night, the news gave me a sensation.

Uncle Ben Piper, the only gray-haired man in the community, kept tavern
and was an oracle on ne