n8 AUTOBIOGRAPHY 



Nothing worth relating happened that winter 

 except, perhaps, the following little incident. One 

 morning I said to my host : " I am certain to have 

 chills and fever today, and when the fever is at its 

 height I am often flighty I don't want to make 

 a fool of myself but I don't like to dismiss 

 school." 



"Go to the cupboard and take a good swig 

 from that jug of whiskey-and-Peruvian bark bit- 

 ters," said he. I did as directed, ate a little break- 

 fast and upon attempting to rise from the table 

 remarked: "Armstrong, I'm drunk!" 



" Oh, that's nothing," said he, " you took it on 

 an empty stomach. Take another good big swig to 

 sober yourself and then run all the way to the 

 school house ! " 



Since I was taking the Armstrong treatment, I 

 obeyed. The snow was about a foot deep and the 

 horses and sleigh runners had formed two narrow 

 slippery paths. Such paths are hard enough to 

 walk in when sober, and for a man light in the 

 head it was an impossible task. So I essayed a 

 dog-trot, leaving many footprints outside the 

 beaten track; but I arrived at the school house 

 sober as he had predicted and I had no delirium 

 that day. 



