138 AUTOBIOGRAPHY 



woodhouse. From these particulars you are able 

 to judge as well as I, how our house took fire. 



It was indeed a sorrowful Sunday when I went 

 out to view the ruins ; but on my way back to town 

 on Monday, Mr. O. H. P. Buchanan, a neighbor, 

 hailed me and handed me a check for one hundred 

 dollars, saying: " Take this, there will be no in- 

 terest on it and do not return it until it will not in- 

 convenience you in the least to do so. Don't run 

 in debt but pay cash even if you have to borrow at 

 ten per cent interest! " That advice was, I think, 

 worth another hundred dollars. But that sum did 

 not go far when bed-ticking and coarse muslin 

 ranged from sixty to eighty cents per yard and 

 other household things in proportion, so I bor- 

 rowed another hundred from another friend. On 

 Tuesday we returned to the farm with a wagon- 

 load of goods and moved into a large room in a 

 kindly neighbor's house, not far from the site of 

 our own. 



By this time we had a warm place in our hearts 

 for friends and neighbors without regard to their 

 politics or faith. Before leaving town I stepped 

 into a store to purchase a Bible and, while selecting 

 one, the fire was discussed. As the book was being 

 wrapped up a stranger reached over my shoulder 



