338 HOW TO GET A FARM, 



were not crowded into Pickens or Sumter ; for there 

 is a moral heroism which as effectually challenges 

 the admiration of good men as that which personal 

 daring wins at the cannon s mouth. Did he not 

 confess to the scarecrow, and had he not ousted it ? 

 Here was evidence of the truly independent, self- 

 relying grit, which, in some form or other, ought to 

 be exhibited in time of sore calamity. 



&quot; You have done well,&quot; I answered. &quot; You have 

 made a double conquest pride and bad luck. But 

 this will lead you to better things. There are many 

 stepping-stones to fortune, and this may be yours. 

 I honor you for your courage.&quot; 



Poor, brave fellow! These must have been 

 among the few words of cheering sympathy he had 

 heard, for his lip quivered, his eye became moist, and 

 he did not trust himself to reply. His heart was 

 bigger than I had ever dreamed of. 



The possession of what one may really call a 

 home, is among the unspeakable blessings of this 

 life. The man who cannot prize it must have some 

 radical deficiency in his organization. Mr. Beecher 

 refers to such a possession in one of his characteris 

 tic paragraphs. He says 



&quot;But what a poor, shivering, restless, rapping sprite is 

 &quot;without a body, that is a living man without A HOUSE. He 

 cannot take root. A man at a hotel is like a grapevine in 

 a flower-pot, movable, carried round from place to place 

 docked at the root and short at the top! There is no 

 where that a man can get real root-room, and spread out 

 his branches till they touch the morning and the evening, 



