JOHN WESLEY POWELL. 7 



task was to procure the necessary certificate of proficiency. One 

 day in the latter part of November he went to the township super- 

 intendent to be examined. A feeling of dread possessed him lest 

 he should fail on examination. 



As he approached the Superintendent's house a fierce wind 

 blew the snow in his face. All aglow with the excitement of a walk 

 of twenty miles in a sharp gale, he knocked at the door. The lady 

 of the house, with a cheerful reassuring voice, invited him in, but 

 he had to wait two or three hours for the return of the Superinten- 

 dent. At last he came, and insisted that John, now the dignified 

 School-Master, Mr. Powell, should stay all night. As the family 

 sat together at the supper table, the Superintendent conversed 

 with the young man about the school he was to teach, and about 

 various subjects that would engage his attention, in so kind and 

 skilful a way, that during the evening he drew out such knowledge 

 as his visitor possessed without giving him an idea that he was 

 passing the dreaded ordeal. Just before going to bed, and greatly 

 to the surprise of his visitor, he filled out a certificate, signed it 

 and handed it to the young man. The superintendent was a man 

 of fine culture ; his advice was always good, and during the winter 

 he gave the young teacher much valuable aid. 



The school over which Powell was to preside was on the north 

 side of Jefferson Prairie, and a little stone school-house was his 

 first college. At least half of his pupils were older than himself, 

 and several of them were quite as far advanced in their studies. 

 This compelled him to work very hard, and certainly no pupil in 

 the. school made such progress as did he. He provided himself 

 with several school arithmetics and worked through them all. He 

 studied elementary algebra, and took the class about half as far as 

 he went himself. He read three or four grammars, and made de- 

 cided progress in geography, and on this subject gave a lecture 

 one night in the week to the most advanced pupils. The other 

 young people of the neighborhood, as well as pupils from adjoining 

 towns, came to these lectures. For this work Powell prepared him- 

 self by systematic study and vigorous consultation of books of ref- 

 erence ; he also made excellent use of his limited knowledge of 

 history, weaving it deftly into his account of the lands of the world. 



By contract the teacher was to "board around," but one of the 

 trustees, Mr. Little, took Mr. Powell to his home and insisted that 

 he should stay the greater part of his time with him. His wife had 

 been a New England school-teacher, and she had what seemed to 

 the young man a marvellous library. She took great interest in his 



