244 MISCELLANEOUS. 



as of old. He told me of nearly all our old playmates; 

 where they were, how they had succeeded or failed in life, 

 etc. Our interview was intensely interesting to me, but 

 could not be prolonged, for my time was limited. Next I 

 sought Al and George, and after like pleasant chats with 

 them, I continued my rambles. 



I directed my steps next toward the old schoolhouse, and 

 in doing so passed over a piece of road that I had traveled 

 hundreds of times before. It leads from my father's old 

 farm to where a favorite uncle then lived, a distance of two 

 miles. At that time it wound through a dense wood nearly 

 the entire distance. Now this is nearly all cut away, and 

 rich fields of grain are growing on the ground that was then 

 shadowed by giant oaks. 



Here is the " big mound," but how much smaller it looks 

 now than formerly. Then we thought it a mountain, and 

 to climb to the top of it was considered a great feat. In- 

 deed, it is a high hill, and from its top one may see into 

 two or three adjoining counties ; but since I left here I have 

 seen and ascended mountains so high, that, by their side, 

 this looks like a mole-hill. 



I was frequently sent on errands to my uncle's, and passed 

 over the ground upon which I now stand alone. I can see 



myself now, 



" In my mind's eye, Horatio," 



a little barefooted lad, with skin tanned to almost a coffee 

 brown by the summer's sun; clad in a "hickory" shirt, a 

 pair of blue deming pants, rolled up to the knee and held by 

 one suspender ; a home-made straw hat, generally minus 

 either a rim or crown, for I used it to carry stones in to 

 throw at birds, to catch ball, or for any other purpose I hap- 

 pened to want it for. 



I remember on one occasion I was walking leisurely along, 



