OR, THE WORLD HAS CHANGED. 95 



and we continued to mould gallas buckles until the first warn- 

 ing notes of the morning cock admonished us to desist. We 

 had near a peck of the shining beauties on hand ; it had 

 proved a glorious triumph, and I and Dan were happy ; we 

 congratulated each other, shook hands time and time again. 

 I ])romised to make Dan a fc»reman in the factory, and, in a few 

 years to set him free, give him eighty acres and two mules. 



I now determined soon to hold a conference with my parents, 

 and thought what a surprise it would be to them; arid oh, how 

 happy it made me feel to think of their delight in the discovery 

 of the enterprise and cleverness of their eldest son. I deter- 

 mined that very day to show up the whole scheme, together 

 with my well digested plans for operation in the business. I 

 intended to make my worthy sire a ])rincipal partner in the 

 concern, and we should either employ young Howell, or give 

 him an interest in the business. His department would be to 

 make the moulds — make them on a grand scale. We would 

 have double moulds, tripple moulds and after a while, an acre 

 of moulds, and great cauldrons to melt the pewter. My father 

 could make a corner on all the pewter in America, get an 

 option on all the timber in the neighboring counties for fuel, 

 get up all the labor possible, and when once under full head- 

 way, would run the business for all it was worth. We would 

 become many times millionaires, would build churches, schools 

 and hospitals, help the poor and afflicted, and in my great 

 gratitude to a kind providence, I resolved that no one within 

 my reach should hereafter suffer for want of good, remunera- 

 tive labor, or the comforts of life, and I did not know but that 

 under a favoring providence I might become an humble agent 

 in the ushering in of the great millennium. 



Early after breakfast, I took Dan and made a visit to the 



