OLD HOMESTEAD 



most thorough instruction and unlimited practice in all that small 

 children were then taught. She taught us the multiplication 

 table, which she made us sing to the tune of ''Yankee Doodle," 

 to impress it upon our memories; counties in the state and towns 

 in the county; states in the Union; capitals of states and foreign 

 countries; the tables in denominate numbers, such as apothe- 

 cary, troy and avoirdupois weights, dry and wet measures; spell- 

 ing and the definitions of all the words in the spelling-book, and 

 anything and everything that well-educated men and women 

 ought to know, and which scholars educated under the present 

 system do not seem to know. She taught us how to sing, and 

 every morning, noon and night she had some pretty piece of 

 song or ballad in which she led, while we piped it up to ''beat 

 the band." This bit of one of her favorites I still remember: 



" Up the hill on a bright, sunny morn, 

 Voices clear as a bugle-horn, 

 List to the echoes as they flow — 

 Here we go, we go, we go." 



She read the scriptures and prayed to and for us every 

 morning at the opening of the school. There were no Roman- 

 ists in our school district, and her kind, religious teaching and 

 motherly advice was appreciated and approved by our parents, if 

 not by ourselves. In return for this kindness we gave her about 

 all the trouble that we could. If she made rules we took great 

 pleasure in evading or breaking them, although we had to go 

 out of our way and make an extra effort to do so. Then she 

 would keep us after school and talk to us, when we would be 

 penitent and make the best of promises and assure her of our 

 most profound respect and love, which always settled it with 

 Aunt Lucinda. 



We enjoyed ourselves hugely at recess and noon, and before 



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