24 EARLY LIFE 



was pretty large, with three of the girls at a con- 

 vent, which about absorbed the whole of my 

 father's income. I was thankful for the little 

 that I got, and had made pretty good use of my 

 time, as when I left school I could read, write, 

 and speak pretty fair English. I had learned a 

 good many other things also, outside of Lawler's, 

 some of which were more or less useful. I will 

 give one instance. Several people of the weal- 

 thier class owned large lots of ground, portions 

 of which were not built upon, and had planted 

 these with fruit-bearing trees, cherries, plums, 

 and apples, while in some few places were large 

 walnut trees. Others had vegetable gardens, 

 bordered with smaller fruits and melon patches. 

 It was a regular thing for the pupils of Lawler's 

 class as we were called, to raid these plots, and 

 carry off a lot of fruit, which was afterwards 

 divided among the boys at some convenient point. 

 Some of the boys had been caught and punished, 

 and in one case had been brought into court and 

 damages paid by the parents. This only made 

 matters worse, however, as the whole class vowed 

 vengeance, which was exercised in many ways, 

 such as breaking down trees, smashing glass, &c. 

 I was soon initiated into all these little details, 

 the place of meeting, and so on, and I learned 

 these things quite as fast, and even faster than 

 my lessons. Generally, only three or four of us 

 went out together. A couple would pick the 



