CHURCH AND SCHOOL 221 
step to an education, the second step being to acquire 
learning in spite of the opportunities offered. The 
log school-house was picturesque in the extreme, 
but as an educational institution it lacked many 
things. Sometimes it lacked windows, relying upon 
the cracks between the logs and the open door for 
light and ventilation. Its furnishing consisted of 
benches, and a chair for the teacher, while the books 
were few and as antiquated as the furniture. The 
condition of the school-house in the remoter regions, 
oftentimes did not greatly interest the people. Once 
upon protesting against a school-house with no 
windows, the father of several of the children in 
attendance replied that the children's eyes were 
strong and it did them no harm to learn their lessons 
in the dark. 
"Book-larnin"' evidently is not the thing that 
most absorbs the remote mountaineer's waking 
hours. He takes his children's schooling as he takes 
their measles, not very seriously. A few parents are 
anxious to have their children educated, the rest are 
indifferent, not quite comprehending what good can 
come to the children from something they them- 
selves have had so little use for. Nor can one blame 
those parents who prefer to keep the children at 
home rather than send them miles, it may be, through 
the forest and over rushing streams, to the school- 
house where school " takes up" for only a few weeks 
in the year, and where the teacher, like the rest of the 
people, knows little more than how to be kind. The 
advantages of such schooling are apparent, and one 
