mily to such hardships any
longer, I determined, very reluctantly, to leave college, at least for
a time. I had now been at Eminence two years, and I shall ever thank
God that even for this short time I was able to gratify my burning
desire to acquire knowledge. It was at a great sacrifice we went there
and remained as long as we did, but we have never once regretted it.

Through the influence of President Giltner, we secured the High School
at Alexandria, Campbell county, Ky. This had been conducted for some
years previously by Bros. O. A. and Chester Bartholomew, under the name
of the "Mammoth Institute." I visited the place, and arranged to
conduct the school and preach for the church there, which was small and
financially weak; but there was no other in reach. So I could not do
better than to give them all my time, at whatever could be raised in
the way of salary. They had a nice little brick house, and a number of
good members, and for several years the church prospered; but the
county filled up with Germans, some of the best members moved away, and
the cause went down. The house was sold, and to-day we have no church
in the place.

After completing arrangements to preach and teach, I went over to
Hamersville, Brown county, O., to see some relatives. A brother and
sister of my father lived there, besides other relatives. My uncle had
a large family. I had never visited any of them, and now being near and
having a little time, I borrowed a horse and rode over. I sent an
appointment for Lord's day at Hamersville, and got there about the
middle of the week. I found that an appointment had not been made for
Sunday morning, but for night. The reason was, the Methodists were to
have a quarterly meeting in the woods near town--a big affair--and
everybody was going. Hence I could get no hearing in the morning. I
went to the meeting, as it was the only place to which to go. It was
thought that three thousand people were on the ground. There were seven
preachers. It was during the darkest period of the war, and every man
from the south side of the Ohio River was looked upon with suspicion. I
had been there several days, and quite a number knew who I was and
where I was from. I took a seat near the stand, and when they prayed,
in conformity with their custom, I kneeled in the leaves. The old
preacher who "led in prayer" yelled as if his congregation was a mile
away and God was on a journey. He began by praying for the Presid