here was my chance. Never did I receive an
order with more delight. I knew that I could sweep, for Mrs. Ruffner had
thoroughly taught me how to do that when I lived with her.

"_I_ swept the recitation room three times. Then I got a dusting cloth and
I dusted it four times. All the woodwork around the walls, every bench,
table, and desk, I went over four times with my dusting cloth. Besides,
every piece of furniture had been moved and every closet and corner of the
room had been thoroughly cleaned. I had the feeling that, in a large
measure, my future depended upon the impression I made upon the teacher in
the cleaning of that room. When I was through, I reported to the head
teacher. She was a Yankee woman, who knew just where to look for dirt. She
went into the room and inspected the floor and closets; then she took her
handkerchief and rubbed it on the woodwork, about the walls, and over the
table and benches. When she was unable to find one bit of dirt on the
floor, or a particle of dust on any of the furniture, she quietly
remarked: 'I guess you will do to enter this institution.'

"I was one of the happiest souls on earth. The sweeping of that room was
my college examination, and never did any youth pass an examination for
entrance into Harvard or Yale that gave him more genuine satisfaction. I
have passed several examinations since then, but I have always felt that
this was the best one I ever passed."

If Lincoln, Burritt, Booker T. Washington, and thousands of others, with
all their handicaps, could secure needed education for their life work,
why should any man remain in an uncongenial calling? There is danger that
we may give our boys and girls too much help; that life be made too easy
for them; that their moral backbones may grow flabby by reason of too
much support. Normal young people do not need aid and support. They need
guidance and direction--and the majority of them, either the sharp spur of
necessity or the relentless urge of an ambition which will not be denied.
Almost without exception we have found that the only difference between
genius or millionaire and dunce or tramp is a willingness to pay the
price.

THE PRICE OF SUCCESS

From an unknown author comes the all-important question to every seeker
for success:

"You want success. Are you willing to pay the price for it?

"How much discouragement can you stand?

"How much bruising can you take?

"How long can you hang on in the face of ob