h you and Mr. Rogers arrange."

"Well," said Rogers, again taking up the subscription paper and making
a calculation, "you've done fine gittin' up a school, an' will mek a
purty little sum outen yer wintah's wuck--'bout one hundred an' thirty
dollahs, I mek it. Now, how many acres et a dollar an' two bits a acre
kin be bought fer thet? 'Bout one hundred an' four, hain't it?"

"Yes, one hundred and four acres, if there were no other expenses,
but----"

"Whut othah expenses kin you hev wuth namin'? You've got a saddle-bag
full o' clothes an' books, hain't you?--'nough to last through the
wintah; so whut----"

"But my board! You haven't said how much that will be."

"Well, now," said Rogers, with a sly wink at his wife, "how much do you
reckon 'twould be right ter pay?"

"About five shillings per week. I'm told that is the usual----"

"Five shillin's! The granny's hind foot! Why, boy, whut you tek me an'
Cynthy Ann fur? We shan't tek five shillin's nor yit five cents. A boy
like you, not much older'n our William, ef he'd 'a' lived, an' frum
Lawsonville, too! Didn't I tell you you'd be jes' lak my own frum this
time on? Board, indeed! Heah's plenty o' cawn pone, hom'ny, bacon an'
taters, I reckon; 'sides cawn an' oats an' stable room fur yer nag. All
we ax is thet you nevah say board to us agin. But, ef you like," he
added kindly, "you kin holp Henry an' Cissy some o' nights in ther
books, an' mek a hand to wuck roads, one Sat'dy in each month tell snow
comes."

Early Monday morning, while the frost yet glistened on grass and hedge
row, Abner, accompanied by Susan, Tommy and the twins, set out for the
schoolhouse, a mile distant. At the same time, by a dozen different
paths through woods and fields, other children with dinner pails and
spelling-books hastened toward the same goal, regardless of nuts, wild
grapes and other woodland attractions; for each wanted to be first to
reach the schoolhouse on this, the opening day.

Cane Ridge schoolhouse was a large hut of unhewn logs, with a roof of
rough boards and bark. The windows were covered with oiled paper
instead of glass, and the scanty light thus admitted was augmented by
that which came in through frequent gaps in the mud-daubed walls. Wind,
rain and snow likewise found free admission through these crevices; but
on winter days the climate of the schoolroom was tempered by the
blazing logs piled in the mammoth fireplace occupying one entire end of
the building.