ld be sold except upon the
prescription of a physician. After earnest inquiry, it was
ascertained that the nearest doctor's office was one mile away,
and the man with the pack again betook himself to the weary highway.
Returning an hour later, in tone more pitiful than before, he begged
the apothecary, as he hoped for mercy himself, to let him have a
drink. Upon inquiry as to whether he had procured the required
certificate, he said, "No, the doctor wouldn't give me any."

The assurance of the apothecary that the case appeared hopeless
only added to the distress of the poor man, whose sands seemed now
indeed to be running low.

Stirred to the depths by the agony of his visitor, the apothecary at
length said,

"My friend, I would be glad to help you, but it is impossible for me
to let you have a drink of spirituous liquor unless you have a
doctor's certificate _or have been snake-bit."_

At the last-mentioned suggestion, the face of the man of
repeated disappointments measurably brightened, and he eagerly
inquired where he could find a snake. The now sympathetic man
of bottles told him to follow the main road three miles to the
forks, and then a few hundred yards to the west, and he would find
a small grove of decayed tress, where there still lingered a few
snakes, and by the exercise of a reasonable degree of diligence he
might manage _to get bit,_ and thereby lay the foundation for
the desired relief. With bundle again in place, and evincing a
buoyancy of manner to which he had been a stranger for many hours,
the traveller resumed the quest.

Hours later, when the shadows had lengthened, and the fire-flies
were glistening in the distance,

"With a look so piteous in purport,
As if he had been loosed out of hell
To speak of horrors,"

he re-entered the apothecary's shop, threw down his bundle, and in
tones suggestive of the agony of lost souls, again begged for a
drink.

"Did you get snake-bit?" was the feeling inquiry of the man at the
helm.

"No," was the heart-rending reply, _"every snake I met had engagements
six months ahead, for all the bites he could furnish!"_

XXXI
REMINISCENCES

A BARBECUE AT THE BLUE SPRING, KY.--NOTABLE NATIVES OF THE NEIGHBORHOOD
--THE SCHOOLHOUSE CHURCH--SOME OF THE PREACHERS--THE TEACHER OF
SINGING--HOW THE SCHOOLMASTER WAS PAID--MANNERS AND DISCIPLINE--THE
DEBATING SOCIETY--THE WRITER'S SPEECH TO HIS OLD NEIGHBORS--SOME
BOYHOOD FRIENDS.

Soon after my n