were annoyed at his behavior. I decided, when the
opportune moment arrived, to give him an answer not soon to be
forgotten; so I promptly replied to his question, as I slowly viewed him
from head to foot, "I have met few men, in my life, worth repeating
eight times." The members burst into a roar of laughter, and one of
them, clapping him on the shoulder, said: "There, sonny, you have read
and spelled; you better go." This scene was heralded in all the Nebraska
papers, and, wherever the little man went, he was asked why Mrs. Stanton
thought he was not worth repeating eight times.

During my stay in Lincoln there was a celebration of the opening of some
railroad. An immense crowd from miles about assembled on this occasion.
The collation was spread and speeches were made in the open air. The men
congratulated each other on the wonderful progress the State had made
since it became an organized Territory in 1854. There was not the
slightest reference, at first, to the women. One speaker said: "This
State was settled by three brothers, John, James, and Joseph, and from
them have sprung the great concourse of people that greet us here
to-day." I turned, and asked the Governor if all these people had
sprung, Minerva-like, from the brains of John, James, and Joseph. He
urged me to put that question to the speaker; so, in one of his eloquent
pauses, I propounded the query, which was greeted with loud and
prolonged cheers, to the evident satisfaction of the women present. The
next speaker took good care to give the due meed of praise to Ann, Jane,
and Mary, and to every mention of the mothers of Nebraska the crowd
heartily responded.

In toasting "the women of Nebraska," at the collation, I said: "Here's
to the mothers, who came hither by long, tedious journeys, closely
packed with restless children in emigrant wagons, cooking the meals by
day, and nursing the babies by night, while the men slept. Leaving
comfortable homes in the East, they endured all the hardships of pioneer
life, suffered, with the men, the attacks of the Dakota Indians and the
constant apprehension of savage raids, of prairie fires, and the
devastating locusts. Man's trials, his fears, his losses, all fell on
woman with double force; yet history is silent concerning the part woman
performed in the frontier life of the early settlers. Men make no
mention of her heroism and divine patience; they take no thought of the
mental or physical agonies women endure