ard for his constitution.
After a four years' residence in the west, he died. That was a sad day
to us, for he was the kindest of fathers. Poor Flora scarcely ceased to
weep, at times, for a year, over the loss of her only parent.

Captain Fishley was appointed administrator of the estate, and when it
was settled there was hardly fifteen hundred dollars left. My brother
Clarence was just twenty-one when my father died, and he was appointed
the guardian of Flora and myself. He was considered a very smart young
man, and no one doubted his ability to take care of us. But he was
dissatisfied with Torrentville; there was not room enough for a young
man of his ability to expand himself. He had no taste for farming, and
for two years had been a clerk in Captain Fishley's store. He wanted to
go to New Orleans, where he believed he could make his fortune. About a
year after the death of his father, he decided to try his luck in the
metropolis of the south-west.

Clarence was a good brother, and I am sure he would not have gone, if he
had not felt satisfied that Flora and myself were well provided for. I
was then a boy of thirteen, handy at almost anything about the farm, the
house, and the garden, and Captain Fishley wanted me to come and live
with him. Clarence agreed to pay Flora's board, so that she was a
boarder at the house of the Fishleys. It was stipulated that I should
go to school, and do certain "chores" for my board, while Clarence paid
for my clothes. My principal work, and all that the captain said I
should be required to do, was to take care of the horse, and go after
the mail every evening.

Instead of this, I was compelled to be at the beck and call of all upon
the place, including Ham, the captain's only son, and miserably spoiled
at that. Before I had been a year in my new home, I was dissatisfied,
for the cloven heels of the three members of the family had appeared. I
was crowded with work, picked upon, insulted, and trodden under foot.
Perhaps I could have endured my fate, if poor Flora, upon whom our
tyrants had no claims, had fared well.

We heard from Clarence occasionally, and learned in general terms, from
his letters, that he was doing very well. I did not like to bother him
with complaints, and I did not do so till existence had become almost a
burden. I think Clarence wrote back to the captain, and for a time there
was some improvement in our condition; but it soon became worse than
before. I repe