of him was written.
In the last year of his life Whittier recalled that his name was
Haskell, but could tell me no more, except that he was from Maine, and
was a Dartmouth student. His story is told in "Life and Letters," and
is now referred to only to note the curious fact that although he lived
until 1876, and was a cultivated man who no doubt was familiar with
Whittier's work, yet he was never aware that he had the poet for a
pupil, and died without knowing that his own portrait had been drawn by
the East Haverhill lad with whom he had played in this old kitchen. I
have this from my friend, John Townsend Trowbridge, who was personally
acquainted with Haskell in the last years of his life.

It was in 1698, ten years after this house was built, that the Indians
in a foray upon Haverhill burned many houses and killed or captured
forty persons, including the heroic Hannah Dustin, in whom they caught
a veritable tartar. Her statue with uplifted tomahawk stands in front
of the City Hall. It is possible that on her return to Haverhill she
brought her ten Indian scalps into this kitchen.

Whittier used to tell many amusing stories of his boyhood days. Here is
one he heard in the old kitchen of the Whittier homestead at Haverhill,
as told by the aged pastor of the Congregational church in the
neighborhood, who used to call upon the Quaker family as if they
belonged to his parish. These extra-official visits were much prized,
especially by the boys, for he told them many a tale of his own boyhood
in Revolutionary times. This story of "the power of figures" I can give
almost in Whittier's words, as I made notes while he was telling it:

The old clergyman sat by the kitchen fire with his mug of cider and
told of his college life. He was a poor student, and when he went home
at vacation time, he tramped the long journey on foot, stopping at
hospitable farmhouses on the way for refreshment. One evening an old
farmer invited him in, and as they sat by the fire, after a good
supper, they talked of the things the student was learning at college.
At length the farmer suggested:--

"No doubt you know the power of figures?"

The student modestly allowed he had learned something of algebra and
some branches of the higher mathematics.

[Illustration: HARRIET LIVERMORE[2]]

"I know it! I know it! You are just the man I want to see. You know the
power of figures! I have lost a cow; now use your power of figures and
find her for me."