a set purpose.

I shall not hide the fact that some of us were skeptical of the outcome.
That a man of sixty-five should have a thirst for learning was not
remarkable. But that a man whose life had been spent in scenes of
excitement, who had been associated with deeds and events that stir the
blood when we read of them to-day, a man who had lived almost every
moment of his life in the open,--that such a man could settle down to
the uneventful life of a student and a teacher, could shut himself up
within the four walls of a classroom, could find anything to inspire and
hold him in the dull presentation of facts or the dry elucidation of
theories,--this seemed to be a miracle not to be expected in this
realistic age. But, miracle or not, the thing actually happened. He
remained nearly four years in the school, earning his living by work
that he did in the intervals of study, and doing it so well that, when
he graduated, he had not only his education and the diploma which stood
for it, but also a bank account.

He lived in a little cabin by himself, for he wished to be where he
would not disturb others when he sang or whistled over his work in the
small hours of the night. But his meals he took at the college
dormitory, where he presided at a table of young women students. Never
was a man more popular with the ladies than this weather-beaten
patriarch with the girls of his table. No matter how gloomy the day
might be, one could always find sunshine from that quarter. No matter
how grievous the troubles of work, there was always a bit of cheerful
optimism from a man who had tasted almost every joy and sorrow that life
had to offer. If one were in a blue funk of dejection because of failure
in a class, he would lend the sympathy that came from his own rich
experience in failures,--not only past but present, for some things that
come easy at sixteen come hard at sixty-five, and this man who would
accept no favors had to fight his way through "flunks" and "goose-eggs"
like the younger members of the class. And even with it all so complete
an embodiment of hope and courage and wholesome light-heartedness would
be hard to find. He was an optimist because he had learned long since
that anything but optimism is a crime; and learning this in early life,
optimism had become a deeply seated and ineradicable prejudice in his
mind. He could not have been gloomy if he had tried.

And so this man fought his way through science and math