These things impressed James sensibly. No female student had attracted his attention at all, before. Nor was there any such thing as falling in love with her on his part. He regarded her with more favor than he had ever regarded a young lady in school; and it was her worth and scholarship that drew him. They were intimate, mutually polite, helpers of each other in study, real friends in all the relations of school-mates. Further than that, neither of them had thoughts about each other. They associated together, and parted at the close of the term with no expectation, perhaps, of renewing their acquaintance again. We speak of the matter here, because the two will meet again elsewhere.

James made rapid progress in Latin after he decided to go to college. It was the study that occupied his odd moments especially. Every spare hour that he could snatch was devoted to this. The following winter he taught school, and Latin received much of his attention in evening hours. He enjoyed the study of it, and, at the same time, was stimulated by the consideration that it was required in a college course of study.

Late in the autumn, James met with a young man who was connected with the Eclectic Institute, a new institution just established in Hiram, Portage County, Ohio. James knew that such an institution had been. opened, and that was all; of its scope and character he was ignorant.

"You can fit for college there," he said to James; "there is no better place in the country for that busi ness The school opened with over one hundred scholars, and the number is rapidly increasing."

'Any fitting for college there, now?" James inquired "Yes, several; I am one of them."

"How far along are you?"

"Only just begun. I have to work my own way, so that it will be slow."

"That is the case with me. So far, I have had but eleven dollars from my friends, and I have more than returned that amount to them."

"A fellow can do it, if he only has grit enough." "How expensive is the school?" continued James. "Not more expensive than Geauga Seminary. It is designed to give a chance to the poorest boy or girl to get an academical education. Besides, it is conducted under the auspices of the Disciples, and the teachers belong to that sect."

"I belong to the Disciples' church," said James.

"So do I. That would not take me there, however, if it was not a good school. I think it is one of the best schools to be found."

"The teachers are well qualified, are they?"

"They are the very best of teachers; no better in any school"

"I am glad that you have called my attention to the school," added James; "I think I shall go there next year."

Here was the second casual meeting with a person, in a single term, that had much to do with the future. career of James. His mother would have called it providential: so did James, afterwards. Meeting with one of them led to his decision to go to college; meeting with the other carried him to the Hiram Eclectic Institute.

James closed his connection with the Geauga Seminary at the expiration of the fall term, leaving it with a reputation for scholarship and character of which the institution was justly proud. As we have said, he taught school during the following winter. It was at Warrensville, where he had taught before. He received eighteen dollars a month, and board, with the esteem and gratitude of his patrons.

We should not pass over the oration that James delivered at the annual exhibition of Geauga Seminary, in November, 1850. It was his last task performed at the institution, and the first oration of his literary life. The part assigned to him was honorary; and he spent all the time he could spare, amid other pressing duties, upon the production. He was to quit the institution, and he would not conceal his desire to close his course of study there with his best effort. He kept a diary at the time, and his diary discloses the anxiety with which he undertook the preparation of that oration, and the thorough application with which he accomplished his purpose. Neither ambition. nor vanity can be discovered, in the least degree, in his diary, that was written for no eyes but his own. His performance proved the attraction of the hour. It carried the audience like a surprise, although they expected a noble effort from the ablest student in the academy. It exceeded their expectations, and was a fitting close of his honorable connection with the school.

Returning home, he found his mother making preparations to visit relatives in Muskingum County, eighteen miles from Zanesville.

"You must go, James; I have made all my arrange ments for you to go with me," said his mother. "How long will you be gone?"

"All the spring, and into the summer, perhaps."

"I had concluded to go to the Eclectic Institute, at Hiram, when the spring term opens.'

"You have? Why do you go there?"

"To prepare for college."

"Do you expect you can work your way through college?"

"I expect I can, or I should not undertake it." And James then rehearsed the circumstances under which he decided to go to college, if possible, and to take a preparatory course at Hiram.

"I shall be glad, James, to have you accomplish your purpose," remarked his mother, after listening to his rehearsal, in which she was deeply interested. "I think, however, that you had better go with me, and enter the Eclectic Institute at the opening of the fall term."

"It will be wasting a good deal of time, it seems to me," said James.

"I don't mean that you shall go there to idle away your time. Take your books along with you. You can find work there, too, I have no doubt. Perhaps you can find a school there to teach."

"Well, if I can be earning something to help me along, perhaps I had better go. It will give me an opportunity to see more of the world—”

"And some of your relations, also," interrupted his mother.

It was settled that James should accompany his