CHILDHOOD HOME OF OLIVER PERRY.
The gentleman, who was a friend of the family's, carried him into the house, and told the story.
When scarcely more than a baby, Oliver sat upon his mother's knee, while she taught him letters and words. It was not long before he could read quite well. By the time he was five years old, there were two other babies to keep the beautiful, loving mother busy. So it was thought best to send Oliver to school.
Not far from the Perrys', there lived an old gentleman whom the people loved because of his goodness of heart. As there was no school near by, he had often been asked to teach the neighborhood children.
The good old man was notoriously lazy, and consented upon one condition—that he should be allowed to have a bed in the schoolroom.
Teachers were few in those days, and, since there was no one else, the bed was set up. How amusing it must have been to see the children standing about the master's bed and reciting their lessons!
It was to this strange school that little Oliver was first sent. Some girl cousins lived on the adjoining farm. Though they were all older than he, it was Oliver's duty, each day, to take them to and from school. No one, not even the other scholars, thought this at all strange. His dignified manners always made him seem older than he really was.
One day his mother told him that he was old enough to go to school at Tower Hill, a place four miles away. Boys and girls would now think that a long way to go to school; but Oliver and his cousins did not mind the walk through the woods and over the hills.
The master of this school was so old that he had once taught Oliver's grandfather. He was not lazy, however, and was never known to lose his temper.