“Are you married?”
“I am a widow,” she answered; “my husband was killed in a railroad collision five years ago.”
“Have you children?”
“I have seven—three boys and four girls.”
“Have you them with you?”
“All are here. Mr. Thompson advised me to come and make this application, so I have been saving up all my money and I am here.”
“You say you live in Boise? You are not recommended by the Brotherhood. Have you any recommendations?”
“I have one from Mr. Thompson.” Here she handed me a note from our President, now Governor of the state, and upon reading it I found that she was an intelligent and deserving woman who was anxious to educate her children. She had saved, through several years’ hard work at the washtub and in various kinds of domestic work, the fee necessary to enter the colony, and, although it was her all, she was ready to pay it for such a purpose.
“What shall I do for a home?” she asked.
“We have excellent houses, in one of which you shall live,” I replied.