who broke through the enemy's lines, in the City of Chicago. He got
eight dollars a week in a city on the Mississippi River, and was led to
believe that, if he went to Chicago, he could get ten dollars. He was
employed as a clerk in a Commercial Agency, a business which aims to
ascertain the standing and degree of success or lack of fortune of the
retail dealers of the region it covers. He felt that eight dollars a
week were all that he could ever get where he was. Upon his arrival in
the City of Chicago he was put at work for seven dollars, the
representations made to him having proven unreliable. There were about
fifty young men and women in the same room. Seated at his desk when
eight o'clock came, he found that his chances to rise were seemingly
restricted to the hours of noon and six o'clock. In this way he worked
for six months. He was fortunate enough to obtain board at five dollars
a week, leaving him, after his washing, perhaps a dollar and a quarter
clear. To a man of twenty-five years who could see the real difficulties
of his future, the need of a high quality of moral courage was urgent.
And he had it. He got acquainted with a humble friend, considerably
better off, who therefore, could talk to him very bravely of the dignity
of labor, and the honor of paying one's way, even if it took only five
dollars and seventy-five cents to do it. This young friend did thus
encourage and inspire the young clerk, and he was able to set about
improving his mind.