field--pass this, and you will come to a path with three forks--take the
middle fork, and it will lead you through the woods in sight of Mr.
Boone's plantation."

The Irishman lost his way, invoked the saints, and cursed his director
for his medley of directions many a time, before he stumbled at length
on Mr. Boone's house. He was invited to sit down and dine, in the simple
backwoods phrase, which is still the passport to the most ample
hospitality.

After dinner, the school-master made known his vocation, and his desire
to find employment. To obtain a qualified school-master in those days,
and in such a place, was no easy business. This scarcity of supply
precluded close investigation of fitness. In a word, the Irishman was
authorized to enter upon the office of school-master of the settlement.
We have been thus particular in this description, because it was the way
in which most teachers were then employed.

It will not be amiss to describe the school-house; for it stood as a
sample of thousands of west country school-houses of the present day. It
was of logs, after the usual fashion of the time and place. In
dimension, it was spacious and convenient. The chimney was peculiarly
ample, occupying one entire side of the whole building, which was an
exact square. Of course, a log could be "snaked" to the fire-place as
long as the building, and a file of boys thirty feet in length, could
all stand in front of the fire on a footing of the most democratic
equality. Sections of logs cut out here and there, admitted light and
air instead of windows. The surrounding forest furnished ample supplies
of fuel. A spring at hand, furnished with various gourds, quenched the
frequent thirst of the pupils. A ponderous puncheon door, swinging on