"You must make up your mind to go, Boy. I don't want to force you. I
like to see your eyes flash when you say you _won't_ go. You've got the
stuff in you that real men are made of. That's why it's worth while to
send you. I've seen that since you could toddle about the house and
stamp your feet when things didn't suit you. Now, listen to me. I've
made a vow to God that you shall have as good a chance as any man to
make your way to the top. We're going to be the greatest nation in the
world. I saw it in the red flash of guns that day at New Orleans as I
lay there in the trench and watched the long lines of Red Coats go down
before us. Just a lot of raw recruits with old flintlocks! The men who
charged us, the picked veterans of England's grand army. But we cut 'em
to pieces, Boy! I fired a cannon loaded with grape shot that mowed a
lane straight through 'em. It must have killed two hundred men. They
burned our Capitol at Washington and the Federalist traitors at Hartford
were firin' on us in the rear, but Old Hickory showed the world that we
could lick England with one hand tied behind our back. And we did it. We
drove 'em like sheep--drove 'em into the sea.

"There's but one name on every lip in this country now, Boy, and that's
Old Hickory. He'd be President next time--but for one thing,--just one
thing--he didn't have a chance to learn when he was a boy. He's not
educated."

The brother paused, and a dreamy look came into his eyes. "We may make
him President anyhow. But if he'd been educated--there wouldn't be any
if or and about it. Washington and Jefferson and Madison belong to the
rich and powerful class. Jackson is a yeoman like your father. But he'd
be President. Boy, if he'd been educated! Nothing could stop him. Don't
you see this is your country? This is a poor man's world. All you have
to do is to train your mind. You've got to do this--you