about Jesus, and learning to read about Jesus as my mistress did? When
my mistress sent my young mistresses to Jesus wouldn't she send me along
with them just the same as she sent me to school with them? I reckon so.
Such was my reasoning; and I determined to assist my young mistresses in
getting their lessons, law or no law, let the consequences be what they
may.

I received the book and went out from the school-house a short distance,
and secured myself from observation in a shady place. I opened the
book--a spelling-book it was. Hallo! here's a dog and a cat, and here's
a sheep too, and right here in the corner is a yoke--a regular ox-yoke.
Well, now, this _is_ nice. So I got my first idea of what a book
contained by the pictures in a spelling-book. The print in the book
meant something, I was sure, and my mind was employed until recess in
endeavors to make out what the print and pictures were intended for. The
scholars came out at recess, and my mistresses gave me such instructions
as they were able, which gave me a start ahead that enabled me to
memorize the first six letters of the alphabet by the time school
dismissed for noon.

I began to be deeply interested in "studying lessons," and was soon,
after hard study, complete master of the alphabet. I could repeat it
forwards and backwards, and could instantly tell the name of any letter
pointed out to me. My mistresses seemed to take great pleasure in
teaching me, and I was very anxious to learn. I soon found that I could
understand in a great measure the instructions the teacher gave to the
different scholars, by which I profited. I sat in the back part of the
house, behind the scholars, with my young mistress' old book in my hand,
and held it so that nobody could see it, and studied constantly day
after day, which soon advanced me beyond some of the white children