A Maker of the New Orient Author:William Elliot Griffis Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: in School-Teaching—Grit and Grace HAVING to earn his own way through the world, Robbins first tried his hand at a small district school, in the town of Bri... more »mfield, Mass. Here " in his noisy mansion skilled to rule," he persevered with the goal ever in view. During twelve weeks he was paid at the rate of nine dollars per month, with board from house to house in the district. While he taught " the three R's," he was fed largely on the three P's—potatoes, pork, and pie. He brought home as his earnings twenty-seven dollars, which he handed over to his delighted father, whose exchequer and faith in his boy were alike enlarged. After another winter of work with his father, he went the following summer to West Springfield, Mass. Here he opened a select school and taught three months. At the end he took home his net earnings, thirty-six dollars, giving them all to his father for the family support. He now opened his heart to his parent and told him of his wish to enter college. He had been already fitted for two or three years, andhis classmates had gone on before him, while he remained behind because he had not the means of support. He promised that, if permitted to enter Amherst College, he would devote his first earnings after graduation to lifting the mortgage from the place which had been bought as their home. Again the father, probably to test the spirit of his son rather than to discourage him, replied that his heart was with him in his purpose, but that in all probability the money he could earn for some years after graduation would go to pay his student debts. Robbins'own words are, " I confess it seemed so to me, but yet there was back of all this obstacle in my way, a firm, but unexpressed, conviction that somehow I should succeed. My father allowed me to make ...« less