One night, I remember, we boys could not resist the temptation to go skating in the moonlight, notwithstanding the fact that we had been expressly forbidden to skate at night.

Almost before we got fairly started we heard a cry for help, and found a neighbour, who had broken through the ice, was in danger of drowning.

By pushing a pole to him we succeeded in fishing him out, and restored him safe and sound to his grateful family.

As we were not generally expected to save a man's life every time we skated, my brother William and I felt that there were mitigating circumstances connected with this particular disobedience which might be taken into account in the final judgment, but this idea proved to be erroneous.
STARTING AT WORK Although the plan had been to send me to college, it seemed best at sixteen that I should leave the high school in which I had nearly completed the course and go into a commercial college in Cleveland for a few months.

They taught bookkeeping and some of the fundamental principles of commercial transactions.