I never succeeded in overcoming the nausea produced by the smell of the oil.

Even Wallace and Bruce proved impotent here.

But if I had to lose breakfast, or dinner, I had all the better appetite for supper, and the allotted work was done.

A real disciple of Wallace or Bruce could not give up; he would die first.
My service with Mr.Hay was a distinct advance upon the cotton factory, and I also made the acquaintance of an employer who was very kind to me.

Mr.Hay kept his books in single entry, and I was able to handle them for him; but hearing that all great firms kept their books in double entry, and after talking over the matter with my companions, John Phipps, Thomas N.Miller, and William Cowley, we all determined to attend night school during the winter and learn the larger system.
So the four of us went to a Mr.Williams in Pittsburgh and learned double-entry bookkeeping.
One evening, early in 1850, when I returned home from work, I was told that Mr.David Brooks, manager of the telegraph office, had asked my Uncle Hogan if he knew where a good boy could be found to act as messenger.