About the close of my country school I came to North Manchester to do some
trading. I went to the Lawrence Clothing Store, where Rev. A.L. Wright was one
of the clerks. I purchased a suit of clothes, and then Rev. Wright proposed that
I should buy an overcoat, saying they were selling at that time for much less
than they would be in the fall. So I purchased one. Then I went to the college
and got very much interested in the college bookstore, where I purchased a
number of books. I did not notice my money was getting low until I looked at my
change and found I had fifty-six cents left. It would cost me forty cents to buy
my ticket back to LaFontaine; and I owed twenty-five cents there at the livery
barn where I had left the horse and buggy for the day. Though I was a stranger,
I might have borrowed a quarter to save myself any difficulty; but I thought I
could do it another way, so I packed the new clothing I had purchased and the
books and started down the railroad track for Urbana. I walked that distance of
six or seven miles, beat the passenger train to the station, purchased my ticket
and saved ten cents by walking that distance. When I reached LaFontaine, I had
money to pay for the keep of my horse that day and had one cent left. This I
contributed to Sunday school the next morning. I mention this because my good
friend, Billings, used to tell this story now and then in the News- Journal.
This is the basis of the story which he printed.