The history of the Fifty-Ninth Regiment Illinois Volunteers, or, A three years' campaign through Missouri, Arkansas, Mississippi, Tennessee and Kentucky: ... the country, towns, skirmishes and battles

Would life go on showing me new beauties I had not even imagined? My experience with E… and Lucille made the routine of school life almost intolerable to me. I could only force myself to study by reminding myself of the necessity of winning the second prize in the mathematical scholarship, which would give me ten pounds and ten pounds would take me to America. Soon after the Christmas holidays I had taken the decisive step. The examination in winter was not nearly so important as the one that ended the summer term, but it had been epoch-making to me. My punishments having compelled me to learn two or three books of Vergil by heart and whole chapters of Caesar and Livy, I had come to some knowledge of Latin: in the examination I had beaten not only all my class, but thanks to trigonometry and Latin and history, all the two next classes as well. As soon as the school reassembled I was put in the upper fifth. All the boys were from two to three years older than I was, and they all made cutting remarks about me to each other and avoided speaking to «Pat.» All this strengthened my resolution to get to America as soon as I could ...»