found six of the Academy girls had obtained permission to come across
the river and attend our church. But this arrangement did not long
continue.

After this he went to several Commencements for me, and ate the
dinners provided; he sat through three of our Quarterly Conventions
for me--always voting judiciously, by the simple rule mentioned above,
of siding with the minority. And I, meanwhile, who had before been
losing caste among my friends, as holding myself aloof from the
associations of the body, began to rise in everybody's favor.
"Ingham's a good fellow--always on hand"; "never talks much--but does
the right thing at the right time"; "is not as unpunctual as he used
to be--he comes early, and sits through to the end." "He has got over
his old talkative habit, too. I spoke to a friend of his about it
once; and I think Ingham took it kindly," etc., etc.

This voting power of Dennis was particularly valuable at the quarterly
meetings of the Proprietors of the Naguadavick Ferry. My wife
inherited from her father some shares in that enterprise, which is not
yet fully developed, though it doubtless will become a very valuable
property. The law of Maine then forbade stockholders to appear by
proxy at such meetings. Polly disliked to go, not being, in fact, a
"hens'-rights hen," and transferred her stock to me. I, after going
once, disliked it more than she. But Dennis went to the next meeting,
and liked it very much. He said the armchairs were good, the collation
good, and the free rides to stockholders pleasant. He was a little
frightened when they first took him upon one of the ferry-boats, but
after two or three quarterly meetings he became quite brave.

Thus far I never had any difficulty with him. Indeed, being of that