straight. I got no farther than, "Miss President". All burst out in
uncontrollable laughter. I went to my seat put my face in my arms and
turned my back to the audience. I wept with tears of humiliation. I
felt disgraced. I thought of what a shame this would be to my parents.
How ever after this I must be considered a "Silly" by my schoolmates.
These things nerved me. I dried my tears, turned around in my seat,
looked up, and the moral force it required to do this was almost equal
to that which smashed a saloon. I arose and said: "Miss President, I
am ready to state my case." I began in this style: "I know animals
have the power to reason for my brothers cured a dog from sucking eggs
by having him take a hot one in his mouth, and it was the last egg we
ever knew him to pick up. Why? Because he remembered the hot one
and reasoned that he might get burned. Why is it that a horse will like
one person more than another? Because he is capable of reasoning and
knows who is the best to him." I went on in this homely style and spoke
with a vehemence which said: "I will make my point," which I did
amidst the cheers of the school. I was eighteen at this time and you
would say: "You must have been rather green." So I was in some
things.

I believe I have always failed in everything I undertook to do the
first time, but I learned only by experience, paid dearly for it, and valued
it afterwards. My failures have been my best teachers. I see no one
more awkward than I once was, but I had determined to conquer. My
defects were the great incentives to perseverance, when I felt I was right.

I shall not in this book speak much of my love affairs, but they were,
nevertheless, an important part of my life. I was a great lover. I used
to think a person never could love but once in this life, but I often now
say, I would not want a heart that could hold but one love. It was not