In reading the life of Washington, he came to think he might make something out of himself. At this time, they were poor, and there were few opportunities, and the chances for becoming a great and prominent man seemed very small; yet young Abraham thought if he would study hard, he might make something out of himself, and so he did. The school was very small, and as he had to work a great deal of the time on the farm, he could not attend it very much; but at night, he would often, after working hard all day, lie in front of the fireplace and figure on a piece of board. When he had used up all the space he scraped it off, and figured again. He would also read books by this same light. One night while reading the Life of Washington, lying in bed, he placed the book in the crack between the logs and went to sleep. In the night, it snowed, and some snow drifted between the logs on the book and injured it a great deal. It was borrowed from one of the neighbors. Abraham took it to the owner, and asked him what he could do to pay for it, and the man said he could work three days on the farm, and Abraham asked him if that would pay for the injury or pay for the book. The man said, "Well Abraham, you may have the book, I do not want it." Perhaps not many of us would be willing to work that hard to get the Life of Washington; but it was that very hard work and liking to study that made it possible for Mr. Lincoln to rise from such humble surroundings to be the great man he was. If he had not worked hard and studied in that way, he never could have become great. We cannot amount to much of anything if we are not willing, as boys and girls, to study and work.