The winter wore on, and spring arrived in due time. Meanwhile, the traveling outfits for David and myself were prepared. In our township there were two or three women whose husbands were killed during the Revolution, and who supported themselves by making clothing for men and boys in cases where the garments could not be made by their wives or mothers. Usually my mother made the clothing for my father and the boys, and an economical method was pursued, a suit of clothes doing duty through the whole masculine part of the family. Father would have a new suit of homespun, and when it became a little shabby it was made over for my brother James. After him it was made over for my second brother Charles, and after Charles for myself. Being the youngest, I was permitted to wear the suit out, and it was a pretty bad looking lot of garments by the time I was through with it. Sometimes I had a suit that had been made for Charles, but never do I remember having a brand new one. As I was going away from home it was deemed important that I should have a specially good suit. Consequently, Mrs. Green was called in to construct it, and I was very proud of the garments when they were finished. It was the best suit of clothes I had ever possessed, and I wore them to church every Sunday after their completion until my departure. Extra stockings and an extra shirt completed my wardrobe; and these, with the new suit of clothes, made a fairly good bundle, which I was to carry on my shoulder. The last suit which brother Charles had discarded was made over for me to wear on my journey, so that when I was ready to leave home I presented quite a respectable appearance. When the time came for us to start it was a great pain for me to say good-by to parents and brothers. I was anxious enough to go, and my young head and heart were full of ambition and of high hopes for the future. But at the same time I realized that I might be going away never to return; and, though none of us said so, I'm sure that the same thought was in every mind. My mother broke down and cried when I kissed her farewell; my father made a great effort to preserve his composure, but I could see the tears standing in his eyes as he shook my hand and gave me his blessing with a choked voice. I learned afterward that when I stepped out of the door he yielded to his sorrow, as my mother had already done, and sank speechless and almost fainting into a chair. It was practically the same at David's house; yes, there was more grief there than at my own home, as David had two sisters, while I had none. The girls were very fond of their brother, and when the time came for him to bid them good-by they were so heart-broken that they were unable to speak. I am not ashamed to say that I cried, and bitterly too, when I left my father's house. I said so to David before the day was out, and he frankly acknowledged that he had cried too when he left home.