THE Author of this little book feels proud of being a native-born citizen of one of the central counties of the best State in the best Government under the sun. Illinois is where things grow; the corn, the wheat, the hay, the oats, the fruit, the vegetables, the horses, the cattle, the hogs; the eggs don’t grow on bushes in Illinois, but they come as near to it as they do in any other State. And not only these things, which have been mentioned, grow in Illinois, but brains grow in Illinois too; and if they are about to be bothered to find a man who is smart enough for President, tell them not to be uneasy, that Illinois can furnish five hundred, if that many were needed. Yes, Illinois is where things grow. Hospitality. WHEN you would ride up to a pioneer’s cabin the first thing was the hounds’ “boo,” “boo,” then all would come to the door. “Come in,” “come in.” You go in, you see from one to three rifle guns in the rack, you also see deer-skins and turkey-wings all about the house. “Have you had your dinner?” “No.” “Gals, get him some dinner.” You find plenty of milk and butter, bread, venison, potatoes, and almost everything that grows on the farm or in the woods. You speak of going. “Oh, stay all night.” You conclude to stay; then you must tell your name and where you live, and how long you have lived there, how many children you have, who you married, and where you come from, also how many deer you have killed this winter. You are expected to tell it all, and the children will size you up very carefully; and then by the time the man tells you all he knows, and the woman tells you all she knows, and all that her mother knew, and all that her grandmother knew, and all the children tell you all they know, you do not get much sleep. Religion. THE writer learned at an early age to have a great respect for the church, not for any one particular denomination, but for all who seek to serve their Creator with all their heart, according to their best understanding of His will. We was raised under the teaching and influence of the Methodist, Baptist, Presbyterian and the Christian churches. John Hall and others was preaching the Methodist doctrine, Willis Whitfield the Baptist doctrine, McCreary Bone the Presbyterian and Bushrod Henry (the father of our present J. O. Henry) preached the Christian doctrine—all of them good, zealous Christian men. We loved them all. At that day a boy would not have been allowed to speak with disrespect of a preacher at all, it would have been considered almost like blasphemy to thus speak of a preacher with disrespect. Making Hay.