' by the time of election, as he was powerful good at figures, and had cyphered clean through every arithmetic he had ever seen, the rule of promiscuous questions and all!" Hence, some weeks after, as I was passing his door, on my way to a squirrel hunt,

   with a party of friends, Mr. Jimmy, hurrying out with a slate in his hand, begged me to stop a moment, and thus addressed me:

   "Well, Mr. Carlton, this algebra is a most powerful thing—ain't it?"

   "Indeed it is, Mr. Jimmy—have you been looking into it?"

   "Looking into it! I have been all through this here fust part; and by election time, I allow I'll be ready for examination."

   "Indeed!"

   "Yes, sir! but it is such a pretty thing! Only to think of cyphering by letters! Why, sir, the sums come out, and bring the answers exactly like figures. Jist stop a minute—look here:

    a

   stands for 6, and

    b

   stands for 8, and

    c

   stands for 4, and

    d

   stands for figure 10; now if I say a plus b minus c equals d, it is all the same as if I said, 6 is 6 and 8 makes 14, and 4 subtracted, leaves 10! Why, sir, I done a whole slate full of letters and signs; and afterward, when I tried by figures, they every one of them came out right and brung the answer! I mean to cypher by letters altogether."

   "Mr. Jimmy, my company is nearly out of sight—if you can get along this way through simple and quadratic equations by our meeting, your chance will not be so bad—good morning, sir."

   But our man of "letters" quit cyphering the new way, and returned 

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