Page:Boys Life of Booker T. Washington.djvu/31

Rh "The one at a place called Hampton, over in Virginia," was the reply.

"Well, suppose there is a good school there; negro boys can't go to it, can they?" was asked.

"Yes, they can," said the other. "It is a school just for negro boys and girls, and they teach the boys and girls something besides books, too. They are taught some useful trades so that they can go out and make a good living and be independent and have pleasant work to do."

"Well," said the other miner, "that sounds pretty good, but nobody but rich folks can afford such a school as that; so I don't see where it is going to help us any."

"There is where you are mistaken again," was the answer, "for poor boys and girls can go to this school. That is what I have heard. They say that they give the boys and girls different kinds of work to do, so that they can pay their own way through school."

Booker heard no more. He returned to his work very greatly excited. That certainly was the place for him. He then and there made up his mind that he would go to that school no matter what happened. He did not know where the place was, but he determined that he would find it. From that day on, one thought was in his mind—to go to Hampton.

He wanted to quit work in the mines, because the work was so dangerous, and because he was