Page:Memorials of a Southern Planter.djvu/29

 Rh She had not seen him before, and asked, "My little man, where do you come from, that you know how to manage horses?"

"I am from Virginia," he answered.

"If you are a Virginia boy you may drive me home," she said.

In a moment he was on the box by the coachman, and had shown to the unruly horses that a fearless hand had taken the reins. They yielded at once to him, and in a short time Mrs. Scott was at her own door.

General Scott came out to meet her as he heard the carriage roll up, and as he handed his wife out, asked, "What young gentleman am I indebted to, my dear, for bringing you home?"

"He did not tell me his name," she replied; "he only said that he was a Virginia boy. I do not know who he is."

General Scott turned to thank him, but he was already speeding away across the fields. When he had gotten too far away to be thanked, he could not resist looking; around to see how the horses were behaving.

They were standing on their hind legs pawing the air.

Thomas was taken from this school into the house-hold of his uncle, Dr. Smith. This gentleman was admirably fitted by nature and education for the trust committed to him by his sister in the care of her sons. His character was so strong, and of such uncompromising integrity, as to impress itself on all who came under his influence. He received his medical education in London and Paris, and was a practising physician in the city of New York when Thomas was put under his charge. When only thirty-two years of age his native State of Virginia called him to the presidency of William and Mary College. From this post he was recalled to New York by the offer of a professorship in the College of Physicians and Surgeons. Ultimately he rose to be president of the college.

In order to stimulate Thomas's ambition in the city school which he now attended, Dr. Smith urged him