Suddenly Hall started up, and exclaimed, with more than his
usual warmth:
"You have taught me more than I ever knew before meeting with you; but
I ought not to say what I am going to say. You, sir, were never made
for a schoolmaster. By the eternal God!"--Hall was a Jackson man--"you
know more than any man in the county, and you have got more sense than
any of them, though you are nothing but a boy. Now, sir, go to town and
study law with Bob Walker; he's the smartest of any of them. In two
years you will be ahead of him. If you haven't got the money to pay
your way, I have, and you shall have it."
The term for which he had engaged was now expiring, and, as Hall had
requested, he went into the office of Robert J. and Duncan Walker, and
commenced the study of law.
This Yankee youth was Sargent S. Prentiss. Prentiss remained in the
office of Walker for one year, and was a close student. When admitted
to the Bar, he went to Vicksburg and opened an office. At that time
Vicksburg was a new place, and presented peculiar inducements to young
professional men. The country upon the Yazoo River--and indeed the
entire northern portion of the State--had but recently been quit of its
Indian population, and was rapidly filling up with an active and
enterprising people.
Pages:
696
697
698
699
700
701
702
703
704
705
706
707
708
709
710
711
712
713
714
715
716
717
718
719
720