...ther at work in one of the furnaces. Often I began work as early as four o’clock in the morning. The first thing I ever learned in the way of book kno... ...hat I was to rise early in the morning and work in the furnace till nine o’clock, and return immediately after school closed in the afternoon for at l... ...rom the furnace, 29 Booker T. Washington and as I had to work till nine o’clock, and the school opened at nine, I found myself in a difficulty. Schoo... ...t anything is permanently gained by holding back a fact. There was a large clock in a little office in the furnace. This clock, of course, all the hun... ...I got the idea that the way for me to reach school on time was to move the clock hands from half-past eight up to the nine o’clock mark. This I found ... ...ill the furnace “boss” discovered that something was wrong, and locked the clock in a case. I did not mean to inconve- nience anybody. I simply meant ... ...o work late into the night, while at the same time I had to rise by four o’clock in the morning, in order to build the fires and have a little time in... ...an old, abandoned house to spend the remainder of the night. About three o’clock in the morning my brother John found me asleep in this house, and bro... ... all that the young people of that town needed. I began my work at eight o’clock in the morning, and, as a rule, it did not end until ten o’clock at n...