UC-NRLF 
 
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 THE LITTLE 
 SCHOOLMISTRESS 
 
m MEMORIAM 
 
 R»0«Boone 
 
 • i '..-" 
 
 ?S5 
 
THE LITTLE 
 
 SCHOOLMISTRESS 
 
 By Cleburne Lee Hayes 
 
 THE CLAUDE J. BELL COMPANY, PUBLISHERS 
 
 NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE 
 
Tn uVi m\m 
 
 Jfcpprarate ite ^Possibilities 
 
 of tta> 
 
 GJommon primal 
 
 EDUCATION DEHI*, 
 
 Copyright 1905 
 By C. L. Hayes 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 I. Only a Schoolma'am - 5 
 
 II. Another View of It - - - 12 
 
 III. Making Friends - - - - 17 
 
 IV. " Grammatical Knots Untied" 22 
 V. The Examination 25 
 
 VI. The Lawn Party - - - 27 
 
 VII. At Home Again 34 
 
 VIII. Old Jim Burton's Scheme - 40 
 
 IX. Aunt Ann's Appreciation 42 
 
 X. Colonel Rutherford's Letter 45 
 
 XI. Helen's Arrival at Shady Grove 54 
 
 XII. " Getting Down to Business " - 61 
 
 XIII. The First Day oe School - 69 
 
 XIV. "A Peculiar Boy" - - - 77 
 XV. A Friday Afternoon Digression 90 
 
 XVI. The Teachers' Association - 95 
 
 XVII. A New Experience - - - 101 
 
 XVIII. A Rainy Day - - - - 103 
 
 (iii) 
 
 543708 
 
iv CONTENTS 
 
 XIX. "Nonsense" - - - - 108 
 
 XX. The Superintendent's Visit 114 
 
 XXI. Miss Scruggs' School - - 121 
 
 XXII. Miss Scruggs' Confession 130 
 
 XXIII. The District Conference - 136 
 
 XXIV. Holding the Attendance 148 
 XXV. Visiting the Parents - 160 
 
 XXVI. A Lesson in Geography - 168 
 
 XXVII. A School Boy's " Impudence " 178 
 
 XXVIII. The " Scalawag Class " - 182 
 
 XXIX. Thanksgiving Day - - 204 
 
 XXX. Burton's Second Scheme - 212 
 
 XXXI. Planning Closing Exercises 220 
 
 XXXII. A Day with " the Faithful " 223 
 
 XXXIII. Two Agreeable Surprises 230 
 
 XXXIV. "The Traveler's Rest" - 234 
 XXXV. Shady Grove's Awakening 237 
 
 XXXVI. The New School-House - 243 
 
 XXXVII. Some of the Fruits - - 245 
 
 XXXVIII. " Unrealized Ambitions " - 248 
 
THE LITTLE 
 SCHOOLMISTRESS 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 ONLY A SCHOOLMA'AM 
 
 1JELEN SMITH sat by the window one 
 rainy afternoon in March, and gazed 
 upon the gloomy landscape. In her lap 
 lay an open letter which she regretted 
 that she must show her mother, for it 
 was a statement from the bank saying : — 
 
 "De:ar Madam: 
 
 " Unless some arrangements are made agree- 
 able to Mr. Mark Hopper, whom we represent, 
 the foreclosure of the mortgage on your home 
 may take place at any time." 
 
 " The day is cold, and dark, and 
 dreary," she said, and then remembering 
 that she was quoting a familiar line of 
 "The Rainy Day," she turned to the 
 
 (5) 
 
.6 .THE UTTI,E SCHOOLMISTRESS 
 
 table near by, where a copy of Longfellow 
 lay, took it up, and read the entire poem 
 through several times. The lines, — 
 
 " Thy fate is the common fate of all ; 
 Into each life some rain must fall, 
 Some days must be dark and dreary," 
 
 somehow soothed her. 
 
 She looked out of the window again for 
 several minutes, and then turned aim- 
 lessly through the book in her hand, un- 
 til she happened to notice the familiar 
 " Psalm of Life." She read it thought- 
 fully, and every sentence seemed to be an 
 expression of her own yearnings. When 
 she came to the words : — 
 
 " Let us then be up and doing," 
 
 she stopped. 
 
 "What can I do?" she thought. "Can't 
 I help mother? Could I work in a store 
 or an office? I must be up and doing. 
 I will take her the letter, and tell her 
 that I will help her." 
 
 As she arose, her mother entered. 
 
ONLY A SCHOOLMA'AM 7 
 
 " Come here, mother, and take this 
 rocking-chair by the window. I have a 
 letter for you which contains disagreeable 
 news." 
 
 " From whom, Helen ? " 
 
 " From Mr. Duncan." 
 
 " Oh, I am sure it is about that mort- 
 gage," she said as she took the letter and 
 read it. 
 
 Helen observed that her mother was 
 much troubled. Thereupon she said ten- 
 derly, — 
 
 " Mother, I have resolved to help you 
 by earning money myself." 
 
 " My dear child, what can you do ? " 
 
 " I am not sure, but there must be 
 something that I can do. Girls in the 
 cities work in stores and offices. Don't 
 you think I can do something of the 
 kind?" 
 
 After a little reflection Mrs. Smith re- 
 plied : " You are not prepared for a posi- 
 tion in an office. To hold one you should 
 
8 THE UTTEE SCHOOLMISTRESS 
 
 understand business methods and know 
 how to write shorthand. The girls who 
 work in stores generally get very little 
 pay, are confined very closely, and there 
 is no advancement for them. The best 
 employment that I can think of for you 
 would be teaching school." 
 
 "Teaching school! Why, I couldn't 
 teach school. That is the last thing that 
 I would attempt." 
 
 "A great many girls who have not had 
 as good advantages as you have taught 
 successfully," said Mrs. Smith. 
 
 Just then there was a rap at the door 
 which Helen answered, and Mrs. Alexan- 
 der, one of their neighbors, entered. She 
 walked quietly and spoke in gentle tones. 
 She sat down and began to talk with Mrs. 
 Smith, and Helen passed out of the 
 room. As Mrs. Alexander was one of 
 Mrs. Smith's most intimate friends, the 
 latter was soon telling her the contents 
 of the banker's letter. She spoke also of 
 
ONLY A SCHOOLMA'AM 9 
 
 her husband's long illness and death, of 
 several losses which they had sustained, 
 of her inability to earn anything, or even 
 to care for the farm and the household; 
 of her children to be educated and her 
 ambitions in this particular, and finally of 
 Helen's proposition to go to work. 
 
 " I can think of nothing that Helen 
 can possibly do but teach some little 
 school, and I am sure she does not want 
 to do that. I suggested teaching to her 
 just now, and although she did not refuse, 
 it was plain that she did not think favor- 
 ably of the suggestion. ,, 
 
 "Well," said Mrs. Alexander, "I 
 should like very much to have my little 
 girl taught by Helen, and I do wish she 
 could have our school for the next session. 
 I am sure she would do far better than the 
 young lady they have engaged. My hus- 
 band told me this morning that our 
 teacher next term will be Miss Lummie 
 Scruggs of Dry Creek. She has had no 
 
10 the; little schoolmistress 
 
 experience, has never been to school out 
 of her own neighborhood, and her home 
 has not been such as to give her much cul- 
 ture. It seems that one of the directors 
 in that district is under obligations to her 
 father for favors in the last election, and 
 through his influence arrangements were 
 made for her to have this school, and 
 for John Jones's son to have the school at 
 Dry Creek so that he may go to the 
 Business College." 
 
 Mrs. Smith felt disappointed at this 
 announcement, but said nothing. 
 
 While this conversation was taking 
 place, Helen was in the next room en- 
 gaged in housework and caring for her 
 little brother. Meanwhile she was think- 
 ing seriously of her mother's suggestion 
 that she teach. She felt that she was in- 
 competent, and too young; and did not 
 think she could get a position if she de- 
 sired it. Still she was willing to do all 
 she could to help her mother in her dis- 
 
ONLY A SCHOO^MA'AM H 
 
 tress, and it was evident that her mother 
 wished her to teach. 
 
 After the day's work was done, Helen 
 wrote a letter to Miss Emily Wise, the 
 very best teacher she had ever had, and 
 told her frankly of their circumstances 
 and of her mother's suggestion ; also how 
 utterly incompetent she felt for teaching. 
 She concluded by saying : — 
 
 " I have never before thought of be- 
 coming a teacher, and I feel that I would 
 very much dislike to do so. There are 
 other things more to my taste than being 
 a country school-ma'am. Please tell me 
 with perfect candor whether you think I 
 could teach school or not, should I make 
 up my mind to try, and find a position. 
 You know the school here. Do you sup- 
 pose I could manage it if they would let 
 me have it ? " 
 
CHAPTER II 
 
 ANOTHER VIEW OF IT 
 IJ'ELEN'S father had been buried only 
 a week when the banker's letter came, 
 and her mother, always delicate, had been 
 so overtaxed by anxiety and watching 
 that she was still scarcely able to leave 
 her room. She was dispirited and even 
 had grave fears that she too would be- 
 come a victim of consumption. 
 
 The family consisted of the mother, 
 Helen, the oldest daughter, who would 
 be eighteen next Wednesday, and three 
 other children, two of whom were girls, 
 and the youngest, only one year old, a 
 boy. 
 
 While James Smith was in good health, 
 he provided well for his family. Their 
 home was a pretty white cottage of five 
 rooms, beside the turnpike, seven miles 
 east of the county seat of one of the well- 
 known counties of middle Tennessee, and 
 overlooked a fertile valley. Mr. Smith 
 
 (12) 
 
ANOTHER VIEW OF IT 13 
 
 owned eighty acres of good land, and his 
 entire premises were noted for their neat- 
 ness. As long as he was able to give his 
 personal attention to his business, he was 
 prosperous; but it had now been three 
 years since his health failed. During this 
 time his income had been less, his 
 misfortunes more frequent, and his ex- 
 penses greater. In order to send Helen 
 to school, and to meet other demands, he 
 had been compelled to borrow several 
 hundred dollars, to secure the loan of 
 which he had mortgaged his farm. Ow- 
 ing to his family history, he had been 
 unable to provide life insurance. Conse- 
 quently he left his family embarrassed 
 financially. 
 
 A week after Helen wrote to Miss Wise 
 she received a reply. It was very lengthy, 
 and as she glanced over it hurriedly, she 
 was pleased to find many assurances of 
 confidence. Among other things, her 
 teacher wrote : — 
 
14 THE LITTLE SCHOOLMISTRESS 
 
 " My dear Helen, you will not only be 
 able to teach as well as most young peo- 
 ple, but I expect you to excel. You have 
 had better advantages, both at home and 
 at school, than many who teach, and you 
 are so conscientious that you will certainly 
 do your best in every particular. You say 
 that you feel incompetent. There is much 
 that you may yet do to qualify yourself 
 better before the schools begin again, — 
 and this very sense of unfitness is essen- 
 tial to your success. Only those who re- 
 alize their inefficiency ever become what 
 teachers really ought to be. * 
 
 " Perhaps you have not thought how 
 great a thing it is to teach, else you would 
 not mention ' other things more to your 
 taste.' The opportunity for doing good 
 is not greater in any other calling, unless 
 it be the ministry of the gospel — and a 
 Christian teacher's work is a holy minis- 
 try. Many of the world's greatest, wis- 
 est, and best people have been teachers. 
 
ANOTHER VIEW OF IT 15 
 
 Nor is being ' only a common country 
 schoolma'am   a thing to be despised. 
 Just think how much good you may do 
 in a country community. Nowhere else is 
 your work more needed or more likely to 
 be appreciated. You have seen how 
 brightly a little candle shines in a dark 
 place. So shines the good work of a 
 real teacher in a benighted neighborhood. 
 Its brightness reaches even unto heaven, 
 and God and the angels look down on it 
 and are pleased. 
 
 " Helen, there will be a Teachers' In- 
 stitute in our town beginning the first 
 Monday in June and lasting one month. 
 Some very fine instructors have been en- 
 gaged already. I shall attend, and I shall 
 be delighted to have you room with me at 
 my brother's. The expense will be very 
 little. If you cannot pay for your board 
 at once, it will make no difference with 
 my brother. 
 
 2 
 
16 THE LITTLE SCHOOLMISTRESS 
 
 " Do not worry about a position. There 
 will be time enough to attend to that when 
 the Institute is over. 
 
 " I am sending to King's drug store 
 to-day a book for you to read. You will 
 find it pleasant and inspiring. It is Page's 
 ' Theory and Practice of Teaching/ " 
 
 Again Helen gazed out of the window, 
 but this time the sun was shining, and the 
 landscape glowed in its wonted beauty. 
 
CHAPTER III 
 
 MAKING FRIENDS 
 
 ^ITHEN the summer Institute opened, 
 Helen sat beside Miss Wise much 
 embarrassed, but feeling that she had a 
 good friend at hand to help her in any 
 emergency. The attendance was large, 
 and the opening was considered a great 
 success. The conductor and assistant in- 
 structors delivered fine addresses, and 
 dwelt at length upon the usefulness and 
 nobility of the work of a teacher. Under 
 these influences the last remnant of Hel- 
 en's antipathy to teaching gradually gave 
 way to a desire which by the end of the 
 Institute grew to eagerness. 
 
 On the third morning when the hour 
 arrived for work to begin, the Superin- 
 tendent seemed somewhat worried be- 
 cause his organist was absent. After he 
 had made repeated requests for some one 
 to volunteer, Miss Wise caught his eye 
 
 (17) 
 
18 THE UTT^E SCHOOLMISTRESS 
 
 and pointed slyly to Helen, whereupon he 
 said: — 
 
 " Miss , — Pardon me, ma'am — 
 
 your name — ? " 
 
 " Miss Smith," said Miss Wise. 
 
 " Certainly. Miss Smith, will you 
 please come and play for us ? " 
 
 Helen felt a strong desire to decline, 
 but out of a sense of duty she arose, with 
 crimson cheeks, and proceeded to the or- 
 gan. There were several present who 
 could have played, but they were not so 
 prompt to do a duty nor so obliging. The 
 Superintendent noticed that she did not 
 wait to be coaxed, and furthermore that 
 she played fairly well. Henceforth he 
 knew " Miss Smith." 
 
 Two or three days later Professor 
 Waters, who taught arithmetic, made up 
 a class of about a dozen, and sent them to 
 the blackboard to solve some problems in 
 partial payments. It was noticeable that 
 while several responded with gusto, evi- 
 
MAKING FRIENDS 19 
 
 dently expecting to display their superior 
 skill, Helen went as usual to do her duty 
 and not to attract attention. One or two 
 young men finished very soon, and began 
 snapping their fingers vigorously to at- 
 tract the attention of the instructor. He 
 merely smiled, bowed to them in recog- 
 nition of their eagerness to explain, and 
 pointed to seats. One after another fin- 
 ished or became confused, half way erased 
 their work, and sat down. Helen, as if 
 alone, worked on steadily until she had 
 solved the problem and reviewed it, before 
 she stopped. The eyes of the entire In- 
 stitute were finally centered upon her and 
 her work. 
 
 When all were seated, Professor 
 Waters asked for explanations. To re- 
 lieve the class from their importunity, he 
 allowed the young man from the 14th Dis- 
 trict to explain first, and then another 
 from the 19th District. Both had approx- 
 imated the correct answer, but neither had 
 
20 the little schoolmistress 
 
 arranged his work systematically, and 
 neither had obtained quite correct results. 
 When this was shown them, they argued 
 that a dollar or two did not make any dif- 
 ference, just so the principle was right. 
 
 "But," said Professor Waters, "is 
 that the way you make settlements ? Does 
 it matter to you whether there is a differ- 
 ence of a dollar or two in your favor 
 or against you when you buy or sell 
 things?" 
 
 " Oh, yes, I would be exact in settle- 
 ments," said one of the young men, some- 
 what confused. 
 
 " Then," said the professor, " it pays to 
 acquire the habit of exactness in practice." 
 
 The review of the work continued, no 
 special attention being attracted until 
 Helen's was reached. There it stood as 
 neatly arranged and as exact in every 
 figure as a banker's trial balance. Every 
 line was in its place and every figure leg- 
 ible. All superfluous calculations had been 
 
MAKING FRIENDS 21 
 
 erased, and if one had come into the room 
 after the problem had been stated, he 
 could have understood it from Helen's 
 solution. She explained it in a quivering 
 voice, but lucidly. Professor Waters said 
 with emphasis as she left the blackboard, 
 
 "That's good!" 
 
 The recess bell rang, and the class was 
 dismissed. 
 
CHAPTER IV 
 
 "GRAMMATICAL KNOTS UNTIED 
 £PHE Institute had now been in session 
 three weeks. Each instructor had re- 
 quested that all present take notes of the 
 lectures, intimating that they would be 
 found especially helpful to those who ex- 
 pected to pass the examination. Profes- 
 sor Jones had charge of the work in Eng- 
 lish grammar. He had varied the exer- 
 cises so as to interest the teachers, and had 
 succeeded with little difficulty in keeping 
 their attention. The discussions had been 
 spicy at times, and but for his skilful 
 management would have lapsed into 
 prolonged caviling. During these dis- 
 cussions Helen sat near Miss Wise, 
 intently listening but never participating. 
 To-day Professor Jones asked no ques- 
 tions and told no anecdotes. He was seri- 
 ously teaching some of the most difficult 
 things to be learned in grammar. His 
 subject for the day was " Grammatical 
 
 (22) 
 
"GRAMMATICAL KNOTS UNTIED." 23 
 
 Knots Untied." First, some of the class 
 and then Professor Jones himself, was 
 disturbed by the conduct of several young 
 persons. Finding the lecture " dry," they 
 were amusing themselves by passing 
 " notes," whispering, and pretending to 
 go to sleep. Helen was quietly writing. 
 When the noon recess came, nearly all 
 went home. A few took lunch outside of 
 the room. 
 
 Professor Jones, somewhat troubled be- 
 cause he had been unable to hold the at- 
 tention of the teachers, walked up and 
 down the hall, looking at the note books 
 that chanced to be lying here and there. 
 On one he found a caricature of himself 
 untying grammatical knots; on others, 
 sketches such as we might expect a six- 
 year-old boy to chalk on the barn door. 
 Many, of course, were more creditable. 
 
 Up toward the front he saw a well- 
 kept tablet with a neatly trimmed pencil 
 thrust through it, lying just where Helen 
 
24 THE UTTLE SCHOOLMISTRESS 
 
 had been sitting. He picked it up, and 
 glanced at it as he had at the others; for 
 he was only making such an examination 
 as a teacher has a right to make. To his 
 relief he found that one, at least, had un- 
 derstood him well, and had made a clear 
 and concise summary of what he had said. 
 He straightened up, drew a sigh of relief, 
 and walked out. 
 
 That afternoon he had a conversation 
 with Helen, but said nothing of the gram- 
 mar lesson. He asked her where she 
 lived, who her teachers had been, and 
 where she was going to teach. She told 
 him that she had never taught, but that 
 she hoped, when the Institute was over, 
 to find a position not too far from home 
 which she would be able to fill. 
 
 " I think you will have no trouble," he 
 said, and proceeded to talk of other things 
 until the bell called them back into the 
 lecture hall. 
 
CHAPTER V 
 
 THE EXAMINATION 
 ft\ N the morning when the examinations 
 for certificates were to begin, the Su- 
 perintendent stood before the Institute, 
 and around his mouth played a smile 
 which seemed about to break forth 
 through a face studiously stern. 
 
 " In addition to making announcements 
 regarding the examinations," said he, " I 
 have been directed to state publicly that 
 the entire Institute, faculty and students, 
 will be expected to attend a lawn party 
 at Colonel Rutherford's next Friday even- 
 ing." 
 
 This announcement was greeted with 
 enthusiastic applause, in which just a few 
 stamped the floor as men do in political 
 conventions. 
 
 During the examinations, as usual, 
 Helen occupied a seat near the front of 
 the room, the only difference being that 
 Miss Wise was not with her now, as for- 
 
 (25) 
 
26 THE LITTLE SCHOOLMISTRESS 
 
 merly. She asked for no explanations, 
 but listened attentively to all directions. 
 She read all the questions on each sub- 
 ject carefully through once, often twice, 
 before she began to write. She did not 
 hurry nor idle, but worked steadily. She 
 made her calculations, sketches, and out- 
 lines on separate sheets of paper, and then 
 wrote with ink as carefully as she could 
 what she considered necessary to answer 
 the questions fully and concisely. The pa- 
 per on which she prepared her final an- 
 swers was of good quality, and perfectly 
 clean, for she kept constantly under it a 
 sheet of wrapping paper while she was 
 writing. Before giving to the teacher in 
 charge, what she had written, she cor- 
 rected the punctuation, rounded out im- 
 perfect letters, arranged the pages in 
 order, and pinned the sheets together. 
 About two thirds of the others usually 
 handed in their work before she finished 
 hers. 
 
CHAPTER VI 
 
 THE LAWN PARTY 
 
 ^THEN the people had gathered on 
 Friday evening for the party at Col- 
 onel Rutherford's, there were at least a 
 hundred present from the Institute, and 
 as many from the town. 
 
 Colonel Rutherford was a man promi- 
 nent in business and politics. He desired 
 that the teachers and the town people 
 be brought into close social relations with 
 one another, and it afforded him " pecul- 
 iar pleasure," he said, to welcome them to 
 his home. 
 
 Among those present were most of the 
 " society set " of the town, and others 
 wholly unsophisticated in social formali- 
 ties. There was the supersensitive young 
 man, who felt sure that the people who 
 were chatting so pleasantly on the oppo- 
 site side of the room were having fun at 
 his expense ; and the conceited fellow, who 
 was endeavoring by making a noise to at- 
 
 (27) 
 
28 THE UTTl,g SCHOOLMISTRESS 
 
 tract as much attention to himself as pos- 
 sible. There were some who talked loudly 
 and others who said nothing, even when 
 carefully paired by the Entertainment 
 Committee. 
 
 On a settee at the shadowy end of the 
 porch, alone, sat the couple who had be- 
 come so deeply interested in each other 
 during the Institute. A few of both sexes 
 were conspicuous by the eccentricities of 
 their dress. Miss Lewis wore bright col- 
 ors in sharp contrast. Professor Garner, 
 the " Chesterfield " of the Institute, not- 
 withstanding the affair had been an- 
 nounced as " strictly informal/' was in 
 full dress. One young man's necktie had 
 climbed over his celluloid collar, and one 
 with an unusually attractive curl on his 
 forehead had it carefully secured in place 
 with a hairpin. But odd as these were, 
 they were not characteristic of the Insti- 
 tute. With but few exceptions, all pres- 
 
THE LAWN PARTY 29 
 
 ent were well mannered and properly 
 dressed. 
 
 Colonel Rutherford's son William, who 
 had finished the course at Webb Training 
 vSchool since the Institute began, arrived 
 with Helen about 8 o'clock. Helen was 
 not over medium height, and although her 
 dress was only a plain white muslin, her 
 figure was so erect, her auburn hair so 
 becomingly arranged, her large brown 
 eyes so bright, and her smile so pleasant, 
 that she attracted attention, and many 
 were the complimentary remarks made in 
 an undertone among those in the room. 
 
 Shortly after they entered the spacious 
 parlors where Colonel Rutherford and his 
 wife and several others were receiving 
 their guests, William presented Helen to 
 his father. 
 
 " I am glad to meet you, Miss Smith," 
 said Colonel Rutherford. " I have heard 
 you spoken of so frequently since the In- 
 stitute began that I feel quite well ao 
 
30 THE LITTLE SCHOOLMISTRESS 
 
 quainted with you already. The instruc- 
 tors, with whom I have talked frequently, 
 have spoken of you in most complimentary 
 terms. I knew your father and mother 
 before they were married, and your fa- 
 ther and I were good friends for twenty 
 years." 
 
 During the Institute, Helen had been 
 serious and attentive to her work. She 
 had spent the greater portion of her after- 
 noons in study, and had not gone to en- 
 tertainments in the evenings. However, 
 it must not be supposed that she lacked in- 
 terest in outdoor amusements and genial 
 society. She had had a task to perform; 
 it was to prepare herself as fully as pos- 
 sible for the examination, and to derive 
 every benefit that she could from the In- 
 stitute as a means of fitting herself to 
 teach. Now that the Institute was over, 
 and the examination had been finished, 
 her task was done. She entered into the 
 social enjoyment of the evening with de- 
 
THE LAWN PARTY 31 
 
 light, and had something pleasant to say- 
 to many, for she was now well acquainted. 
 She laughed and chatted and indulged 
 in witty repartee. When games were 
 played, she joined in them enthusiastically, 
 and usually excelled. 
 
 While the ices were being served on the 
 lawn, the piano was kept busy in the par- 
 lor, and the melodious notes floated out 
 of the broad windows. A variety of 
 waltzes and lively airs had been played. 
 
 Colonel Rutherford sat talking to Miss 
 Wise. Their conversation drifted to 
 Helen, and then to her parents. Colonel 
 Rutherford was reminiscent. He finally 
 spoke of Helen's mother's voice and of 
 how naturally sweet it was, though lack- 
 ing the culture which systematic training 
 would have given it. 
 
 " I used to love so much to hear her 
 sing the old songs," he said. 
 
 " Perhaps Helen could sing one of them 
 for you now," suggested Miss Wise. 
 
 3 
 
32 THE LITTLE SCHOOLMISTRESS 
 
 " Oh, I would like so much for you to 
 have her do it." 
 
 A moment later Helen was informed 
 that Colonel Rutherford desired to speak 
 to her, and she came in promptly. 
 
 " Miss Helen," he said, " I have a re- 
 quest to make. It would take me back to 
 the happy days of long ago, when your 
 father and mother were sweethearts, if 
 you would sing some of the old familiar 
 songs for me. Won't you please do so? " 
 
 Helen's face reddened, partly from em- 
 barrassment and partly from emotion at 
 the mention of her father. After hesita- 
 ting for a moment, she said, " I am afraid 
 you will find my singing quite poor, Col- 
 onel Rutherford, but I will try. What 
 would you like me to sing? " 
 
 " Your mother used to sing ' Annie 
 Laurie ' and ' Home Sweet Home.' 
 Please favor us with one of these." 
 
 Soon the merriment on the lawn dimin- 
 ished, and many who had been laughing 
 
THE LAWN PARTY 33 
 
 and talking were listening to the unusually 
 sweet strains of " Annie Laurie " and 
 wondering who was singing. When the 
 song was finished, there were tears in the 
 Colonel's eyes, and he begged for " Home 
 Sweet Home." Before that was half 
 done, not another voice could be heard, 
 either in the parlors or on the lawn. Ev- 
 ery one was listening. When the singing 
 was done, many came in to bid the host 
 goodnight, and to thank Helen for the 
 songs with which they had been favored. 
 When Helen was ready to go, Colonel 
 Rutherford shook hands with her vigor- 
 ously, saying, " If I can assist you in any 
 way in securing a position to teach, it will 
 afford me great pleasure to do so." 
 
CHAPTER VII 
 
 AT HOME AGAIN 
 
 £PHE first week after the Institute 
 closed Helen spent at home, occupied 
 principally with household duties. The 
 hot weather and extra care necessary dur- 
 ing Helen's absence, likewise the annoy- 
 ance of debt, had reduced Mrs. Smith to 
 a feebler state of health than that in 
 which we first saw her ; but Helen's return 
 brought relief and good cheer. The 
 neighbors came to see Mrs. Smith fre- 
 quently, and some brought full accounts 
 of all the recent trivial happenings of 
 the community. Two or three of these 
 visitors usually ascribed motives of the 
 baser sort to the persons whom they dis- 
 cussed; consequently, like Job's comfort- 
 ers, they depressed Mrs. Smith rather 
 than cheered her. Since it had become 
 rumored that Mrs. Smith once hoped to 
 have Helen teach the local school, the 
 class of visitors just referred to never 
 
 (84) 
 
AT HOME AGAIN 35 
 
 failed to report fully what they had been 
 able to gather on the subject, though she 
 did not encourage them in the least. They 
 told her who would have favored Helen 
 and who would have opposed her, and 
 why; that some said she was too young 
 and others that she needed experience; 
 others that the children would not respect 
 her because they had gone to school with 
 her ; others thought a " male teacher " 
 was necessary to govern the " big boys." 
 And Jones, the director, said apologet- 
 ically : — 
 
 "Wall, if we had ha' give the school 
 to Helen Smith, she couldn't ha' taught 
 Mary Ann, for they's in the same class 
 year before last. Miss Scruggs is a thor- 
 ough graduate, and can teach anything 
 from a b c to Latin and philosophy, while 
 Helen Smith ha'in't never been to school 
 anywhere but a year and a half to that 
 boardm' school in town where they don't 
 
36 THE LITTLE SCHOOLMISTRESS 
 
 teach nothin' but how to dress fine, talk 
 proper, and put on airs." 
 
 If Helen chanced to hear any of these 
 unkind things that were told to her 
 mother, she either smiled good naturedly 
 or blushed with indignation. She seldom 
 said anything about them, and never a 
 word in the nature of harsh criticism or 
 defense. When she and her mother were 
 alone, they talked frequently of their plans 
 and hopes and of the difficulties that be- 
 set them. Helen told her mother of an 
 excellent address that she had heard at 
 the Institute on " The Advantages and 
 Disadvantages of the Teachers Calling." 
 The teacher who gave the lecture said 
 that one of the first things a person must 
 learn who desires to teach successfully is 
 to ignore criticism. 
 
 " These people," said Helen, " are hon- 
 est in their opinions and they do not mean 
 any harm by saying that I am too young, 
 or that I am incompetent. To be sure, 
 
AT HOME AGAIN 87 
 
 mother, I am young and incompetent ; but 
 if I get a school I will do the best I pos- 
 sibly can, and I hope that you will not be 
 ashamed of me. I feel that I learned 
 much at the Institute that will be helpful 
 to me, and I also found that by reading 
 the professional books and journals I can 
 get from them continually, day by day, 
 as I need it, the counsel of the very best 
 teachers. Mr. Jordan took subscriptions 
 for teachers' journals at the Institute. 
 He gave me sample copies of several, 
 which I read carefully, and I found so 
 much in them that might be useful that I 
 wished I could subscribe for one of them, 
 and yet I knew that we could not afford 
 to spend money for such things. He 
 noticed that I was interested, and urged 
 me to subscribe. I asked him privately 
 if I could not help him solicit, and write 
 receipts for him at the recesses in pay- 
 ment for a year's subscription to the Na- 
 tional Primary School. 
 
38 THE LITTLE SCHOOLMISTRESS 
 
 " ' Certainly/ said he. ' I have been 
 wishing that I had some one to help me, 
 but did not know whom to ask/ 
 
 " At the close of the Institute he had 
 more subscriptions than he had expected, 
 several of which I had secured for him. 
 I had also written a great many receipts. 
 He therefore very generously put me 
 down for a year's subscription, not only 
 to the National Primary School, but also 
 to the Country Teacher's Monthly. 
 
 " No, mother, this trivial criticism you 
 hear so much does not bother me, but I 
 wish people would stop coming to you 
 with it." 
 
 " And so do I, Helen. There are so 
 many other things pleasanter to talk 
 about." 
 
 " One of our lecturers said he would 
 give us as a memory gem some very old 
 lines that are not poetry, but that would 
 prove valuable as advice. They were 
 these : 
 
AT HOME AGAIN 39 
 
 " ' You may go through the world, but it will 
 be slow, 
 If you listen to all that is said as you go ; 
 For people will talk.' " 
 
 Helen told her mother that before leav- 
 ing the Institute Miss Wise, several of 
 the instructors, the Superintendent, and 
 Colonel Rutherford had each volunteered 
 to help her secure a position. 
 
 " It seems that with so much assistance 
 you should succeed. Let us hope you 
 will/' 
 
 " And I do hope, for their sakes, as 
 well as yours and my own, that if I get a 
 position it will be one that I can fill with 
 credit; but I do not now see how I could 
 leave you with the home and the children 
 to care for. However, let us expect you 
 to recover soon. A good rest will benefit 
 you more than anything else, and you 
 shall have that while I am at home." 
 
CHAPTER VIII 
 
 OLD JIM BURTON'S SCHEME 
 
 5J} OWN on Depot Street near the pub- 
 < -^ > lie square in the county seat there is 
 a dingy office occupied by a poorly clad 
 little old man. He is hump-backed, red- 
 faced, and shaggy-haired. A stranger 
 would suppose him to be very poor. In 
 fact, he is poor, notwithstanding he has 
 much money, for he is friendless. Behold 
 him walking briskly to and from the 
 Register's office in the court-house, 
 through crowds of people, with his fists 
 clenched firmly, apparently making calcu- 
 lations in half-audible tones. No cordial 
 greetings are exchanged, for he has no 
 time to talk except on business. This is 
 old Mark Hopper, the money shark of the 
 county, the man who " accommodates " 
 people only for pay, and " helps " them for 
 profit in times of misfortune. He it was 
 who held the mortgage on the Smith place. 
 As the sun rose one bright morning in 
 June, old Jim Burton, the most covetous 
 
 (40) 
 
OLD JIM BURTON'S SCHEME 41 
 
 farmer in the Smith neighborhood, 
 walked out on his veranda and looked 
 over the landscape. But he was not con- 
 cerned with its beauty, nor conscious of 
 the songs the birds were singing. He was 
 thinking of how he might add the Smith 
 farm to his own for less than its worth. 
 
 " Umph, humph ! " said he to himself, 
 " I think I can fix it. Old Mark Hopper 
 has a mortgage on this place which is past 
 due, and he would close out his daddy 
 for twenty-five dollars. I will go down 
 and see him to-day." 
 
 By nine o'clock that morning the 
 farmer and the miser had their heads to- 
 gether over the unfolded mortgage in the 
 latter's office, and were talking scarcely 
 above a whisper, although no one else 
 was near nor even a footstep was audible 
 on the street. When Burton left the 
 office, he did so by a back door, and after 
 reaching the main street through an alley, 
 he sauntered around in his usual manner. 
 
CHAPTER IX 
 
 AUNT ANN'S APPRECIATION 
 
 ^ARLY Monday morning, after Helen 
 ^ had been at home a week, she heard 
 a carriage stop at their front gate, and 
 ran to see who it was. 
 
 " O mother, it is Uncle William! " she 
 shouted, and rushed down the walk to 
 meet him. 
 
 Uncle William was her mother's only 
 brother, a large, good-natured man, 
 who had a kind word for everybody 
 and made merriment wherever he went. 
 When he had come into the house and 
 greeted each member of the family, he 
 refused to be seated, saying that he would 
 be back about three o'clock, and that he 
 had come prepared to carry the whole 
 family home with him. He would listen 
 to no excuses from Mrs. Smith, but in a 
 jolly tone, yet in deep earnest, as he hur- 
 ried out of the room he said : — 
 
 " Now you must all be ready by three 
 
 (42) 
 
AUNT ANN'S APPRECIATION 43 
 
 o'clock, for Fm coming, and you've got 
 to go. Helen, your Aunt Ann is cooking 
 cakes and pies for you, and it would never 
 do to let them spoil. When she saw what 
 the paper said about you last night, she 
 said, ' I want you to stop there to-mor- 
 row as you go to town, and have them all 
 come home with you. Helen and her 
 mother both need a change, and besides 
 we want to do something to show how 
 proud we are of our niece/ " 
 
 " Uncle William, what did the paper 
 have to say about me?" 
 
 " Have n't you seen it? " 
 
 " No ; please tell me/' 
 
 " Here, you can take it and read it for 
 yourself while I am gone." 
 
 Helen took the paper, and soon found 
 the report of the examination, with the 
 grades arranged " in the order of their 
 general excellence." Helen's name stood 
 first among those entitled to primary 
 
44 THF UTTLF SCHOOLMISTRESS 
 
 certificates, and of these there were 
 twenty-one. 
 
 " Is Miss Scruggs's name there? " said 
 Helen's mother. 
 
 " Let me see." 
 
 She read the whole list through with 
 the grades, and came to Miss Scruggs's 
 at number nineteen. 
 
 " I wonder what Mr. Jones will think 
 of his ' thorough graduate   now ? " said 
 Mrs. Smith. 
 
 " Oh, never mind, mother ; the poor 
 girl is not to blame for getting the school 
 nor for what Mr. Jones said about me." 
 
 Uncle William came back promptly at 
 three o'clock, and had with him an 
 unusual number of packages, but as 
 the carriage was a large one, designed to 
 accommodate his whole family, and was 
 drawn by two horses, it was well able to 
 carry everybody and everything over the 
 excellent road that intervened. 
 
CHAPTER X 
 
 COLONEL RUTHERFORD'S LETTER 
 ^YNCLE WILLIAM lived on a fertile 
 little farm in the hills, fifteen miles 
 from town. He had a nice, olain country 
 house and a large barn, with all sorts of 
 domestic animals and fowls in abundance. 
 The river was half a mile away. He 
 had a son fourteen years old and two 
 daughters well-nigh grown. Helen and 
 her sisters enjoyed the society of their 
 cousins to the utmost from morning 
 until night. They climbed fruit trees, 
 drove the cows to pasture, rode the horses 
 to water, played hide and seek in the hay, 
 waded in the branch, climbed to the tops 
 of the highest hills, fished in the river, 
 and froliced for hours under the shade 
 of the trees. Mrs. Smith and her 
 brother's wife enjoyed the days at the 
 house almost as much as their children 
 did in the woods and fields. Mrs. Smith's 
 strength improved from day to day as 
 
 (45) 
 
46 THE UTTEE SCHOOLMISTRESS 
 
 if by magic. She declared sometimes 
 that she had not felt so well in three years. 
 
 Uncle William had a great many pleas- 
 ant things to say, but was not quite so 
 full of fun as usual. At times he seemed 
 to be thinking of something far away, 
 and when spoken to, would start suddenly 
 as one caught dozing on duty, and ask 
 what was said. He was gone from home 
 much of the time, and at night excused 
 himself on account of being tired. Wed- 
 nesday he went to town again. That 
 night when the children had retired, he 
 said: — 
 
 " Sister, I have something disagreeable 
 to tell you. I have known for several 
 days that old Mark Hopper was prepar- 
 ing to sell your farm to satisfy that mort- 
 gage, but I thought I could raise the 
 nioney myself, and not trouble you about 
 it. I thought I could get it from Jim Bur- 
 ton, who lives just this side of you. He 
 has plenty of money, and does not owe a 
 
COLONEL RUTHERFORD'S LETTER 47 
 
 dollar, and could easily raise twice that 
 amount if he wanted to. But the way he 
 talked to-day aroused my suspicion. He 
 said that the place was going to ruin so 
 rapidly that he did not feel like risking 
 anything on it. Finally he said, whining 
 through his nose : — 
 
 " ' But to accommodate Mrs. Smith, I 
 will pay off the debt for the place, and let 
 her stay on it if you will sign the notes 
 for the rent/ 
 
 " I went on to town and had Mr. Dun- 
 can, the banker, go and talk to Hopper 
 about extending the time, but the old 
 skinflint said that the place was already 
 advertised to sell Saturday, and it was too 
 late to make any other arrangements. 
 
 " Since the prices of live stock and land 
 have been so low I have become some- 
 what involved myself. I owe the bank 
 and several individuals from whom I used 
 to get money, consequently I do not see 
 how I am to help you out." 
 
48 THE UTTEE SCHOOLMISTRESS 
 
 Mrs. Smith slept very little that night, 
 and the next morning told Helen of their 
 distress. For some time they wept to- 
 gether. Mrs. Smith was overcome phys- 
 ically, and spent the greater part of the 
 next day in bed. 
 
 Friday Uncle William went to town 
 again. As the distance was fifteen miles, 
 it was very late when he reached home. 
 He had brought Mrs. Smith's mail from 
 the village post-office by the way. There 
 was an unusual amount of it. Besides 
 the journals Helen had subscribed for, 
 and the local paper, there was a letter for 
 Mrs. Smith from Colonel Rutherford, 
 and several for Helen. Mrs. Smith tore 
 open hers with trembling hands, expect- 
 ing to find that the Colonel was acting as 
 attorney for old Mr. Hopper, the mort- 
 gagee. Suddenly her face brightened 
 as the sky does when the sun breaks 
 through a rift in the clouds after a storm. 
 
COLONEL RUTHERFORD'S LETTER 49 
 
 " Just listen, Helen," she said, and read 
 the Colonel's letter aloud : — 
 
 " Dear Madam : It reminds me of old times 
 to have the pleasure of addressing a letter to you. 
 
 " Permit me to say that I have to-day bought 
 the note secured by the mortgage on your home, 
 and that both note and mortgage are now in 
 my possession. Therefore Mr. Hopper has no 
 further claims on your husband's estate. 
 
 " I trust that you will not find me a hard 
 creditor. It is probable that I shall not need 
 the money for several years. I beg that you 
 now feel free to concern yourself about the edu- 
 cation of your children rather than the payment 
 of this debt." 
 
 While Mrs. Smith read the letter again 
 to satisfy herself that she had made no 
 mistake, Helen was reading hers. Sud- 
 denly, almost springing from her seat, 
 she exclaimed : — 
 
 " O mother, I have some good news 
 too! Just listen to the County Superin- 
 tendent's letter : — 
 
 " Miss Smith : You have doubtless seen the 
 results of the teachers' examination, as published 
 in the papers this week. I have arranged with 
 
50 the; little schoolmistress 
 
 the directors of the 9th District for you to teach 
 the school at Shady Grove at a salary of $30 per 
 month. Board will cost you very little, and you 
 will be near enough home to visit your mother 
 once a month. Although it is a prosperous 
 neighborhood, they have not had a satisfactory 
 school in years. I have great faith in your 
 ability to succeed there, and for this reason I 
 prevailed upon the directors to elect you." 
 
 This timely assistance rendered by Col- 
 onel Rutherford was due in part to ties of 
 friendship, and in part to the occurrences 
 at the Institute lawn party ; but the imme- 
 diate cause is of interest. 
 
 Shortly after the Institute closed, Col- 
 onel Rutherford happened to go into the 
 office of the weekly News on business. 
 While waiting for some proof, the printer 
 laid down near by some freshly printed 
 circulars, and handed him one. He was 
 surprised to find that it advertised the 
 Smith farm for sale. He noticed also 
 that the circular bore a date two weeks 
 past, and suspected a scheme. Half an 
 
COLONEL RUTHERFORD'S LETTER 51 
 
 hour later he met the mortgagee and dis- 
 interestedly said : — 
 
 " I see that you have advertised the 
 Smith place for sale." 
 
 " Yes," said the miser, " I want to get 
 my money out of it before it is too late. 
 The place is already very much run down, 
 and is gettin' worse ev'ry day." 
 
 " That used to be a fine little farm," 
 said Colonel Rutherford, " and I would 
 be glad if you would defer foreclosure of 
 the mortgage for another year. I fear 
 the place will not bring what it is worth 
 if sold now. It would be a pity for that 
 widow and her children to lose anything. 
 Mrs. Smith is an honorable woman, and 
 will certainly take no advantage of you." 
 
 " Yes, but business is business, and I 
 must save myself, you see," said the 
 miser. 
 
 The next morning Colonel Rutherford 
 drove out past the Smith place " on busi- 
 ness." While in the village, he learned 
 
52 THE LITTLE SCHOOLMISTRESS 
 
 that the covetous farmer referred to had 
 been seen going to the miser's office two 
 or three times lately, and the post-master, 
 a very shrewd man, intimated to Colonel 
 Rutherford that he was probably schem- 
 ing to get the Smith place for less than it 
 was worth. 
 
 " It would be a shame for him to do 
 so," said he. 
 
 As Colonel Rutherford drove back 
 to town, he let his horse walk slowly up 
 the hill by the Smith place. He got 
 thirsty, and stopped for a drink. Al- 
 though no one was at home, he passed 
 through the yard and back to the old 
 spring-house half way to the barn. 
 Though the buildings and fences needed 
 some small repairs, they were really in 
 good condition. Everything about the 
 premises was neat and in good order. 
 
 The next morning Colonel Rutherford 
 said to the banker, " Mr. Duncan, can 
 you tell me anything about the mortgage 
 
COLONEL RUTHERFORD'S LETTER 53 
 
 which old Mark Hopper holds on the 
 Smith place?" 
 
 " Certainly," said he, " I have it here 
 in the vault." 
 
 " I would like to satisfy it. Can I do 
 so at once ? " 
 
 " Yes," said the banker ; " the old man 
 endorsed the note, and authorized me to 
 accept payment on it for him in his ab- 
 sence, and he is in Nashville to-day." 
 
 Colonel Rutherford stepped to the desk 
 at the side of the room, made figures for 
 a few minutes, then wrote a check for the 
 full amount due, and handed it to the 
 banker. 
 
 " Please place the note and mortgage 
 with my others." 
 
 " I will," said the banker, in whose 
 tones there was a note of emphasis sug- 
 gestive of satisfaction. 
 
CHAPTER XI 
 
 HELEN'S ARRIVAL AT SHADY GROVE 
 %C BOUT one o'clock on the Friday 
 ^ before the Shady Grove school was 
 to open on Monday, Helen, accompa- 
 nied by her Uncle William, arrived in the 
 neighborhood. Previous to leaving home 
 Uncle William and Helen's mother had 
 discussed with her many questions rela- 
 tive to her new work. They had all 
 agreed that she must find a home in 
 a family whose influence would be helpful 
 to her, reasonably near the school, and 
 one in which she could have a room to 
 herself, so that she could make all neces- 
 sary preparations for her daily work. 
 
 They were cordially received at Es- 
 quire Brown's home, where Uncle Wil- 
 liam had made arrangements for her to 
 board temporarily. Here they had din- 
 ner, rested for an hour, and Uncle Wil- 
 liam departed. 
 
 Before sunset Esquire Brown's fifteen- 
 
 (64) 
 
HELEN'S ARRIVAL AT SHADY GROVE) 55 
 
 year-old daughter and Helen had in- 
 spected the school-house thoroughly. 
 They found it in a very untidy condition 
 and considerably dilapidated. The door 
 had been standing open most of the long 
 vacation. Several window panes were 
 out, and the stove very rusty, having been 
 used as a water stand during the pro- 
 tracted meeting and on various other oc- 
 casions, was behind the door with two 
 pine buckets on it. One of them fell to 
 pieces when Helen took hold of it. 
 
 On the walls were several grotesque 
 caricatures and names written in large 
 flourishes. The small blackboard was 
 not only very poor, but very much soiled. 
 To the right of the front door a few steps 
 was an old ash heap, and to the left 
 of the door a broken recitation bench. 
 After a few minutes , stay at the school- 
 house, they went to the spring, some three 
 hundred yards away. It had the ruins of 
 a rail pen around it, which were not suffi- 
 
56 THE UTTLE SCHOOLMISTRESS 
 
 cient to prevent invasions by geese and 
 pigs. The spring itself was half filled 
 with dirt and leaves, and the branch be- 
 low was choked with mud and grass until 
 the water flowed sluggishly. 
 
 Esquire Brown's daughter, whom we 
 shall know hereafter as Katharine, talked 
 incessantly. She told Helen the history 
 of several preceding sessions in minute 
 detail, and seemed ashamed of the condi- 
 tion in which the new teacher had found 
 things. Helen listened attentively to 
 everything, and asked her a question now 
 and then, but did not censure any one nor 
 complain. 
 
 When they had finished their inspec- 
 tion, Helen looked back toward the 
 school-house from the spring and said: 
 " Katharine, wouldn't you like to help me 
 get the school-house in better condition 
 before we come here to open school? I 
 do not think you would enjoy staying in 
 
HELEN'S ARRIVAL AT SHADY GROVE 57 
 
 such a dirty place, since it is so different 
 from your own home." 
 
 " Indeed, I wouldn't," said Katharine 
 with a good deal of emphasis. " That 
 house is n't fit for a pig to go to school in. 
 And that spring used to be such a good 
 one. Papa came over here and built that 
 pen around it and cleaned it out nicely 
 year before last. The water was so fine 
 then." 
 
 " Do you think your father would be 
 willing to clean it out again for us ? " in- 
 quired Helen. 
 
 "Why, yes, indeed," said Katharine, 
 " I am sure he would, and I will ask him 
 as soon as I get home. Papa always does 
 anything that the teacher wants done." 
 
 " Do you think we could get some 
 of the boys and girls in the neighborhood 
 to help us clean up the house to-morrow ? " 
 
 " Yes, I think so," said Katharine, and 
 then she began to enumerate first her 
 cousins and then her neighbors until she 
 
58 THE UTTLE SCHOOLMISTRESS) 
 
 had counted at least a dozen that she; 
 thought would be willing to assist them. 
 
 That afternoon when Katharine and 
 her father were milking down at the big 
 gate by the road, two large barefoot boys 
 on horseback came dashing toward them, 
 raising a great cloud of dust. As soon 
 as they reached the gate where Esquire 
 Brown and Katharine were milking, they 
 slackened their speed, for this had evi- 
 dently been their goal. 
 
 " Look out here, boys," said Esquire 
 Brown, as he barely escaped being run 
 over by one of the cows. 
 
 " 'Scuse us, please, sir, we did n't see 
 you," said one of them. " We's just a 
 
 racin\" 
 
 "Oh, that's all right, boys. I don't 
 blame you for having a little fun. You 
 will have to get down to business next 
 week anyway ! " 
 
 "Say, Charlie," said Katharine, "I 
 want you to get down to business before 
 
HELEN'S ARRIVAL AT SHADY GROVE 59 
 
 next week. The new teacher and me went 
 over to the school-house this afternoon, 
 and it is in an awful mess. I was so 
 'shamed of it I didn't know what to do. 
 The new teacher didn't say much, but 
 she's just as nice as can be, and I could 
 see that she's real anxious to get every- 
 thing cleaned up before school opens. 
 Won't you boys come over there to-mor- 
 row and help us ? " 
 
 " You bet. We ain't got nothin' else 
 to do anyway, and that'll be fun." 
 
 " Say," said Katharine, " I'll tell you 
 what I want you to do right away." 
 
 "What?" 
 
 " Tell every boy and girl you can see 
 to meet us there at half past eight to-mor- 
 row morning. Have them bring a bucket, 
 a broom, or a hoe or a shovel or a duster 
 or a bundle of old newspapers or any- 
 thing else that people use when they are 
 cleaning up a place. They'll all be handy, 
 
60 
 
 THE UTTI/E SCHOOLMISTRESS 
 
 for the yard needs it too. Now you boys 
 strike out and tell everybody." 
 
 "All right," said the boys, and as they 
 dashed away Charlie shouted, " Now, 
 'Squire, I guess you can finish milkin'." 
 
CHAPTER XII 
 
 "GETTING DOWN TO BUSINESS" 
 firS Helen sat in her room alone that 
 night, she felt that a great respon- 
 sibility rested upon her, yet she was eager 
 to begin her work. She had found out 
 from Katharine where teachers had been 
 accustomed to board. On their way to the 
 school-house that afternoon they passed 
 two or three of these places, and she 
 had learned, without arousing Katharine's 
 suspicions, pretty well the character of 
 domestic life in each, the accommodations, 
 the standing of the families in the neigh- 
 borhood, and what other teachers had 
 paid for board. She had also learned that 
 if she remained at Esquire Brown's she 
 would have to pay $2.00 per month more 
 than at some of these other places. She 
 realized the necessity of being economical, 
 yet after due consideration she decided 
 to make arrangements for a permanent 
 home with a room to herself at Esquire 
 Brown's. 
 
 (61) 
 
62 THE UTTI,E SCHOOLMISTRESS 
 
 As she thought of the dirty and neg- 
 lected school-house, her mind reverted 
 often to the things that she had heard in 
 the Institute and read in books and school 
 journals, about the necessity for cleanli- 
 ness, order, and beauty in the school- 
 room. She formed her plans for the mor- 
 row, and retired. 
 
 Saturday morning the weather was 
 beautiful, and Helen rose early. In fact, 
 the Browns were early risers. They were 
 at breakfast a little before sunrise. From 
 their seats at the table on the veranda 
 they could look out over the sea of fog 
 which hid the rich green corn field in the 
 valley to the indistinct blue hills on the 
 horizon. The scene was such as might 
 have inspired a poet, and the sensitive soul 
 of Helen was deeply impressed with its 
 beauty. The Browns, being accustomed 
 to the view, made no reference to it. 
 
 About half past seven o'clock Helen, 
 Katharine Brown, and several children 
 
"GETTING DOWN TO BUSINESS." 63 
 
 arrived at the school-house. As they 
 drew near, their attention was attracted 
 by the voices of children approaching from 
 the opposite end of the road, who, at the 
 summons of the boys, were now coming 
 to join in the work of cleaning up the 
 school-house. As the two groups of chil- 
 dren raced with each other to be first at 
 the door, a loud laugh burst out from over 
 their heads. Charlie and his cousin had 
 hidden themselves among the branches of 
 the large beech tree in order to surprise 
 the new teacher and Katharine. 
 
 Helen chatted pleasantly with the chil- 
 dren for twenty or thirty minutes, during 
 which time the boys swung themselves 
 down from their places among the 
 branches and several other children ar- 
 rived. 
 
 "Well," said Helen, "I am so glad 
 that you have all come to help me this 
 morning. It shows that you would like 
 to have a nice, clean school-house as much 
 
64 THE UTTI,E SCHOOLMISTRESS 
 
 as I would. There are some rather dis- 
 agreeable things here that we ought to 
 do, but with so much good help I think 
 we can soon make the place very pleasant. 
 You can see that we ought to clean up 
 around the door, and get these ugly pic- 
 tures and marks off the walls, sweep the 
 floor, and wash the windows, put the seats 
 in their places, and clean out the spring. 
 
 " Now I think it will be best for us to 
 divide this work, and I want to know 
 who are willing to help." 
 
 Of course they all were. Whereupon 
 she opened a piece of paper which she 
 held in her hand, and said: — 
 
 "Who will clean out the spring?" 
 
 " Me and Billy," said Charlie. 
 
 "And who will clean up around the 
 door?" 
 
 She wrote down the names of the eager 
 volunteers by twos, and thus to the end 
 of the list were the committees appointed, 
 
"GETTING DOWN TO BUSINESS." 65 
 
 Katharine in the mean time giving her 
 the children's names. 
 
 " Now," said Helen, " we have plenty 
 of time. Let us do our work just as 
 well as we can, and when we have fin- 
 ished, we will all go around together and 
 see how well it is done. If you need any- 
 thing to work with or any suggestions 
 as to how you may best do your work, 
 come to me." 
 
 She took out her watch and said, " It 
 is half past eight o'clock. We will stop 
 at half past eleven for dinner. At that 
 time I will tell you what we will do this 
 afternoon if we have not finished. Let us 
 begin." 
 
 Charlie and Billy darted away to the 
 spring with their shovel and hoe, fleet as 
 deer, and the other committees began their 
 work immediately. They had been en- 
 gaged but a few minutes when Charlie 
 and Billy came running up to the door, 
 puffing and ruddy. 
 
66 THE LITTLE SCHOOLMISTRESS 
 
 " Miss Helen," said Charlie, " old Uncle 
 George has already cleaned out the spring 
 and straightened up the fence around it. 
 He was just ready to start home when 
 we got there. He said that Captain 
 Brown told him to do that the first thing 
 this morning. ,, 
 
 " Yes," said Katharine, " I told papa 
 last night about the spring, and that is 
 why he had it done." 
 
 "Well, boys, I have thought of some- 
 thing else that we might do, but as it 
 is rather a disagreeable task, I will only 
 mention it, and you can do it or not as 
 you think best. I do not think that merely 
 sweeping the floor will make it as clean as 
 we would like to have it. If we were to 
 scrub it, we would need several buckets 
 of water." 
 
 " Yes'um, we'll bring it," and away 
 they went without waiting for further in- 
 structions. 
 
 At eleven o'clock the little company 
 
"GETTING DOWN TO BUSINESS." 67 
 
 began its inspection. The ash heap and 
 broken seat were gone, and for two or 
 three rods around the door all trash had 
 been swept up and removed. The walls, 
 blackboard, and windows were as clean 
 as inexperienced hands could make them. 
 They found the spring restored to its for- 
 mer attractiveness, and enjoyed drinking 
 large draughts of the clear, cool water. 
 They rested some ten minutes in the shade 
 of the great elm trees, and returned to 
 the school-house. Helen then took up 
 a small bundle and unwrapped it. It con- 
 tained numerous pictures and a box of 
 tacks. 
 
 " Suppose we decorate a little," she 
 said, as the children crowded around to 
 see the pictures. 
 
 "All right," practically all of them 
 chimed at once. 
 
 Then they tacked up a large lithograph 
 of George Washington in the center above 
 the blackboard, and arranged several 
 
68 THE LITTLE SCHOOLMISTRESS 
 
 groups on the walls. In one, Helen told 
 them, were " men who have written beau- 
 tiful things," in another, " men who have 
 done great deeds," etc., etc. The children 
 were in no wise anxious to go when the 
 last picture was in place, though a neigh- 
 boring farm bell was calling the laborers 
 to dinner. They closed the door and fas- 
 tened it securely. After several glances 
 back, and numerous expressions as to how 
 they had enjoyed the work, they went 
 home. 
 
 
CHAPTER XIII 
 
 THE FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL 
 pOR years it had been customary for 
 religious services to be held in Shady 
 Grove school-house whenever any one 
 desired to preach in the neighborhood. 
 Sometimes the Baptists, sometimes the 
 Methodists, would have regular services 
 there once a month, and at other times 
 only on fifth Sundays and at such odd 
 times as they could secure a minister. It 
 happened that there was an appointment 
 for preaching on Sunday after the clean- 
 ing up by Helen and her prospective 
 pupils. 
 
 The interest aroused in religious mat- 
 ters by the recent revival and the curiosity 
 to see the school-house after its renova- 
 tion, as reported by the children, brought 
 out a larger congregation than usual. It 
 is not surprising, therefore, that when 
 the new teacher arrived with the Brown 
 family, she was the subject of many re- 
 
 (69) 
 
70 THE UTTEE SCHOOLMISTRESS 
 
 marks by the groups of men seated on 
 the fence or grass under the shade of 
 the trees. When she entered the school- 
 house, not a few looked searchingly at 
 her, and some of the younger ones nudged 
 each other and whispered their comments. 
 Helen was conscious of what was taking 
 place, but ignored it so completely as to 
 show no signs of embarrassment. 
 
 When the service was over, she was in- 
 troduced to several people by Mrs. Brown 
 or the children who had helped her in the 
 work the day before. She met every one 
 pleasantly and with dignity. She was 
 thoughtfully polite to those whom she 
 had learned were opposed to her coming, 
 though she was careful not to give them 
 sufficient attention to suggest that she was 
 especially endeavoring to cultivate their 
 acquaintance. Most of the people whom 
 she met were cordial, and complimented 
 her on the improved condition of the 
 house. She felt repaid for her trouble 
 
THE FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL 71 
 
 already. Several invited her home with 
 them to dinner. She declined their invi- 
 tations, stating that she would be de- 
 lighted to visit them later. As her ac- 
 quaintance grew, she felt more at home 
 and became interested in the people. 
 
 Helen arrived at the school-house early 
 Monday morning. She found consider- 
 able work necessary to restore the room 
 to the condition in which she had left it 
 Saturday, but by the aid of the larger pu- 
 pils this was soon accomplished. She had 
 learned, too, who was considered the worst 
 boy of the neighborhood, and was care- 
 ful to give him an important part to per- 
 form in her work that morning. 
 
 She spread a clean newspaper over the 
 old table for a cover, arranged her books 
 neatly thereon, and set by them a glass 
 of water in which was placed a bunch of 
 roses. Then she wrote her special pro- 
 gram for the day on one end of the black- 
 
72 THE UTTXE SCHOOLMISTRESS 
 
 board, and on the other a song which she 
 had learned at the Institute. 
 
 After spending some twenty minutes in 
 pleasant but not effusive greeting to the 
 new arrivals, and in conversation with 
 those whose acquaintance she had already 
 formed, she rang the bell for the children 
 to come in for work. They did so rather 
 noisily, but good humor edly, with some 
 little scrambling for special seats. 
 
 She stood by the table for a moment 
 looking quietly at them, until every one 
 had given her close attention and was 
 wondering what she was about to do. 
 Then taking up her Bible she said : — 
 
 " I think it is proper that we remember 
 God in a short devotional exercise every 
 morning. Please repeat after me what 
 I shall read. When I have finished, we 
 will stand and repeat the Lord's Prayer 
 together." 
 
 Thereupon she read the beatitudes, and 
 the children repeated them and followed 
 
THE FIRST DAY OF SCHOOI, 73 
 
 her in the repetition of the prayer. When 
 the prayer was finished, she motioned 
 quietly with her hand, and they were 
 seated. 
 
 " Can't we sing a song together ? " she 
 said. " I noticed that you sang ' Rock of 
 Ages ' yesterday. That is one of my fa- 
 vorite songs. I would like to have all 
 of you join me in singing it now." 
 
 By the time Helen had sung two lines, 
 her sweet voice had surprised the pupils 
 completely. Katharine Brown joined in, 
 and then the others, one by one, until 
 they were soon all singing with enthusi- 
 asm 
 
 Next Helen directed their attention to 
 the new song on the blackboard. She as- 
 sured them that it was very pretty, and 
 that they could easily learn to sing it 
 as well as they now sang " Rock of Ages." 
 She requested all who could write to copy 
 and learn the new song, and gave to the 
 few little ones who could neither read nor 
 
74 THE LITTLE SCHOOLMISTRESS 
 
 write some pictures which had been cut in 
 pieces for them to put together again. 
 
 " Now," said she, " while you do these 
 things, I will write down your names." 
 
 All were interested in the song or the 
 busy work except one boy, some nine or 
 ten years old. He was meddlesome and 
 idle. She looked at him by way of re- 
 proof, and then spoke to him pleasantly, 
 and finally separated him from the others. 
 However, he remained troublesome, and 
 showed unmistakable signs of being 
 a " spoiled child." After a while she 
 gave all the others recess, but kept him 
 to talk with him privately. He did 
 somewhat better for an hour or two, but 
 toward the close of the day's session be- 
 came annoying again, and she was obliged 
 to detain him when she dismissed the 
 others. She had another conversation 
 with him with a view to learning his likes 
 and dislikes, and let him go. 
 
 In classifying the pupils the first day 
 
the; first day of school 75 
 
 she had been careful not to let any one go 
 into classes in which he could not surely 
 remain. She also assigned them to their 
 seats temporarily, permitting no two who 
 were in the same class to sit immediately 
 together. After recess she gave to each 
 a list of the books that he would need to 
 buy. 
 
 " I have no lengthy rules to give you," 
 said she, " but I shall expect you to be- 
 have properly. ' Do right/ is enough for 
 the present. I suppose you know that it 
 is right to come to school promptly and 
 regularly; to get your lessons the best 
 you can; and to behave yourselves like 
 little men and women while you are here 
 and while on the way ; to refrain from the 
 use of improper language; and to be po- 
 lite and kind to one another, as well as to 
 other people. 
 
 " As you have behaved yourselves so 
 well this morning, I have been able to 
 get through with the work which I had 
 
76 THE LITTLE SCHOOLMISTRESS 
 
 intended to do to-day before noon. I have 
 been wondering if you would not like to 
 hear a delightful story which I read yes- 
 terday. If so, I will tell it to you." 
 
 " Yes, 'm," said three or four. 
 
 " Let me show you how I would like 
 to have you say ' Yes, ma'am ' to me when 
 I ask a question of all at once. Just this 
 way," she said, raising her hand. 
 
 " I once visited a school in which they 
 had a little different way of saying it. 
 They snapped their fingers instead of 
 raising their hands quietly as I have sug- 
 gested. I like this quiet way better. Now 
 how many would like to hear the story ? " 
 
 The hands came up quietly without ex- 
 ception. Then she related one of Joel 
 Chandler Harris's old plantation stories 
 in an interesting manner, and dismissed 
 them with a request that all be there at 
 8 : 30 the next morning, as she would have 
 something of special interest for them 
 after the devotional exercises. 
 
CHAPTER XIV 
 
 "A PECULIAR BOY" 
 
 < 3TT ONDAY afternoon Helen slept for 
 a short while, then went for a walk. 
 When she returned, she prepared a new 
 program for the next day, and planned 
 her busy work to interest the little chil- 
 dren. She decided to tell the school one 
 story each morning about the persons 
 whose pictures she had tacked on the wall 
 until she had exhausted the list. She also 
 selected a well-known juvenile book from 
 which she planned to read them one 
 chapter each afternoon. In revising her 
 program she limited the number of recita- 
 tions so as to make provisions for thor- 
 ough class work and special exercises for 
 the general good of the school. Helen 
 reviewed that afternoon and evening ev- 
 ery lesson that she expected to teach dur- 
 ing the next day. 
 
 Tuesday morning she started to school 
 early with a bunch of fresh flowers for 
 
 (77) 
 
78 THE UTTIJJ SCHOOLMISTRESS 
 
 her table. When she arrived, she set the 
 house in order as she had done Monday 
 morning, and fifteen minutes before the 
 hour for the devotional exercises, called in 
 those children who were present. During 
 this time she went about over the room, 
 asking them if they needed any assistance 
 with their lessons, and helping those who 
 desired it. As the other children arrived, 
 they came in quietly, and took their places 
 almost as if they had been accustomed to 
 do so for years. 
 
 Promptly at 8 : 30 she conducted devo- 
 tional exercises similar to those of the pre- 
 vious day. Then for ten minutes they 
 sang the new song. Soon all were able 
 to sing it through with but little difficulty. 
 She told them one of the best stories of 
 George Washington, referred to his pic- 
 ture on the wall, and intimated that she 
 had other stories to tell them about the 
 great men whose pictures she had used 
 in the decorations. 
 
"A PECULIAR BOY." 79 
 
 " We have met here," she said, " to 
 study our lessons and recite them. Every 
 one of us has something of his own to do. 
 If we meddle with the work of others, 
 we will interfere with them and fail to do 
 our own. Our school hours are for study 
 and recitation, and our recesses for play. 
 We shall have plenty of recess, and there- 
 fore we shall not expect any one to play in 
 school. I like play as well as any of you, 
 and I want to learn all of your games and 
 perhaps teach you some new ones. 
 
 " Please observe what I have written on 
 the blackboard. Those of you who can 
 read will see that I have provided a time 
 for each recitation, and also a time for 
 studying each lesson. The clock will hang 
 here where you can all see it. Please fol- 
 low the program. You see, for example, 
 that while the third reader class is recit- 
 ing, the fourth reader pupils will be study- 
 ing their arithmetic; and while the fourth 
 reader class is reciting its arithmetic, the 
 
 6 
 
80 THE UTTIvE SCHOOLMISTRESS 
 
 fifth reader pupils will be studying their 
 geography lesson, and so with all. 
 
 " Besides our regular school work, I 
 find that we have now two duties to per- 
 form daily. The school-house must be 
 kept in order, and water must be brought. 
 There are enough of you to do these things 
 without their being a hardship on any of 
 you. Therefore, to be entirely fair to all, 
 I have made out two lists including all 
 who are large enough to do such work, 
 one for sweeping and the other for bring- 
 ing the water. I will now tack them up 
 here where you can see them at recess. 
 Let each learn when his time comes. I 
 am sure that our boys will be glad to bring 
 water, and that our girls will take pride 
 in keeping the house in good order." 
 
 But for Johnnie Sims, who was trouble- 
 some on Monday, Tuesday would have 
 passed without the least unpleasantness. 
 However, he was more idle and more an- 
 noying than on the previous day. As he 
 
"A PECULIAR BOY." 81 
 
 became better acquainted with the teacher, 
 he began to show signs of impertinence, 
 and even a rebellious disposition, as Helen 
 became more positive with him. That 
 afternoon she stopped at his home and 
 talked for half an hour with his mother, 
 who said that he was regarded by every- 
 body as an extremely bright child, but 
 somewhat " peculiar in that he always 
 wanted to have his own way." Helen ad- 
 mitted that he had shown this disposition 
 at school. She explained the situation 
 courteously, but clearly, and expressed 
 the hope that with their co-operation he 
 would not cause further trouble. 
 
 On the next day there was no improve- 
 ment. He left his seat several times to 
 whisper to others, and Helen finally 
 placed him on the front seat near her ta- 
 ble. As soon as she directed her attention 
 to the class, he got up on his knees facing 
 the pupils on the seat just behind him, 
 and began to make grimaces at the little 
 
82 THE LITTLE SCHOOLMISTRESS 
 
 girl nearest him. Then he began to erase 
 the work on her slate with his fingers. 
 Finally Helen put him on a seat entirely 
 to himself in one corner of the room. 
 Here he remained until recess. After re- 
 cess he returned to his regular seat. Half 
 an hour later, however, Helen discovered 
 that he was eating his lunch. She took 
 what remained from him, and sent him 
 back to his seat in the corner, with some 
 well chosen "busy work," but it did not 
 interest him. At noon she detained him 
 for twenty minutes. During this time he 
 whined, talked pettishly about " wanting 
 his dinner/' and even intimated that he 
 was going to have it anyway. That after- 
 noon Helen found him carving his initials 
 on the seat. Then she took his knife from 
 him. In its stead she gave him a copy of 
 the Youth's Companion containing a very 
 pretty little story which she said he would 
 doubtless like to read. He turned through 
 the paper for a few minutes, looked at the 
 
"A PECULIAR BOY." 83 
 
 pictures, and proceeded to chew it into 
 " wads " and throw them at the pupils in 
 different parts of the room whenever 
 Helen's back chanced to be turned. 
 
 " Johnnie," said she calmly, " you must 
 behave yourself as the other children do, 
 or I shall have to punish you severely." 
 
 He looked at her and smiled. As soon 
 as she turned her face in the opposite di- 
 rection, he shook his fist at her for the 
 purpose of amusing the school. 
 
 To the surprise of the other children, 
 he was dismissed in the afternoon when 
 the rest were. It was noticeable, however, 
 that Helen stopped to see Johnnie's par- 
 ents on the way home. Mr. Sims was 
 absent. She remained but a few minutes 
 this time. Katharine stood waiting at the 
 gate. As Helen started away, Katharine 
 heard her say : — 
 
 " I am very anxious to have your little 
 boy conform to my requirements as the 
 other pupils are doing. He evidently has 
 
84 THE LITTLE SCHOOLMISTRESS 
 
 an active mind, and if we can direct it in 
 the right channels he will make fine prog- 
 ress. However, if I were to permit him 
 to continue in his present course, it would 
 ruin him, and also destroy my discipline. 
 I shall be obliged, therefore, to ask you to 
 do one of two things, — either punish him 
 yourself to-night, or turn him over com- 
 pletely to me to-morrow to govern as I 
 think best." 
 
 As the children approached school next 
 morning, Katharine heard Johnnie telling 
 some of them about the teacher's visit 
 the afternoon before. 
 
 " You just ought tV heard mother a 
 rarin' on me last night. She said if I 
 didn't behave, she was a goin' to skin me 
 alive, but I wa'n't afeard of her, but of 
 course I made out I was. Papa came in 
 while she was rakin' me over, and he was 
 about to whip me on the spot. You know 
 he might do it, but mother got sorry for 
 me, and took up for me, when I com- 
 
"A PECULIAR BOY." 85 
 
 menced to cry and told her the teacher 
 had been imposin' on me." 
 
 That day Johnnie was continually dis- 
 orderly. He repeated nearly all of his 
 misconduct of the previous days. He 
 thrust his foot out into the aisle, tripped 
 a pupil who was passing, and pretended 
 that it was an accident. He stuck pins 
 in the boys in front of him, and for a 
 few minutes afterward seemed studious. 
 When he had just about finished a large 
 apple, Helen discovered that he was eat- 
 ing again. As it was now nearly recess 
 time, she told him to remain in his seat. 
 However, when the signals were given, 
 he did not do so. Helen walked out on 
 the playground to where he was, and 
 told him to come in. With a broad grin 
 at the other boys he walked beside her 
 into the school-room. 
 
 "Johnnie," said she earnestly, "per- 
 haps you remember that I told you that 
 you must obey me." 
 
86 THE LITTLE SCHOOLMISTRESS 
 
 " Yes'm," said he, indifferently. 
 
 " But it is evident that you do not in- 
 tend to do so. I regret very much that 
 now, to keep my word and to prevent you 
 from getting into more trouble, I must 
 punish you." 
 
 Whereupon she took him by the hand, 
 and drew out from under the paper on 
 the table a switch which she had in readi- 
 ness. Johnnie was taken completely by 
 surprise, but she did not hesitate. She 
 gave him the kind of whipping which his 
 mother had so often promised and had 
 never been faithful enough to give. At 
 first he jumped and screamed as if he 
 were literally being skinned alive, but by 
 the time she was half through with him 
 he was quiet enough. 
 
 When it seemed that she had thoroughly 
 conquered him, she said in a pleasant but 
 rather faltering tone : " Johnnie, take your 
 seat." 
 
 And Johnnie took it. 
 
"A PECULIAR BOY." 87 
 
 Then Helen rang the bell in the usual 
 way, the other pupils lined up at the door 
 with great promptness, and marched to 
 their places. Helen proceeded with her 
 work just as if nothing unusual had hap- 
 pened. During the remainder of the day 
 Johnnie kept quiet and obeyed every re- 
 quest just as the others did. 
 
 The next day Johnnie was absent, but 
 one of the children handed Helen a note 
 which she read at her first leisure. It 
 was from Johnnie's mother, his father, 
 who was a traveling man, having left 
 home the day before. The note was very 
 lengthy, and was anything but compli- 
 mentary. She spoke of her " poor little 
 boy " who was " such a darling/' and 
 how it grieved her for him to be so mis- 
 treated, etc., etc. 
 
 That afternoon Helen sent the follow- 
 ing reply : — 
 
 " Dear Mrs. Sims : — I received your note 
 this morning. If you desire to discuss any fur- 
 
88 THE LITTLE SCHOOLMISTRESS 
 
 ther the matter you mention, I shall be pleased 
 to see you in my room at Mrs. Brown's at half 
 past four o'clock this afternoon. However, I 
 hardly think this necessary, for Johnnie behaved 
 so nicely all yesterday afternoon that I feel con- 
 fident that he will give me no further trouble. 
 Whenever you wish to entrust him entirely to 
 me again, I shall be glad to have him return. 
 I hope that this will be to-morrow. It would be 
 a pity for one with such an active mind to miss 
 the advantages of school. 
 
 Respectfully, 
 
 Helen Smith." 
 
 On the following Sunday Helen was 
 overtaken on her way to church by John- 
 nie's father. 
 
 After talking pleasantly for a while 
 About common-place matters, he said : — 
 
 "Well, Miss Helen, I shall see that 
 Johnnie goes back to school to-morrow 
 morning. I want you to do the best you 
 can with him. He is our only child, and 
 has been petted entirely too much. I 
 really don't see that there was any way 
 you could have controlled him except as 
 you did, and since I have talked with his 
 
"A PECULIAR BOY." g9 
 
 mother, she admits that you were justifia- 
 ble in punishing him. We shall expect 
 you to govern him hereafter as you think 
 best." 
 
 Henceforth Johnnie gave no more trou- 
 ble than his habits of selfishness, disobe- 
 dience, and disrespect made inevitable. 
 Helen exercised due patience with him, 
 but did not indulge him in his whims. 
 
CHAPTER XV 
 
 A FRIDAY AFTERNOON DIGRESSION 
 ArT noon on the last Friday in the 
 ^ month Helen said: — 
 
 " This afternoon we shall vary the ex- 
 ercises. You have studied so diligently 
 and behaved so well that I think you de- 
 serve an afternoon for special pleasure. 
 Suppose we use part of the time for re- 
 viewing and part of it for some purposes 
 which I am not yet ready to explain to 
 you. I suggest that as soon as you have 
 eaten your lunches you have a review of 
 the games you have played during the 
 month, and then I will teach you a new 
 
 one." 
 
 The noon hour was an unusually happy 
 one. In rapid succession they played first 
 one game and then another until they had 
 exhausted their stock. Then Helen 
 taught them one which she had learned 
 the night before from one of her school 
 journals. They were delighted, both 
 
 (90) 
 
A FRIDAY AFTERNOON DIGRESSION 91 
 
 because she taught them the game and 
 because she played with them. 
 
 When they came in from recess, their 
 cheeks were aglow and their eyes were 
 bright. They were as quiet as she could 
 desire them to be, though she did not ask 
 for attention nor command them to be 
 still. 
 
 " Now let us have our review," said 
 she. " Who can repeat the psalm I have 
 been teaching you ? " 
 
 A dozen hands were raised, and one by 
 one half a dozen recited. Then they all 
 recited it together, with due regard for 
 the rhythm. 
 
 " What psalm is that, Mary? " 
 
 " The twenty-third." 
 
 "Who wrote it?" 
 
 " King David." 
 
 And thus they continued. When they 
 came to sing the song that Helen gave 
 them the first morning of school, they 
 were delighted, for it was easy, and they 
 
92 THE LITTLE SCHOOLMISTRESS 
 
 had sung it quite frequently during the 
 month. She tested them, and found that 
 with but few exceptions they knew the 
 words perfectly. They sang it this time 
 with unusual interest, and then sang 
 " Rock of Ages " again. 
 
 Had a visitor heard the singing on both 
 occasions, he would scarcely have recog- 
 nized these as the same voices that he 
 heard on the day school opened. Then 
 some of them sang as loud as they possi- 
 bly could, and with a nasal twang. Now 
 their voices were musical, because they 
 did not strain them, and because they 
 sang in their throats rather than in their 
 mouths as formerly. 
 
 After the songs, Helen had them repeat 
 the memory gems she had given them, 
 and relate some of the stories of the great 
 men they had been studying during the 
 month. Following these exercises they 
 reviewed briefly the most difficult subjects 
 they had had in arithmetic, geography, 
 
A FRIDAY AFTERNOON DIGRESSION 93 
 
 grammar, and history, and were dis- 
 missed for ten minutes recess. 
 
 After recess she complimented them on 
 the excellence with which they had re- 
 cited, and said : — 
 
 " Let me tell you something which you 
 may never have thought of before, just 
 as I am thinking of it. Every great per- 
 son who ever lived in the world was once 
 a little boy or a little girl like you. Many 
 of them were poor. Some had no oppor- 
 tunities for an education. It may be that 
 some of you, if you will continue to do as 
 you have done since we have been here, 
 can do great things. But whether you 
 can do great things or not, you can cer- 
 tainly become good and useful, and the 
 way to do this is to be as good and useful 
 as possible every day. 
 
 " Do you understand what the word 
 duty means ? " 
 
 Then she illustrated with various exam- 
 
94 THE UTTLE SCHOOLMISTRESS 
 
 pies until they appreciated the significance 
 of the term. 
 
 " Let me tell you what a truly great 
 man once wrote to his son. It was 
 this : ' The sublimest word in any lan- 
 guage is duty/ I wish you to remember 
 that and act upon it." 
 
 Taking up a small book which lay on 
 the table, she said : " Many hundred 
 years ago there lived in a far-away coun- 
 try that we call Greece, a child-like peo- 
 ple whose lives were noble and whose 
 thoughts were beautiful. Listen, and I 
 will read you a story about one of their 
 heroes." 
 
 This was the beginning of a series of 
 readings which lasted for weeks, and 
 which inspired the children very much. 
 
CHAPTER XVI 
 
 THE TEACHERS' ASSOCIATION 
 fftN Saturday following the review, 
 Helen attended a meeting of the 
 County Teachers' Association held in 
 the Seminary chapel. She found prob- 
 ably half of the teachers of the county 
 there, and practically all of those who 
 had taken much interest in the sum- 
 mer Institute. She was delighted to meet 
 hei former teachers again; and the 
 others, with whom she had become but 
 slightly acquainted during the Institute, 
 now seemed like old friends. Socially 
 she enjoyed the day very much. 
 
 The lesson in English grammar dwin- 
 dled into quibbling over trivialities, but 
 served to give certain ones present an 
 opportunity for displaying their knowl- 
 edge of particular text-books. 
 
 The Superintendent was presiding. For 
 several minutes he sat looking rather in- 
 tently at his open watch. He wore a visi- 
 
 7 (95) 
 
96 THE LITTLE SCHOOLMISTRESS 
 
 ble frown, and now and then glanced up 
 over his glasses disapprovingly at those 
 who were contending for the correctness 
 of certain views. Finally he rapped the 
 table with his pencil and remarked, 
 
 " Time is up." 
 
 Mr. Blucher moved to have the time 
 for the discussion extended, but the Su- 
 perintendent ruled the motion out of 
 order, deeming it his duty to adhere to 
 the schedule for the day. 
 
 " However," he remarked, " I will state 
 as a further explanation of my position, 
 that I do not see why any one should de- 
 sire a continuation of this argument, even 
 if we had nothing else to do. 
 
 " Grammar is a science, and should re- 
 ceive due consideration as such in the ad- 
 vanced grades. Historically, language 
 is ancient and grammar modern. In my 
 humble opinion the common schools would 
 do well to follow the example of the race 
 by developing the ability to use language 
 
THE; TEACHERS' ASSOCIATION 97 
 
 freely and pretty correctly first; then an- 
 alysis will be rational and easy. 
 
 "A good deal of time and temper might 
 be saved if we would bear in mind these 
 three points: 
 
 "First, that scholars agree concerning 
 most matters of real importance in gram- 
 mar. These should be taught early and 
 largely incidentally. 
 
 " Second, that there is great diversity 
 of opinion and much confusion of terms 
 regarding some minor points. These 
 may well be deferred until the essentials 
 are learned. 
 
 u Third, that when we have learned a 
 reasonable number of the diverse opinions 
 regarding unsettled questions, we should 
 adopt whatever pleases us, and cheerfully 
 grant to every other person a similar 
 privilege." 
 
 The lesson in arithmetic was much 
 better. It dealt with the importance of 
 making the instruction concrete. The 
 
98 THE LITTLE SCHOOLMISTRESS 
 
 instructor gave numerous practical illus- 
 trations, and had members of the Asso- 
 ciation draw lines on the blackboard one 
 inch, one foot, and one yard in length. 
 He had them determine the height of the 
 table, the width of the room, etc. 
 
 He had before him some standard meas- 
 uring cups, etc., from the corner grocery, 
 and showed them the pint, the quart, and 
 the gallon. He also compared the dry 
 quart and the liquid quart. Following 
 his demonstrations, he had others meas- 
 ure water, and weigh various things with 
 a small set of scales after they had esti- 
 mated the weight. They calculated the 
 amount of wood that could be piled across 
 the back of the school-room at various 
 heights and in various lengths. Likewise 
 he sent a committee out on the campus 
 to measure and stake off a square rod 
 and an acre. He sent another committee 
 out with directions to measure a furlong- 
 down the street and erect a pole with a 
 
THE TEACHERS' ASSOCIATION 99 
 
 flag on it at the end, so that it could be 
 seen from the window of the chapel. He 
 referred them to the mile-posts along the 
 highway as illustrating the miles. 
 
 Next he drew from his pocket a bundle 
 of papers and said : " I shall not have 
 time to go into details with you in .regard 
 to these, but you could get them from sta- 
 tioners and business men, and make good 
 use of them if you would put yourselves 
 to a little trouble. Here are blank notes, 
 receipts, insurance policies, stocks, etc." 
 
 All present were delighted with the 
 lesson except one young man who had 
 longed for an opportunity to explain why 
 we " invert the terms of the divisor and 
 multiply " in division of fractions. 
 
 The most enjoyable feature of the 
 afternoon's program was the lecture by 
 Professor Gordon, one of a series on 
 " The School Teachers' Problems." As 
 Professor Gordon is an old man and has 
 had a long, varied, and successful expe- 
 
100 THE UTTEE SCHOOLMISTRESS 
 
 rience, he is listened to with great respect 
 by the teachers of the county, many of 
 whom have been taught by him. His 
 subject to-day was — 
 
 " Worry, Its Cause and Cure." 
 " It has often been said," he began, 
 " that worry kills more people than work. 
 This is particularly true of teachers. It 
 is far from me to intimate that it is not 
 necessary for teachers to think much about 
 their work, yet there is a vast difference 
 between anxiety and interest. Interest 
 stimulates a person; anxiety renders him 
 weak and inefficient. If he is familiar 
 with what he is going to teach, has a defi- 
 nite plan, has taken the necessary recrea- 
 tion to give him vigor for the task, and 
 has drawn from good literature and no- 
 ble companionship the inspiration which 
 comes so well from no other source, un- 
 less it be nature, how can he be otherwise 
 than eager for an opportunity to perform 
 so useful a task as teaching the young ? " 
 
CHAPTER XVII 
 
 A NEW EXPERIENCE 
 JJ'ELEN'S day in town afforded other 
 pleasures than those derived from 
 the meeting of the Teachers* Association. 
 She received pay in the afternoon for her 
 first month's work. As she walked along 
 the streets with the money in her purse, 
 she thought of her mother and the chil- 
 dren at home, and how delightful it was 
 to be able to help them. 
 
 " Surely," she said to herself, " it is 
 better to give than to receive." 
 
 She bought a few articles of clothing 
 that she really needed, and ordered 
 through the local agent one good book 
 that she had heard recommended as help- 
 ful to young teachers, and a dozen inex- 
 pensive pictures with which to improve 
 the decorations of her school-room. She 
 reserved enough money to pay her board 
 for the past month, and laid aside prac- 
 tically all of the rest for her mother. 
 
 (101) 
 
1G2 THE UTTEE SCHOOLMISTRESS 
 
 Helen reached home late Saturday 
 afternoon, and remained until two o'clock 
 Sunday. It would be needless to describe, 
 if we could, the details of Helen's visit 
 home. The sunshine that she brought 
 to her mother and the children, and the 
 hope that she inspired in the former, can 
 best be imagined. 
 
 Uncle William and his family arrived 
 Sunday morning, to stay until Monday 
 afternoon. The children begged Helen 
 to stay with them until Monday morning, 
 but she declined, saying, 
 
 " I should like so much to be here with 
 you, but it is my duty to return this after- 
 noon so that I may surely be at school 
 on time to-morrow. I expect the pupils 
 to attend school promptly, and in this, as 
 in all other respects, I must set them an 
 example which I am willing for them to 
 follow." 
 
CHAPTER XVIII 
 
 A RAINY DAY 
 
 CfYYHEN school opened Monday morn- 
 ing, Helen was in her place, and 
 most of the children were present, al- 
 though it was raining. Nearly every one 
 of the others arrived in a short while. 
 
 " How glad I am," she thought, " that 
 I returned yesterday, although I was 
 strongly tempted to remain until this 
 morning." 
 
 Helen's first care was to see that the 
 children dried their clothing before she 
 began the day's work. She had a fire 
 kindled in the stove, and permitted them 
 to assemble around it and talk quietly 
 until she was ready for work. At the 
 close of the devotional exercises, which 
 differed considerably from those she had 
 been accustomed to have, she taught the 
 children a new song. Then she said : — 
 
 " This is the beginning of a new month. 
 You have made me very happy by coming 
 
 (103) 
 
104 THE UTTLE SCHOOLMISTRESS 
 
 to school promptly on such an unpleasant 
 morning. I think by attending to our 
 work closely we may finish the lessons 
 of the day a little earlier than usual, and 
 have some special exercises which you will 
 probably enjoy. I cannot tell you just 
 what these will be until we are ready for 
 them, but remember that to finish the 
 day's work in time for them we shall all 
 have to do our best. If any one misbe- 
 haves or fails in a recitation, it will delay 
 us and prevent our doing these pleasant 
 things. ,, 
 
 When she was ready for recess she 
 said : " I will explain to you that I think 
 it is proper to be quiet in the house, even 
 at recess. You can talk to each other 
 and have a pleasant time together, but 
 anything in the nature of rudeness would 
 be unbecoming in my little men and 
 women." 
 
 This was sufficient for most of them, 
 but two boys finally began to race around 
 
A RAINY DAY 105 
 
 the room, one endeavoring to overtake 
 the other that he might recover an apple 
 which had been snatched from him. 
 Helen turned to them, raised her hand, 
 and said pleasantly : " I am sorry you 
 have forgotten, boys." 
 
 With comical looks of surprise, they 
 both stopped suddenly, and gave no fur- 
 ther trouble. She took care to have the 
 recess no longer than necessary. Notwith- 
 standing the depressing influence of the 
 day, the children behaved well, and the 
 regular work was done an hour before 
 the usual time for dismissal. 
 
 "Well," said Helen, "this rainy day 
 has set me to thinking. I find it disa- 
 greeable in many ways, yet rains are de- 
 sirable. Suppose we talk for a little 
 while about rain. Do you know where 
 the rain comes from? " 
 
 " Out of the clouds," said Charlie. 
 
 "Yes, and where do the clouds come 
 from?" 
 
106 THE UTTLE SCHOOLMISTRESS 
 
 This did not meet such a ready re- 
 sponse. After a pause, however, one 
 ventured to state that " they rise." Then 
 step by step, in a most interesting way, 
 Helen led them' to see that clouds are 
 formed of vapor which comes from the 
 ocean. She gave them familiar illustra- 
 tions, such as the evaporation of water 
 from wet clothes hung out to dry; the 
 " steam " seen about the spout of the 
 tea-kettle in winter, and their " breath " 
 visible on a frosty morning. She led them 
 to observe that it rains most when the 
 wind comes from certain directions, and 
 also the older ones to see why this is so. 
 
 " I knew a thoughtless little boy once," 
 said she, " who wished that it would never 
 rain any more. Suppose his wish were 
 to come true; what difference would it 
 make?" 
 
 Then for ten minutes the children vied 
 with one another in their efforts to see 
 who could give the best answer. They 
 
A RAINY DAY 107 
 
 were interested, even excited at times. 
 
 " There was also a lazy little fellow 
 once who on a hot summer day wished 
 that the sun would never shine any more. 
 Suppose his wish were to come true ; what 
 difference would it make? " 
 
 For some time they discussed this ques- 
 tion with the same delight that they had 
 found in the first. 
 
 Just then the clouds broke in the west, 
 a flood of golden sunlight filled the room, 
 the children's faces became radiant, and 
 Helen said : " God is very good, for He 
 gives us both rain and sunshine." 
 
 Then she dismissed them. 
 
CHAPTER XIX 
 
 "NONSENSE" 
 £PHE school at Shady Grove under 
 Helen differed in many respects 
 from what it had been in previous years. 
 Several conservative old farmers who 
 questioned Helen's methods doubted the 
 advisability of teaching children words 
 before the alphabet, and one in particular 
 was very positive that it was " nonsense " 
 to attempt such a radical departure. 
 School had been in session ten days or 
 more before he learned that his youngest 
 child had not been started in a spelling- 
 book with the A B C's in it. He expressed 
 himself very freely at home, and " sent 
 word " to Helen that she " must teach 
 Etta her letters." Helen received the 
 message from one of the children, but 
 gave no expression by look or otherwise 
 of her determination to do what she 
 thought was best. 
 
 Two or three weeks more passed be- 
 
 (108) 
 
" NONSENSE." 109 
 
 fore the farmer thought to ask whether 
 or not Helen had been teaching Etta the 
 alphabet as he had directed. This time 
 he became somewhat angry, and threat- 
 ened to go to the school-house next morn- 
 ing and tell her that it " had to be done." 
 But again he became absorbed in his 
 business, and did not think of the mat- 
 ter until one rainy day in the sixth week 
 of the session, as he carried the children 
 to school. 
 
 Upon his arrival he hitched his horse 
 under a tree, removed his saddle, and 
 went into the school-house for the purpose 
 of justifying his belief that the new 
 methods were nonsensical. 
 
 Helen did not talk with him very much, 
 for she was busy; but when she did, her 
 manner was so pleasant and her remarks 
 so well chosen that he soon lost sight of 
 his original purpose, and became deeply 
 interested. However, when it came 
 Etta's time to recite, the old spirit rose 
 
110 THE UTTLE SCHOOLMISTRESS 
 
 within him again to such an extent that 
 he said : — 
 
 " Miss Helen, I think you have been 
 neglecting your duty toward Etta. I sent 
 you word nearly a month ago to teach 
 her her letters, and from what I can learn, 
 you paid no attention to my request." 
 
 u Yes, Mr. Smartt, I did receive a 
 message from you, and I have thought of 
 it frequently. I had begun to teach your 
 little girl by another method, which 
 seemed to be giving good results. I 
 thought it best to continue with that until 
 I had given it a fair trial. Since you are 
 here, I will explain my plan to you, and let 
 you see how it is succeeding. These new 
 methods are not always best, but when 
 they are well recommended and seem 
 reasonable, I feel that it is safe to give 
 them a trial, for at any time we may re- 
 turn to the old way." 
 
 Helen sat down near Mr. Smartt, and 
 called the little girl to her side. She 
 
" NONSENSE." HI 
 
 opened a primer, and the child read the 
 first page through without missing a word 
 or failing to give the proper expression 
 to a sentence. Mr. Smartt leaned for- 
 ward, his eyes grew brighter, and his face 
 wore a look of astonishment. Helen 
 turned over to the second page, the child 
 read that through as she had the first. 
 
 Mr. Smartt stepped to the stove, opened 
 the door, and threw his quid of tobacco 
 into it, ran his fingers through his shaggy 
 hair, and sat down again. 
 
 Etta read the third page with no special 
 difficulty. Then Helen pointed with her 
 pencil to the various letters. She recog- 
 nized every one of them. 
 
 " Etta, what does b-o-x spell ? " asked 
 Helen, and the child answered, " Box," 
 and so on with a dozen familiar words. 
 
 " Now, Etta, let's show your papa how 
 the crayon can say things." 
 
 She stepped to the blackboard, and 
 wrote a sentence consisting of a few 
 
 8 
 
112 THE UTTEE SCHOOLMISTRESS 
 
 words taken from what the child had 
 been reading. Etta watched her intently. 
 
 " Now what did it say? " 
 
 The little girl read it correctly and in 
 an even tone. Other sentences written 
 by Helen were also read with ease. 
 
 " Etta, would n't you like to show your 
 papa how you can make the crayon say 
 things?" 
 
 The child looked pleased, came forward, 
 and as the teacher dictated, she wrote 
 first single words and then short sen- 
 tences, in a legible hand. 
 
 " Can't you make some figures for 
 your papa ? " 
 
 Little Etta began with i and made them 
 all, getting the 3 backwards and the 6 
 where the 9 should have been, but a few 
 hints from Helen enabled her to correct 
 these. 
 
 " That will do, Etta, you may go to 
 your seat now." 
 
 As she started to do so, the old farmer 
 
" NONSENSE." 113 
 
 caught her in his arms, drew her up into 
 his lap, and squeezed her vigorously in 
 consequence of his pride and astonish- 
 ment. Then he put her down and rose 
 to go. 
 
 "Well, Miss Helen, I'll give it up. 
 Maybe I know more about farmin' than 
 you do, but you can beat me teachin' chil- 
 dren, and from now on I don't expect to 
 meddle with you any more/' 
 
 As the farmer put on his hat, he shook 
 hands with Helen and said : " If you will 
 let me know some time when you can come 
 home with Etta and spend the night, I 
 will bring old Mollie for you to ride, and 
 she's a fine saddle animal." 
 
CHAPTER XX 
 
 THE SUPERINTENDENT'S VISIT 
 /jNNE day shortly after noon in the lat- 
 ter part of September the county Su- 
 perintendent rode down the hill toward 
 the Shady Grove school-house. It was 
 Thursday. He had left home early Mon- 
 day morning, and had been through sev- 
 eral districts. In nearly every place he 
 found the schools in disorder, the attend- 
 ance small, or the teachers having con- 
 troversies with the patrons, who were ever 
 ready to make their dissatisfaction known 
 to him. Feeling it his duty to uphold the 
 authority of the teacher, and realizing, 
 too, that most of the difficulties which he 
 had heard of might have been avoided had 
 the teacher been more tactful, he was 
 fairly sick at heart. He approached this 
 school-house with an especial sense of 
 dread. He had been in office several 
 years, and had come to regard this as a 
 very troublesome community. It will be 
 
 (114) 
 
THE SUPERINTENDENT'S VISIT 115 
 
 remembered that he was able to secure 
 this position for Helen only because the 
 " talent " employed for personal reasons 
 in former years had failed invariably. 
 
 He drew very near the school-house 
 before he heard any one within, but he 
 was delighted with the neatness of the 
 premises. As he entered the door, he 
 looked in on a full school intent upon its 
 work. He glanced rapidly around the 
 room, observing the pictures and rustic 
 decorations on the walls, then at the 
 teacher, who was at the blackboard, and 
 did not see him enter. For a moment he 
 gazed steadfastly at the bunch of chrys- 
 anthemums on the table. Ere he was 
 aware his whole burden had rolled away. 
 He sat down quietly near the door, and re- 
 mained at least ten minutes before he was 
 discovered by Helen. He had not intended 
 to be a secret visitor, but was such simply 
 because Helen was absorbed in her duties, 
 
116 the: little schoolmistress 
 
 and all the pupils remained attentive to 
 theirs. 
 
 When Helen, glancing over the room, 
 caught sight of the Superintendent, she 
 felt greatly embarrassed, and blushed in- 
 tensely, but in the calmest sort of way 
 walked down to where he was, shook 
 hands with him cordially ; expressing her 
 delight at having him with them, and in- 
 vited him to take a seat on the platform. 
 Then she proceeded with her work, en- 
 deavoring to do everything just as she 
 would have done if no visitor had been 
 present. 
 
 When, by-and-by, the Superintendent 
 arose to speak to the children, they sat 
 erect, with their books closed, and gave 
 him respectful attention. He compli- 
 mented them very highly, and congratu- 
 lated them on the neatness of the house 
 and grounds, which he said were just 
 what he would like to find everywhere, 
 and yet what he had not found quite so 
 
THI5 SUPERINTENDENT'S VISIT U7 
 
 perfect anywhere else in the county. He 
 remarked on the intense interest which 
 enabled him to come in unobserved, and 
 was especially gratified, he said, to see 
 so many present at a time when most 
 schools had not more than half of their 
 enrollment in attendance. 
 
 " I have some personal reasons for 
 being glad that this school is doing so 
 well," said the Superintendent, " since 
 Miss Helen became your teacher by reason 
 of my recommendation. " 
 
 For some minutes he spoke the charac- 
 teristic speech of the county Superinten- 
 dent, interspersed with jokes and historic 
 anecdotes. Then he suddenly stepped 
 forward a little, straightened up, and 
 broke forth in a sort of peroration: — 
 
 " He who would excel in life, should 
 strive to excel in school. This is the place 
 to form the habit of excelling. If you 
 excel in little things here, you may be able 
 to excel in great things by and by. 
 
118 THE LITTLE SCHOOLMISTRESS 
 
 " Speaking of excelling reminds me of 
 prizes. Who expects to get the prizes at 
 the close of school ? Raise your hands ! " 
 
 Not a hand was raised. Several looked 
 at the teacher. 
 
 " Raise your hands, don't be timid about 
 it. Who would like to get the prizes at 
 the close of school ? " 
 
 Again they looked at one another and 
 the teacher, but no hands were raised. 
 
 " Don't any of you expect to get the 
 prizes at the close of school ? " said the 
 Superintendent. " Surely you do." 
 
 " I can tell you," said Charlie, raising 
 his hand. 
 
 "All right, my little man." 
 
 "All of us," said Charlie. 
 
 " Miss Helen," he said, suspecting the 
 boy's meaning, " I think I will get you 
 to explain to me when school is out how 
 they think it possible for all of them to get 
 prizes." 
 
 The Superintendent had an old friend 
 
THE SUPERINTENDENT'S VISIT 119 
 
 in the neighborhood with whom he always 
 spent the night when visiting Shady 
 Grove school. As he lived on the way to 
 Esquire Brown's, the Superintendent let 
 one of the boys ride his horse and he 
 walked with Helen. Helen explained to 
 him that the children had begged her to 
 offer prizes at the beginning of the term, 
 and that the older people all said it had 
 been "customary," but that she inferred 
 from information received in the neigh- 
 borhood that much local discord had 
 grown out of the prize contests. 
 
 " The best teacher I ever had," she 
 said, referring to Miss Emily Wise, " of- 
 fered no prizes, and the best books that I 
 have read on teaching agree that the giv- 
 ing of prizes in school is both harmful 
 and unnecessary. To satisfy the children, 
 I explained to them that there are prizes 
 that all can get, such as scholarship, pro- 
 motion, a consciousness of dutv done, etc., 
 
120 THE LITTLE SCHOOLMISTRESS 
 
 and it was to these that the boy referred 
 when he answered you as he did." 
 
 " I am sure you are right," said the 
 Superintendent. " How much better it 
 would be if all teachers would follow your 
 example in this matter of prizes," he re- 
 marked as they parted. 
 
 The Superintendent and his old friend 
 talked together until late that night, and 
 frequent references were made to the local 
 school. His friend told him of Helen's 
 work in cleaning up the school-house be- 
 fore the session opened, of her new meth- 
 ods, of the criticisms that had been made, 
 and how she had " straightened out " 
 Johnnie Sims, how old Mr. Smartt had 
 been changed from a persistent faultfinder 
 to an ardent friend of the new teacher by 
 a visit to the school, etc., etc. 
 
 The next morning the Superintendent 
 changed his course so as to spend another 
 hour at the school. He again took it by 
 surprise, but was as well pleased as before. 
 
CHAPTER XXI 
 
 MISS SCRUGGS" SCHOOL 
 £P HE conscientious county superintend- 
 ent is a man who deserves sympathy 
 and admiration. He feels an intense in- 
 terest in his work, bears a burden of re- 
 sponsibility, and has much care. He 
 is expected to gather statistics; to hold 
 annually a summer institute, and monthly 
 teachers' meetings; to examine and li- 
 cense teachers; to judge their moral 
 and professional fitness, as well as their 
 literary qualifications; to reconcile all 
 differences — and these are many ; to visit 
 all the schools of the county, and inspire 
 the youth of each with interest enough to 
 last until the end of the term; to arouse 
 in the people of the whole county an ambi- 
 tion for the improvement of their school 
 system — all these things and more he en- 
 deavors to do, with only a shadow of au- 
 thority and a mere pittance of pay. It is 
 little wonder, then, that this worthy Su- 
 
 (121) 
 
122 THE UTTLE SCHOOLMISTRESS 
 
 perintendent appreciated Helen's work, 
 nor is it surprising that he rejoiced when 
 he saw that she, though a young teacher, 
 was practically realizing his ideals of 
 what a school should be. 
 
 A few days after the Superintendent's 
 visit to Shady Grove, he came into 
 Helen's home neighborhood where Miss 
 Scruggs was teaching. As he passed va- 
 rious farm houses, he noticed children of 
 school age about home, and although the 
 sun was high and the weather fine, he 
 saw very few preparing for school. 
 
 He met a patron as he rode along, from 
 whom he learned that there was much dis- 
 satisfaction with the teacher, that there 
 was no interest in the school, and that the 
 attendance had fallen off greatly. Before 
 reaching the school-house he came upon 
 Mr. Jones, the director who had employed 
 Miss Scruggs. Just as Jones was enter- 
 ing the gate of his corn field, he recog- 
 nized the Superintendent. He seemed in 
 
MISS SCRUGGS* SCHOOL 123 
 
 a hurry, but the Superintendent rode up 
 to the gate, and began to talk pleasantly 
 of the weather, his corn crop, etc. 
 
 The Superintendent noticed that he had 
 two of his small boys with him to assist 
 in gathering corn. 
 
 "And how's your school ? " he inquired. 
 " Fm going down there to visit it. I shall 
 find it all right, I hope." 
 
 " Wall, this is a mighty hard neighbor- 
 hood to please. Miss Scruggs is doin' all 
 she possibly can under the circumstances, 
 but the circumstances ain't very favor- 
 able." 
 
 " What seems to be the particular 
 trouble?" 
 
 " Oh, nothing in particular, only the 
 people don't send to school regular, and 
 are always grumblin' about somethin'. 
 They don't seem to care whether their 
 children ever have any education or not." 
 
 "And don't these boys like to go ? " 
 asked the Superintendent ? 
 
124 THE LITTLE SCHOOLMISTRESS 
 
 " Oh, yes, but I have to have them help 
 me gether the corn an' sow the wheat an' 
 make the sorghum. They won't miss 
 much in what little time that '11 take." 
 
 The Superintendent rode on, and 
 reached the school-house half an hour af- 
 ter the usual time for opening a country 
 school, and found three or four girls 
 romping inside, while about half a dozen 
 small boys on the outside were teas- 
 ing a little fellow who stood with his back 
 against the house, crying. Miss Scruggs 
 arrived some twenty minutes later, and a 
 few other children with her. She seemed 
 much embarrassed when she discovered 
 that the Superintendent was present. 
 After a shy and awkward greeting, she 
 rang the bell. The boys on the play- 
 ground began to bleat like sheep, and 
 came in like horses. For several minutes 
 there was confusion. They changed their 
 seats, whispered, dropped their books, 
 and giggled. When the room finally be- 
 
MISS SCRUGGS' SCHOOL 125 
 
 came reasonably quiet, she began her 
 day's work, but there was no devotional 
 exercise, no singing, no stories, no mis- 
 cellaneous work to interest and instruct 
 the children; no bunch of fresh flowers 
 for them to look at. In fact, there was 
 no attempt at decoration in the school- 
 room unless the chalked names and 
 caricatures on the walls, windows, and 
 stove-pipe were intended to be decorative. 
 Waste paper was scattered in profusion 
 about the premises, and on the north side 
 of the house, where there was a low place, 
 sheltered from the wind, it had accumu- 
 lated sufficiently to cover the ground. 
 
 " Is the advanced arithmetic class ready 
 to recite ? " asked Miss Scruggs, but the 
 response was entirely negative. 
 
 " Then is the fourth reader class 
 ready?" 
 
 Some of them begged for more time. 
 
 One after another she called for half a 
 dozen classes without finding one ready 
 
126 THE LITTLE SCHOOLMISTRESS 
 
 for recitation. Failing with all of these, 
 she beckoned one of the beginners to her 
 side. She went over the alphabet with 
 him, pointing to each letter and calling 
 it by name until the letter w was reached, 
 then she scolded him for having worn the 
 others out of his book, and said, " Go to 
 your seat, you little rat, and don't forget 
 that thumb paper to-morrow." 
 
 She took other small children one by 
 one to spell the " a - b ab's." There was 
 an entire absence of writing in connection 
 with the recitations of the young pupils. 
 
 Those who read, whether in the first or 
 the fifth grade, drawled out their words 
 laboriously, and showed no signs of com- 
 prehending the meaning. Miss Scruggs 
 made no introductory talks, no reference 
 to the author of the lesson, no explana- 
 tions, and no appeals to the imagination. 
 Corrections were confined entirely to the 
 pronunciation of words. 
 
 Finally Miss Scruggs called the ad- 
 
MISS SCRUGGS' SCHOOL 127 
 
 vanced arithmetic class again. There 
 were only three in it, Mary Ann Jones 
 being one of them. Miss Scruggs asked 
 the Superintendent to teach it, but he de- 
 clined politely. She insisted, but he re- 
 mained firm. Though Mary Ann Jones's 
 work was grossly incorrect, it was al- 
 lowed to pass. 
 
 Next she implored him to teach the 
 grammar class. 
 
 " You must excuse me from teaching/' 
 said he, " I prefer to leave you free to do 
 just as you would at any other time. 
 
 " I think a superintendent should be 
 very careful in this matter. By taking the 
 teacher's place, he deprives her of the 
 right to exhibit the practical work of her 
 school in her own way, and displays his 
 own conceit. Furthermore, by attempt- 
 ing to instruct her in methods in her own 
 school he is liable to lessen the respect of 
 her pupils for her, and thus do more harm 
 
 9 
 
128 THE UTTLE) SCHOOLMISTRESS 
 
 than good. For these and other reasons 
 I beg that you excuse me." 
 
 Miss Scruggs then undertook the task 
 herself, devoting her entire attention to 
 the rules and definitions which, of course, 
 a few recited fairly well, but most of the 
 class evidently had no true conception 
 of the meaning. She in the mean time 
 kept close watch on the book. 
 
 When the dictionary class was called, 
 she felt relieved, and got through with 
 that to her own satisfaction. The trap- 
 ping was livelier than anything else had 
 been, and Mary Ann Jones got the head- 
 mark. As Miss Scruggs pronounced the 
 words in their alphabetical order for the 
 children to spell, — words mainly without 
 interest or meaning to the children, — 
 the Superintendent thought: — 
 
 "Ah me! when will this nonsense end? 
 Wouldn't it be just as wise to take the 
 book of Genesis, or better the Constitution 
 
MISS SCRUGGS' SCHOOL 129 
 
 of the United States, for a text in spell- 
 ing?" 
 
 After the morning recess things went 
 on very much as they had before until 
 noon, except that the children grew more 
 troublesome as the day advanced, and 
 Miss Scruggs increased her efforts to con- 
 trol them. Finally she called out, — 
 
 "Playtime!" 
 
 The children sprang from their seats 
 with a yell like Comanches, climbed over 
 the benches in front of them, and rushed 
 out upon the playground. 
 
CHAPTER XXII 
 
 MISS SCRUGGS' CONFESSION 
 
 iflURING the noon recess the county 
 ^ Superintendent had a long talk with 
 Miss Scruggs. She declared that she 
 would never teach again " if she could 
 help it," that this was the worst commu- 
 nity any one ever had to contend with, 
 that the children had had no " raising/' 
 that she just could not control them, that 
 she had tried every means of punishment 
 that she had ever seen or heard of, etc. 
 
 The recess to-day was long, but as this 
 was no unusual occurrence, the children 
 played boisterously some distance away, 
 ignorant of the tears shed by Miss 
 Scruggs as she related her trials, or in- 
 different to them. 
 
 The Superintendent in the course of his 
 long conversation used the Socratic art 
 so skilfully that he received from this 
 young teacher's own lips a frank and full 
 confession of her pedagogical sins. They 
 
 (130) 
 
MISS SCRUGGS' CONFESSION 131 
 
 were numerous, both of omission and of 
 commission. 
 
 Briefly, she had not qualified herself for 
 teaching. She herself had never been to 
 school except in her own neighborhood, 
 had never attended an Institute or teach- 
 ers' meeting, " except on the last two 
 days to take the examination," had never 
 read a book on teaching nor seen anything 
 in the way of educational periodicals save 
 a few sample copies that had come to 
 her recently (and she did not remember 
 the names of these nor where they were 
 published). She had not made prepara- 
 tions in advance for her daily work, and 
 had never thought of decorating the 
 school-room, telling the children a story, 
 or singing a song with them. She had 
 never read them a Scripture lesson, offered 
 a prayer, nor taught them a line as a mem- 
 ory gem. She had given them no biogra- 
 phy or lessons from nature. She " had 
 not had time for such things." 
 
132 the little schoolmistress 
 
 She had not visited the parents of those 
 who were troublesome, but had " sent 
 word " to several of them by the children. 
 This " did no good." She never came to 
 school early, because she thought it use- 
 less to be there before the children were, 
 and they were nearly always late. Her 
 only explanation of the methods of in- 
 struction employed, regarding which the 
 Superintendent made many inquiries, 
 could be stated substantially in the oft- 
 repeated sentence : iX I was taught that 
 way." 
 
 The Superintendent v*ery skilfully led 
 her to realize that her failure to interest 
 the children, to control them, and to secure 
 parental co-operation, was not entirely 
 due to neighborhood peculiarities. 
 
 " Miss Scruggs," he said sympathet- 
 ically, " the profession of teaching is 
 somewhat like a bank. You can draw out 
 of it only in proportion to what you have 
 put into it. I infer from our conversa- 
 
MISS SCRUGGS' CONFESSION 133 
 
 tion that you have not put your heart, 
 your time, nor your money into the pro- 
 fession. Had you done so, you would 
 now probably be happy and your school 
 prosperous." 
 
 He then told her of " a certain school " 
 that he had visited a few days before in 
 another neighborhood. 
 
 "While I expected the teacher there 
 to do well," he said, " her success aston- 
 ishes and delights me. I found the at- 
 tendance excellent, the interest intense, 
 and the people enthusiastic (although that 
 teacher had opposition for a while) ; and 
 the school-room itself was so clean and so 
 beautifully decorated that I went back the 
 morning after my regular visit to see it 
 again. If I should rename the school- 
 houses I would call that one, for the re- 
 mainder of this year, at least, the Sweet 
 Home School-house. 
 
 " You would be surprised to learn that 
 the young lady who is doing this excep- 
 
134 THE UTTLE SCHOOLMISTRESS 
 
 tional work never taught a day before her 
 present term began, and had no thought 
 of teaching until last spring. Since then 
 she has been making diligent efforts to 
 prepare herself. She heard every word 
 of instruction given at the Institute last 
 summer. Last Saturday she was at the 
 teachers' meeting quite a while before 
 the exercises began. She has read several 
 good books on teaching, and takes two or 
 three school journals. I could see very 
 clearly that she had listened and read for 
 practical ends. I feel confident, Miss 
 Scruggs, that if you will make similar 
 preparation for your next school, you will 
 be much more successful. Doubtless I 
 can help you." 
 
 " Oh, thank you," said Miss Scruggs, 
 new hope lighting up her countenance. 
 
 "Wouldn't you like to begin, now?" 
 continued the Superintendent. " If so, I 
 will send you in a few days a little book, 
 ' Mistakes in Teaching/ by J. L. Hughes, 
 
MISS SCRUGGS' CONFESSION 
 
 135 
 
 which was very helpful to me. I have 
 caused many teachers to read it, and they 
 have often thanked me for doing so. One 
 of my assistants, to whom I lent the book 
 some years ago, returned it with a hearty 
 laugh, saying as she handed it to me, ' I 
 like it, but I tell you it gave me fits.' ' 
 
CHAPTER XXIII 
 
 THE DISTRICT CONFERENCE 
 
 CFHE fourth Saturday and Sunday in 
 September were days long to be 
 remembered in the Shady Grove neigh- 
 borhood. For weeks the people had been 
 preparing to entertain the delegates to 
 the district conference of the Southern 
 Methodist Church. The Bishop who was 
 to preside was a man once very prominent 
 as an educator. There was also expected 
 such a gathering of ministers and lay- 
 men as seldom assembles in a rural com- 
 munity. 
 
 The school caught the spirit of hospi- 
 tality, after some indirect suggestions 
 from Helen, and it was agreed that they 
 should decorate the school-room for the 
 occasion. The children were consulted as 
 to means and plans. They offered their 
 own suggestions freely, and rendered all 
 service necessary with diligence. Golden- 
 rod and asters were gathered in abun- 
 
 (136) 
 
THE DISTRICT CONFERENCE 137 
 
 dance. Pictures were lent to the school by 
 the children; and so were a table cover, 
 pitcher, and glass. When the school was 
 dismissed Friday afternoon, the house was 
 scrupulously clean and appropriately dec- 
 orated, although not a single recitation 
 had been omitted nor a penny spent for 
 material. 
 
 The weather was exceptionally fine dur- 
 ing the conference, and the attendance was 
 large. The Bishop preached two sermons 
 and the Elder of the district and the vis- 
 iting ministers several others. They al- 
 most invariably complimented the neigh- 
 borhood for taking such a deep interest in 
 education, and referred more than once 
 to the decorations which so " few school- 
 houses have, and yet which all might have 
 practically without money and without 
 price." 
 
 As the Brown home where Helen 
 boarded was one of the most comfortable 
 in the neighborhood and known for its 
 
138 THE UTTLE SCHOOLMISTRESS 
 
 hospitality, the Elder, the Bishop, and 
 Professor Gordon were entertained there. 
 
 On Saturday afternoon, when dinner 
 was over, quite a number of people sat on 
 the broad veranda looking out over the 
 rich valley. The Bishop, the Elder, and 
 the Professor were engaged for an hour 
 or more in conversation, during which 
 Helen, as well as several others, listened 
 attentively, but said little. The conversa- 
 tion naturally drifted from the meeting to 
 the school-house with its decorations, and 
 from that to reminiscences of their own 
 school life. Professor Gordon contrasted 
 the methods of organization, etc., used in 
 his boyhood days with those in the best 
 schools at present. 
 
 " The first schools that I attended were 
 poorly organized," said he. " The chil- 
 dren were not properly classified. As a 
 rule, they were allowed to study nearly 
 any branch to which they took a fancy. 
 The lazy ones omitted those which would 
 
the district CONFERENCE 139 
 
 have given them mental discipline, the 
 ambitious ones undertook things for which 
 they were not prepared, and even the most 
 conscientious suffered for lack of guid- 
 ance. 
 
 " In my opinion," he continued, " a 
 child is no better qualified to select its own 
 course and determine its own grading 
 than one of us would be to travel through 
 India or China without the help of guide- 
 posts or directions from those who have 
 traveled the road before." 
 
 " I was impressed to-day," said the El- 
 der, " not only with the decorations and 
 the neatness of the school-house, but also 
 with the program. Did you notice that 
 Miss Helen," to whom he gave a friendly 
 glance, " has arranged not only the time 
 for each recitation, but special times in 
 which the children are required to prepare 
 particular lessons? I think that if my 
 teachers had adopted this plan, there 
 would have been less idleness and conse- 
 
140 THE LITTLE SCHOOLMISTRESS 
 
 quently less disorder, and more good ac- 
 complished." 
 
 "Another feature of the best schools of 
 to-day," said the Bishop, " is that their 
 influence is so much more refining than 
 that of ours used to be. I never saw a pic- 
 ture on the wall of a school-house until 
 I was grown, and if a little fellow under- 
 took to while away a tedious hour by 
 drawing one upon his slate, he did so with 
 as much secrecy as possible, for ' drawing 
 pictures ' was a serious offense in our 
 times. It is strange to me that our teach- 
 ers did not see that drawing is just as 
 much a method of expression as writing, 
 and also that drawing from objects cul- 
 tivates the powers of observation as noth- 
 ing else does. Furthermore, it is a 
 practical study. The schools in the cities 
 now have regular courses in drawing, 
 likewise many of those in the country ac- 
 complish fairly good results by the use of 
 
the: district conference 141 
 
 books prepared especially for unskilled 
 teachers. 
 
 " Literature was never thought of in 
 the common schools of those days. Stories 
 not found in the text-books on history or 
 reading would have been considered heter- 
 odox. When we read a poem or an ex- 
 tract in one of our readers, and to be sure 
 the old readers had many excellent quali- 
 ties, there was no effort made to familiar- 
 ize the pupil with the time and place, nor 
 the circumstances under which it was 
 written nor with the life and character 
 of the author. I was so pleased to see 
 the pictures of so many distinguished men 
 on the wall of the school-room in this 
 neighborhood, and I was still more pleased 
 to learn that the children are being made 
 familiar with their lives. I am delighted 
 also to hear that the children, are learning 
 many games, patriotic songs, current his- 
 tory, and gems of poetry. A little time 
 devoted to these miscellaneous things 
 
142 the little schoolmistress 
 
 daily, Miss Helen, is wisely spent, and I 
 commend you for it. You are creating in 
 the minds of the children high ideals of 
 living, withdrawing their attention from 
 the petty neighborhood affairs which 
 would otherwise engross their thoughts, 
 and preparing them to meet life's duties 
 bravely. These memory gems will be an 
 inspiration to them in the years to 
 come." 
 
 " The attitude of the teacher and the 
 primary pupil toward each other to-day 
 is marvelously different from that of 
 former times," said Professor Gordon. 
 " I shall never forget what a sense of re- 
 lief I felt when school was dismissed the 
 first day and I had not received a whip- 
 ping. The teacher of this school, how- 
 ever, proved to be very kind to me, though 
 he was a man who possessed neither cul- 
 ture nor character ; and, by the way, char- 
 acter should be the first consideration in 
 the selection of a teacher. No man, it mat- 
 
THE DISTRICT CONFERENCE) 143 
 
 ters not how good a scholar he may be or 
 how skilful in methods, is fit to be a teacher 
 unless his character and life are worthy 
 to be imitated by the children whom he 
 teaches. 
 
 " But I was about to speak of the atti- 
 tude of the teacher and the child toward 
 each other. In those times fear was usu- 
 ally the motive appealed to; now it is 
 love. Then the teacher's efforts were to 
 repress the activities of childhood; now 
 they are to direct them. Then the watch- 
 word was ' Don't ;' now it is ' Do, if you 
 please/ 
 
 " The best teachers now adapt their in- 
 struction to the child, while formerly they 
 undertook to conform the child to the 
 instruction. Then rules had to be memo- 
 rized before their meaning was consid- 
 ered, now rules are evolved from the 
 child's experience, so that when he has 
 been led to state them correctly, yet in his 
 own language, he comprehends them. 
 
144 THE LITTLE SCHOOLMISTRESS 
 
 " I remember one girl who took the 
 prize for being the best ' grammarian ' 
 in school. The teacher in presenting the 
 prize, concluded his remarks by saying: 
 ' It affords me great pleasure to inform 
 your friends here that your record is re- 
 markable. For not once during this en- 
 tire session have you failed to answer a 
 grammar question correctly.' Yet she 
 continued as before saying ' I have saw ' 
 and ' I knowed it/ On the contrary, I 
 find from my conversation with a twelve- 
 year-old boy here to-day that he has a 
 pretty clear knowledge of all the parts of 
 speech, and that he uses better English 
 than when I saw him last spring, in fact, 
 much better than that he hears at home." 
 
 " You spoke of the difference in the at- 
 titude of the pupil and the teacher toward 
 each other at present/' said the Bishop. 
 " I have seen boys feign lameness, pretend 
 to be sick, and make all sorts of excuses 
 to keep from going to school, nor is it to 
 
THE DISTRICT CONFERENCE 145 
 
 be wondered at when we remember what 
 a cheerless place the school-house was and 
 how tyrannical the teacher. Children 
 were made to stand on the table, to toe a 
 mark, to hold a heavy book out at arm's 
 length, to stand on tiptoe with their 
 finger touching a certain seam in the 
 wall ; they were ridiculed, jeered at, hissed 
 at, and subjected to any other ' cruel and 
 unusual punishment ' that the teacher's 
 whims might suggest. 
 
 " The peculiarities and limitations of 
 tender childhood did not receive due con- 
 sideration. I remember seeing a little boy 
 go to sleep in the school-room one sultry 
 summer afternoon. He was only six years 
 old. He occupied a seat so high that his 
 feet dangled above the floor and his back 
 was unsupported. The teacher noticed 
 him as he sat there with his shoulders 
 drooped and his mouth open. Instead of 
 laying him down gently that he might sat- 
 isfy the demands of nature, or sending 
 
146 THE LITTLE SCHOOLMISTRESS 
 
 him out to play that he might refresh him- 
 self in the open air, he pushed him off the 
 seat! The little fellow screamed with 
 fright, and got up with his nose bleeding. 
 
 " Oh, the heartlessness of such a 
 teacher ! " 
 
 " Let me tell you a story," said Mr. 
 Barnes, an intelligent but uneducated 
 farmer from the upper Cumberland coun- 
 try, who had listened to the conversation. 
 
 " I was about ten years old. A lot of 
 us children had gathered at the school- 
 house one Monday morning, the first day 
 of the session. We had never seen the 
 new teacher. He was late in coming, and 
 by the time he got there we were having 
 a pretty lively time in the school-house. 
 Suddenly there was a tremendous crash 
 at the door. We stopped abruptly, and 
 turned to look at the stranger who stood 
 on the steps with half a dozen long 
 switches in his hand. He had made the 
 noise that startled us by striking the floor 
 
THE DISTRICT CONFERENCE 147 
 
 vehemently with the switches. As we 
 gazed at him in astonishment, he shouted : 
 • Take your seats ! Death and Destruction 
 is at the door ! ' " 
 
 "And I think he was right," said the 
 Bishop. Taking out his watch, he arose 
 and remarked, " It is time for us to get 
 ready for services." 
 
 £ % 
 
 * 
 
CHAPTER XXIV 
 
 HOLDING THE ATTENDANCE 
 
 £PHE Shady Grove school opened each 
 autumn with a large enrolment, but 
 the attendance usually dwindled rapidly 
 after the first two or three weeks. The 
 people of the community for the most part 
 kept their children at home whenever they 
 needed their services in the least. Conse- 
 quently by the time " bad weather set in," 
 that is, when the first white frost came, 
 the school was scarcely alive. 
 
 Helen was ambitious to hold the attend- 
 ance, and made careful plans for this pur- 
 pose. She depended not only on her 
 own resources, but consulted her school 
 journals, and her books on teaching, and 
 corresponded with some of the most suc- 
 cessful teachers that she knew. Her con- 
 clusions may be summed up in a few 
 words ; namely, " To hold the attendance 
 I must sustain the interest of the pu- 
 pils, — and the parents too. The interest, 
 
 (148) 
 
HOLDING THE: ATTENDANCE 149 
 
 if I mistake not, may be kept lively by my 
 having something pleasant just ahead for 
 the pupils to look forward to all the time." 
 
 Her plan included pleasant surprises for 
 the morning, for the disagreeable days, 
 for Friday afternoons, for the first day 
 of the month, for special occasions such 
 as Arbor Day, Thanksgiving, the birth- 
 days of authors and statesmen, and the 
 close of school. However, it is but 
 just to this energetic young teacher to 
 assure the reader that she never allowed 
 these special exercises to become mere 
 means of entertainment. They always 
 had their educational value, and related 
 in some way to the true purpose of the 
 school. There was never anything coarse 
 or frivolous in them. The children al- 
 ways found pleasure in this supplement- 
 ary work, and not infrequently suggested 
 suitable plans and occasions. 
 
 All of these exercises were brief, a reci- 
 tation was rarely omitted, and the regular 
 
150 THE LITTLE SCHOOLMISTRESS 
 
 work of the school was certainly as thor- 
 ough as it would have been had there been 
 none of these. 
 
 " Children," said Helen, one day, " I 
 have sometimes heard that people say we 
 take too much time for our special exer- 
 cises. Would you like to have nothing 
 hereafter but recitations ? " 
 
 A general protest followed. 
 
 " Well, I am glad," said she, " that you 
 appreciate the things that we have been 
 doing outside our books. I think, too, 
 that they are valuable as well as enjoy- 
 able. It seems to me that boys and girls 
 who come to school regularly, rain or 
 shine, ought to have school made as pleas- 
 ant for them as possible. 
 
 " Suppose," said she, " two men were 
 cutting wood. One stops for a few min- 
 utes each day to grind his axe, and the 
 other continues cutting. Which is the 
 wise man? " 
 
HOLDING THE ATTENDANCE) 151 
 
 The children were quick to see the force 
 of the parable, and the explanations which 
 they made at home served to check the 
 slight undercurrent of discontent. 
 
 But despite her utmost efforts in this 
 respect, there were some who became ir- 
 regular in their attendance. If their ab- 
 sence was due to illness, she manifested 
 an interest in them. Sometimes she sent 
 them a pleasant greeting, sometimes a 
 bunch of flowers, sometimes a cheery note, 
 but as often as she could she went to see 
 them. If indifference was the cause, she 
 had a friendly talk with the pupil, aroused 
 his ambition as much as possible, made 
 him feel that he was missed at school, 
 and having awakened a desire in the child 
 to return, joined him in an appeal to the 
 parents in which she strove to arouse 
 also their ambition and hopes for the 
 child, though without resorting to flattery. 
 When they were detained at home to work, 
 she pursued about the same course, except 
 
152 THE LITTLE SCHOOLMISTRESS 
 
 that her arguments were somewhat dif- 
 ferent. She would say : — 
 
 " I admit that work has to be done, and 
 I am delighted to see my boys and girls 
 willing to do it ; but I feel that it is a pity 
 for any of them to be out of school. They 
 may now fit themselves for much more 
 profitable work by-and-by which they 
 will be unable to do if they lose the oppor- 
 tunities of school." 
 
 She had read a little book written by 
 Waitman Barbe, called " Going to Col- 
 lege," and also some articles on the same 
 subject in a magazine, and was thoroughly 
 saturated with the belief that education 
 pays. She was not only convinced her- 
 self, but was fully equipped for an expla- 
 nation, and so tactful in the use of her 
 knowledge that she rarely failed to con- 
 vince a parent of the duty of sending the 
 child back to school. 
 
 Helen's visits to the parents afforded 
 her opportunities to know what to expect 
 
HOLDING THE) ATTENDANCE; 153 
 
 of the children better than she could pos- 
 sibly have known any other way. She had 
 heard some of the younger teachers at 
 the Institute talk about " hewing to the 
 line," being " impartial," making children 
 " toe the mark," etc., but she had thought, 
 with the older teachers, that the nature 
 of each child and the conditions which 
 surrounded it should be taken into con- 
 sideration in dealing with them. Her 
 visits confirmed her in this belief. 
 
 One day a little boy came to school very 
 late. He was untidy and idle. When he 
 was called on in class, he nearly always 
 asked to have the question repeated, and 
 failed so completely in his recitations that 
 Helen finally asked: — 
 
 " George, have you prepared your les- 
 sons ? " 
 
 11 No, ma'am," said he. 
 
 She noted the sadness of his face and 
 said : " Well, you may be excused from 
 
164 THE LITTLE SCHOOLMISTRESS 
 
 answering. Just sit there and listen to 
 us." 
 
 George had never been one of her 
 best pupils, but lately he had been indif- 
 ferent toward her rather than disre- 
 spectful. Still he was not kept in at recess 
 nor scolded, for Helen was studying the 
 case. That afternoon, when school was 
 dismissed, Helen noticed that he walked 
 slowly down the road behind the other 
 children. She overtook him before long, 
 and began a conversation with him. He 
 lived farther from the school-house than 
 most of the children, and consequently 
 she knew less of his home life. Before 
 they had finished their conversation she 
 had made her way into his confidence, 
 and for no mean purpose either. She 
 saw that he was in distress, and resolved 
 to understand the cause, that she might, 
 if possible, remove it. 
 
 " Miss Helen," he said, with his troub- 
 led eyes upon the ground, as he pulled 
 
HOLDING THE ATTENDANCE 155 
 
 the top off of a weed by the roadside, " I 
 am sorry I did n't know my lessons to- 
 day, but I just couldn't he'p it. Papa 
 went to town yeste'day, and did n't get 
 home until a way late in the night. Mama 
 was so uneasy before he come that she 
 was cryin', and after he come he cut up 
 so we could n't sleep nor cook breakfast 
 this morning, for he was drinkin' again. 
 I have n't had nothin' to eat since supper 
 last night, and just bread and potatoes 
 then. Papa spends most of his money for 
 whiskey, and mama can't leave home to 
 do anything because the baby is too little." 
 
 " Do you suppose your father is sober 
 by this time? " 
 
 " Well, if he is he is sick, and will be 
 awful cross to us for two or three days." 
 
 When they parted, Helen told him not 
 to worry about his lessons, that she was 
 sure he was doing the best he could. 
 
 That afternoon Helen told Esquire 
 Brown of the little boy's circumstances. 
 
156 THE UTTUS SCHOOLMISTRESS 
 
 He understood the case thoroughly, and 
 sent a fine piece of fresh beef before night 
 to George's mother with his compliments, 
 as he could very easily do without embar- 
 rassing her, for she was an old schoolmate 
 and friend. 
 
 On Saturday following Helen visited 
 George's home. She found them living in 
 a small " box V house by the side of the 
 road. The rail fence which surrounded 
 it was down in places. Tall weeds grew 
 in the yard, and there were pillows thrust 
 into the windows where panes of glass 
 were gone. 
 
 There were five children in the family, 
 and George, who was only thirteen, was 
 the oldest. The room was crowded and 
 cheerless. Mrs. Taylor was making a 
 calico dress for a neighbor. George was 
 just starting to mill on horseback with a 
 bushel of corn which he himself had 
 shelled. 
 
HOLDING THE ATTENDANCE 157 
 
 Helen spent half an hour or more, but 
 made no reference to their unhappy con- 
 dition or to George's failure to know his 
 lessons. However, she expressed her con- 
 fidence in George as a manly little fellow 
 who always did the best he could. 
 
 " I notice that you sew, Mrs. Taylor," 
 said Helen. 
 
 " Yes, when I can get any sewing to 
 do." 
 
 " Well, I have been at a loss to know 
 whom I could get to do some sewing for 
 me. Could you make a dress for me next 
 week?" 
 
 " Yes, if I can make it well enough for 
 you," said Mrs. Taylor. 
 
 " Oh, I'm sure you can do that," said 
 Helen. " I will send you the goods by 
 George, and will come again when you are 
 ready to fit it." 
 
 The room was becoming dark. Mrs. 
 Taylor turned to her oldest daughter and 
 said : — 
 
158 THE UTTLE SCHOOLMISTRESS 
 
 " Mary, my dear, please light a lamp." 
 
 The child promptly took down a lamp 
 from the mantel. Helen noticed that 
 there was no chimney on it, and thought 
 of George's lessons. A moment later 
 Mary announced that the oil was out. 
 
 " Oh, dear me ! " said Mrs. Taylor, 
 " your papa intended to get some in town 
 the other day, but I suppose he forgot it." 
 
 From this house where the wolf of pov- 
 erty and the hyena of drunkenness howled 
 about the door and terrorized the inmates, 
 Helen passed down the road, and stopped 
 to spend the night at a prosperous home 
 where there were peace, plenty, and 
 contentment. It was quite dark when 
 she entered the yard. Through the win- 
 dow at the right side of the porch she saw 
 three children, two of whom were class- 
 mates of George, seated in a comfortably 
 furnished room to themselves apart from 
 the family. On a large center table stood 
 a brilliant lamp with a good shade on it, 
 
HOLDING THE ATTENDANCE 159 
 
 and the children were studying their les- 
 sons by it. Through the other window- 
 she saw a bright fire, and by it in comfort- 
 able rocking chairs a happy pair " in ac- 
 cord ordering their household lovingly." 
 " They who will may hew to the line/' 
 thought Helen, " but as for me, I will be 
 just." 
 
 n 
 
CHAPTER XXV 
 
 VISITING THE PARENTS 
 JJ'ELEN always enjoyed outdoor life, 
 and during the long afternoons in 
 the early autumn and on Saturdays she 
 visited every home from which children 
 came to her school. Although she was 
 very familiar with rural conditions, she 
 made some valuable discoveries, and 
 gained much information that helped 
 her to deal intelligently with each pupil 
 according to his peculiar environment. 
 Moreover, she learned the effect her work 
 was producing on the children, and became 
 more and more impressed with the re- 
 sponsibility resting upon her as a teacher. 
 One mother told her how orderly little 
 Maggie had become since she started to 
 school. That now she had a place for ev- 
 erything, and was so careful to keep every- 
 thing where it belonged that her young 
 uncle called her "the old maid/' Her 
 kitten was named Helen. 
 
 (160) 
 
VISITING THE PARENTS 161 
 
 Another mother said : "I have always 
 had to compel my children to go to school 
 until this term, and now I find it difficult 
 to keep them at home when I must. They 
 always have some excuse for wanting to 
 go that particular day. Not long since 
 I wanted one of my boys to help me with 
 my fruit, and he said : ' O mama, I just 
 can't stay to-day ! ' ' Well, why not ? ' I 
 said. ' Oh, we are fixing for Thanksgiv- 
 ing Day exercises, and I have a part 
 in them/ 
 
 " Another day when I wanted Susie to 
 stay at home and keep the baby while I 
 went to cousin John's wedding, she plead 
 so with me not to keep her at home that I 
 finally took the baby with me, although 
 babies are seldom taken to weddings. 
 That was the day that you took your class 
 down by the creek to study geography." 
 
 In one of the poorest homes she learned 
 that a considerable part of the feathers 
 from the beds had been sold that the chil- 
 
162 THE UTTLE SCHOOLMISTRESS 
 
 dren might be supplied with books, not 
 strictly because the parents realized the 
 necessity for books, but rather because 
 the children had insisted so much on hav- 
 ing them. 
 
 Another family had a little boy in it 
 whose mother made apologies for his 
 patched clothes. 
 
 " But they are all right, Miss Helen,' , 
 said he, with emphasis, somewhat to the 
 mother's chagrin. "If 'a man's a man 
 for a' that/ I guess a boy is too. I had to 
 do without new clothes or books one, and 
 these old clothes will keep me warm; so 
 I just told ma I would take the books, 
 'cause I don't mean to let them other boys 
 get ahead o' me." 
 
 One farmer leaned over the fence and 
 engaged Helen in conversation for some 
 minutes, as she passed by his field on one 
 of her Saturday outings. 
 
 " Wall, Miss Helen," he drawled, " you 
 must hev some mighty fine way of manag- 
 
VISITING THE PARENTS 168 
 
 in' the childern. I have alius allowed my 
 boys to go fishin' or huntin' or do any- 
 thing they pleased on Sat'rday after din- 
 ner. But I'll be blamed, if I wa'n't s'prised 
 yestiday when I tol' 'em to stay at home 
 an' help me gether this corn, and they 
 commenced beggin' me to put it off and 
 gether it to-day. 
 
 " ' To-morrow is Sat'rday,' says I, ' an' 
 you know you won't want to work Sat'r- 
 day ev'nin'.' 
 
 " ' I would rather work on Sat'rday af- 
 ternoon,' said Charlie, ' than miss school 
 to-day. We just must go to-day, because 
 it is the review Friday, and Miss Helen 
 always has somethin' extra on review 
 days.' " 
 
 Helen was much amused and yet em- 
 barrassed by her conversation with the 
 mother of the largest family in the neigh- 
 borhood. They lived near one or two 
 other families whose children were very 
 intimate. 
 
164 THE LITTLE SCHOOLMISTRESS 
 
 " The children have played school a 
 great deal for the last two or three years 
 right out under that apple tree," said the 
 mother. 
 
 " The ' teacher   used to have a great 
 deal of ' trouble ' with her ' pupils/ She 
 was threatening, scolding, and keeping 
 them in nearly all the time. She always 
 held a switch in her hand when she 
 1 taught/ but this year I notice they play 
 quite differently. They are not half so 
 noisy as they used to be. 
 
 "The 'teacher' talks kindly to the 
 ' pupils/ and they obey her obligingly. 
 They decorate the school-house by pinning 
 pictures on the trunk of the tree, sweep 
 the ground, put cups of flowers on that 
 block of wood which you see there, — that 
 is the table, — and then sit up and listen 
 to stories which you know better than I. 
 They spell, read, write, and recite their 
 lessons in a way that would reflect credit 
 on a real school. Even little Johnnie Sims, 
 
VISITING THE PARENTS 165 
 
 who was always so disagreeable with the 
 children before, plays with them now 
 without causing any trouble. No fairy 
 queen with her magic wand ever wrought 
 a more complete transformation than has 
 come about in this mimic school; and to 
 me, Miss Helen, it seems but a reflection 
 of your own good example, and shows 
 that your influence is not confined to your 
 school hours. While they are playing out 
 there, their habits are being formed, their 
 dispositions cultivated, and in such play as 
 this their better natures are developed and 
 their evil tendencies subjected to better 
 ones. I prepared myself for teaching, and 
 taught a while before I was married, but 
 it frightens me now to think of it, for I 
 did not comprehend what I was about." 
 Some weeks after Helen's visit to 
 George's home, of which we gave an ac- 
 count in the last chapter, she called again 
 one Saturday afternoon. This time 
 George was digging potatoes in the gar- 
 
166 THE LITTLE SCHOOLMISTRESS 
 
 den, and the other children were gather- 
 ing them up. The burst of delight that 
 illumined George's face when he saw 
 Helen coming, repaid her many times 
 over for the long and dusty walk. 
 
 " Mighty glad to see you, Miss Helen, 
 just go into the house. I will be in there 
 in a little while. I've got something to 
 show you." 
 
 Pretty soon George came tottering in, 
 bearing a great basketful of potatoes to 
 the half-deserted room on the opposite side 
 of the entrance. He emptied his potatoes, 
 threw his basket far out into the yard, 
 dusted his hands by striking them vigor- 
 ously together, and took down from a 
 shelf that he could just reach on tiptoe, 
 a book which showed from its appearance 
 that it had seen hard times. It was sim- 
 ply filthy, but he opened it in haste and 
 turned rapidly to the place in it where he 
 had left his little sister's Sunday-school 
 card. 
 
VISITING THE PARENTS 167 
 
 " Just look here, Miss Helen/' he cried, 
 " I found this old book over yonder close 
 to the store, where somebody had unloaded 
 a lot of trash. It has things in it that 
 Longfellow wrote. Let me show you. 
 There is one of his poems that you read us, 
 and here is another, and over here in the 
 back is a long piece from Tennyson." 
 
 As Helen returned to her home that 
 afternoon, she passed through beautiful 
 glens such as might have inspired Words- 
 worth or Bryant. " Here/' she thought, 
 " one may find ' tongues in trees, books 
 in running brooks, sermons in stones, and 
 good in everything.' Yes, certainly, but 
 there is good not only in these things, 
 but also in the boy who can redeem a good 
 book from a garbage heap, and appreciate 
 the literary beauty which it contains; es- 
 pecially when his home life is so prosaic 
 as George's must be." 
 
CHAPTER XXVI 
 
 A LESSON IN GEOGRAPHY 
 0}NE bright day in the autumn, when 
 Helen called the school together for 
 the afternoon session, she said: — 
 
 " We will vary the program for the re- 
 mainder of the day. Instead of getting 
 your lessons according to the schedule 
 on the blackboard as usual, you who study 
 geography will please review those parts 
 which relate to the natural divisions of 
 land and water and to the occupations of 
 men, while I hear the recitations of the 
 little people." 
 
 For the next thirty or forty minutes 
 the Shady Grove school in several re- 
 spects resembled a bee-hive. Its inmates 
 were busy and happy. Although there 
 was no confusion, there was not absolute 
 quiet. No one interfered with another. 
 There was no constraint, except interest; 
 no disloyalty to the Queen of the hive, and 
 no drones prominent. 
 
 (168) 
 
A LESSON IN GEOGRAPHY 169 
 
 These pupils had not only been taught 
 the importance of studying, but from 
 timely suggestions and the aid of the study 
 program had become more skilful in the 
 art than most children. (The geography 
 class understood the use of the index to 
 their books, and their frequent turning 
 back and forth denoted that they were 
 searching intelligently for information) 
 
 At two o'clock the small children were 
 dismissed, and Helen and her geography 
 class, followed by two or three little fel- 
 lows who could not reach their distant 
 homes safely alone, proceeded to the mill 
 about a quarter of a mile away. This 
 mill stood on a high bank. It had been 
 there for two or three generations. At 
 first it was only a water-mill, and even yet 
 the grinding was done in winter and much 
 of the time in other seasons by water 
 power. In later years a large shed had 
 been added to the upper side, under which 
 was a modern saw-mill. The dam just 
 
170 THE LITTLE SCHOOLMISTRESS 
 
 opposite the mill was seven or eight feet 
 high. A recent rain had caused a rise in 
 the stream so that a considerable quantity 
 of water poured over it. The grist-mill 
 was grinding briskly by water power, 
 and under the shed with great rumble, 
 clatter, puffing, and whirring the saw-mill 
 was converting the logs into plank. 
 
 Helen and the children came up the 
 stream by the side on which the mill stood, 
 and stopped in an open place some forty 
 yards below it. 
 
 " Let us rest here for awhile," said 
 Helen. " Take your seats on some of 
 these logs, and tell me what you see that 
 reminds you of what you studied in your 
 geographies this afternoon." 
 
 " There's a waterfall," said one. 
 
 " And there's an island," said another. 
 
 " And there is a peninsula," said Billy. 
 
 " That ain't a peninsula," said Katha- 
 rine. 
 
 " If a peninsula is a piece of land al- 
 
A LESSON IN GEOGRAPHY 171 
 
 most surrounded by water," said Billy, 
 " just look at that and see if it ain't one." 
 
 " Oh, yes, I was thinking of an isth- 
 mus," admitted Katharine. 
 
 " Well, there is one," said Billy. " If 
 you would like to have an isthmus, that 
 little neck of land that connects your 
 peninsula to the bank." 
 
 " Suppose your isthmus should wash 
 away," said Helen, " what would your 
 peninsula then be ? " 
 
 " Oh, an island, of course," said Julia. 
 
 " Look just across the creek there. 
 You see that small stream running into 
 this one? What is the proper name for 
 it?" 
 
 " Tributary," cried half a dozen at 
 once. 
 
 " And what are all the streams that 
 gather to make this one, from the hills 
 which we see over in front of us, to those 
 far behind us through the whole length of 
 the valley?" 
 
172 THE UTTLE SCHOOLMISTRESS 
 
 After several attempts, the word " sys- 
 tem " was reached by one of the more 
 thoughtful. 
 
 " And suppose every one of these little 
 streams were a river, you can see that you 
 would have — 
 
 " A river system." 
 
 " You notice where these two streams 
 meet the land is pointed. There we have 
 
 " Cape," said several at once. 
 
 " Since the cape is high and rocky, it 
 is a " 
 
 " Promontory," said one. 
 
 Thus they continued until they had 
 identified almost every natural division of 
 land and water. 
 
 " You see that man plowing over 
 there? " said Helen, pointing to Mr. Peter 
 Sullivan, who was " turning " the field 
 with a two-horse plow. " What is his 
 occupation ? " 
 
 " Farming," answered Charlie. 
 
A LESSON IN GEOGRAPHY 173 
 
 " And do you see any one engaged in 
 any other occupation about here ? " 
 
 They glanced rapidly in various di- 
 rections, and then several exclaimed, 
 " Yes 'm, yes 'm." 
 
 " The men who are running the mill up 
 there are not farmers," said one. 
 
 "Then what are they?" asked Helen. 
 
 " Oh ! manufacturers, because they are 
 making things," said Katharine Brown, 
 clapping her hands. " A miller makes 
 meal and flour out of grain, and plank out 
 of logs." 
 
 " And I know somethin' else," said 
 Charlie. " The men who are hauling 
 these logs to the mill are lumbermen." 
 
 " And them what's hauling the flour 
 and the plank to town and sellin' 9 m are 
 engaged in commerce," added Ned, the 
 dullest pupil in the class, with a much 
 happier look than usual. 
 
 " And," said George, " all them cows 
 and sheep on the hill mean something. 
 
174 the little schoolmistress 
 
 They belong to Mr. Brown. His occu- 
 pation is stock raising as well as farm- 
 ing." 
 
 Just then old Uncle Ben, an ex-slave, 
 who had lived past his Biblical limit of 
 threescore years and ten, hobbled down 
 opposite the mill to the edge of the water 
 with a tomato can in one hand and a 
 fishing pole in the other. He took his 
 seat on a projecting rock, baited his hook 
 with a red worm, spit on it, and threw it 
 into the water. 
 
 " What is Uncle Ben's occupation ? " 
 said Charlie. 
 
 " Killing time/' answered Billy. 
 
 " O pshaw ! I know he don't do any- 
 thing," said Charlie, " but what occupa- 
 tion does he make you think of as you 
 look at him over there ? " 
 
 " Fishing," said Lucy. 
 
 And thus they went the round of the 
 occupations. 
 
 " Can you tell me why they put the mill 
 
A LESSON IN GEOGRAPHY 175 
 
 here, instead of at some other place ? " 
 asked Helen. 
 
 As the children looked up and down the 
 valley, they were led to see that at no 
 other point could a dam have been built 
 so easily or the mill have been so safe 
 from high water as here, and the road fol- 
 lowing close to the hillside came this way 
 very naturally. 
 
 " And for such reasons great cities 
 grow up where they do," said Helen. 
 " Without the Hudson River there would 
 have been no New York where it is ; and 
 without the Mississippi no New Orleans; 
 and without a little stream called Chicago 
 River, which serves as a harbor on the 
 lake shore, even Chicago would have been 
 built somewhere else, or not at all." 
 
 From this point they proceeded to in- 
 spect the mill. The miller showed them 
 every part of it, and explained its work- 
 ings in detail, from the old water-wheel 
 
 to the new style bolting machine. Like- 
 12 
 
176 THE LITTLE SCHOOLMISTRESS 
 
 wise, in the saw-mill, the boiler, the steam 
 gauge, the engine, with its tremendous 
 fly-wheel, the huge carriage running back 
 and forth, and the great circular saw 
 which ripped the big logs open so easily. 
 The miller had the machinery stopped 
 while the workmen placed a new log on 
 the carriage in order that he might be 
 heard as he explained things to the chil- 
 dren. While they were intently listening, 
 the safety valve suddenly opened. The 
 sound of the escaping steam was so un- 
 expected and so startling that all the vis- 
 itors were taken completely by surprise. 
 The girls shrieked, and one of the little 
 ones ran up the hill half way to the road 
 screaming. Billy, who was more accus- 
 tomed to the mill than the other boys, 
 called out as soon as he could be heard : — 
 
 "What 's the matter, Johnnie? Did 
 you think the ' biler ' had ' busted ' ? " 
 
 Shortly afterward Helen dismissed the 
 children, and they went to their homes. 
 
A LESSON IN GEOGRAPHY 177 
 
 During the next week those who had 
 gone on this outing spent much time writ- 
 ing accounts of it. They did not even 
 suspect that they were preparing " com- 
 positions/' though they asked frequently 
 for information as to the best way to 
 express themselves, where to use capi- 
 tals, and how to punctuate. Their prod- 
 ucts were as natural as if they had been 
 talking, and some were really graphic. 
 
CHAPTER XXVII 
 
 A SCHOOL BOY'S "IMPUDENCE" 
 
 < 3TTR. SULLIVAN, who was plowing in 
 the field opposite the mill while the 
 children were studying real geography, 
 was no little annoyed by what he consid- 
 ered a waste of time. At first he supposed 
 that they were picnicing, but when some 
 of the children who understood Helen's 
 purpose undertook to explain it to him, 
 he said gruffly : — 
 
 " Humph ! That is all nonsense. She 
 had better be learnin* them their books. 
 We did n't have any such f oolin' around 
 when I was at school, and children learned 
 a sight faster then than they do now." 
 
 For some weeks he never lost an oppor- 
 tunity to insinuate that the school was not 
 doing any good, and frequently tried to 
 get derogatory information from the chil- 
 dren whom he met. Helen heard all this, 
 but ignored it. Finally the old farmer's 
 dissatisfaction became so well known 
 
 (178) 
 
A SCHOOL BOY'S "IMPUDENCE." 179 
 
 throughout the neighborhood that people 
 were prepared for anything he might say. 
 
 One Saturday afternoon Billy, Char- 
 lie, and several other boys from Helen's 
 school happened to meet the dissatisfied 
 patron just below the mill. 
 
 " Hello, boys ! where is that new-fangled 
 teacher ? " 
 
 " Do you mean Miss Helen ? " said one 
 of the boys. 
 
 " Yes," said he, with something in his 
 manner that showed he appreciated the 
 cunning rebuke that had been adminis- 
 tered to him. 
 
 " What kind of lessons have you been 
 having out here on the bank of the crick? " 
 
 " Oh, we have been learning lots of 
 things," said one of the boys seriously. 
 
 " Yes, you have been fooling away 
 some mighty good time," said he. "What 
 could you learn out here ? " 
 
 " We learned geography," said one of 
 them. 
 
180 THE UTTLE SCHOOLMISTRESS 
 
 "G'ography, nothin'," said he. "In 
 the house is the place to study g'ogra- 
 
 Phy." 
 
 " O pshaw," said Charlie, " folks study 
 geography to learn about the earth, and 
 do you think they must get off the earth 
 to understand it ? " 
 
 " Mr. Sullivan, I don't mean to be 
 sassy, but as you have been bragging so 
 much lately about how children learned 
 in your old-fashion schools, ' where they 
 always kept the door shut/ let me ask 
 you a few questions on geography right 
 here. 
 
 " Now what is a peninsula ? 
 
 " A promontory ? 
 
 " Eh ! ' Don't recollect ' ? Well, then, 
 please explain to us boys what the prin- 
 cipal occupations of men are." 
 
 " O darn your impudence," said he, " I 
 ain't got time to answer your fool ques- 
 tions." 
 
A SCHOOL BOY'S "IMPUDENCE. 
 
 181 
 
 The boys broke out into a loud laugh as 
 the farmer kicked his mule vigorously 
 and rode off at a fast trot. 
 
 Thereafter Mr. Sullivan was seldom 
 heard to find fault with Helen's methods. 
 
CHAPTER XXVIII 
 
 THE " SCALAWAG CLASS " 
 £T1HE October session of the County 
 Teachers' Association met at Berry- 
 dale, having been invited there by Mr. 
 Bostick, who was teaching his first ses- 
 sion in that neighborhood. He desired 
 to arouse as much interest as possible 
 among his patrons, and very wisely in- 
 duced the County Association to meet in 
 his school-house. 
 
 Under Mr. Bostick's leadership the peo- 
 ple made ample preparations to entertain 
 the teachers. The occasion was liberally 
 advertised, and a bounteous dinner as- 
 sured. The weather was exceptionally 
 fine, and the attendance was large. 
 Teachers were there from all parts of the 
 county. The patrons of Mr. Bostick's 
 school, unlike those of the county seat, 
 attended the Institute, and enjoyed the 
 discussions. It would be tedious to give 
 a detailed account of the proceedings, 
 
 (182) 
 
THE " SCALAWAG CLASS." 183 
 
 therefore we shall confine ourselves to 
 only a few of the more important matters. 
 
 In his opening address the Superin- 
 tendent emphasized Herbert Spencer's 
 definition, of education, namely, "That 
 which fits us for complete living." 
 
 " Much that we call education," he 
 said, " is mere memory cramming. If a 
 dictionary could walk and talk, it could 
 answer questions, but would it have 
 power to earn a living, defend a right, 
 arouse a hope, or allay the anguish of a 
 troubled soul? Knowledge merely pos- 
 sessed does not fit us for living. To do 
 this it must be assimilated; it must be 
 transformed into power; it must become 
 a part of self. As physical exercise pro- 
 motes physical development, in fact, is 
 essential to it, so mental exercise — think- 
 ing, the application, the personal use, of 
 one's knowledge — is indispensable in 
 true education. 
 
 " This word ' education ' has a two-fold 
 
184 THE LITTLE SCHOOLMISTRESS 
 
 meaning. In one sense it means to draw 
 out the inherent powers; in the other, to 
 nourish them. To educate completely one 
 must do both. Consequently the school, 
 to fulfil its purposes, must supply the 
 pupils regularly with fresh knowledge 
 suitable to their needs, and train them 
 individually in the use of it. 
 
 " We often hear it said that educated 
 people are impractical. This is not true. 
 Those educated in the true sense are the 
 most practical people in the world. Since 
 Moses led the Children of Israel out of 
 bondage, and St. Paul converted the Gen- 
 tile world to the religion of Jesus Christ, 
 the progress of the race, whether in re- 
 ligion, science, art, philosophy, literature, 
 government, or material things, has been 
 achieved under the leadership of educated 
 men. A few of them had not been trained 
 formally in the schools, but they were, al- 
 most without exception, much indebted to 
 books, and were none the less educated. 
 
THE "SCALAWAG CLASS." 185 
 
 " Let none think that educated people 
 are impractical because they meet a few 
 memory-gorged weaklings whose wills are 
 enfeebled, hands palsied, and hearts with- 
 ered. These are mere dyspeptics, bur- 
 dened with unassimilated facts, which, 
 if taken more moderately and used more 
 freely, would have made them strong and 
 capable. 
 
 " Fellow teachers, be not in a hurry. 
 Teach so that what is learned may be 
 forthwith applied. One thought which 
 becomes a conviction is worth a thousand 
 which the possessor always regards as 
 another's." 
 
 When the Superintendent sat down, old 
 Professor Gordon arose to emphasize 
 the remarks, and to " add a thought or 
 two." 
 
 " Pestalozzi was right," said he, "when 
 he wrote, ' It is life that educates/ A 
 teacher who can cause a pupil to live for 
 the time a new life, more thoughtful, more 
 
186 the; little; schoolmistress 
 
 refined, higher and better than he would 
 out of school, is educating him. Any pre- 
 tense at teaching which involves activity 
 on the part of the teacher only and makes 
 of the pupil a supposed ' passive recipient/ 
 is not teaching at all. The pupil who be- 
 comes passive ceases to be a recipient. 
 Learning is an act of the pupil's own 
 mind. What if he learns slowlv? He 
 is making progress so long as he learns 
 at all. Ye who rush and bluster and fret 
 and scold, truly are hard masters. The 
 gentle sunshine of spring and the April 
 showers make the seed unfold which the 
 summer heat would blast. 
 
 " Fellow teachers, I suggest that you 
 take Jesus Christ as your ideal; study 
 Him as a teacher; analyze His methods; 
 note how gentle He was, how practical 
 His illustrations, and how systematic He 
 was, as in feeding the multitudes; ob- 
 serve, too, how patiently He walked and 
 talked with His apostles; how He ex- 
 
THE) "SCALAWAG CLASS." 187 
 
 plained things to them; how, little by lit- 
 tle, through three years of personal asso- 
 ciation, He taught them His doctrines, 
 and how, even at the end of His ministry, 
 they were yet unable to understand in the 
 least some of His most obvious -teachings, 
 for example, the ' kingdom not of this 
 world/ Observe further that little by 
 little they developed, even after His death, 
 into men capable indeed of fulfilling His 
 purposes, which required the genius of 
 world leaders and the courage of martyrs. 
 I have no doubt that if some modern edu- 
 cators were set to such a task as Jesus 
 performed in training His special envoys, 
 they would think it sufficient to arrange 
 a summer course of lectures, and provide 
 for all matters of consequence to be ex- 
 plained once for all, as briefly as possible. 
 " There is another fact to which I wish 
 to call your attention," said he, after a 
 brief pause. " To inspire pupils with an 
 ardent desire for all that is good, beauti- 
 
188 THE LITTLE SCHOOLMISTRESS 
 
 ful, and useful in life, is the highest ser- 
 vice that a teacher can render. Now how 
 is this to be done ? Let us see. Men kin- 
 dle a fire by means of a flaming match or 
 a live coal. But how can any one inspire 
 others if he is what Carlyle called some of 
 his teachers — * a dead grammatical cin- 
 der ' ? 
 
 " Fellow teachers, it is your duty to re- 
 kindle your zeal daily by the help of the 
 world's greatest and best characters, who 
 are always accessible through the medium 
 of books. Likewise cultivate an intimate 
 acquaintance with the very best people 
 within reach of you in other walks of 
 life as well as your own. No man liveth 
 to himself. To attempt to do so is suici- 
 dal, intellectually and spiritually at least." 
 
 A recess of twenty minutes passed 
 seemingly in ten. Before resuming the 
 discussions, the entire assemblage of 
 teachers and visitors, under the leader- 
 
THE "SCALAWAG CLASS." 189 
 
 ship of Professor Rich, sang several fa- 
 miliar songs. 
 
 When Professor Wallace, a stranger to 
 most of those present, arose to discuss the 
 subject of history, some suppressed sighs 
 and frowns indicated to the Superintend- 
 ent that a few at least were expecting 
 to be bored by a very dry lecture. How- 
 ever, an hour later, when the Professor 
 halted in his historical discourse to make 
 some observations on right methods of 
 teaching the subject, the audience was 
 still intensely interested. The reason was 
 that he had not been telling them about 
 history, but through a full knowledge of 
 well-assimilated facts had been making 
 historical truths plainer to them than they 
 had ever seen them before. The charac- 
 ters seemed (to many of them for the first 
 time) to be real people, the maps to rep- 
 resent real countries, and the events to 
 have logical causes and inevitable conse- 
 quences. 
 
190 THE LITTLE SCHOOLMISTRESS 
 
 " A skeleton," said the Professor, 
 " would be a rather poor means with 
 which to begin teaching the child the word 
 ' cat/ and the skeleton of history, a mere 
 catalogue of dates and events, serves us 
 no better historically. Use simple stories 
 first, then more extensive biographies. 
 Correlate what the book says with the ex- 
 perience of well-known people. Let the 
 scenes be imagined vividly. Weigh the 
 facts; emphasize the main ones and sub- 
 ordinate the unimportant. Have the les- 
 sons retold orally or have them written. 
 These are a few suggestive terms. 
 
 " Furthermore, let the pupil learn that 
 only truth is history. Teach them to ab- 
 hor the practice, so common, of formulat- 
 ing a theory or accepting a prejudice, and 
 then setting out to find proof to sustain 
 the assumption in argument." 
 
 The noon recess was a picnic with good 
 fellowship and good things to eat in 
 abundance. 
 
THE "SCALAWAG CLASS." 191 
 
 During the afternoon several sharp con- 
 troversies arose, which greatly enhanced 
 the interest, and resulted usually in a 
 clearer understanding of the truth in- 
 volved, though now and then to the 
 embarrassment of some aggressive en- 
 thusiast. 
 
 Mr. Green discussed methods of secur- 
 ing study. During the course of his re- 
 marks he described a long list of devices 
 which appeal either to selfishness and 
 vanity or to such base motives as 
 shame and fear. At the conclusion of 
 Mr. Green's remarks, Miss Porter, a 
 teacher of limited attainments but long 
 experience, arose with an air of impor- 
 tance and said: — 
 
 " I have tried 'most all of these methods 
 myself. Sometimes they will work and 
 sometimes they won't, but there is one 
 that never fails if used properly, and that 
 is keepin' them in. If you will just keep 
 them in long enough without their dinner, 
 
 13 
 
192 THE UTTLE SCHOOLMISTRESS 
 
 they'll learn any lesson you give them. I 
 have seen some of them get mighty stub- 
 born and make out they could n't learn a 
 spelling lesson or the definitions of the 
 moods, but when they get stubborn, I get 
 stubborn too." 
 
 " Do you ever have any stop coming 
 to school because you keep them in, Miss 
 Porter ? " asked some one. 
 
 " Oh, yes, I have had a great many stop 
 school, but I have always done my duty 
 by them just the same as long as they 
 were in school." 
 
 Mr. Lyons, who had been restless in 
 his seat while Miss Porter was speaking, 
 arose hastily and said with much empha- 
 sis: — 
 
 " You may talk about your moral sua- 
 sion, your higher incentives, and keepin' 
 'em in as much as you please, but nothing 
 else is as good as a thrashin' now and 
 then. If necessary I thrash a whole class 
 at once. I had a class not long ago that 
 
THE "SCALAWAG CLASS." 198 
 
 kept comin' up with bad lessons, and I 
 thrashed eight of 'em at once. That will 
 make 'em study when nothing else will." 
 
 Mr. Lyons had scarcely stopped speak- 
 ing when Mr. James R. Blucher, a young 
 man who was teaching as a stepping- 
 stone to the profession of law, and enjoyed 
 any opportunity to exercise his oratorical 
 powers, obtained the floor. He thrust 
 his fingers through his hair, then his 
 thumbs into the arm-holes of his vest, 
 squared himself on his feet, and said with 
 gusto : — 
 
 " There are objections to all the meth- 
 ods that have been proposed, but I have 
 one of my own which I have tried and find 
 very satisfactory. I say ' my own ' be- 
 cause I'm pretty sure it is original. It 
 works like a charm. I refer to my ' scalla- 
 wag class.' I put all those who don't have 
 good lessons into this class. They have to 
 sit to themselves all the time, and recite 
 after the rest of the school have finished. 
 
194 THE UTTEE SCHOOLMISTRESS 
 
 Some of them would rather die than go 
 into that class, but you may depend on 
 it, whatever I say goes. They 've got to 
 mind me or quit school. Ha! ha! You 
 bet it ain't a popular class ! " 
 
 " Do any of them ever quit school on 
 this account ? " inquired a pleasant voice. 
 
 " Yes, one did not long ago," said he. 
 " There was a big girl in school who 
 missed three words in the dictionary les- 
 son, and I ordered her to the scallawag 
 class. She began to cry, and hesitated. 
 Of course, I felt sorry for her, but I told 
 her she would have to go." 
 
 "And did she go? " inquired the pleas- 
 ant voice. 
 
 " Of course she did, or there would have 
 been trouble in the camp sure enough." 
 
 "About how old is she? " 
 
 " Oh, sixteen or seventeen, I guess, 
 may be older." 
 
 "And are you familiar with her circum- 
 stances? " 
 
THE "SCALAWAG CLASS." 195 
 
 " No ; I really prefer not to be. Cir- 
 cumstances don't cut any rigger with me. 
 I treat 'em all alike. But as you 've asked 
 me, I will state that she lives with the 
 wealthiest family in the community in a 
 big white house about a mile from school." 
 
 The person who had asked the ques- 
 tions of Mr. Blucher was Miss Nancy 
 Jackson, a woman probably forty years 
 of age who had raised two younger broth- 
 ers and taught many schools. Her rule 
 was to be seen and not heard in the teach- 
 ers' meetings, but she rose as Mr. Blucher 
 sat down and with evidences of deep feel- 
 ing said: — 
 
 " Fellow teachers, I know the circum- 
 stances of the girl who lives in the big 
 white house. She is there working nights 
 and mornings for her board, that she may 
 go to school. And ' working ' in that fam- 
 ily means work indeed. I know the people 
 well. She certainly has little time to study 
 at home. 
 
196 THE LITTLE SCHOOLMISTRESS 
 
 " But this is not all the story. 
 
 " She is an orphan, — the oldest of four, 
 Her mother was a noble woman, but she 
 died when this girl was thirteen years old. 
 From her mother's death until last May, 
 when her father married again, this girl 
 was a devoted little mother to the three 
 younger children, and housekeeper for 
 her rather rough and improvident father. 
 When her father married again, he ' scat- 
 tered the children out ' to live with other 
 people. This girl you speak of was fairly 
 heart broken. She soon resolved, how- 
 ever, to go to school if possible, and be- 
 come a teacher, or get other employment 
 so that she could re-establish the home 
 and provide for her unfortunate little 
 brothers and sister. 
 
 " Last July she picked berries by the 
 bushel, and with money thus earned she 
 bought clothes and books for herself and 
 clothes for the little ones. 
 
THE "SCALAWAG CLASS." 197 
 
 " Now, solemnly, let me ask, Are these 
 the acts of a scallawag?" 
 
 Miss Wise, to whom we have once or 
 twice referred as Helen's favorite teacher, 
 arose quietly and said: — 
 
 " Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentle- 
 men: The young lady who left school to 
 keep out of the ' scallawag class/ needed 
 help. The door of hope should not have 
 been shut in her face on so slight 
 provocation. By abandoning school she 
 seems to be resigning herself to a life of 
 ignorance, while, if properly encouraged 
 and treated with sympathy, she would 
 have pursued her studies with delight, 
 and probably loved her teacher as only an 
 admiring pupil can love, fitting herself 
 for a noble, happy, and useful life. We 
 must regard individual conditions or do 
 great injustice. 
 
 " I think we need a Bill of Rights for 
 our schools as well as for our civic institu- 
 tions. With the utmost respect for those 
 
198 THE LITTLE SCHOOLMISTRESS 
 
 who have spoken, I feel constrained to say 
 that most of the punishments discussed 
 this afternoon are not only ' cruel and un- 
 usual,' but unnatural, unnecessary, and un- 
 just. I have no doubt that many of the 
 pupils who gave these teachers trouble by 
 their poor lessons were in some way ex- 
 cusable. 
 
 " I have no more difficulty in getting my 
 pupils to study than my sister has in get- 
 ting her children to eat. With your pu- 
 pils classified properly, there are yet many 
 difficulties which prevent them from study- 
 ing at home, such as the lack of books, 
 unfavorable family conditions, and de- 
 mands upon their time. 
 
 " Let us not forget that fear paralyzes 
 and that love stimulates. One who 
 considers himself in imminent danger, 
 whether he be a child at school or a man 
 on the field of battle, is thereby unfitted 
 for duty; but he who forgets himself 
 under inspiring leadership, while sur- 
 
THE " SCALAWAG CLASS." 199 
 
 rounded by enthusiastic companions, feels 
 that all things are possible. 
 
 " Fellow teachers, pardon my frank- 
 ness, I do not speak thus to wound the 
 sensibilities of those who have spoken. 
 They have told us honestly of plans which 
 they think valuable, and I tell you just as 
 honestly that there is a better way. I 
 have seen both tried. Love is the watch- 
 word for the teacher. Love is kind, sym- 
 pathetic, considerate. Love would never 
 suggest an opprobrious epithet, a scalla- 
 wag class, nor any other degrading mode 
 of punishment. 
 
 " Fellow teachers, if you would deter- 
 mine whether the means which you em- 
 ploy to secure study are true or false, ask 
 yourself the question, 'Are they natural 
 or artificial ? ' If natural, they are apt to 
 be proper ; if artificial, they are generally 
 improper. At best, artificial means are 
 justifiable only as temporary expedients. 
 A parent might justly coax, persuade, hire, 
 
200 the: uttle schoolmistress 
 
 or even compel a child to taste some partic- 
 ular food against which he had conceived 
 a prejudice, but the food itself affords 
 the natural incentive for him to con- 
 tinue eating it. Knowledge, the delights 
 of acquiring it, and the advantages which 
 result from its possession and use, are the 
 main natural incentives to study. If your 
 pupils in the past have not relished the 
 mildewed crusts that you have given them, 
 see how they would like fresh, sweet milk, 
 hot cakes, homemade butter, and maple 
 syrup in moderate quantities, with plenty 
 of time for the eating." 
 
 The generous applause which followed 
 showed that the force of these remarks 
 was appreciated. 
 
 After a recess of a few minutes the 
 query box was opened. Most of the ques- 
 tions raised were unimportant, to be sure, 
 but some should be noticed, not because 
 they were new, but because they related to 
 
THE: " SCALAWAG CLASS " 201 
 
 errors which should not longer be com- 
 mitted. 
 
 One inquiry addressed to Miss Wise 
 was, " Do you approve of the self-report- 
 ing system ? " to which she very promptly 
 replied, " No. It fails utterly as a means 
 of discipline, and invariably leads to pre- 
 varication." 
 
 Another addressed to Professor Gor- 
 don was, " What is your opinion of the 
 monitorial system ? " 
 
 " If I understand the question rightly," 
 said Professor Gordon, " it refers to a 
 practice which has been so long discarded 
 by good teachers that I had almost for- 
 gotten it. I presume, however, that the 
 person who asked the question has in 
 mind the plan once quite common of ap- 
 pointing certain pupils, even secretly, to 
 act as spies to report on the conduct of 
 the other children. The plan is absurd. 
 He who adopts it manifests a suspicious 
 disposition to begin with, and divides his 
 
202 THE LITTLE SCHOOLMISTRESS 
 
 school, whether temporarily or perma- 
 nently, into opposing classes. He shows 
 that he expects misconduct, and he is not 
 likely to be disappointed. No one was 
 ever made more noble, truthful, or loyal 
 through the agency of spies. The great- 
 est result to be aimed at in school is char- 
 acter. Moral character is developed 
 through the exercise of moral qualities, 
 and not by evading the spy. If a pupil 
 is made to feel that he is trusted and ex- 
 pected to act nobly, he will probably do 
 so, and in doing so will form habits of 
 truthfulness and honor. And to trust pu- 
 pils does not imply a winking at miscon- 
 duct and a supercilious habit of talking 
 continually about the matter. It merely 
 means frankly and honestly treating them 
 as you would like to be treated yourself." 
 
 The county Superintendent, who was 
 presiding, looked at his watch. 
 
 " Before we adjourn," he said, " I hope 
 we may be favored with some remarks 
 
THE "SCALAWAG CLASS" 203 
 
 from one of our youngest teachers, with 
 whose work I have been much pleased. 
 Miss Smith, you may now have the floor." 
 
 Helen arose in her place, and after a 
 little hesitation said : " I thank you for the 
 kind introduction you have given me, but 
 I feel that I am not competent to speak 
 before this body. I am young, and have 
 had but little experience. I have taught 
 only a part of one term. However, in 
 that I have found much pleasure. I have 
 not been troubled much with disorder, 
 and the pupils study as diligently as I 
 would have them. I have exceptionally 
 good children, and that, perhaps, accounts 
 for my freedom from the annoyances to 
 which my fellow teachers here have been 
 subjected. 
 
 " I thank you." 
 
CHAPTER XXIX 
 
 THANKSGIVING DAY 
 
 ^THANKSGIVING DAY was appro- 
 priately observed by Helen, though 
 strictly speaking such a thing had never 
 been done before in the history of the 
 Shady Grove school. We might, however, 
 to be exactly correct, admit that on two or 
 three previous occasions the teacher had 
 adjourned quite unceremoniously with lit- 
 tle or no' further explanation than simply 
 saying to the school on Wednesday after- 
 noon : " To-morrow is a holiday. I guess 
 you would all like to have a little rest, 
 and so would I. As it would hardly pay 
 us to come back just for Friday, we will 
 have no more school until Monday." 
 
 Helen became impressed in some way 
 with a feeling that a holiday has a purpose, 
 and that it is right and proper to observe 
 it in accordance therewith. She examined 
 her file of journals, consulted her fellow 
 teachers at the Institute, and asked advice 
 
 (204) 
 
THANKSGIVING DAY 205 
 
 of Miss Wise. Meanwhile she did some 
 thinking herself. 
 
 " To make Thanksgiving Day really 
 what it should be, these children must be 
 made acquainted with its history and sig- 
 nificance," thought she. " To do this 
 well I must know something more about 
 it myself." 
 
 Thereupon she wrote an order for a 
 pamphlet entitled " Suggestions for 
 Thanksgiving Exercises " which cost her 
 only ten cents. This was a month before 
 the occasion. The book soon came, and 
 little by little, day by day, the children 
 learned about all that intelligent people 
 need care to know about Thanksgiving 
 Day. When the proclamations were is- 
 sued by the President and the Governor, 
 the school was ready for them. Oh, what 
 a good lesson in civil government they had 
 the morning that one of the children 
 brought the first paper containing these 
 proclamations ! 
 
206 THE LITTLE SCHOOLMISTRESS 
 
 On Tuesday before Thanksgiving Helen 
 produced a package of note paper and en- 
 velopes. 
 
 " I would like to have your parents at 
 our exercises Thursday/' she announced. 
 " As I am busy with other things, I will 
 request the most advanced class to write 
 the invitations for me." 
 
 Having instructed them as to the proper 
 form, she proceeded with her work, while 
 each member of the class strove to produce 
 invitations neat and correct in every par- 
 ticular. 
 
 To one unfamiliar with what was going 
 on the children on their way to the Shady 
 Grove school Wednesday morning might 
 have been mistaken for a procession ad- 
 vertising the agricultural and horticultu- 
 ral products of the neighborhood. They 
 had pumpkins, corn with the shucks on, 
 apples, potatoes, etc. One boy carried a 
 neat paper roll, a magazine supplement, 
 which he guarded carefully from those 
 
THANKSGIVING DAY 207 
 
 who feigned a desire to snatch it from 
 him. As he darted hither and thither, he 
 shouted gleefully, " Oh, get away, and let 
 my turkey alone." 
 
 The lessons were recited as usual, and 
 the day's work was done an hour before 
 time for dismissal. Then the house was 
 decorated and left securely closed to await 
 the arrival of the visitors on the following 
 day. 
 
 On Thanksgiving morning the air was 
 crisp and the sky clear. The children 
 came to school even earlier than usual, 
 dressed in their " Sunday clothes," and as 
 happy as a flock of birds. Helen was there 
 quite as early as the rest, but made no 
 haste to begin. She laughed and talked 
 with the children, met the visitors, and 
 passed the time pleasantly until she felt 
 sure that nearly or quite all who would 
 come had arrived, though she was careful 
 not to overtax the patience of the visitors 
 by waiting too long. The program was 
 
 14 
 
208 THIS UTTI,E SCHOOLMISTRESS 
 
 good from beginning to end. Every 
 mother present saw her child actually en- 
 joy the day, for each had a part of his 
 own to perform, and understood his duties. 
 There were Scripture lessons, songs, quo- 
 tations, recitations, and essays, though 
 no formal essays were mentioned. When 
 the children had finished, Helen stood 
 before the school with sparkling eyes 
 and a pleasant smile. The pupils were 
 intensely attentive; so were the grown 
 people. Neither had had any intimation 
 that she would take part, but they had 
 learned to anticipate agreeable surprises 
 on any occasion. 
 
 " The way for us to be happy easily," 
 she said, " is to compare what we have 
 with what we really deserve, rather than 
 what we may desire. Thus may we see 
 how bountifully we are blessed. 
 
 " I heard a lazy fellow once say, as an 
 excuse for his laziness, ' The world owes 
 every man a living, and I'm no exception/ 
 
THANKSGIVING DAY 209 
 
 Let's see if that is true. When do we owe 
 people ? " 
 
 " When they've done something for us," 
 interrupted Charlie. 
 
 " And is it not just so with the world? " 
 said she, not the least disturbed. " We are 
 all young and have done very little for the 
 world, but have received a great deal from 
 it. We have liberty; other people pur- 
 chased it for us at the cost of their lives. 
 We can read the Bible and worship God 
 as we please; others as good as we, were 
 driven from their homes and country, slain 
 in battle, or burned to death because they 
 sought this privilege. Our country is at 
 peace, but the peace that we enjoy cost 
 our ancestors many precious lives and 
 great suffering. We have food in abun- 
 dance, but we have it because other people 
 drove out the Indians, cut down the for- 
 ests, and prepared the fields. We have 
 good warm clothes; but other people 
 produced the wool and the cotton and did 
 
210 THE LITTLE SCHOOLMISTRESS 
 
 most, if not all, the work of making the 
 clothes for us. We have houses to live in, 
 though few, if any of us, have helped to 
 build even our own houses. Thus we 
 might enumerate a thousand things which 
 we have for which we are really indebted 
 to the world. 
 
 " Let us realize, too, that while we are 
 so richly blessed, there are many others 
 less fortunate than ourselves ; some in our 
 own land and others in distant parts of 
 the world. There are yet countries in 
 which the rulers are cruel to the people, 
 and take away perhaps half of all they pro- 
 duce for taxes, and yet give them nothing 
 in return. There are a few countries in 
 which people are persecuted if they read 
 the Holy Scriptures or belong to a Chris- 
 tian church. 
 
 "Are n't you glad you live in this great 
 country of ours, where you can be free and 
 get the benefit of your own labor ? Really, 
 children, we have the greatest country in 
 
THANKSGIVING DAY 211 
 
 the world, and thousands of poor people 
 in far-away lands would give all they 
 have, merely to get to America. 
 
 " This flag," she continued, as she un- 
 furled the stars and stripes before them, 
 " is the emblem of our country. Let us 
 love it and, if necessary, die for it. Can't 
 you join me heartily in this salute which 
 I have prepared especially for you to-day ? 
 
 " Dear flag of my country, 
 
 Wherever I be, 
 In peace or in war, 
 
 On land or on sea, 
 I pledge thee forever 
 
 True loyalty. 
 
 " Don't you think we owe much more 
 to the world than the world owes to us? 
 Indeed we do, and we can pay this debt 
 more fully if we qualify ourselves to live 
 capable and useful lives than if we remain 
 ignorant. Away with ignorance! Away 
 with selfishness ! • Give to the world the 
 best you have, and the best shall come 
 back to you/ " 
 
CHAPTER XXX 
 
 BURTON'S SECOND SCHEME 
 3|N the latter part of November, Helen 
 made a visit home, which afforded 
 her and her mother obvious pleasure. 
 Mrs. Smith's health had become compara- 
 tively good. Her business affairs were in 
 better condition than before, with one ex- 
 ception. Old Mr. Burton, who had been 
 disappointed in his efforts to get the Smith 
 farm at a sacrifice, had studiously sought 
 an opportunity for revenge. He knew that 
 the school warrants on the county would 
 not be at par until January or February; 
 therefore he was secretly delighted when, 
 " to accommodate a fellow," he bought 
 a note for sixty dollars given by Helen's 
 father shortly before his death, and which 
 was now due. Mrs. Smith was just telling 
 Helen of Mr. Burton's importunate visit 
 on the day before, when they saw him 
 coming up the walk again. 
 
 " Don't be uneasy, mother," said Helen. 
 
 <212) 
 
BURTON'S SECOND SCHEME 213 
 
 " He will not sue us, nor will I have to 
 sacrifice my school warrants." 
 
 Helen answered the loud raps at the 
 door with a very polite, " Good morning, 
 Mr. Burton. Come in and warm. The 
 fire feels good this morning." 
 
 "No, I ain't got time," said he. "I 
 just stopped to see your mother a minute." 
 
 " Do you wish to speak to her about that 
 note?" 
 
 " Yes. I need the money mighty bad, 
 and if she ain't got it, I think I could use 
 some of your school warrants to pay my 
 taxes with, and get along without the 
 cash." 
 
 "What could you allow me for them, 
 Mr. Burton?" 
 
 " Wall, they ain't a givin' much for 
 'em now, for the county 's behind. The 
 Trustee has paid out all he got from the 
 State long ago, and says he won't get 
 any more tell after Chris'mus, an' he ain't 
 a collectin' any hardly yet. But bein' as 
 
214 THE LITTLE SCHOOLMISTRESS 
 
 it's you and considerin' the circumstances, 
 I will take 'em at eighty-five cents." 
 
 " How soon will you be obliged to have 
 a settlement, Mr. Burton?" 
 
 " Well, I am nearly obleeged to have it 
 to-day." 
 
 " Then come back at 6 o'clock this even- 
 ing, and probably I will have the money 
 for you." 
 
 Despite the man's studied habit of sto- 
 icism, a look of disappointment came over 
 his face, and he said: "All right. Good 
 mornin'. 
 
 " Mother," said Helen, " I do not intend 
 that we shall be robbed in this way. 
 Money is worth only six per cent, per 
 annum, and there is not the least doubt 
 but that the county trustee will pay these 
 warrants within three months. If you 
 will let me go to town this morning, I will 
 see what can be done." 
 
 Having full confidence in Helen's judg- 
 ment, it was less than two hours before 
 
BURTON'S SECOND SCHEME 215 
 
 she was interviewing some of their most 
 trusted friends. 
 
 "What I want to do," she explained 
 to Captain Price, " is to borrow $60, and 
 let you hold these warrants as collateral." 
 
 " That will be satisfactory," said the 
 well-to-do merchant, " and as you are 
 young, I will call your attention to the ad- 
 vantage there is in using your warrants 
 as collateral over discounting them in the 
 usual way. The banks at present are pay- 
 ing 90 per cent, for them. You pay me 
 only six per cent, per annum for about 
 three months. Therefore, your money 
 will cost you only one and one half per 
 cent." 
 
 Before Mrs. Smith's dinner was cold, 
 Helen came skipping into the hall in a 
 manner that foretold her success. While 
 they were eating, Mrs. Smith looked 
 across the table at her children, and with 
 considerable emotion said: — 
 
 " Well, Helen, there is one thing yet 
 
216 THE UTTU2 SCHOOLMISTRESS 
 
 which distresses me very much. These 
 poor little children have really no opportu- 
 nity to get an education. You know what 
 a help your father was to you, but now he 
 is gone. You know, too, how greatly 
 benefited you were when you went to Miss 
 Wise, but we could not afford to send 
 either of them away from home to school 
 now, even if they were old enough. I 
 guess that Miss Scruggs did the best 
 she could, but the poor girl made a miser- 
 able failure. The children behaved so 
 badly that I could not afford to let Annie 
 go longer and associate with them, es- 
 pecially when she was learning so little. 
 For this reason I have kept her at home 
 nearly a month. The school kept dwind- 
 ling until at the close yesterday, I under- 
 stand they had only six, four of whom 
 were the Jones children, and even they 
 have been irregular. The school here 
 pays enough to get a fairly good teacher 
 if the directors would select one on merit. 
 
BURTON'S SECOND SCHEME 217 
 
 I should be so glad to have you teach it 
 next year, and be at home with me and the 
 children, but that is out of the question. 
 Your Uncle George talked with Mr. Jones 
 a few days ago, but he could plainly see 
 that there was no chance for you. Mr. 
 Jones argued just as he did last year, and 
 evidently has some selfish scheme in his 
 mind again." 
 
 " Well, mother, I'll tell you what I want 
 you to do. Perhaps it is a bold proposition, 
 but boldness is often necessary to success." 
 
 "What is it, Helen?" 
 
 " Suppose you lease the farm to some 
 reliable man, rent a good house in town, 
 and keep boarders. If I were to go to 
 school in the spring, I could teach 
 again next fall, and possibly get better 
 pay. Miss Wise is teaching in the Semi- 
 nary now. I can yet save enough of my 
 salary to pay my tuition and get some 
 plain clothes, and should I go to school, I 
 could still help considerably at home 
 
218 THE LITTLE SCHOOLMISTRESS 
 
 nights and mornings. I have learned just 
 enough to know that I am ignorant. I 
 have tasted knowledge, and have found 
 that it is good. If I can improve my 
 education, I can probably fill a place some 
 day that will pay me well, that will enable 
 me to be very useful and happy, and pos- 
 sibly make you feel proud of me." 
 
 The discussion lasted a long time. The 
 difficulties were so great, however, that 
 no decision was reached. 
 
 That evening as they sat by the fire 
 Helen took up her mother's work basket, 
 and happened to notice in it a large square 
 envelope addressed to herself. 
 
 " What is this, mother ? " said she. 
 
 " Oh, it is an invitation of some kind 
 that I forgot to give you. It has been 
 here for a week or two." 
 
 Helen tore off the outer envelope, and 
 drew forth from the inner one what 
 proved to be an invitation to an intersoci- 
 
BURTON'S SECOND SCHEME 219 
 
 ety debate on the evening of Thanksgiv- 
 ing at the University of Virginia. 
 
 A flush like the dawn glowed on Helen's 
 cheeks as she observed a slight check mark 
 calling attention to the name of William 
 Rutherford, the representative of the Jef- 
 ferson Literary Society. 
 
CHAPTER XXXI 
 
 PLANNING THE CLOSING EXERCISES 
 0\N the Monday following Helen's visit 
 home recorded in the preceding chap- 
 ter, she began to consider seriously what 
 kind of entertainment she would have as 
 a fitting close to her school. Had her 
 thoughts during the next week or two been 
 audible, one might have heard her say : — 
 " Most of the public oral examinations 
 that I have witnessed were hypocritical 
 shows, which deceived the children, the 
 public, and even the teacher who conducted 
 them. They were in the true sense no 
 test at all of the work that had been ac- 
 complished. In the ' exhibitions ' that we 
 used to have, all else was subordinated to 
 the desire to amuse. I remember Mr. Jim 
 B. Oldham's in particular. Every pupil 
 had either a dialect recitation or appeared 
 in a coarse dialogue. There was nothing 
 elevating in the thought of anything 
 presented. In fact, some parts were posi- 
 
 (220) 
 
PLANNING TH^ CLOSING EXERCISES 221 
 
 tively degrading, because profane or im- 
 modest. It seems to me that it would be 
 foolish, after all my efforts to teach the 
 children correct language and to inspire 
 them with a love of good literature, to fill 
 their minds and mouths with such trash 
 at parting. 
 
 " I recall Mr. Byrd's exhibition too. 
 He delighted in negro plays, but I do not 
 admire what some one has termed ' the 
 burnt cork artist.' It has not been my 
 purpose to train these children to be like 
 negroes in their every-day life, and I shall 
 not make negroes of them even for one 
 evening. 
 
 " My entertainment shall be as pure in 
 thought and language as I can make it, 
 and shall reflect as far as possible the work 
 that I have done, whether it entertains or 
 not. This decision will also settle the ques- 
 tion as to whether or not I shall permit 
 persons not belonging to my school, — 
 ' outsiders/ as they call themselves, — to 
 
222 THE LITTLE SCHOOLMISTRESS 
 
 participate. I shall have none but the pu- 
 pils. Furthermore I shall teach my classes 
 until the last day. My entertainment shall 
 not demoralize my school. I shall not lose 
 sight of my primary duty, which, as I see 
 it, is to instruct." 
 
 Not only did Helen carry out to the 
 letter her purpose as indicated, but skil- 
 fully converted the pupils to her plans 
 so that they really preferred not to 
 have a coarse and frivolous entertainment 
 which the neighborhood had somehow 
 come to believe was the only means by 
 which life could be kept in a rural school 
 until the appointed time for closing. 
 
CHAPTER XXXII 
 
 A DAY WITH "THE FAITHFUL" 
 
 £FHE Superintendent, realizing that the 
 December meeting of the County 
 Teachers' Association would be the last 
 one before most of the schools closed, 
 sought to make it as interesting as pos- 
 sible. He succeeded in arranging an un- 
 usually attractive program, but could not 
 induce Helen to discuss a subject. She 
 felt complimented, but wrote him : — 
 
 " While it would afford me great pleas- 
 ure to comply with any request that you 
 might make, I must insist that I am not 
 yet qualified to teach the teachers. Pos- 
 sibly I may be some day, for I love to 
 teach, and will avail myself of every op- 
 portunity I have to fit myself for this 
 work. I have derived much benefit from 
 the Institute and the meetings of the As- 
 sociation, and regret that I must continue 
 for some time to receive more than I 
 give." 
 
 As the Superintendent read this, he 
 
 15 (223) 
 
224 THE LITTLE SCHOOLMISTRESS 
 
 looked thoughtful, and said to his wife: 
 "   Not qualified to teach the teachers/ I 
 will keep that letter, for it is the only one 
 of the kind I have ever seen." 
 
 The day before the Institute convened 
 was rainy. Next morning the clouds were 
 gone, but there was a heavier frost than 
 had previously fallen. The muddy coun- 
 try roads were frozen, but not sufficiently 
 to bear the weight of a horse. Travel 
 was difficult, but Helen and half a dozen 
 others whom the Superintendent called 
 "the faithful," arrived by the time ap- 
 pointed for opening. They met in the pri- 
 mary room of the Seminary in town, and 
 not in the large hall, as usual. And a cozy 
 place it was, with its tasteful decorations. 
 
 In conducting devotional exercises the 
 Superintendent read the eighteenth chap- 
 ter of Matthew. He stopped at the words : 
 "Where two or three are gathered to- 
 gether in my name, there am I in the midst 
 of them," and said, " I think we might say 
 
A DAY WITH "THE FAITHFUL." 225 
 
 with due reverence that, as teachers, we 
 gather in His name. He who took little 
 children in his arms and blessed them, 
 if He were here in the flesh, would also 
 bless us in our efforts to-day. For years 
 I have thought, and I now more firmly be- 
 lieve than ever before, that he who can- 
 not take little children in his arms and 
 heartily bless them, as Jesus did, is unfit 
 to teach them." 
 
 He finished the chapter, and offered a 
 prayer full of sincere appeals for divine 
 guidance, and then said : — 
 
 " That sentiment which in my mind 
 ranks next to religion, is patriotism. We 
 have the best country in the world. Let 
 us sing 'America/ I never grow tired of 
 it. Let us sing it with the spirit and the 
 understanding, as the good old-time min- 
 ister used to say, when he had given out 
 the hymn." 
 
 Following the last notes of the famous 
 patriotic song the Superintendent took o n   
 
226 THE LITTLE SCHOOLMISTRESS 
 
 casion to make a brief speech, in part as 
 follows : — 
 
 " Not long since I read in a small paper 
 published by a State Normal school for 
 advertising purposes, a short article ad- 
 dressed to young teachers and headed, 
 ' Invest in Yourself/ As there are some 
 young teachers present (though a larger 
 number are absent), I will rehearse the 
 substance of this article for the benefit of 
 those who have come, notwithstanding the 
 rain of yesterday and the conditions of 
 the roads this morning. This writer 
 said to the prospective student : — 
 
 " ' What better use can you make of 
 your money than to invest it in yourself? 
 If there is in you the outcome, the capacity 
 for development and growth which there 
 is usually in a person of your age, your 
 savings will pay you better in dollars if 
 spent in self-improvement than if invested 
 in pigs or calves or lands or bonds. More- 
 over, you will have for the rest of your 
 
A DAY WITH "THE FAITHFUL." 227 
 
 life a greater capacity for enjoyment and 
 for usefulness/ 
 
 " I have seen the truth of these as- 
 sertions exemplified many times. Plain 
 clothes are necessary, but some young 
 teachers invest their surplus in finery. 
 Finery will fade and frills go out of fash- 
 ion, live-stock may die, and securities de- 
 preciate; but character, the true product 
 of right efforts at self-culture, is Godlike, 
 immortal, eternal. Yes, fellow teachers, 
 that educator was right when he said: 
 ' Invest in yourself/ " 
 
 The Superintendent's remarks were 
 heartily appreciated. 
 
 Professor Gordon, the Nestor of the As- 
 sociation, arose. " Just let me add a word 
 to what has been said so truthfully and so 
 eloquently by our Superintendent. 
 
 " It is not intellect alone that makes a 
 man truly great, nor is it will alone. In- 
 tellect and will contribute to greatness, 
 but the only real greatness consists in 
 
228 the; little schoolmistress 
 
 character. Education which develops 
 only the intellect and the will is imper- 
 fect, incomplete, dangerous. Character, 
 full, complete, and well balanced, should 
 be the aim of all education. The man 
 who is merely intellectual may use his 
 powers craftily to the hurt of his fellow- 
 men. He who has strong will power with- 
 out intellectual and moral qualities may be 
 a tyrant and oppress them. Character in 
 the sense in which we mean it, is the sum 
 of the principles and motives that control 
 the life of a man as a Christian citizen. 
 It includes intellectual culture, but means 
 more. He who invests in self wisely may 
 expect his own character to become 
 stronger and more perfect and his power 
 for producing like improvement in those 
 whom he teaches to be increased. 
 
 " My friends, this investment can be 
 made better perhaps in the university than 
 anywhere else, but the way from the coun- 
 try home and the little school-house to the 
 
A DAY WITH "THE FAITHFUL." 229 
 
 university is steep and difficult. To many 
 it is next to, if not quite, impossible. But, 
 fortunately, there is gold in the river beds 
 and the sand of the sea-shore as well as 
 on the snow-clad mountain tops. The 
 lives of the greatest characters in the 
 world may be brought into vital touch 
 with our own through the use of books, 
 and there are some good people in every 
 community with whom one may profita- 
 bly associate. By using rightly the oppor- 
 tunities that all have for self-improvement, 
 a little money is sufficient to enable one 
 to reap great benefits. " 
 
 These speeches were followed by a 
 study of current events, then of special 
 difficulties, and other topics. 
 
 And thus the day was spent. The older 
 teachers were happy because they felt that 
 they were helping the young, and the 
 young were happy because they were filled 
 with the spirit which the old teachers pos- 
 sessed. 
 
CHAPTER XXXIII 
 
 TWO AGREEABLE SURPRISES 
 £T*HE closing exercises of Helen's school 
 were a realization of her purpose. 
 They were pure and clean in every re- 
 spect, and presented the work of the school 
 in a manner which reflected great credit 
 upon her. 
 
 The entertainment came upon a bright 
 night in December, shortly before Christ- 
 mas. The audience was large and the or- 
 der excellent, though two big boys from 
 " Tossum Town " neighborhood came 
 for the expressed purpose of " making 
 things lively." When they began to at- 
 tract undue attention just outside the door, 
 a few minutes before time for the enter- 
 tainment to begin, they were waited upon 
 in a very courteous manner by two of the 
 Shady Grove boys, who, as the boys from 
 Tossum Town well knew, had broken up 
 entertainments themselves less than a year 
 before by their rudeness. 
 
TWO AGREEABLE SURPRISES 231 
 
 " Oh, git out," said one of the " 'Pos- 
 sums," in response to the polite request 
 of the "committee," as the boys termed 
 themselves. 
 
 " Suppose we bust up your show," 
 said the other. " What will you do about 
 it? You used to like fun as well as any- 
 body." 
 
 " We like fun well enough yet," said one 
 of the Shady Grove boys, " but since we 
 have been coming to this school we have 
 learned how to be gentlemen. Gentle- 
 men are gallant, and will protect a lady, 
 'specially one like our teacher." 
 
 By this time half a dozen of Helen's 
 largest pupils and two or three young men 
 of the neighborhood were standing near, 
 listening to the conversation. The " 'Pos- 
 sums " were like an army surprised and 
 overwhelmed by the enemy. They had 
 sought a conflict. The opportunity had 
 come, and they really wished it had not. 
 
 " Oh, pshaw, boys," said a rather coarse 
 
232 THE UTTLE schoolmistress 
 
 voice close by. " I know these young 
 gentlemen. I'll warrant that they enjoy 
 the entertainment as well as any one. 
 They shall be my guests to-night. Come 
 along, boys." 
 
 Just then the bell rang for order inside. 
 The boys of the school passed to their 
 places in haste, and the ruffians came in 
 with Esquire Brown and were soon in- 
 tensely interested. 
 
 The surprise for the patrons and friends 
 of the school was the novel and perfectly 
 executed program. For Helen, it was the 
 handsome face and sparkling eyes of Wil- 
 liam Rutherford, who, with a classmate 
 spending the holidays with him, arrived 
 unobserved. The entertainment was at 
 least half over before she made the dis- 
 covery. 
 
 William had attended a number of " ex- 
 hibitions " in the country before, but had 
 never seen a school-house so artistically 
 
TWO AGREEABLE SURPRISES 233 
 
 decorated nor a program that displayed 
 so much good taste as this one. 
 
 " By George, William," said his friend, 
 " I don't blame you for wanting to come 
 home for Christmas; but if you don't 
 mind you '11 wish you had n't brought me." 
 
CHAPTER XXXIV 
 
 "THE TRAVELER'S REST" 
 ^P^RS. SMITH'S income from her farm 
 in 1899 was considerably better than 
 she had expected. Moreover, she suc- 
 ceeded in collecting some old debts due 
 her husband. These, with Helen's sal- 
 ary, enabled them to have some money 
 left after paying the interest on the mort- 
 gage (though Colonel Rutherford pro- 
 tested that he did not need it). 
 
 Shortly before Christmas Mrs. Smith 
 received and accepted an offer from the 
 owner of a small hotel in town. By the 
 10th of January she was in charge as man- 
 ager, Helen was enrolled at the Seminary, 
 and Annie was in the public school. 
 
 From the day Mrs. Smith took charge 
 of the hotel there was rapid improvement 
 in the appearance of things and in the 
 comforts afforded its guests. The sign 
 " City Hotel," big as a barn door and dim 
 with age, was taken down, and a small 
 
" THE TRAVELER'S REST." 235 
 
 one beautifully painted in black and gold 
 took its place, the ' name being changed 
 to " The Traveler's Rest." It soon had 
 the reputation of being the most homelike 
 hostelry in Middle Tennessee. Not a few- 
 drummers made it convenient to spend 
 Sundays there. They invariably went 
 away delighted and charged their fellow 
 travelers to patronize Mrs. Smith. She 
 prospered beyond her expectations, and 
 was able not only to keep her children in 
 school, but even succeeded in reducing 
 the mortgage the first year. 
 
 During the summer vacations William 
 was at home. He and Helen became quite 
 " good friends," and were together fre- 
 quently. It is not necessary for us to go 
 into details. Those who have enjoyed 
 such friendship know well enough how 
 delightfully the time was spent. 
 
 In the summer of 1901 there was a com- 
 petitive examination for scholarships in 
 the Peabody College in Nashville. Helen 
 
236 THE UTTLE SCHOOLMISTRESS 
 
 secured the scholarship for her senatorial 
 district, although she had very strong 
 competition. A member of the committee 
 said afterward: — 
 
 " One of Miss Smith's competitors, who 
 had been to school more, was equal 
 to her in literary attainments and 
 probably superior in some respects, but 
 Miss Smith's papers were the neatest that 
 I ever saw. Furthermore, the committee 
 was informed that she had done remark- 
 ably well in her first work as a teacher." 
 
 Though much of general interest could 
 be related concerning Helen's two years 
 in Peabody College, it is unnecessary to 
 follow her in detail while there, or Wil- 
 liam through his course at the University 
 of Virginia. It is sufficient to say that 
 each graduated at the proper time with a 
 record eminently satisfactory to the re- 
 spective institutions. 
 
CHAPTER XXXV 
 
 SHADY GROVE'S AWAKENING 
 tt'ELEN'S year and a half at the Semi- 
 nary and her two years at the Pea- 
 body College for Teachers, added to her 
 former attainments and experience, made 
 available to her several desirable posi- 
 tions. The Seminary offered her a good 
 salary. The Secretary of the Peabody 
 College wrote to know if she would ac- 
 cept a position in Texas, and Esquire 
 Brown called on her as soon as she 
 reached home to see if she could be in- 
 duced to return to Shady Grove. 
 
 " We have just got to have you," said 
 he. " Though I dislike to speak of it, I 
 must tell you frankly that our schools 
 have been miserable failures ever since 
 you left us, as they were before you came. 
 If you don't go back and teach for us, 
 we shall break up and follow you, if you 
 stay within reach of us." 
 
 "Well, Mr. Brown," said Helen, "I 
 
238 the little schoolmistress 
 
 like to live in the country and I like the 
 people of Shady Grove. They were so 
 kind to me that I would like to return 
 to them. But you know I must consider 
 such matters somewhat from a business 
 standpoint." 
 
 " On what terms then will you teach for 
 us again? We will do anything possible 
 to induce you to come back. I have 
 talked to the neighbors about it, and they 
 are willing to increase your salary, build 
 a better school-house, or do anything else 
 they can. Can't you make me a propo- 
 sition ? " 
 
 "Yes," said Helen, "I will." 
 
 "What is it?" said Esquire Brown, 
 eagerly. 
 
 " It is simply this : That you give me 
 comforts, conveniences, and pay equiva- 
 lent to those which I could get here in 
 town or in Texas, and I will teach for 
 you." 
 
 Esquire Brown had read Helen's school 
 
SHADY GROVE'S AWAKENING 239 
 
 journals while she was at his home, and 
 numerous sample copies that had come 
 since she left. From them he had gath- 
 ered much practical information. He 
 had learned how school-houses should be 
 built and how school affairs may best be 
 administered, and that money is as neces- 
 sary to the success of a school as any other 
 enterprise. 
 
 Immediately upon his arrival in the 
 neighborhood he called a meeting of the 
 patrons to be held at once in the old school- 
 house. As the people, through the previ- 
 ous efforts of Esquire Brown, were al- 
 ready alive to their needs and considered 
 him their committeeman to interview 
 Helen in regard to teaching for them 
 again, they responded promptly. 
 
 Esquire Brown called the meeting to 
 order and said : — 
 
 " My friends and neighbors, we have 
 met to consider an important matter. 
 This school-house in its present condi- 
 
 16 
 
240 THE UTTLE SCHOOLMISTRESS 
 
 tion is more eloquent than any words that 
 I might employ. Just look at it, and 
 think of what it was three years ago. 
 Then we had a school. To speak the 
 truth, we have not had one worthy the 
 name since — nor before. 
 
 " I saw Miss Helen Smith this morn- 
 ing, and she promised to return and teach 
 for us again if we will provide for her 
 such comforts, conveniences, and pay as 
 she would get in town or elsewhere. The 
 Seminary is anxious to secure her at a 
 good salary. I saw a letter from an offi- 
 cial of the Peabody College to-day, offer- 
 ing to secure for her at once a fine position 
 in Texas. Her services are in demand. 
 Good teachers, like everything else good, 
 cost more than poor ones. We were for- 
 tunate in getting Miss Helen for one term 
 at less than she was worth, just as now 
 and then a man buys a farm with an un- 
 known gold mine on it, at a bargain. We 
 
SHADY GROVE'S AWAKENING 241 
 
 cannot afford to wait for chance to bring 
 us another good teacher. 
 
 " I consider the education of my chil- 
 dren the greatest interest I have in the 
 world, and I mean to sacrifice all others 
 for that, if necessary. If I cannot educate 
 them properly here, I shall go elsewhere, 
 but here I was born and here I prefer to 
 live and die. 
 
 " We need a better school-house, bet- 
 ter furniture, a larger attendance, and 
 better pay for the teacher. Can we have 
 them? We are able; the question is, Are 
 we willing? Last year the Methodists, 
 and you know they are not more than half 
 of the neighborhood, built that handsome 
 church over there and furnished it. To- 
 day it is paid for. To do that we had to 
 go down into our pockets. To get the 
 school equipped and taught properly we 
 must do so again. Let me set the ex- 
 ample. I will give a hundred and fifty 
 dollars toward a new school-house and 
 
242 THE UTTI,E SCHOOLMISTRESS 
 
 fifty dollars to be added to the school fund 
 for other purposes." 
 
 Half an hour later one thousand dollars 
 had been subscribed, and a committee had 
 been appointed to canvass the neighbor- 
 hood for additional subscriptions and an- 
 other to see what arrangements could be 
 made for consolidating the schools at 
 Concord and Melrose with that at Shady 
 Grove. Helen's reputation made this 
 easy. Free transportation was provided 
 for just a few remote ones at public ex- 
 pense. 
 
CHAPTER XXXVI 
 
 THE NEW SCHOOL-HOUSE 
 IJT1HE first Monday in September, the 
 Shady Grove school opened with 
 an unprecedented attendance. The new- 
 building, which had been erected during 
 July and August, though quickly con- 
 structed, was better suited to the purposes 
 than any school-house ever before erected 
 in the county. Heating, ventilation, 
 light, seating, etc., had received liberal at- 
 tention. It is worthy of note that there 
 was no north door to let in the chilling 
 blasts on stormy days. There were 
 shelves for books and bric-a-brac, places 
 for cloaks and for lunches, for water and 
 waste paper, a locker for storing school 
 supplies, and many other little conven- 
 iences which made the building homelike 
 and attractive. The ceiling was high 
 and finished in " hard oil/' awaiting, it 
 seemed, the decoration which a few days 
 
 (243) 
 
244 the; uttl,e schoolmistress 
 
 afterward it received at the hands of 
 Helen and the children. 
 
 The yard was inclosed in a plain, sub- 
 stantial fence. Later trees were planted, 
 flower beds laid off, and walks made, 
 mainly by the children. During the win- 
 ter, flowers were grown in pots in the 
 windows, and bright geranium blossoms 
 greeted passers-by through parted scrim 
 sash curtains, even in snowy weather. 
 
CHAPTER XXXVII 
 
 SOME OF THE FRUITS 
 ^[[T has now been a year and a half 
 since the Shady Grove school opened 
 in its new building. Helen Smith is still 
 principal, and has one good assistant. 
 Her work has been a continuation of that 
 begun with her first term there five years 
 ago, with such modifications and improve- 
 ments as her better training and improved 
 facilities have made possible. However, 
 wisely enough the Shady Grove school 
 still adheres to its proper sphere. Helen 
 says that one good elementary school is 
 worth a dozen puny colleges or pseudo 
 high schools. 
 
 Helen is still a student, not only of 
 books, but of nature and children and 
 other people's ideas. Her reputation has 
 extended far enough to bring her many 
 tempting offers, but she seems wedded to 
 this community, and says that so long as 
 they are as good to her as they have al- 
 
 (245) 
 
246 THE UTTUS SCHOOLMISTRESS 
 
 ways been, she does not care to teach 
 elsewhere. 
 
 During the five years which have 
 elapsed since Helen's first school began at 
 Shady Grove, numerous changes have 
 taken place. Not only have a new school- 
 house and a new church been built, but 
 the life and character of the community 
 have changed. Homes are neater than 
 they used to be, the people are quieter in 
 their manner and speech, more refined in 
 their tastes, and habitually read a high 
 class of books and magazines drawn 
 weekly from the school library. Common- 
 place neighborhood gossip is practically 
 a thing of the past. 
 
 Four or five youths whose parents 
 never would have thought of training 
 schools or colleges for them, have entered 
 some of the best-known institutions of the 
 State, and others are preparing to go as 
 soon as they are old enough. George 
 Taylor, the son of the drunken carpenter, 
 
SOME OF THE FRUITS 247 
 
 who found Longfellow's poems in the 
 garbage pile, has read more good books 
 than most people of forty, has written 
 some readable verses, and is teaching 
 successfully in the northern part of the 
 county. He will enter the State Univer- 
 sity when his school closes. 
 
 The government has supplied the people 
 with rural free delivery of the mail, and 
 the telephone system has made audible 
 to them the great throbbing world. 
 
CHAPTER XXXVIII 
 
 "UNREALIZED AMBITIONS" 
 
 <3TTHILE William was at the University 
 of Virginia, he became ambitious to 
 fill a professorship in some great univer- 
 sity. In order to fit himself for such a 
 position, he went to Harvard last fall, and 
 is now there studying for a doctor's de- 
 gree. In one of his recent letters to 
 Helen he said: — 
 
 " The feelings that I experienced on ar- 
 riving were indescribable. When I en- 
 tered the campus, I took off my hat out 
 of respect to this venerable institution. 
 My life is broader, and my vision clearer 
 and farther to-day than ever before; and 
 yet I feel that I am as one who stands in 
 a deep pit and looks up at the stars. . . . 
 
 " I often think how great a work yours 
 is, and how far short of the true glory 
 of living many of those fall whom I see 
 in Boston and elsewhere selfishly ab- 
 sorbed in material gain and sensual pleas- 
 
 (248) 
 
"UNREALIZED AMBITIONS" 249 
 
 ures, to the destruction of the intellectual 
 and spiritual life." 
 
 On the morning of April 10, while Wil- 
 liam was sitting in the departmental li- 
 brary of history in Cambridge, deeply ab- 
 sorbed in study, a messenger touched him 
 on the shoulder and said: — 
 
 "Are you Mr. Rutherford?" 
 . " Yes," said William, looking up in 
 surprise. 
 
 " Please sign here, sir," he said, and 
 handed him a telegram. 
 
 William opened it hastily, and found 
 that it was from his brother, who said: 
 " Father is dangerously ill. Come im- 
 mediately." 
 
 Without a moment's delay he wrote on 
 a blank furnished him by the messenger : 
 " Tell father I am coming," and handed 
 it to him saying : " Send this at once." 
 
 At Cincinnati he was obliged to wait an 
 hour for the departure of his train. Dur- 
 ing this time he telephoned his brother, 
 
250 THE UTTLE SCHOOLMISTRESS 
 
 and learned that his father had just passed 
 a dangerous operation, and was resting 
 quietly, though his recovery was by no 
 means assured. William reached home 
 the next day. As the train rolled into the 
 station, his brother leaped upon the plat- 
 form and rushed into the car, saying: — 
 
 " Father has regained consciousness, is 
 without fever, and the physicians think 
 now that he will recover." 
 
 For a week William remained close by 
 the bedside of his father, rendering him 
 the most devoted service. Colonel Ruth- 
 erford improved rapidly. In ten days all 
 cause for anxiety was past. 
 
 Sunday afternoon, on a pretext of 
 wishing to see the new school-house, Wil- 
 liam asked Helen to go driving. About 
 an hour before sunset they came to the 
 beautiful grove in the midst of which the 
 building stood, and presently entered. 
 
 Though by no means the most expen- 
 sive school-house that William had ever 
 
"UNREALIZED AMBITIONS" 251 
 
 seen, it was certainly the most charming. 
 Good taste, comfort, and convenience were 
 embodied everywhere; and the little 
 schoolmistress in the midst of her crea- 
 tions diviner seemed than Minerva her- 
 self. 
 
 They lingered about the place for some 
 time, looking first at one thing, then at 
 another, and came at last to examine a 
 box of sweet violets in bloom on a shelf 
 at the end of the porch. The sun was set- 
 ting. A shower of rain had fallen since 
 they came in; but the clouds had now so 
 far vanished as to leave only a billowy 
 sea of gold in the west. While every leaf 
 and flower and blade sparkled in the mel- 
 low light of the setting sun, and the cat- 
 bird in a thicket of wild plum trees by the 
 roadside sang a subdued song, Helen, idly 
 plucking the violets, said, in answer to 
 his question : — 
 
 " I cannot. I have a sacred work to do 
 
262 THE LITTLE) SCHOOLMISTRESS 
 
 here. Furthermore, I fear that I am not 
 worthy to become your wife." 
 
 " Do not say, ' Cannot/ " he implored. 
 " The dream of my life for five years has 
 been to win you, and to render myself ca- 
 pable of making you happy. I have un- 
 realized ambitions, and do not ask you to 
 marry me now, nor next year, nor even 
 the next, but it will be enough for the 
 present to know that we shall be married 
 by-and-by. Will you promise me this 
 much ? " 
 
 As she reached for another violet, he 
 laid his hand gently upon hers and clasped 
 it firmly. With a look more eloquent than 
 his words he pleaded half in a whisper : — 
 
 "Will you?" 
 
 During the long pause which followed, 
 a struggle took place in Helen's soul. Fi- 
 nally as a great tear rolled down her 
 cheek, her expression lighted up as the 
 western sky had done a few moments be- 
 
UNREALIZED AMBITIONS 
 
 253 
 
 fore, and she answered in a voice distinct 
 but gentle and low, — 
 
 " I will." 
 
 The day-star had faded in the west, the 
 twilight shadows were thickening, and the 
 cat-bird sang more softly to its mate as 
 William and Helen with a transcendent 
 joy sped away homeward. 
 
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