The Council Bluffs nonpareil. [volume] (Council Bluffs [Iowa]) 1857-1867, 1858-12-25
The old school master deeply moved,

The old school master deeply moved
turned towards Veronica.
skunkel,' said the school master, in ,
tone of deep solemnity, there is the yer,
hand which, twelve years ago, you were 81
cruel rs to burn. This hand is now helt
out to you in token of forgiveness; and Sc,
no trace remains of the wound you then in
ficted; and no unkind thought harbors i,
the bosom Of her who has come to ministe
to your wants.
Kunkel raised his head and looked a
Veronica. sNo, mop he cried, sighins
heavily; 'it is impossible; that fine lad,
cannot be tho same as the poor child whom
! so cruelty injured twelve years ago. Yor
are making mock of me, NJ. Rossel.'
Believe me, Kunkel; what | have tolt
you is true. Through Gods goodness tha
burning penny has turned to Il mine of gold
in the hand of Veronica Madel, and here,
added he, laying pile of crowns upon thu
table; here is share of her gains, which
she has brought to you.'
Kunkel, with an air Of tewilderment
gazed alternately at Veronica, at his wifi,
who stood weeping at his side, and at the
money which lay upon the table.
Il wish could believe what you tell me, ),
he cxcaimed: 'but it seems to me impossi-
BILE. Do you remember, lady. the song ,ha,
WIS sung beneath my window on that Christ.
mas eve? That song and the cry Of anguish
that followed, still rings in my ears. II
you can repeat it to me now, shall believe
that what NJ. Rossel tells me is indeed the
truth
Veronica, with a voice tremulous from
emotion, sang the well-known miners song:
and as she sang, the little infants cry was
hushed, the broke hearted mothar listened
in admiring silence, and the sick man folded
his hands ecross his breast, and raising his
eyes to heaven, he exclaimed: Sod be mer-
ciful to me sinner.'
Veronica seated herself BY his side, spoke
to him of pardon and of peace, until at
length a ray of hope beamed from the suf-
ferer's eye. He stretched his wearied limbs
as though seeking that repose which had
long been denied him, and then with a gentle
sigh, he fell asleep.
The school master, familiar nv long cx
perience, with scenes of suffering and death,
quickly perceived that the vital spark had
fled. He laid his hand upon the marble
brow of the departed, and repeating the
towards the weeping widow:
"Cher up, brave hearts, cheer up"
Il trust, my poor friend, that your hus-
band is Mt rest after his long struggle, and
you and your children shall not be forsaken.
Put your trust in the God Of the father
less and the widow, and tomorrow will
come again and see what can be done for
YOU
Veronica Madel and her old instructor
now Quilted the house of sorrow; and it
was with very full hearts that they repaired
to the hospitable banquet which had been
prepared for them by their fellow citizens.
DESCRIPTION OF A MODEL "ExAMINA-
TION.''
Few of the examinations in our schools
are worthy of the commenGation bestowed
upon that one, whose description follows.
We would not dare say that our school, or
any school in Our vicinity, could equal it.
We would merely hint at the proprietv of
every teachers trying to bring his pupils as
near as possible to this high standard Of
proficiency. But let US proceed with the
description:
1t was determination Day" at--
Female Seminary. All was hustle, and then
all was quiet, Il. n calm always succeeds n
storm. The young ladies-there were no
"grls" at that school-were all seated in or
der on the front seats in the Seminary Hail.
the back seats being reserved, as is usual,
for strangers. They looked so 'prop'r'-
the young ladies did-wth their jewcled fn-
gers so white and "unsoied,' nil arrayrd in
white, and their heads full (of flowers while
: ba N;Ssnr Dat, brDnrh :.
watched every movement so closely that
really could not help thinking of my boyi>h
days when "thdt old hawk" used to watch
our little chickens so, and was set to watch
him. An invited auditor, | took my seat
among them-the "strangers,' of course
not the young ladies.
The work (for rork, from its mechanical
operations. must call it) was begun with
considerable assurance, at least on the part
of the Misses PutemthrouCh, and ''wcnt on
swimminglv," as my friend Smith afterwards
declared. You know Smith-Jnhn Smith !:
bv-the-bv, Smith 's Il merry bachelor Of
well, about twenty five. good looking, and
somewhat Of Il critic in the fine arts, n lover
of music and painting. though be declares
that he does hate music murdered, and to
see ladies painting their own faces. He is
somewhat of n ioker, too, and not altogeth-
er free, as YOU observe from that habit so
much denounced by grave philosophers-th
"art Of punning." But to my story.
The ''eXaminatiOn,' as it was called-I
don't know why-progressed, and the Young
ladies gave good evidence that they had well
committed the part assigned them nnd were
prepared to act them ont. | could not help
noticing a certain timidity however, very
common on such occaslons--a sort of fear
of forgetting something or other. believe
that during the whole "performance" of
were made-Smith spells it miss stakes
and these were of little consequence, occur
ring in the Elementary studies,' things
which they had forgotten long ago. One
was IN readinr-a pert miss of fifteen sum-
mers pronouncing c-o-u-g-h, "cow." An
other was in spelling-l think they called it
orthoqraphy-and consisted in the trihe of
spelling 'hope," hoop; very natural, how
ever. The third was in giving the definition
of the word "phlebotomy." Miss Jones
said it meant ':a bottom, or low ground,
infested with neas,'' and Miss johnson
thought it must be 'Gee, Dotomy" (some-
body's nancy while Miss jenkins sugg gested
that it might be misspelling for "fea bot
any" Well, after all, the girls ought not
to be blamed bit more than the pedant
who introduced the word into the English
language. Smith says "he ought to be
1t is due moreover, to
the teacher-to state that these mistakes
were altogether "unpremeditated," being
made through praiseworthy efforts to an
swer side questions ont Of the regular Cor
der of examinations" and propounded by an
over oflicious member of the examining
who perhaps did not under
stand that they had been appointed to hear
the examination, and not to conduct it.
The questions with the three exceptions
above named abeing asked and answered "like
abooH,' the scene closed with "show" of
some very neat specimens Of monochromatic
draw ings, and a few strains of enchanting
music selected from the keys Of the "pian-
ny forty" I'm no judge Of music myself,
but Smith says "it uas enchanting"
left with can idea'' an idea of the ddrGn-
taqe of Questionable education''-
with prayer that "the eyes of the blind"
on this subject might be "opeped." And
as looked back upon that gorgeous build
ing, and read in large gilt (Smith says guil)
LADIES SENISARf."
wonder what that last word does mean. md