Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1859-03-31

be master-that my will must besabsolute
even eothe casing out Of. half the scholars
He safdI should have my own way; audsh
pledged his word that the Committee shous'
not Interfere in any way, moi: under any s's
eumstanees. . -. - ':rs&ss+s .
). sat tire appointed time + packed up m,
wardrobe and sehootboQks, ahd. started !. fe
Ca, When. L.reached- the village, 9
learned that mSseaool was'iD'a distant par
Of the toshd4ia: sd Ia rugged region -kno$na
Rambone Ho1loso., On the following morn
inp. Mr. Brown took me- tover' in his sleigh
Found my school house upon the edge o
onite: assettlement, which was, located, in
wide valley, with high sblackimountains up
onf all' sides. r was taken at once to th'
place; where,T was to board, and in this lat
ter respect I'was:fortunate:1 . ~ - F!S2 :,
:: NV hosts name was Elias Bonuey; iH'
was a weILto.do farmer about 7forty:fye year
ofage,sasfrm,. intelligent man, and one G
the selectuieu Of the town ,HeH had +fE'
children, that were.to attend school---tth''
oldest: being a gi1laof nineteen, named Lydia
and the youngest aboy Of seEens' 49,.
Mr.. Brown remained TO di6uer, and ther
took his leave; and; as tsoon, as Il was alont
with Mr.. Bouney, I'<begap to enquire par
ticulafIy about the school, Ny host shool
his head with dubious expression. .e4i4.
, ;sYou know. What boys,are, he sale, 9espe
cially if they've had their own way -for
longtime. For. six winters we've -hadent
school here that could be called,a a school,
There a are quite 1iutlnbero Of stout boys ant
they generally contrive to get The master Cyl
at the end of week. But think they'll
6sd it hard work 70 put you out -,
sIsdon't know, rtplied. <But I really
sheuldn't want them to- try 1t, for; I'm mo-
apt to be very cousiderate when acting .or
the defensive against mefe brute force !.
,Bonpey said he should think 'twouldb bt
dangerous for the scholars. to make the at
tempt. sBut,' he added with anotherdu
bious shake of the head, 'the boys are,no
ouiystout and hearty, but you must retnem
ber theresa number Of them. Once &C.
'em.started, and they don't fearanythipg =
They've had some pretty stout masters tt
deal with" T.. -e,. %.
But how many are there in the school,
Iasked, Fwho are, really bad; who are ready
to go ahead in any. evil pranksr -. ~: : ., .
.aBonuey pondered a few moments and ther
replied ,s'
why, there's only two Of them that are q
really ugly; =; and, even they amt bad neigh,
bors. They're kind and ready in cases OF
need, but they seem determined to resist the
schoolmaster,'
We kept up the conversation at intervals
until bed time, and. when i retired for the
night / bad about made up my miud as 'st
the nature of the work l hadte do: had
learned enough to assure me of several ira.
portant facts. In the 6rst place, each sue
ceeding. teacher. had gone into the school
house with the firm. belief that he had got ;te
fight his way through. The,gery;feeiing had
served to:excite his eombativeuese,- sosthsl
his first position to'the: scholars was an ean;
taeouistic one. The result had been ineVi
table. At fighting the large scholars were
handy; they had prepared for it and expeac
ted it.. aud consequently were easily led e e
an exhibition Of their >puguacious qualities
On the next morning / went to theschoeh
house little earlier than the usual hour tol
commencing. I found the building nearly
new and looking clean and neat. d liked
that. I went IN and arranged my books o.
the desk. Mr.. Bouney had given me the
KEY his desk, at'the'same time Informing
me that he, Believed there were some imple'
mepts there T might. need. i found a heaa'
w rock-maple ferule,, some two feet long by
two inches wide, and three!quarters Of au a.
inch thick ,.,,4 ..~.sss, "a =. -,
1t was o. perfect club, and was, moreover
enough to excite the ire Of any decent per
son y who. NIGH, SCI, ,it Hourished about ip the
hands, of superior. Itswas not alone, ,-I'
had a companionf in the shape Of a lopg
stout, s,r heavy 'raw:Iide, as they are some
times called. ! let them rsmaiu in the
desk ~ = - . 90 So = 81
At niue O clock I rang the hand-bell with
Which my host had supplied me, and the
scholars all took their seats. The school was
full, and as I gazed carefully around, was
pleased with the appearance of most of the
scholars. They were d comeiy; intelligent
set, for such place. But among the larger
boys were some, faces which / wished te
study. .> ,'@ .--' -:
John -Putney and Stephen Oliver had
been so thoroughly described to me that J ]
recognized them, the moment l. put my eyes
upon them. They were two kard-lookine
customers, especially the former. Putney
was tall and stout, with. a head and. sboul-
ders notunlike those of bull. He-wure-a a
scowl upon his face, and seemed to leapbaek
10 his seat like one who, held sway. oyer all
around. When I first eame'to'him>in my
sweeping glance I caught his eye He tri'
ed hard to keep up his gaze, butin very
few seconds. his lids trembled and his eyes
sank. I. 1 knew could conquer him in some
way. -,
Stephen Oliver was not so tall as PutneyI
though some said stronger. But he Was;a
better man. His face wasmore intelligent,
and he seemed to have some PRIDE
As soon as all was still 1 made ta-fsw re:
marks; I opened my desk and drew forth
the ponderous ferule and raw-hide.