The Buchanan County guardian. (Independence, Buchanan County, Iowa) 1858-1864, 1860-05-09

TIE cong edleu SuflaCe ol tue neart, lOucn-
ing and stirring its utmost depths.
| had blamed the father And there l
was wrong again. Of the world, |, a
woman, had the best right to look straight
through his indulgence, to the fatherly
tenderness that could not give birth to a
reprimand or rebuke to the love that
could not, because of the mother resting
in the grave, mete out the justice that
the child merited.
How the tender hands Of pity brought
these overlooked truths before my eyes,
until. blinded by tears, could not see.
The next morning | met DR.. Eldridge
again, and again he kept me company to
the very door of the school room His
tantalizing humor had not left him, and
with sly look in his clear, gray eyes, he
assured me that the father of my unruly
pupil had. indeed, taken my sage advice
to heart. Was glad to hear it =?
80, yes" answered, in sober, qui-
ct way.
Let one fact console you, Miss LAX
in" he said, earnestly. "you have sue
ceeded admirably with your school, and
quite to the satisfaction of the villagers
There is talk of having the summer
term continued into this fall, since there
is a stout fund of school money on hand"
Dear heavens" | said, q shall go
crazy -
mo, hope not, unless you will CON
sent, beforehand, to engage me as medi-
cal adviser"
| did not answer him. was in poor
mood to bear his teasings. Indeed, |
could hardly keep back the tears at the
thought of the many weeks of torture
that they were planning out for ME. For
six weeks (half of the summer term) l
had been trying to keep down the rebel
lion, and | had hoped to worry through
the rest of my allotted time without Sc
rioas outbreak. But now, | could not
hope for it. War was inevitable, it
must come" Before the thought, my
good resolutions of the day vanished like
empty air. If to be mistress of the
school-room must use stick, whip and
rule, then | would WELD them. l Iwould
WELD them. l would conquer or be con-
quered. did not otresolve upon this fully
until learned that the school would be
lengthoned out six weeks into the au-
tumn, allowing a vacation of one week in
the meantime.
So the days dragged along, not one
passing without DR.. Eldridge making his
appearance somewhere in my way. Some
times | was pleased to see him, perhaps
always; but he had a strange, mlschiev-
Gus way with him that worked against
my temper constantly. | think he liked
my little fits of passion, however, or he
would not have provoked them continu-
ally.
And the school Dear me, what a
school il was The trial Of it wore me
thin as shadow. But affairs came TO a
climax one day. This was the way il
was brought about. While hearing a re-
citation one hot sultry afternoon. l drew
my chair into the middle of the floor,
where there was faint show of breeze
was directly in front of one of the
aisles, and so seated that | could not see
what was going on behind me. After
dismissing the class, made an attempt
to rise, when to my horror and dismay l
found myself or my dress, made fast to
the chair. l tried to be very cool and
collected, as | released myself, but my
hands trembled volently, and | knew
that my face was white with anger.
" Can any one tell who pinned my dress
to the chair ?" asked.
There was dead silence. I repeated
the question. Still no answer. could
interpret that easily enough Not a
scholar in school dared to tell tale oil
Frank Eldrdge
" You may walk this way. Frank" ]
said
As though marching to a military
drum, he came TO the middle of the floor
81 shall bear your impudence no long
err" began. Either you or must be
at the head Of this school. If my arm
and ruler are as trusty as | think, shall
be mistress here
You don't dare ferule me my faith
er-" he began.
Let your father come here, aud
will ferule him too" said, interrupting
him.
III tell him Of that" he cried out.
Do SO, by all MEANS" answered.
And so | thrashed Frank Eldrid re,
soundly and smartly, till he begged for
mercy like three year old baby, and
promised, as humbly as | could wish, TO
do better. There was great uproar. in
consequence of il, both in school and out
But what made the matter ludicrous in
the extreme, was the fact of my threat
ening to whip DR.. Eldsidge, (handsome,
idollzed Dir. Eldridge, the awe OF the
whole village. the pride of the whole
town. was noised about. Al last i. reach
ed the Doctors ears. and rs had feared
he came just at the close of school tho
next afternoon, to remind me Of my
threat
Il have come for my whipping he
said. IN low tone, rs | answered his
loud rap at the door.
do not know why, but the tears
sprang to my eyes at this. II seemed un.
kind in him, almost cruel. was afraid
he would notice how | was moved, and
so | turned my head away. as | an
swered
+" am very busy now. can you come