Des Arc weekly citizen., 1869-01-19

"Scientific Dialogues but 1 am no sure. He was reciting about the pen
 dulum. The old mn told him abou { Galileo's chandelier remember.
 Well. then and there I saw the whoi
 thing in my mind as 1 see 1t now | Singleton saw it too. He was hearing
 some little boys in Liber Primus. bu
 he turned round gravely. aud looked me full in the face. looked at hin and nodded. Nor rom that day [, this have I ever had to discuss th' details of the matter with him. Onl, he and 1 did three things in conse lquence of that stare and that nod,-h, did two and did one.
 What he did was to go into tho dominie's bedroom. when lie went ur stairs after tea, take his watch-key from the pin it hung on. and put itintc his second bureau drawer under his wooden socks. Then he went across into Miss Tryphosa's room, and hung her watch key on n tack behind her looking glass. He thought she would not look there, and, as it happened. she never did. Those were in the early days. School-boys had no watches then. do not think they even wrote home for them. If they did. the watches did not come.
 do not recollcct that George then told me he did this; !; but knew he did, because I knew he could. I had no fear whatever, when I went 10 bed that night, that the doctor would wind up his watch. or Miss Tryphosa hers. As it happened. neither of them did Each asked the other for key, the master tried the old gold key which hung at his fob, which had been worn out by the grandfather when he was before Quebec with Amherst Both of them said it was very careless in Chloe, and both of them went 10 he'd.
 We all got up early the next day, as we had promised. But before break fast did not go near the clock-you need not charge that on me. hurried the others-got them to reaSiast-and ate my own speedily. Then l did go into the sch0ol-room ten minutes be- fore the crowd. l locked both doors and drew down the paper hanging curtaia. took u brad-awl out of my pocket. and unscrewed the pendulum rom the bottom Of the rod. left it in the bottom of the box. 1 took a horseshoe from my pocket and lashed it tight with packthrcad about quar- ter way down the rod--pcrhaps two inches above the quarter. l put in nail after it was tied. twisted the string round il twice-and rammed the point into the knot. Then started the pen- dulum again-found to my delight that it was very good~natured, and ticked twice as fast as l ever heard it. shut and locked the clock door. rolled up the paper-hanging curtain, and unlocked the school doors.
 suppose I was engaged three minutes in these affairs. I cannot tell. because the clock had stopped, and. when we are pleasantly employed time flies. l was not interrupted. Nobody came into that school-room before it was time. In the Boston schools now they hire inc scholars 10 be unpunc- tual. giving them extra credits if they arrive five minutes too early. If they knew, as we'll as l do, what nuisances people are who come before the time fixed for their arrival, they would not hribe the children in that direction. Certainly dear old Parson Whipple did not We went in when the clock struck. and we went ouf when it struck. He had no idea of improving on what was exactly right.
 So when the clock struck eight we rushed in. Reverent silence at prayers suppose my conscience pricked me, l have very little doubt it did-but don't remember it at all. Little boys called up in Latin grammar. Luckily they were all well up, and gabbled of their lesson in fine style:
 ''Amussis. a mason's rule.
 "Buris, the beam of a plough" &c., Sc.
 The lesson went down one excep- ton to each boy--without one halt ; the master nodded pleasure, and pass ed up to the first boy again; down it went again, and down again. These were bright little fellows; not one mistake-perteet credits all.
 ''lt is a very good lesson," said the dear old soul. "Ii's pleasure to hear boys when they recite SO well. This win give us little time for me to show you
 What he was going to show them do not know. He tarne,l round as he said "time," and saw to his amazcment that the clock pointed to S-30. He put his hand to his watch unconsciously and half smiled when he saw that it had run down.
 No matter" said he, i've arc later than thought. Seats--algebra boys.
 So we took our places. and very much the same thing followed. Single ton and l were sent to the blarkboards, for the dear old man was in advance of the age in those matters--and we did our very quickest. But Hackma. tack had mol our motive, and perhaps did not understand The algebra so well so that he stumbled and made long business of it, and so did the boy who was next to him. That boy was still on the rack, too much puzzled to sec
 u Lat Siunlainn meant Lx Laldinu III