St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1871-10-20

assurance of success. As Ralph spelled
in this dogged way for half an hour tho
hardest words the Squire could find, tho
excitement steadily rose in all parts ot
the house, and Ralpl's friends even ven.
tured 10 whisper that "maybc Jim had
cotched his match after all ~
But Phillips never doubted of his sue
cess.
.'Theodolitc," said the Squire.
eth c, the, o-d, cd, theod, o, thcodo,
l-y-t-e, thcodlite," spelled the champion.
"Next," said the Squire, nearly losing
his teeth in his excitement.
Ralph spelled the word slowly and
correctly, and the conquered champion
sat down in confusion. The excitement
was SO great for some minutes that the
spelling was suspended. Everybody in
the house had showed sympathy with
one or the other Of the combatants, ex-
cept the silent shadow in the corner. II
had not moved during the contest, and
did not show amy interest now in the
result.
"Gcwhlliky crickcts, Thunder and
lightning, Licked him all TO smash :"
said Bud, rubbing his hands on his knees,
"That beats my time all holer'
And Betsey Short gigsled until her
tuck-comb fell out, though she WAS on
the defeated side.
Shocky got up and danced with pleas
urc.
Bat one suilocating look from the
aqueous eyes Of Miramdy destroyed the
last spark Of Ralph's pleasure in his
triumph, and sent that awful LcIow-zcro
feeling all through him.
''lIc's powerfully smart, is the mas
ter" said old Jack to Mr.. Pete Jones.
'IIc'll beat the whole Kit ana tuck Of
en- aiorc hes through. know'd he
was smart That's the reason | tuck
him, proceeded Mr. Means.
"Iaa>, but he don't lick enough Not
ni.h,' answered Pete Jones. No lick
in, no Iarnin' says l."
1t WAS not now 50 hard. The other
spoilers on the opposite side went down
/ quickly under the hard word, which the
Squire rave out. The III t-irr had NOW
cd down all but a trw, his opponents
lad given up the battle, and all had lost
! their keen interest i'll Il contest To which
/ there could be Int one conclusion. for
there were only the poor spoilers left
But Ralph lIartsuok ran against Il
stump where he WAS least expecting ii.
1t was the Squirc's custom, when one
OF the smaller scholars or roorcr spoilers
rose to spell AGAINST tlc master, 10 give
out eight or ten easy words HAT they
might have some breathing spell before
bcing slaughtered, and then 10 give a
poser or two which soon settled them
lie let them run Il little, is u cat does Il
doomed mouse. There Was now but
one person left on the opposite side, and
rs she rose Ralph recognized Hannah,
the bound Girl at old Jack Means. She
had not attended school in the district,
and had never spelled in spclling->chool
before, and was chosen last rs an un-
certain quantity. The Squire BEGAN
with easy words of two sylablcs, from
that page OF Webster, 50 wcll-known TO
all who ever thumJcd it, rs "Bakcr,"
from the word that stands at the top OF
the page. She spelled these words IN
an absent and unlntercsted manner. As
every body knew that she would have to
20 down as soon a. this preliminary
skirmi>hiug was ever, everybody BEGAN
to get ready 10 20 Lomc, and already
there WAS the buzz OF preparation
Young men were tmid!y asking Urls if
"ihcy could see them sale hcme," which
is the approved formula, and were tremb-
ling in mortal fear of 'lhe mittcn"
Presently the Squire, thinking it time 10
close the contest. pulled his scalp forward.
adjusted lis class eye, witch had been
cNaminiu" his nose long enough. and
turned over the leaves of the book TO the
crs as ''lncomprchcnsibility, and be gan
to give out those ''words Of eight sylla-
| blcs with the accent on the sixth" List
less scholars now turned round and
ceased to whisper in order to b. in at
| the masters final triumph. But to their
surprise, sole Miss McanSes white nio-
gcr, :" as some OF them called her, in al
| lusion TO her slavish life, spelled thes.
great words with rs perfect ease aS the
master. Sill, not doubling the result,
the Squire turned from place to place
and selected all the hard words he could
find. The school became utterly quiet.
the excitement was too great for the or
dinary buzz. Would "NIcausc, Uanncr'
beat the master! Beat the master that
had laid out jim Phillips Eyerybody's
sympathv WAS now turned TO Iiannah
Ralph noticed that even Shockv had