The democrat. [volume] (Weston, W. Va.) 1868-1874, 1871-01-23
NY SCHOOL l5 9, DAYS. ,,,..t.

\ II 70
iss as developed among the hills of Cap
tsen.- he was considered the best schol,
ar in The ~diggins," and we all looked
forward to the day when be would he q
school MASTER 10 attain this exalted
position was the highest ambition of about
\ a dozen young men who went to school at
Pleasant Ridge. The girls in those day.
never thought OF becoming school marnis.
supposins they hadn't brains enough TO
master the double rule of three. and The
mysteries of Kirkham. Consequently they
cay studied ''readin' an' wr;,in, seldom
beshering their heads with ''eyphefin.'" !"
Their writing consisted mainly in indit
ling lcve-let,ers to the boys, and their
reading to. decyphering tke'replies. The
Master would occasionally intercept one
\ of these missiyes and make the writer
tread il. to the school. This was great fun
e.
for oil not directly concerned, aud after
letters found their way to the teacher
!. through the treaehery Of the carrier,whcn
| it was found out that parsonage would gel
no letters for awhile, andhis only pastimc
would Sc 10 % throw paper-wads at the girls
or agains' tue ceiling. ,'''
Perhaps Ike Mite wrote more le,,ers,re.
!icGiyed more. and carried more than any
one in school. Whenever he succeeded in
getting sweet one to carlyle was sure
to get it into, the, hands of the teacher.
One day jim Kregg had got up a rtun.
uer in reply to sweet one from Abagail
Woods, and was mnch at loss to know
how,i get it to- her.,for the Master, had
missed a leaf from Jim's copy book and
was on look eu. for the letters. Ike un.
dertookI to deliver. the letter providing he
should haze the privilege ofreading the
one to which this was reply; Carefully
slowing bq,l: letters in his'trpuser's peck
ct. he watched his chance to fulfill his
mission.
Il was against the rules to chew tobacco,
but Ike would chez. rule, or no rnle. jim
had given hin piece of dog leg" into
the bargain for carrying his letter,and IKE
was employing himself hugely with his to-
bacto. splitting down hole in ihe floor
which he had burned for the purpose.
Isaac, come here says the Master,
Ike moved up promptly. being careful,
however, to spit bis tobacco out. ,9rvy,
YOU'RE chewing tobacco. are you y,
0No sir "'7"S 'il''
'.''pozt lie to me"
Deed aud double. hain't bit in my
mouth" 'l .' ~ .IllLls i..
You're sure!' fi2 s4 .is.4
ayes sir" '''s.'- sthhaE ss7s
open your mouth and le. me see.''
"You don't see none, do you y gss,a
7"aNo; but Tsee signs Of it." III. .a.I
"Let US look here where sou sat, per-.
laps We can fndis." "'A'
You may look as muck as yeu please.
but you'll find.nd ,obacco,"s' 9s' '.o3
'.wha,'s-tbis lying here bes;ie'this belle
/ in the foory 7" 'nf~,''ssi l'7s
Ike was beat There lay the 'chaws'
big as'life He had been in too big a
hurry and missed the hole. -''d'5s3 ''f7
yssHase you any more in your poeke,?'
al"Noi sir..s Jsa 5sa 'f'si'i71a' -
ar'I guess You have; shellis OUT '!If-
"Ain't got none to she'll out" D f5f
I'm get my rod and I'll make you
shell OUT nrzi sGiair7t t''imr
whiletke Masters back vas turned,
Ike slipped his tobacco IN bis boot. 'H
Now sit,ifT find any tobacee,iu:your
pockets, III thrash you completely" ,-,.
go suying he proceeded to examine his
! pockatsi There we're slate-pencils, keel.
stones" knife blades. aints, strings,
.it, s.on,,s. p,;ls fn;ac.V nf iron vl,ss