St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1871-10-13
From Hearth and Home.
The HOOsicr ,ScHO0!- Muster.
EI EDWARD Et:GLESToN
CHAPTER II.
A Spell Coming.

"WiIiiam Means, will you be so GOO,
"a To put this dog out of doors -
There was a moment Of utter stiffness
Bat the magnetism Of Raiph's eye wal
too much for Bill Means The rcqucs
was So polite, the masters Look was ;,
innocent and yet Sc determined. Bill of
ten wondered aitcrward that lac had no
Git rather than obeycd the request
But somehow he put the dog out. ii,
was partly surprised, partly inveigled
partly awcd into doing just what he ha,
not intended to do. In the week tha,
followed, B!ll had - fight half 4 drzer
boys for calling him "Puppy Means y
Bili said he wished he'd licked til,
master on the spot. 'Twoud a saved
five iights out of tie six.
And all that day and the next, the
bull do6 III the masters eye was ter
ror to evil docrs. At the close of school
on the second day Bud WAS heard tc
/ give II ~ his opinion that .'ihc master
wouldn't he mach in tu-s!c, but he
had Il heap of thunder and lightning in
/ him Did he intlict corporal punish
mcnt , injuries some philanthropic
friend, Would you intlic! corporal pun
ishmcmt ii You were tigcrtraincr in Van
Ambursh's happy family If You had
been among the human bears Oh Flat
| Creek You would have used the rod also.
Hut poor Ralph coulI never satisfy his
constituency.
/ "Dom't believe he'll do" was Mr..
/ PETE Jones comment To Mr.. Means.
| "Dun't thrash enough. Boys won't
l;Irn les you thrash 'cm, says l. Least
way, NINE wont Lay it on good, is
what say 10 a master. Lay ii on good.
DJn't do no harm. Ickin' ami larnn'
Goes together No lictin', no larnim',
say l. L!ckin' and larnin, lirk;n' and
larnim, is the good ole way"
, And Mr.. Jones, like some wiser peo-
pie, was the more pleased with his for
mula ihLt it had an alIiIcraliye sound.
Nevertheless, Ralph was master from
this time until the spelling school calnc.
II oml it had not been for that spelling
school, Many and many Il time after
the might OF the fatal spelling school,
Ralph used to say: "Il only it had not
/ been for that spelling school,"
There had 10 be- IA spclIing-schoul
Not only for the sake OF my story, which
would not have been worth the ,clllng ii
the spelling school had not taken place,
but because Flat Greek district had 10
have 4 spclling->chool. 1t i the only
public literary exercise known in Hoo
/ pole County. Ii takes the place "t ly-
ccum lecture and debating club. Sis
Means, or, a. -hc wished now TO he call
cd, Mir.tndy Means, expressed herself
most positively III favor OF it. She said
that she lowed the folks in that district
couldn't i'll no wise do without it. Bat
ii wi.a rather TO its social than its intel
lcrtu:L benefits that She referred. For
all the spelling schools ever sycn could
not enable her TO stand anywhere but at
the foot of the dIs.. There Is one
branch diligently taught in Il back woods
school. The public mind seems impressed
with the difficulties of English orihogra-
ply, and there is 4 solemn conviction
that the chief end of man is to learn to
spell ''know Wcbstcr's Elementary
cam1 down from hcavcn," would be the
backwoud> version Of the Greek doctrine,
but that, unfortunately for the Greeks,
Then fame has not reached So far. 1t
often happens that thr pupil does not
know the meaning of Il single word in
the lesson. That Is ui NJ consequence.
What do yul want to know the meaning
OF wcrd for Words were made to
be spelled, and men were created that
they might spell them. Hence the ne
ccSSity for sending a pupil through the
SpclIlng-book five times before you allow
him TO begin TO read, or indeed to do
anything else. Hence the necessity for
those long spclling-classcs at the close of
each forenoon and afternoon session of
the school, to stand at the head of which
Is the cherished ambition OF every schol-
az. Hence, too, the necessity for devo-
ting the whole of the afternoon session of
each Friday to a "Spclling Match" In
fact, spelling is the ''national game" in
Iloopolc County. Base ball and crcquet
matches are as unknown rs Olympian
chariot races. Spelling and ''shucking"
are the only public competitions.
50 that the fatal spelling school had
to he appointed for the Wednesday of
the second week Of the session, Just when
Ralph felt himself master of the situation.
Not that he was without his annoyanrcS.
One of Ralph's troubles in the week be-
fore the spelling school was that he was
loved. The other that he was hated
And while the time between the appoint
lng of the spelling tournament and the
actual occurrence of that remarkable
event is engaged in clapsng, let me mar
rate two incidents that made it for Ralph
II trying time.
CHATTER Ill.
Mirandy, Hank, and ShOcky.
Miriam Iy had nothing but contempt
for the new master until he developed
the bull dog in his composition Miriam
dy fell in love with the bull-dnm Like
many other girls Of her class, she was
"rc ,tIy enamorrd with the "suhjection
Of women" and she stood ready to fall