The States and Union. [volume] (Ashland, Ohio) 1868-1872, 1871-12-27

IF race or any other.' Here the. specta
70 cles fell off. The Squire replaced
o them in some confusion, gave the toI
J. of his head another twist and felt d
his glass eye, while poor Shocky start
e ed in wonder, and Betsey Short roll
8 ed from side to side at the point Of
e death from the effort to suppress her
r giggle. Mrs. Means and the other
i old ladies looked the applause they
could not speak. il .a
L appins Larkin Lanham and JeeIts
= Buchanan fer captings, said the Squire
: And the two young men thus named
took stick and tossed it from hand to
| hand to decide which should have the
first choice One tossed the stick to
the other, who held it fast just where
he happened to catch it. Then the
, fl st placed his hand above the sec
, ond, and so the hands were alternate
ly changed to the top. Tie one WHO
held the stick last without room for
the. other to take hold had gained the
+ lot. This was tried three times. As
Larkin held the stick twice. out Of
three times, he had the choice. He
hesitated a moment. Everybody
looked toward tall jim Phillips.
But Larkin was fond Of venture on.
unknown seas, and so he said, 4 take
the MASTER while buzz of surprise
ran through the room, and the cap
tain Of the other side, as if afraid his
opponent would withdraw the choice,
retorted quickly, and with little.
smack of exultation and defiance in
his voice: And L take Jeems Phil
lips
And SOON all present, except few
of the old folks, found themselves
ranged in opposing hosts, the poor
spoilers tagging in with what grace
they could, at the foot of the two di-
visions. The Squire opened his spell
ling book and begah B give oat the !
words to the two captains, who stood |
thup and spelled against each other
1t was not long until Larkin spelled |
really with one l. and had to sit !
down in confusion, while murnur
of satisfaction ran through the ranks
OF the opposing forces. His own side
bit their lips. The slender figure of
the young teacher took the place of the
fallen. leader, and the excitement
made the house very quiet. Ralph
dreaded the loss of influence he would
suffer il he should be easily spelled
down. And at the moment of rising
he saw in the darkest corner the fig
ure of a well dressed young man sit
ting in the shadow. It made him
tremble. Why should his evil genius
haunt him? But Strong effort he
turned his attention away from D. |
Small, and listened carefully to the
words which the Sddire did not pro
nounce very distinctly, spelling them
with extreme deliberation. This
gave him an air of hesitation which
disappointed those on his own side.
They wanted him to spell with DASH
ing assurance. But he did not begin
word until he had mentally felt his
way through it. After ten minutes of :
spelling hard words Jeems Buchanan,
the captain on the other side, spelled .
tatrocious' with an s instead of C, =,
and subsidized; his first choice, Jeems ,
Phillips, coming up against the teach ,
er. This brought the excitement to
SFer-heat. & !
For though Ralph was chosen first,
it was entirely on trust, and hiost of ,
the company were disappointed. The
champion who now stood up against
the schoolmaster was famous .speller. IL
Jim Phillips was a fall, lank, stoop- =
shouldered fellow, who had never dis !
himself in any other pur- /
suit than spelling. Except in this one )
art of spelling he was of no account.
He could not catch well or bat well in :,
ball. He could not throw we'll enough :
to make his mark in that famous E
Western game OF bull-pen. He did !
not succeed we'll in any study but that y =
of Webster's Eenieiitafy. But in -
that he was-to use the usual Flat /.
Creek Iocution-.in that he was "a =
boss This genius for spelling is in q =
some people a sixth sense, a matter of y y
Some spoilers are born y :,
and not made, ald their facility re- .,
nifids one of the mathematical prodi- q
sies that crop ont every now and &
hen TO bewilder the world. Bud :,
Means, foreseeing that Ralph would =, -
,e pitted against Jim PhiIli ips, had ni =
warned his friend that Jim could a
spell like thunder and ligt tning;' and J =
hat it took a powerful smart speller' ~
% beat him, for he knew "A heap of D
pelling- book To have Spelled ~
Iown the master is the next thing to ~ ~,
aying whipped the biggest bully - =.
n Hoopole County, and Jim had 'spel- ,,a -.
ed down .he last three masters. He n'
ivided the hero-wership of the dis
riot with Bud Means.
For half an hour tha Squire gave is
ut hard words. What q blessed CO
hing our crooked photography ISL tn
Without it.there could be no spelling gu
chools. AS Ralph discovered his III
pponents mettle he became more III
nd more CAUTIOUS lie was now an
atisfied that Jim would Eventually re'
eat him. The fellow evidently knew ce
ore about the spelling book than old loi
'oah Webster himself AS he stood me
lere; with his dull face and long ms
larp nose, his hands in his pockets, IL
Id his voice spelling inlallibly, it po
emed to Iartsook that his superior Pu
y must lie in his nose. Ralph's tha
4utiousness answered d double par- oe'
,se: 1t enabled himi to tread surely, pia
I'd it was mistaken by, Jim for weak. orr
,ss. Phillips, was, now. confident @ sio
at he, should carry off the scalp of bio
e fourth school master before the ceo
ening was OVER, He spelled ca le' Ino
rly, Confidently, brilliantly. Stoop- 1h, en-
ouidered as he was, he; began to .iie 1ne
'aighten up. In the minds of all -
e company the odds were in his fa-. aga
r: He saw this, and became am bro
7