Bristol news. [volume] (Bristol, Va. & Tenn.) 1867-189?, 1871-10-20
THE HOOSLER
SChooI-Maz&er,
BY EDWARD EGGLEsT0N.

SChool-Maag&er.
BY EDWARD EGGLESTON.
PRIVATE LESSON FROM A BULL DOG
CHAPTER Iv.-(CoNTINUED.)
And soon all present, except few o
the old folks found themselves ranged
in opposing hosts, the poor speller.
in with what grace they could, at the
foot of the two divisions. The squire
opened his spelling book and began tC
| give out the words to the two captains
who stood UP and spelled against each
other. 1t was not long until Larkin
spelled "really" with one |, and had
| to sit down in confusion, while MUIR
| mur 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 if he should be easily spelled
| down And at the moment Of rising
| he saw in the darkest corner the figure
of a well-dresScd young man sitting in
| the shadow. 1t made him tremble.
Why should his evil genius haunt
him? But by strong effort he turn
ed his atten ton away from DR.. Small.
and listened carefully to the words
which the Squire did not pronounce
very distinctly, spelling them with
extreme dellberatiOn. This gave him
an air of hesitation which disappOin-
| ted those on his own side. They wan
ted him to spell with a dashing assur-
ance. But he did not begin word un-
til had mentally felt his way through
it. Alter ten minutes of spelling hard
words Jeems Buchanan, the captain
on the other side, spelled atrociOus F"
with an instead of C, and subsidized,
his first choice Jeems Philips, coming
up against the teacher. This brought
the excitement to fever-heat.
For though Ralph was chosen first.
it was entirely Oh trust, and most of
the company were disappointed. The
champion who now stood up against
the SchOOlmaster was famous spell
Ter. Jim Phillips was tall, lank,
stoop- hOuldered fellow who had never
distinguished himself III any other
pursuit than spelling Except in this
one art of spelling he was no account.
He could not catch well or bat well i'll
ball. He could not throw well enough
to make his marx in that famous Wes-
tern game of bull-Den. He did not
succeed well i'm any study bat that of
Webster's Elementary. But in this
he was-to use a Flat Creek elOcutiOn-
9 a hOss. This genius for spelling is
in some poole a sixth sense matter OF
intuition. Some spoilers are born and
not made, their facility reminds one of
the mathematical prodigies that crop
out every now and tFcn to bewilder
the world. Bud Means, foreseeing
that RalDh would be pitted against
Jim Phillips, had warned his friend
that Jim could spell like thunder and
lightning" and that it took power
ful smart sDeller to beat him, for he
knew a. heap of spelling book" To
have . spelled down the master" is
next thing to having whipped the big
gest bully in HoOpole Comfy, and Jim
had spelled down" the last three mas
tiers. He divided the worship Of
the district with Bud Means.
out hard words. What blessed thing
our crooked Orthography is! Without
it there could be no spelling-srhOols.
Ralph discovered his opponents met
tie he became more and more cautious.
He was now satisfied that Jim would
even ntually beat him. The fellow evi-
IDENTIFY knew more about the spelling
book than old Noah Webster himself
As he stood there with his dull face
and long sharp nose, bis hands in his
pockets, and his voice spelling infali-
bly, 1t seemed to HartsoOk that his Su-
pcrioTity must be in his nose. Ralph's
cautiOusness answered q double pur-
pose. 1t enabled him TO tread surely,
and Il was mistaken hy jim for weak
| ness. Phillips was now confident that
he should carry off the scalp of the
| fourth school-master before the even
ing was over. He spelled eagerly,
confidently brilliantly. StOopshOul-
dered as he was, he began to straight
en- Up. In the minds of all the COM
pany the odds were in his favor. He
saw this, and became ambitious to dis
| tinguish himself without giving the
matter any thought.
Ralph always believed that he would
| have been speedily defeated by Phil
| lipS had it not been for two thoughts
which braced him. The sinister shad-
ow of young DR.. Small sitting in the
dark corner by the Water-bucket ncrv-
ed him, a victory over Phillips was
q defeat to one who wished only i'll to
| the young schoOl-RaSter The other
thought that kept his pluck alive was
the recollection of Bull. He approach
ed word as Bull approached the rae
coon. He did not take hold lntil he
was sure Of his game, When he took
hold, it was with quiet assurance Of
success. A. Ralph spelled in this dog
ged way for half an hour the hardest
words fhe squire could find, theexcite-
ment steadily rose in all parts of the
house, and Ralph's friend even ven
tured to whisper that = maybe Jim
had cotched his match after ALL"
Bud Phillips never doubted of his
success.
Theodolite," said the Squire.
"T-h-e, the. o-d, cd, theod, o, theodc,
l-y-t-e, theodolite," spelled the cham
pion.
"Next.n said the Squire, nearly los
ing his teeth in the excitment. Ralph
spelled the word slowly and correctly,
and the conquered champion sat down
ia confusion. The excitement was SO
great for some minutes that the spell
ING was suspended. Everybody III the
house had showed sympathy with one
or the other of the cOmbatants, except