The Tipton advertiser. [volume] (Tipton, Cedar Co., Iowa) 1856-1962, 1873-01-02
From Hearth and Home.l
The Hoosier School Master.
BY EDWARD EaaLHroN.

BY EDWARD E0GLEsToN.
CHAPTER XI.
MISS MARTHA HAWKINS.
"It's very good for the health to dig
In the elements. I was quite emacia.
ted last year at the East, and the doc
tor told me to dig in the elemsnts. I
got me floral hoe and dug, and RS
been most excellent for me-" Time:
shs Saturday following the Friday on
which Ralph kept 6hocky company
as far ~ the forks" near Granny
Sanders house. Scsns, the Equirs's
garden. Ralph helping that worthy
magistrate perform sundry little jobs
snch as warm winter day suggssts to
the farmer. Miss Martha Hawkins.
the squirs's niece, and bis housskeep-
er In his present bereaved condition,
leaning over the palings--picksts she
called them-of The garden fence. talk
ing to the master. Miss Hawkins Was
recently from Massachusetts How
many people there are ID ths most
cultivated communities whose eduea-
ton il partial. a
Its very common for school-mas-
tiers to dig in the elements Il the
East" proceeded Miss Marths. Like
many other people born In the celes-
tial empires (of which there are three
China, Virginia. Massachusetts).
Miss Martha vas not Averse to remind
ing outside bArbasians Of her good for
tuae in this regard. It did her good
to speak OF the East.
Now Ralph was amused with Miss
Martha. She really bad . good deal OF
Intelligence despite her afsctatton,
and conversation With her WAS both
iutesestiDg snd diysrtiDg. II helped
him TO s6s6st Hannah, and Bud. and
the robbssy. and al the ,rsst, and she
- = Delighted 70 1nd ssnnstndy to
nake - lalprassion On. that Ah4 had
come out to talk while Ralph was at
work. But Just It this moment the
sehooi-master wss moi. 20 much inter-
ested In her interesting remarks, nor
% much amused BY her amusing re-
marks, - should have been. He saw
. man coming down the road ri.ling
one horse and leading another, and be
recognized the horses ut . distance.
II must b Bod whp was liding Neans'
hay mars and leading Buds rOan colt.
Bud had been to mill. and % the man
who ownei the horse mill kept but
one old bliud horse himself, Il was
necessary that Bud should take two.
II required three horses 70 run the
mill; the old blind one could grind
the grist. but the two others had to
overcome tie friction Of the clu,nsy
machine.
But It was not about the horse- mill
that Ralph was thinking, nor about
the two horses. since that Wednes-
HsDsssik' Hsik'issh HOME "A aIhi0H lks ssrelllns-sch
he had not seen Bud Means. II be
bad any lingering doubts of the truth
of what Mirandy had said, they had
been dissipated by the absence Of Bud
from school.
"When I was to Bosting -" Miss
Martha was to Boston only once In her
life, but ~ her visit to that sacred city
was the most important occurrence Of
her life, she did not hesitate to air
her "reminiscences Of 1t frequently.
when was to Bosting," she was
just saying, when, following the di-
rectioh Of Ralph's eyes, she saw Bud
coming up the hill near Squire Hawk
ms house. Bud loDked red and sulky,
and to Ralph's and Miss Martha
Hawkins polite recognitions he re-
turned only curly nod. They both
saw that lie was angry. Ralph was
able to guess the meaning of his
wrath.
Toward evening Ralph strolled
through the Squire's cornfteld toward
the woods. The memory Of the walk
with Hannah was heavy upon the
heart of the young master. and there
was comfort In the very miserableness
of the cornstalks with their disheveled
blades hanging tattered, and rat
tling 1iscordantly in the rising wind.
Wandering without purpose, Ralph
followed the rows Of stalks hrst one
way aud then then the other in zig
gag line, turning right angle every
minute or two. At last he came out
in woods mostly of beech, and he
pleased his melancholy fancy by kick
ing the dry and silky leaves before
him In pillows, while the soughing OF
Of the wind through the long, vibrant
boughs and slender twigs Of the beech
forest seemed to put the world into
the wailing minor key of his own
despair.
What q fascination there is In patti
came upon suddenly without knowl.
edge of its termination !! Here one
was running In easy, irregular curves
through the woods now turning gent.
ly to the right in order to avoid {
stump, now swaying suddenly to the
left to gain an easier descent at steer
place. and now turning wantonly &c
the one side or the other. as II from
very caprice in the man who by idl,
steps uncoDsciously marked the line o
the footpath at first. Ralph could no.
resist the impulse-who could ?-tt
follow the path and fiDd out Its destin
alton, snd following it he came pres
emily into lonesome hollow, wher'
. brook gurgled among the heaps o
bare limestone rocks that filled its bed
Following the path still, he came upol
= queer little cabin built Of round log
in the midst OF . small garden patel
inclosed by . brush fence. The stic'
chimney, daubed with clay and toppet
with barrel open at both ends, mad
this a typical cabin.
1t flashed upon Ralph that this plac
must be Rocky Hollow, aud that thi
| was the house OF old John Pearson
the ous.leUOnd hnsk ct maker and hi