Bozeman avant courier. [volume] (Bozeman, Mont.) 1872-1882, 1874-05-01
SCHOOL-MASTER OF RUSSIAN
BAR.

"Whcn is he expected I"
"They said he was coming in to
nights stage"
:: He taught in Frisco, didn't he :"
eyes; guess he was in the depart
mcnt.n
The doctors wife was an authority
Oh all matters in Russian Bar, and on
this last sensation, the coming of a new
schOOlmaster, she freely enlightened
her ncighbOr, Mrs. Hunt, plump
widow, whose miner husband had died
a few months before. There ~,
much to gossip ah".. n tho+ zoo ",,;o! Mo,
thn mase' I IL" arrival and departure of
wy '.age brought the people to their
doors three times a week, and if a
stranger was noticed, ENJOYS were i'm
mediately dispatched to the hotel to
learn his name and business and tile
probable length of his stay. But now
Russian Bar was to have q new school
master, and the folks wondered much
if he would have any trouble with Sam
Seymour, the butchers boy, or Ike
Walker, an unruly spirit, who had
knocked down and pummeled the last
preceptOr who undertook to teach him
school discipline. The trustees were
pOwerless in these matters and declar-
ed that if a scllOOlmaster was not able
to "get away" with the boys in a
square, stand-up fight, he might as
we'll pick up his traps and leave Rus
sian Bar.
On the very evening of the expected
arrival, Seymour and Walker, the lead
ing spirits of the mutinOus schOOlbOys,
met at pool from which both were
trying to coax few speckled trout for
supper.
"Have' you heard what the new
chap is like, Sam ~ said Ike, as he i'm
paled wiggling worm Oh his hook.
"NO; have yOu?"
"Father told Jake, the barkceper,
that he was very young.n
"And small!"
"Yes.n
"Guess he won't stay long i'll town,
Ike.n
III guess not, Sam. School amt good
for lis, such fine weather as this"
The worthless sat and fisEed in 81
lence for some little time, and then Ike
produced bunch of cigarettes and
passed them to his friend. At last,
finding that the fish would net bite,
they shoullcrcd their poles and strag
gled up to the village, pausing mo-
ment to stone a Chinaman's rooster,
which had strayed too far from the
protecting wash house.
Philip HoughtOn was schoolmas-
ter from necessity and not taste. Like
many who have been educated as gen
tlemen III one sense of the word, that
is, without the acquaintance with any
special pursuit that might be turned
to any particular account in the strug-
gle for bread, he found himself adrift
in California with nothing to fall back
Oh. Seeing an advertisement in city
paper for competent teacher to take
charge of the school at Russian Bar,
he answered it, and was accepted at q
Putting his few niove;lbles
pair of old fOils and Il set
If well worn boxing gloves, for Uough-
ton was an accomplished boxer and
bought ticket for Russian
Bar. L
He found the stage driver q cOmmu-
licative, pleasant fellow, who, at his
described the characteristics :
# his future home. Indeed, his de- {
criptiOn of the class of boys whom
1OughtOn was to take charge Of, was
lOt very encouraging.
"YOu'll find them hard lOt," said
le, "and they are all on the muscle,
OO.n
"What is about the weight of my
ldesti" asked HOughtOn, good hu-
noredly. "You see, if have to exer
ise something more than moral sua- S
ion, | want to get posted Oh the I
physique of my men,
"Well, Sam Seymour is about the
trongest."
"And what is about the size Of theI
Ike3n
"Well, guess he tops you by half
head.n "
30 / expect we'll get along well /
nough together, said Houghton; ''and
suppose this is the first glimpse Of a
lussian Barr he added, as turn in
he road brought them in view of that
village. f
The stage bowled along the smooth u
oal and past the great white oak, b
nder whose friendly branches the II
eamsterS were accustomed to make r
heir nOOntime halt.
"I'll set you down at the hotel" said f
be driver. "There's Perkins, the pro- t
rietOr, that fat man smoking on the a
toop." c
HOughtOn confessed to himself that S
he prospect before him was anything 6
ut prepOssessing one. He was not e
q very cOmbative nature, though he o
ked a little danger for the excite Il
lent, but q game at fsticuffs with q o
irty, mutinOus boy, had neither glory Il
or honor for man who had been one s
t the hardest hitters in his college. il
The folks were all at their doors Il
hen the stage clattered up the single Fl
treet, and tho slender, g0od-lo0kingl
Dung man by the driver was meas Il
red aud canvassel before that worthy q
ad passed the mail to the doctor,
tho, with his medical y0catiGn- also X
,und time to run the postOd5ce. q
The doctors wife was at tho window, b
nd, after q long survey Of the GchOOl- .