Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1875-03-31

n,Ne''y f''.'''h' "i the teacher. Geucfaiy
there was Just enough slight movement hare
and there to suggest uncasipeas. int ,,,,. a.d
then sort Of hush pcrvaded the room. AZ N
saving the voice which embodied the Mi
ton, there was nothing but thought notb.
Ing but sacred feeling within tIe four wall,
such pause IN the rustling, Of garments
and stirring OF restless forms came tl;s
morning ne Mr. Blake prayed, z" And II any
scholar OF this school has In his heart n
temptation, or perplexity or a trouble Of any
KIND which he cannot bear alone. and vet
which he dares not reveal 10 parent. or
teacher, or companions, help him first to Law
y before thee, To confess frankly all the sin
there is in IL. 10 think Kindly OF those who
may have contributed to IT, and TO trust
wholly in thy deliverance from il. Thou
knowest our frame, thou knowest that we
are too weak 20 understand ourselves, each
other or thee. Give us trust and patience.
that we may Learn to do right even in the
midst Of doubt and darkness"
The words, "scholar OF this school F"
caught the attention Of several who we're
thinking about nothing in particular IA
state. ot mind quite common among them
when the petitions were Of very general
meaning or concerned interests remote from
their mental habits When the phrase,
switch he cannot bear alone followed,
Harry became deeply interested, and did not
lose any Of the words that followed. Ithap-
pened Just at this moment that Susan Byttes
came into the entry outside, and. putting her
head close TO the inner door 10 learn IL pray
ers were over caught the word sratience''
at whicir she drew back with evident impa-
tieuce saying as she did so, 81 should like
TO know If anybody can be patient in such a
fix as am" She did not wait half min
ute before making another attempt 20 listen.
but the rattle of wagon outside drowned
everything. She was on the point Of draw
ing back IN disgust when she heard the
words, unusually distinct as It seemed to
her Have compassion ON any who may
have heedlessly fallen into the path Of the
destroyer '-(here the girl put her ear still
closer to the crack, in order not to lose the
connection )-"aud give to rs all humility.
and pity and unselhsh devotion to each
other and to thee, that we NAV Judge
rightly, and show mercy, and walk before
thee in love"
Well he won't expel Simon, il he means
that said Susan in a whisper as she re-
sumed an upright position.
\ stirring of feet now informed her that
worship was ended and she walked in and
took her seat. 1t was the custom for be
lated pupil to 90 Immediately on entering if
class was not reciting, and give the reason
of the detention. Susan hesitated, which was
perceived 10y Mr.. Blake, who said quietly.
You can give me your reason some other
time Susan"
"Tbank you sir" said the girl booking
him full in the face.
Several OF the scholars looked at her and
at each other as if something strange had
happened. Without being positively rude,
90 haI -,aI
Tor bluntness, which sometimes amounted to
i'll manners. She never dropped u "thank
you If she could avoid it; she had a way of
not noticing what was said, unless directly
addressed to herself and she seemed to re-
gard everybody more or less in the light of
an enemy SO when the teacher made her a
request or gave her a permission, the best
that either he or the scholars ever expected
was a sullen acquiescence. This "thank
YOU therefore, was an extraordinary event.
There was today, for some reason, very
imperfect degree of attention TO study. 1t
seemed as if some unseen mischief-maker
was at work, making some pupils hstless,
some playful, some stupid. Even the teacher
had tired look, and was evidently less
prompt than usual in repressing irregulari-
ties, and less interesting in his explanations.
Eddie Reems, who usually paid more atten-
J
than to the study of his own lesson, to-day
found the maps ninteresting, and fell TO
watching Stephen barley, who was making
pictures on his slate. Fannie, who disliked
grammar, like almost all children, uncon-
sciqpsly dropped into a reverie in which her
birthday doll-in all probability her last one,
since she was twelve years old-played the
most conspicuous part while Harry, strive
hard as he might to hasten his mind upon
his arithmetic lesson. was continually stumb-
ling upon Hartford aad 81 Byttes," and
what Mr.. Blake meant this morning.
neither OF which helped him to the under
standing of decimal fractions. james Oar
ley was evidently resolving something of
Importance in his mind, for he quite forgot
that Saturday was the day assigned for
bookkeeping, a fayorite study which he and
Simon Byttes were pursuing together. As
he was not prepared" when the time came
for recitation, and as Simon was absent, Mr.
Blake sat at his desk for half an hour unoc-
cupied. lie was not slow TO perceive that
the spirit OF order and Of application was To-
day absent. lie had been teacher long
enough TO learn that n general coincidence
of uneasiness was not uncommon III the best
regulated schools, and he had observed, too,
that it was sometimes traceable to general
causes lie knew enough not to be very ex-
acting the day after town-meetng or the
Fourth of July. when the fatigues OF the
outer boy bad been increased by abuse of
the inner one with cake and candy to an ex-
tent not sanctioned by Solomon. He also
had theory. that the same east wind which
made his wife nervous, and that disagreea-
bly, affected his own lungs, acted as disor-
ganizer among his pupils. But to-day there
was no general cause of disturbance, and he
sat wondering why il was that not only
James barley and himself, who had reason
10 be absent minded, but also nearly every
member OF the school, should seem to be be-
set with diversions. lie was about to end
these musings by calling out the grammar
class, when a knock came at the door, and
! the boy who answered it announced, squire
| Kelp would like to speak with you in the en-
/ try, sir; he says he will not come in
Mr.. Blake never hesitated to be absent a
few minutes, or even half an hour il neces-
| sty arose. lleneyer appointed a monitor
TO watch the pupils. lie told them that he
should trust them, and that such as once for
feited this trust he should closely guard, in
distinction from those who preserved their
self-respect. However, he did not require
them To keep absolute silence during his alb
sence, but allowed them to assist each other
about their lessons.
| wish | could say that all of them always
proved themselves worthy. Of his confidence.
Most of them generally did and his frank
and generous treatment helped greatly to
restrain them when Simon Byttes set oil foot
some disgraceful disorder. To-day, the
leader in mischief was absent, and there was
not likely to be any disturbance except what
arose from childish forgetfulness. When,
however, stephen Darley's righthand neigh
bor looking over his shoulder, saw some
thing very funny drawn upon his slate, ne
could not resist the temptation to snatch the
picture up and show il to those near him
The laughter excited BY this performance,
soon spread from desk 10 desk, until il
reached the corner where Harry Ames sat
lie was quite as eager as any OF the children
10 ion in what was going the rounds aud
did not understand why it was that the slate
DELAYED so long coming TO him, lie finally
rrew impatient and demanded rather un-
gently Of the small boy who held II that IL
should be passed along" Instead of doing
as Harry requested, the little fellow, who
was none other than the innocent ridi-
culed by Simon Byttes, held up the picture