Vermont farmer. [volume] (Newport, Orleans County, Vt.) 1870-1877, 1877-02-09
PINE TREE" DISTRICT SCHOOL.
BY MRS. ANNA A. PRESTON.

zine nrSt class IN arltnmeLlC Will bahe
their places" said little Miss Bardwell, the
school teacher in the "Pine Tree" district,
aud the boys aud girls in the back seats came
in a harum-scarum way down the aisles to
their position on the floor.
mot so much noise" said the teacher,
pleasantly, lifting her white little hand in
a warning way, at which Tom Snow pre-.
tended to be frightened and dropped his
slate upon the floor with a great racket.
To add to the confusion, Charlie Wells,
feiguing to trip his foot, fell sprawliDg upon
the floor. At this all the boys shouted and
laughed, the little girls almost giggled them
selves double, while the big girls, every one
of whom we're larger aud taller than their
teacher, Uttered behind their books.
IL hope you havn't hurt YOURSELF" said
Miss Bardwell, in sympathetic tones, as she
assisted Charley to rise, VIII at the light
touch of her hand on his coatsleeve, made o
great ado, pretending his arm had been
broken by the fall. His mock groans and
ridiculous %grimaces raised another laugh,
but order was soon restored, and the lesson
about Partial Payments" went on very well
until a shower of chestuuts begun to rattle
around the room as if they had been shaken
from a tree by a strong wind.
Miss Bardwell looked about her in amaze
ment, and as she was trying to ascertain who
the culprit was, one of the flying nuts hit
her forehead, making a black.and-blue spot
which lasted for weeks. Two or three Of the
smaller children who had also been hit now fell
to cry, and little Jennie Swift lisped:
"Pease, schoolmarm, it it'll George Bur-
rowths, and he it'll up over head"
'George Burrows will take his place in
the arithmetic class Immediately" said Miss
Bardwell with decision, casting her full blue,
eyes upward to a dark, square hole in the
middle of the ceiling of the little country
school house.
Presently pair of immense eowhide boots,
followed by a pair Of long, slim legs, and an
u~ngainly body and a rather repulsive-looking
face, appeared through the %scuttle, which
had been left for ventilation when the school
house was built, and after hanging a few
moments by the long arms in mid-air, drop
ped upon the floor and hitched along to one
end of the recitation scat.
calvin Brown will 60 to the blackboard
and do the second example in Partial Pay
ments, while the rest OF the class will give
me the United States rule for computing the
interest required in these examples" said the
the teacher, not seeming as yet to notice the
shameful actions Of her pupils.
Alvin was a short little fellow, and ht
began his example by heaping up a pile oil
stove-wood under the blackboard.
What are you doing that for" asked
Miss Bardwell.
80 | can begin at the top" was the re
ply "these sums in Partial Payment
stretch out like thunder"
This speech evoked the expected laughter
of which the teacher wisely, under the cir
cumstances, took no notice. Matters nov
progressed quite orderly for a while, unit
the woodpile upon which Alvin was mounte'
tumbled down, and boy, wood and all wer'
rolled over the floor. The uproar that en-
sued after this greatly exceeded that WhicI
followed the preceding disturbances.
"Marshall Perkins will 60 out and &c
me a SWITCH" said Miss Bardwell, with SOM
severity. al cannot put up with such shame
full actions" So Marshall ran out OF tn
school.room for a switch, that was TO be USE
on some of his mates, with great alaerity.
"Please s~chool-marm, can | go home :
, asked little Helen Newton, jumping up
! "my stomach aches"
"What makes your stomach ache, m.
| dear ?" asked the teacher, laying her hand
! caressiugly on the curly head of the child.
! "Oh, it always makes my stomach acb
when, the big boys have to be whipped, an
l want to go home"
Hereupon Marshal returned with q tin
bit Of an apple spout, not large enough
! hurt a kitten, and handed it to the teacher
"You know very well, Marshal, that thu
s will not do" she said. "Ja mes Fox, yo
may 90 over there, across the road, aud Sc
e what you can get something fit to punis
these unruly boys with"
James was gone a good deal longer tin
d than it took Marshal to 60 on tho same 9
rand, but when he did return it was wi
" an old, large, disused fishing pole that
= had found on the bank Of the brook that Ta
# near the schoolhouse. After the tumultuol
laughter that his appearances in the schoC
room door with that unseemly aud unwlelc
rod Of correction in his hand had evok
d was suppressed, Miss Bardwell, saying tn
it was now twelve o'clock, dismissed I
school and without another word, quiet
l. left the room and proceeded to her boardin
place. She said no more As She went OF
but the delicate purple veins now so clear
defined in her white neck and face, and !
or trembling lids and tear'sufused lashes OF b
10 eyes, told how deep the wounds had be
made by this outrageous conduct on the pa
=" Of her "big boy" pupils.
ID "By golly, boys" said james Fox. aft
ge he had watched her out Of the yard, IS