Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1877-11-28
The Head Of the Class.

uulbe commented until he reached Jle nedu OF |
the class in which he was.
When he was eleven years old, he entered
the grammar school, and his father said to
him at that time, willie if YOU ever get
to be the first one of the first class in the
first division-that is, to be at the head of |
this great SCHOOL, will give you gold |
watch"
II looked like pretty big job but Will |
lie was quite ready TO undertake it, and |
answered
Z" All right, papa; you can just make up |
your mind to hand over the watch by the |
time I'm fourteen years old"
He went to work very much in earnest, |
and as he passed from time to time through |
the different classes and succeeded in keep |
ing at the head of them-often for weeks |
together-he began to feel that the watch |
was a pretty sure thing, and would imagine |,
how grand he should leel tortake it out and |
Z" tell the fellers the time of day."
Willie was very generous boy, aud was
never so happy as when sharing some good
thing with others. He always defended the
smaller boys and if any ole was in trouble
he was on hand at once to help them out of
it. OF course he was great favorite with
both the boys and girls, and no one ever
seemed to envy him because he had rich
father, or because he was so good a scholar.
just as he reached his fourteenth birth
day he entered the highest class in the
school. 1t was now that the watch was to
be won or lost.
| He had not been in the class a week be-
fore he found that he had a rival-a very
sweet little girl, named Flossie Lee. She
had Just come into the school, as her.
parents had only recently moved to our vii
lage from a distant city, aud Flossie, after
an examination, had been placed in the same
class with Willie.
Or course she was a stranger to us all,
but there was something so pleasant in her
| face and her manner was so gentle, that if
she had chosen she could have had hosts of
friends, but she seemed to prefer to keep a
good deal by herself. Her simple dresses,
with the neat rufiles in the neck and sleeves,
with her fresh white aprons that never
seemed to get spot on them, looked very
plain beside the stylish suits of the other
| girls. Perhaps she felt this and so kept
apart from them. But one thing was sure;
| Elossie was at that school to get her edu-
cation, and she knew that she must make
the most of her time Her parents did not
have great deal of MOI ey; but as their
little girl was fine scholar they felt that
they must send her to school as long as they
could and Flossie had often told them that
she meant to be teacher, and earn lots OF
money for them"
So you see that, although she didn't have
a gold watch to work for, she had something
worth a great deal more.
And this Flosse Lee was the rival Willie
had found for she very soon skipped over
over all the others, and took her place at the
head of the class and it looked as though
it was going to be a pretty hard task to get
| hpr ont nj IL
Quite in despair, one day Willie said to
his mamma:
"It's no use trying, tell you, shall
never get higher than number two-NEvER
Flossie Lee CAN'T fail. But there's one
thing about it, if ANY ONE has got to keep
me IRON getting TO the head this year I'd
rather it would be Flossie than any body else
in school, for like her first rate"
And guess he did, for many fine pear,
or bunch OF grapes or delicious orange did
Willie take from his own home table, aud
watch his chance to put them into Flossie's
modest little lunch-basket that hung under
her sacque in the hall of the school, for"
as he told his mamma one day, "Flossie
never seems to have anything but crackers,
or bread and butter for luncheon, and she
almost always goes off by herself to eat it,
when all the rest OF us are having lots OF
hide, and watch her eyes shine when she
finds the things I've put i'll | guess she
thinks it's some good fairy that puts them
there, don't you y
One day at recess, as group of boys and
girls were chatting together about very
hard lesson they had just finished reciting
i'll which every one OF the class had failed at
least once, save Flossie, one OF the boys who
was rather rough in his way, called out;
IS Say, viii Fiske, you can bet OH one
thing pretty sure, and that is that you'll never
get that gold watch as long as Flossie Lees
in the class. Number one she u.s. and mum
Der one she'll stay p
:" know that" said Fanny Huntley who
never had II perfect lesson III her life, q" |
should think you'd be as mad as fire at her,
Willie, Instead OF doing what | saw you do
to-day. Who was it put that orange into
her basket should like to know, Ell p
" Fore I'd be such a tell-tale, Fan Hunt
ley" said bright girl i'll the group, if you
weren't always a peeking round, you would
not see so much"
al don't care" answered Willis, am
not ashamed of it. Yes, ! did put an or
ange into her basket, and | wish had the
chance oftener, for she's good and kind, and
| like her the best OF any girl i'll school-so
there, now i"-and turning on his heel he
called out
Come on, fellers, let's have'a game of
hawkey before the bell rings !" and in two
minutes he had forgotten all about it.
Not so Flosse, who had heard every word.
The children had stood directly underneath
an open window, where behind the blinds
Flossie had been seated eating the orange
she had found in her basket. The tears
were in her eyes as Willie turned away, but
| tl.tr IL
" My goodness" she exclaimed TO herself,
"then it's he that's been putting all these
good things into my basket aud he can't
get gold watch because always know my
lessons. Oh, wish could fail ~
She puzzled over it for long time how
she could manage to fail honestly, for she
said to herself ~ can never say | don't
know il | do, when the questions are
asked me-"
At last she thought of way. al know
how | can do it," She said "day alter to-
morrow comes our geography review of the
whole United States, aud won't even look
at it, and then | will never remember every
thing, and III surely fail. Then Willie will
/. have my place, and get his watch oh,
goody, goody and I'll tell mamma aud
papa all about it, so they will know needn I
have failed, and I'm sure they will want him
to get the watch when tell them how good
he has been to me-"
Aud so for the first time in months, Flos-
sic went to school the morning of the review
lesson, hugging up the geography she had
not opened. The class was called, and Flos-
sic stepped quickly to her place.
"Oh dear" thought Willie, :" she looks so
happy I'm sure she knows every answer in
the lesson | almost wish she wasn't quite
so smart"