South Branch intelligencer. [volume] (Romney, Va. [W. Va.]) 1830-1896, 1878-04-26

| hoW uO you Spcii tuCoSuVit, Auut ma
tyr asked Hal as he came TO my room
just from school.
Threshold" I answered.
Good enough" he replied .'buL
I was sure as anything there was two his
in tit sounds so, anyway. Poor Joe
! failed in it to-day. and he got down one.
lie feels awful bad about it-you know
he's been at the head Of the class for
two weeks ....
''Oh, pshaw p / answered, Il wouldn't
feel bal over that don't think it's
quite fair TO keep at the heal all the
time. and not give any one else chance.
Go down and ask Joe and the rest to
come up here aud will tell you story
of something that happened in my school
life that remember rs we'll as ii it were
but yesterday"
Willie Fiske was one. Of the very
brightest boys in town. aud although he
loved fan as we'll as any Of the rest of
his mates, yet he was very fond OF study.
and was never quite contented until he
reached the head Of the class in which
! he was.
When he was eleven years old he en-.
tered the grammar school, and lis fath-
er said at that time, willie, if you ev-
.er ge. to be the first one Of the first class
in the first division-that is, to be nc
the head of this great SCHOOL, will give
you gold watch
1t looked like big Job ; but Willie
was quite ready to undertake it. and
answered:
"All right, papa; you can just make
up your mind to hand over the watch by
the time I'm fourteen years Old"
dc went TO work very much in earn
est, and rs he passed from time to time
| through the different classes; and sue.
cee,ied in keeping at the head of them
often for weeks together-he began to
see that the watch was pretty sure
thing, and would imagine how grand he
should feel to take it out and "tell the
| fcllers the time of day"
Willie was very generous boy, and
was never SO happy as when sharing
some good thing with others. He al
ways defended the smaller boys, and if
any one was in trouble he was on hand
at once to help them out of it. OF
course he was a great favorite with both
the boys and girls, and no one ever
seemed to envy him because he had a
rich father, or because he was 60 good q
scholar.
Just as he reached his fourteenth
birthday 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
before he found that he had q rival
q sweet little girl, named Flossie Lee.
| Clio ho1 or ;,,tO
her parents had only recently moved to
our village from distant city, and
Flossie, after an examination, had been
placed in the same class with Willie.
Her parents did not have much mon.
ey, but rs their little girl was a fine
scholar, they felt that they must send
her to school as long rs they could and
Flossie had often told them that she
meant to be teacher and earn lois of
money for them"
SO you see that, although she did not
have gold watch to work for. she had
something worth great deal more.
And that Flossie Lee was the rival
Willie had found; for she very soon
skipped over all the others and took her
place at the head of the class; and it
looked as though it was going to be q
pretty hard task to get her out Of it.
Quite in despair, one day, Willie said
to his mamma:
cts 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 from getting to tue
head this year, I'd rather it would be
Flcssio than anybody else in school, for
| like her first rate" And guess he
did for many fine pear or bunch OF
grapes, or luscious orange did Willie
take from his own home table, and watch
his chance TO put them into Plossie's
modest little lunch basket that hung un-
der 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, when all the rest Of
us are having lots Of goodies; and /
tell you it's fun, mama, TO hide, and
watch her eyes shine when she finds
the good things I've put in 1 guess she
thinks it's some good fairy that puts
them there, don't your
One day, Mt recess, as n group OF
boys and girls were chatting together a.
bout avery hard lesson they had just
been reciting, in which every one Of the
class had failed at least once save FIos-
sic, one Of the boys, who was rather
rough in his way called out
Say, Will Fiske, you can bet on
one thing pretty sure, and that Is, you'll
never get that gold watch as long as
| Flossie Lees in the class. Number one
she is and number one she will stay ~
IL know that" said Fanny HuntIey,
l who never had n perfect lesson in her
life, II should think you'd be as mad
as fire at her, Willie, instead of doing
what / saw you do to-day. Who was
I II put that orange into her basket,
! should like TO know, eh?"
Fore I'd be such telltaie, Fanny
I Huntlp ~ aoid a bri0hl 1itfl~ Girl In The