The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1878-02-23
THE HEAD OF THE CLASS.

Willie Fiske was one of the yer"
brightest boys in town, and, although
he loved fun as well 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 ird
which he was.
When he was eleven years old he en-.
tered 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"
1t looked like a pretty big job; but
Willie was quite ready to undertake it'll
and answered.:
g All right, papa; you can just mako
up your mind to hand over the watch
by the time I'm fourteen years old"
He went to work very much in ear
nest, and, as he passed from time to'
time through the different classes, and
succeeded in keeping at the head of
them-often for weeks together-he be-
gan to feel that the watch was a pretty
sure thing, and would imagine how
grand he should feel to take it out and
tell the fellows 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
anyone 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 a
rich father, or because he was SO good
scholar. Just as he reached his four
teenth 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 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 village from a distant city, and
Flossie, after an examination, had been
placed in the same class with Willie.
OF course she was a stranger to us
all, but there was something so pleas
ant in her face, and her manner so gen
tie, that if she had chosen she could
have had hosts of friends, but she
seemed to prefer to keep good deal by
herself Her simple dresses, with the
neat ruffies 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: Flossie was at that school to
get her education and she knew she
must make the most of her time. Her
parents did not have great deal of
money; but, as their little girl was fine
scholar, they felt that they must send
her to school as long as they could, and
Flossie often told them that she s'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 good
deal more. And this 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 pretty hard task to get her out of
it. Quite in despair, one day Willie
said to his mamma:
I" It's no use trying, tell you, shall
never get higher than number two
neUer! Flossie can't fail. But there's
one thing about it, if anyone has got to
keep me from getting to the head this
year I'd rather it would be Flossie than
anybody else in school, for | like heI
first rate"
And l guess he did, for many fine
pear, or bunch of grapes, or delicious
orange did Willie take from his own
home table and 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