The Bolivar bulletin. [volume] (Bolivar, Hardeman County, Tenn.) 1865-1888, 1879-10-30
"TEN GREAT GALs.''
An Amusing story from a Teaoher.

g boarding round. - We knew very
well the little red school-house, stand
ing at the exact center of the district,
on the borders of a mighty swamp, the
farm houses scattered about the hills,
and we also knew the nuisance of that
particular school, a squad of half doz-
en- rough fellows who had emerged into
q tail coats, and would hardly relish
the discipline of boy-pedagegUe in a
roundabout. $50 a4H l-
After. the first fushof elation at oIif
election, the reflection came back, like a
return wave of iee-water, that in all hui
man probability, ere our 18th birthday
should dawn, we should be seen vanish
ing head foremost out of the school
house window into a big snow drift,
propelled by class, Number 0Ae' of Dig
boys. In our anxiety we applied to
/" Aunt Anna the general ora
Gle of the y. household. Aunt
Anna was "a stalwart maiden
of go summers gigantic in pro
portions, but every inch lady in her
dear old heart. She had nursed half the
children - in town through -measIes,
mumpS and chicken-pCx, and was the
mainstay in all family emergencies.
There were sly rdmors that the occa-
sional attacks of % fidgets, > which over
came the goodle4d lady at night, had
some relation to a mysterious black bot
tie which she always carried in her
woIk-bOx; but Aunt Anna, plus the
fidgets, Twas worth a regiment of or
dinary feminines for the homemade
/ uses of country life.
''Well, now, you are really going to
keep school in District Number Five, y
said Aunt Anna, smoothing down her
oh
tacles for "a good long look at the in
eipient pedagogue seated at the oppo-
site corner of the fireplace.
'' Yes, Aunt Anna, | have promised
to keep that school, but, between you
and me, 1 am dreadfully afraid to tackle
that crowd of boys. You know what a
| rough set they are, and one of them has
already given out that there will be
no board wanted in District No. Five
after the first week ~ fr- 2
g That's serious matter. Now let's
see if we can't think of something to
help you. Now you see, don't know
any thing about book larnin'. No doubt
| you can cipher that back seat of boys in
| to the middle of next week. But they
| can fling you over the roof of the school
/ house in jiffy. l know every family
in the district. | have nussed in every
| house, and taken the measure of every
! Iyoungster that will come to that school,
| There's one thing in your favor; there'll
! be ten great gals in that school, and
most of 'em are good gals, too. Now,
| some are a head taller than you, and
two or three of them are right hand
some, too. They can twist that crowd
| of great, bashful boys round their little
fingers, if they want to. Now, mind
what l tell you; do you go to work and
| gain the affections of them ten great
gals, and they'll manage the great boys
while you keep SCHOOL,
That sounded well; and armed with
! this panacea against rebellion, we
opened school the Monday after Thanks
| giving. 1t was a rough-looking set up
on the hige seats-that row of villainous-
looking fellows, any one of them big
enough TO throw me over into the big
swamp with ease.
Happily our first boarding-place was
with two of the "great gals Never
did we g lay ourselves out - to gain the
good graces of the lovely sex as during
the first week Of that boardin' round.
We rode on the front of the sled with the
tallest girl, played checkers with the
second, got all snarled up in q . cats
cradle - with the pretty visiting cousin.
and put in a word of exp plantation for the
"hard sums - of all in the long evenings
at home.
The first crisis came at the beginning
of the second week, when big lout
q sauced - thenew schoolmaster. Some
how it crushed us, and for minute thC
school-rOom SWAN round, and the idea
of seizing our fur cap and making fol
home fitted across our vision. JUS
then the patter of light footstep was
heard down the long slope of the mar
row aisle leading up to the seat of the
% ten great gals. y Theetallest glideC
down, ostensibly to ask the explanation
of hard sum; but as we leaned ovel
the slate, with a dimness in the eyes, We
heard a whisper in our ears:
/ "Don't be cast down! We girls vii
shame that seat of boys into good man
ners before another week. -
4 A light broke in; we were gaining tht
affections of the ten great gals
1 So things drifted for six weeks, whe1
dawned the judgment day. We hat
gone to board with a good, motherh
woman, who loved us as her own son
A big fire in the parlor greeted our ar
rivals and a supper fit for the parsOl
himself. After tea our hostess appeared
in her best black silk, in her hand
mighty black " "ruler," and sat dow
before US with the air of Minerva.
g Now matters have come tosa poin
in your school; you have been trying t,
govern that crowd of rascally boys b,
love, but that has come to an end To
: morrow they'll try to put you out. Tax
this ruler, and don't come home tO-mor
row night unless you have used it VI
over-the head and shoulders of some
: body" -,r rs t.rts.
There was no appeal from that.
2 greater than the whole class of {" grea
l gals 5" had spoken, and we felt in ou
: soul that fate was standing at the school
2 house door.
Were we endowed with the epic rag
t of Homer or a Pope, we might pos
( sibly depict the scenes of the comin
: day. How the ugliest Ioafer, in a froel
2 coat, kicked in the door at recess; how
? when the trembling young maste
asked, Who did that?'' the big boo
lifted his thumb TO his nose, and exc
e cuted that significant gyration with tn
little finger which would make a savag
of St.John himself; how, fired with th
f, courage of despair, and vision of on
/. farmhouse Minerva, we seized the bi
4, oaken ruler. rushed up the incline
2 plane, upsetting several small children
I on the insolent seoundrel, tore off th
: collar of his frock coat, snaked hin
: down the area before the fireplace, an
t beat him over the head and shoulder
? till he roared for mercy; how, at inter
7 walls, he cast a glance at his accomplice
> and took in the situation; the . ten gres
a gals . had spiked the guns of all bU
this wretch, who skunk and begged III
Y der our hand-how we wound up with a
e eloquent address, and gave the whippe
t ruffian his hat, with instructions to 2
2 hnma. how his sensihie father took %