Democratic messenger. [volume] (Snow Hill, Md.) 1869-1973, 1881-06-04
Dec AND NUCKY.
BY A scHooLMIsTREss IN IDAHO.

Eastern teachers would have smiled to
see my schoolhouse in Idaho. 1t was a
very primitive structure, built of cotton
wood logs, with but two windows, and
those of smallest dimensions.
There were but three benches besides
my "desk" and the company bench, +"
reserved for the parents and other visit
ors.
But as had only thirteen pupils, 1
was not crowded for room, nor yet puZ-
zled by the higher branches for my
most advanced class could but barely
read and spell in words of two syllables;
and the only foreign language that had
to struggle with was the native tongue
of little Hilda and Hansen Biork.
The Bjorks were Norwegians. Two
more quaint or proper little things can
hardly be imagined. They sat together !;
l put them ON the same bench because
Hilda cried If they were apart.
All day long they would sit there
seemingly without so much as winking
like two little wooden images. They
were about as dull as wood, too. or
rather, perhaps, it was the difficulty
they had in comprehending anything in
English.
With the progress made with them
for the first two weeks, calculated it
would take one twenty years to teach
them to read. ia (yes), nGa (no), and
nikkG forStUe, were all could get from
them in the way of answer.
But they always said God Gtten (good
afternoon) to me when school was done
at night and their mother, Frau Bjork,
came nearly every day to thank me in
broken English for the pains was
taking with her dear ''shaals." So 1
took courage.
Della Rourke was another of my pu-
pills. She was an honest-faced little
Irish girl who used to fetch me from her
mother bit of goat cheese every
third morning, which l never had the
heart to refuse, though how to dispose
of it was constant source of anxiety to
me.
My "good scholars" were little Carl
Roederer, the foreman's son at neigh
boring quartz mill, and prim, woman
ly little girl of nine, named Ella Buffin,
who sympathized with me in everything
with wonderful quickness, and was real
ly considerable company for me.
The others were all broad-spoken lit
tie chucks from two Ohio families lately
settled there, and two New York street
gamins whom a farmer named Grover
had taken at the solicitation of O society
of gentlemen.
This society has, or had, for its object
the providing of homes in the West for
homeless, friendless children from the
streets of the city. A great many chill
dren, particularly boys, have been thus
adopted by Western farmers.
Some of these waits have done we'll in
their new homes. Not few, however,
carried with them so strong faint of
vice as to give their new guardians q
field for Christian effort and patience.
OF this kind were the two taken by
Mr.. Grover. Their own surnames being
unknown or doubtful, they had taken
the name of Grover, as is customary
They called each other "Dec" and
''Nucky," and were said to be brothers,
though they bore little family resem-
blance. Dec was, think, as much as
eleven years old Che did not know his
age). Nucky was a year or two
younger.
VIZ w oPStAh WIN ACACACACC W
my feelings during the first six weeks of
school, l should say that Dec and Nucky
were about the two worst, most incor-
rigible scholars that ever entered o
school-room. Later had reason to be
thankful for them and recognize the fact
that everybody is good for something,
and has his or her place in the worlds
economy. But to realize that fact dur
ing the first part of the term was beyond
the frail human nature of their torment
ed teacher.
The ordinary language used in a
frontier town is never very choice; but
Dec and Nucky brought from the great
metropolis a selection of slang which
quite eclipsed the local vocabulary. 1t
was enough to make ones heart sink.
There was in these two urchins, more
over, certain hard, lawless spirit. They
had no reverence for anything or any
body, and were utterly reckless as to
what they did. The very first day OF
school Dec mounted his bench and stood