Weekly Chillicothe crisis. (Chillicothe, Livingston Co., Mo.) 1878-19??, 1882-01-19
THE MAN WITH A b ACK BEARD.

NllE WTN WIN ~ u nSN pGHllLt
We were all assembled in the little
kchool-room, girls on one side, boys on
the other, and Miss Linda in the mid.
die, beside a mahogany desk, piled with
spelling. hooks, and graced by pol
ished' ruler, which never, within the
memory of the Oldest scholar, had been
used for any more unpleasant purpose
than to rule copies with, for Miss Lin
da's sway was a gentle one, as anyone
who looked at her fair face might well
have imagined Even our habit of
calling her Miss Linda was proof of
this; any other teacher would have
been addressed by her surname, but
we never thought of ours as Miss Har.
rington. To this day cannot guess
her age; she was certainly young, but
her features had lovely popularity
of their own, which made it impossi-
BILE to say how young she was. In her
mirthful moments she looked like a
merry child; in her .sadder ones she
was quite a woman; but in any mood
she was as beautiful as perfect feat
ures, ivory skin, wealth of golden
hair, and great, lOng-fringed black eyes
and well-arched eyebrows could make
her.
She was in her merry mood this
mbrning, and there were dimplps in
her rosy cheeks, and those black eyes
outrivalled the brightest diamonds that
ever glistened amid the tresses of a
princess, The stupid scholar of the
school (there is.always stupid schol-
ar in the school, and he is invariably
boy) was stumbling through his SMELL
ing-lessOn, and falling fiat over the in.
surmountable word physician" lie
had spelt it "Hzzishion," "fusition," and
was at present mute with despair, and,
obliviOus to the p omptings of sym.
pathizing little girl behind the teach
er's chair, was preparing to cover his
eyes with his coat sleeve and bemOaH
himself, when the whole school was
startled by the sudden ninging open of
the door, and the entrance OF little
Lucy Darwin, the smallest of the
small children under Miss Linda's care,
in state of violent agitation.
"Oh, the man. the man" sObhed Lu-
cy "The great tall man with the
black beard He's frightened me out
Of my Senses"
"What man, Lucy?" said Miss Lin
da, compassiOnately. "Iow did he
frighten you, my dear?"
ale came close behind me, and said,
Never, never, neverI" answered the
child; "andrhe put his hands to his
forehead, and then he went away out
of sight down ny the river. Oh, Pm
so frightened, so frightened, Miss Lin
da, you can't thinkp
at was only some poor crazy man,
my DEAR" said Miss Linda. "You are
safe now, at all events; wipe away
your tears, and tell me all about itP"
81 was coming along the green lane
toward the school, Miss Linda, hurry
ing very fast for fear l would be late,
when l met our new minister, who
stopped and shook hands with me, and
asked how you were, and said he
would look in at the school and hear
us sing this afternoon; and while was
answering him this tall man with the
black beard passed us twice, and then
stopped beside the water. And when
the minister turned away he looked
after him, and then walked very quick
ly toward school, and then turned back
again, and then clasped his hands and
said Never never, neverp ont loud,
and frightened me so that cried, and
ran here as fast as | could"
This horrible narration affected all
the smaller children as a ghost story
would have done; and Miss Linda, af.
ter looking around at these frightened
faces, laughed merrly, and, expressing
her decided conviction that the gentle.
man with the black beard had escaped
from the lunatic asylum. called the
school to order, and proceeded in the
usual routine of duties, as though moth
ing particular had occurred.
Early in the afternoon "our minis
ter" did call. He had a habit of visit
ing the school, and it appeared to mt
that the teacher was much more inter
esting than her scholars. At all events
1t was certain that he looked at hel
much oftener than he did at us, and
was very particular about shaking
hands when he took his leave. He
was young and very handsome man
and rumor said he was exceedingly il
love with our Miss Linda.
He fingered in that little school
long while on that bright afternoon
but he went at last, and then the chill
dren were dismissed. and the littl,
building closed for the night. My way
was the same as Miss Linda's and
trotted along beside her, holding tight
ly to her simple muslin dress, and chat
ting all the way. We came before
long to the pretty cottage where oul
schoolmistress boarded. The woman
Of the house-a talkative New Eng
lander-sat with her knitting upor
the porch. She greeted Miss Lind,
with smile, and began to empty hel
budget of smalltalk and news forth
with.
"Did your ears burn to-dayp" sh,
said. "They ought to, for you've beer
talked about enough. A stranger wa,
here-a foreign looking man with {
long black beard; and he asked mt
about the place and people in it, ant
appeared to be much interested abou
the school, and asked the name of tn
teacher and what sort of a person sh
was. l told him as near as ! could
AMI kaIn 4 [ aiunlldn't Z MfnfIfen IL III