Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1883-09-05
[From Arthur's Magazine.l
A MORE EXCELLENT WAY,

Here you young rascal! drop that
this minutep'
The tone was stern enough to enforce
obedience of itself, but the speaker add
ed emphasis by Selling the miscreant by
the collar and giving him thorough
shaking. It was small boy, thin and
starved looking, with many patches on
bis poor clothing and not a few rags
that futtered as he swung In the grasp
of the strong, we'll dressed youth who
held him. But his grlmy fingers never
s3g0sed their hold of the disputed object,
and his only care seemed to be to keep
1t from injury. His eyes bIazed with
passion as he screamed:
Let go of me, Rick Markham. It's
no business of yours, and if you make
me break it I'll kill you for it sometime
see If l don't. Let go, I say"
1t was an odd contest, and the bows
gathered round, full of interest, to see
what would happen, though, of course,
they knew that the little fellow could
not hold out long.
Give it to him, Rich!" shouted out
some, "shake the dirty little beggar out
OF his boots"
Stick to it, Toby" cried others, to
keep up 'the fun" IS findin's is havin's.
If you can only keep 'em. /"
Boys! Boys! What is all this dis
turbance ?" inquired Miss Lawrence, the
teacher, hurrying to the scene. ''Hav-
en't forbidden fighting times enough ?"
Yes, ma'am," answered Markham,
but this isn't real fight. Toby briggs
stole Ray Burgess's toy balloon, and was
trying to make him give it up, but he
won't, and so you see [ cannot take it
away without breaking it."
Careful, careful!' SAID the teacher,
gently; "stole is an ugly word. Do not
say 1t unless you are sure"
Well, I am sure, Miss Lawrence, for
L saw him myself. He watched where
Bay laid it when some of the boys called
him to play tag, and went and got it and
was making off as fast as ever he could
when caught him. F"
"Charles, said Miss Lawrence, grave
1y-she never called him by that hateful
nickname, poby-"I thought you were
growing to be one of my best boys, and
now you pay me in this way for trusting
you. You cannot be my friend if you do
such things. Now make it as near right
as you can. Go and give Ray his balloon
at once"
The chiId's eyes had been fixed upon
her as though he dreaded each word as
1t fell, while his face grew whittier and
more set. As she ceased stony def.
ance settled over it. He moved not one
step.
9 Charles," she said, after a long
pause of wonder at the stubbornness of
this boy, who had lately obeyed her
every word, and perplexity as to the best
course In case he continued obstinate,
are you not going to obey me 90
No, ma'am," replied the boy, slow
II, 81 did't steal it, and I won't give it
up to him-not if you kill me. !"
Miss Lawrence was astounded, though
no sign of the fact appeared.
Very well, )" she remarked, quietly,
looking at her watch, 'twe have no more
time to spend with this affair now. Go
into the school-room, all of you, and
take your seats. [ will attend to it after
the session. Charles need have no reel
tations. He can take his time to think.
x
The sunbeams stole in through the
school-room window, marking, as they
moved from desk to desk, the passage of
the hours. Pleasant summer hours they
were. Bees hummed through them,
birds sang, and sleepy windlets swung in
leafy branches, but two hearts in that
room were too heavy to heed.
Charles briggs sat stolid and deter
mined, watching the door furtively, and
calculating his chances of escape, for TO
this plan his thinking" had evidently
brought him. But too many eyes were
upon him, and, spite of the teachers eff
forts to prevent, many fingers were
pointed at him and many cruel little
tongues whispered, "Tbief =
An! what wild beast Instinct it is
that 50 common enc, to hunt the sus-
pected or unfortunate, either of human
or dumb creatures, the very ones that
should rouse the Christ-like yearning to
shelter them.
Miss Lawrence watched anxiOusly.
She felt that there was something unac-
countable in the boy sudden stubborn
ness, and in the value he seemed to set
upon a simple toy. She had found him
at her entrance into the school, idle,
willful, and disorderly, as neglected chill
dren so often are, but he had been cas-
lily won and had tried earnestly and
constantly to improve. 1his outbreak
was puzzling, discouraging, like so
many Of the cases teachers have to deal
with. Sometimes they find the key to
the mystery; oftener it is entirely out of