The Florida agriculturist. [volume] (DeLand, Fla.) 1878-1911, 1884-10-01


con. "The mistress will board at Mr..
Fryes. He gets too much for it; three
dollars a week is a big price, as it stands
to reason that she won't eat much, bein'
woman,) am all you've got to do is to
get the right kind of girl" he added.
Wallace groaned.
Has any one applied" he asked.
"Well, not exactly applied" said the
deacon, cautiously. There's the little
Brown girl, Julia, she told.her mamma to
tell Mrs. Carter to tell me that she didn't
know but what she might take the school
if she didn't take some other, and Mary
Liscomb called before the meeting was
held, to say that she might teach this
summer, and agin she might not.
"What shall do?" said Ross, de-
spondingly.
Well, you'd better harness up and
ride round for day or two and see if
you can't pick up a good passable kind
OF girl that wants to teach" replied the
deacon as he rose to go.
Never in the whole course of his life
had Ross Wallace been in such fix.
The idea of being put in such position
almost drove him mad. He, Ross Wal
lace, who had never even called upon
one of the young ladies even of his inn
mediate neghborhood, now asked to ride
round and hunt up a ''passable kind of a
girl, who might want to teach" The
thought was maddening.
Ross went to Boston the next day.
The next day after he was uncOm-
monty busy on the farm, and found no
time to attend to the hunting up of the
required ''passable girl" so much need
ed by school district No. /, of the town
of Westcastle. The evening found him
in his room reading "Hallam's Middle
Ages" when the housekeeper Knocked
at his door and made the--to him-fear-
full announcement uf
"a young lady in the sitting room
waiting to see you, Mr.. Wallace.
angels and ministers of grace defend
us !" exclaimed Ross, ~ wonder if she
is the Brown gill, or the Mary Liscomb
that the deacon told me about $3.50
Plainly there was nothing to do but
to go down and meet his unwelcome Wis
itor. u
'If she's any way fit to teach the
school I'll engage her." thought Ross,
as he entered the sitting-room.
His visitor was not so imposing one
after all. 1t was not the Brown girl,
and it was not Mary Liscomb; that
much he decided on the first glance A
graceful little lady, small and slender,
with sweet face framed in masses of
curls, black and shining. Hair that re-
called to the mind of the school official
a little curl that lay up stairs among his
papers. A curl cut from the head of the
mother who died before his remem-
brance. The thought sent the moisture
to his eyes, and the little lady in black
had won her suit before twas preferred.
"This is Mr., Wallace, the school idirec-.
tor, pIesume, = she said, breafing the
silence that was getting embarrassing to
both. 9gnfaa s}si aeas4 90
Mr.. Wallace bowed. 'ii A9qi
81, II am Kit Freeman,f and / called to
see about taking your school; gradual
ted at Vassar. am out of work, and
my mother is dead, and Lam all alone
in the world.N umflind M .aug.
"Poor little girl,'' thought Mr. Wal
lace, as he noticed the tears gather in
her eyes and caught the trembling at
once of her voice and lip, and if Miss
Kit had lacked anything of having
gained the place she sought, that would
have secured it, Old Deacon Carter
might not have thought her ''passable
girl" but Mr.. Ross Wallace did. TWEEN
ty-five will differ from siXty-five on such
subjects.
A long-yes, actually long-conversa-
ton followed, and Miss Kit was not
only engaged, but left the house feeling
quite well acquainted with Mr.. Wallace,
and wondered why any one could call
him 'odd," saying to herself, with just
little blush, ''I'm sure he's just SPLEEN
did, and not odd at all, and I'm sure,
too, that | shall have splendid time
teaching the school"
Poor, self-deceived Miss Kit. Foolish,
confident Miss Kit, to expect splendid
time as the mistress OF Il country school.
Deacon Carter, the author, or almost any
other old man, could have told her bet
ter, and yet to what purpose? Why
not take pleasure in anticipation, while
there is no harm, and some little good is
done. : y
There's snarl of uncommonly bad
children in this district" observed the
boarding mistress to Miss Kit. IA snarl
than the other if possible. You must
be firm and let them know you are mas
ter" she continued with calm disre-
gard OF the sex of the party addressed.
At school, she found that the task
would be a hard one indeed. The school
kept reasonably quiet while the teacher
was taking names and assigning classes,
but the trouble commenced in earnest
then. A set of boys attended who re-
ported themselves as ''too big to go to a
woman's school, as the ring-leader in
formed Miss Kit. and she quite agreed
with him, and only wished that his pa
rents would think so also. Miss Kit
had no peace in her life, whatever hope
she might have in her death, which she
declared to be near, as the children were
hound to kill her.
A worse school could hardly be ina
gined. Miss Kit had lead in repeating
the Lords Prayer, a part of the regular
school exercises, for few days with
bowed head and closed eyes, but she
| fnnnd that the assuming of the reYeren-