The Dickinson press., 1884-01-26
SWEET VIOLET.

SWEET VIOLET.
When the school trustees Of the town
Of Cornalbin received from New York
enapplication signed "violet Mathisen.'
for the position of head teacher Of the
town schools intermediate department.
which had been advertised as vacant,
they formerly replied by post that the
applicant could appear before the board
at a specified time, if she could do so at
her own expense. But the trustees
wrote, further, that it was only fair to
Miss Mathisen to inform her that there
were sixty applicants for the position,
some of them being we'll and favorably
known at Cornalbin, and thatthe adver-
tisement had not been published be-
cause the board lacked material from
which to select. but merely in accord
ance With one of the bylaws governing
the board.
Yet Miss Violet Mathisen went from
New York to Cornalbin; and within five
minutes of her trembling entrance into
the presenc 20 of the board, her success
was assured. As she had travelled 200
miles to present herselffor examination,
each one of the five trustees thought it
would he simply courteous to ask her q
question ortwo by way Of formality, par
ticularly as she looked like q sweet, little
thing and thussshe was enabled to capture
each member in turn. h picked apart
Squire Boxers test problem in the rule
of three-and it was a very knotty one
so quickly that the Squire forgot where
he was, and admiringly. murmured:
"well, I'll be darped!" She answered
put by DR.. Pestle, the village apothe-
OCCASIONS. She wound the editor of the
Sentinel around her finger during a
drawn battle over grammatical, puzzle.
and when asked by Shofner. who sold
beer and representel the German pop
ulation whether she knew any Ian
guage but her own, she repeated q Plat
Deutsch couplet that caused Schof1er's
eyes to twinkle. The most obdurate
member of the board was young Falls,
rector of the fashionable CT urch at Cor
nalbin; he regarded all witching women,
as this creature seemed to be, as enis-
saries of Satan; go to bring the other
trustees to their senses he put a few
questions of q serious and personal ma
ture; but when Miss Mathisen changed
the cheerful yet appealing look OF her
large eyes to n of deep solemnity,
dropped her curly brown head. crossed
her breast and began to repeat Nicene
Creed as an answer, the young clergy.
man caught his breath quickly and re-
moved his glasses as if to get a better
view of his unfamiliar character.
Before Miss Mathisen left the room,
she had in her possession an appoint
ment as head teacher of the inter.
and duly signed by the chairman and
secretary Of the board. After she had
thanked the members for their kind.
ness and assured them that she should
be obliged to depend upon them. col
lectively and individually, for counsel,
she departed to look Tor a boarding
place. The members Of the board
looked at each other sheepishly for q
moment, and then Squire Bloker said:
81 shouldn't wonder if we'd find we'd
made fools of ourselves"
"D3n't mention it, " said the druggist,
':for I know we have"
perhaps" said the clerical member,
Selling his hat in some haste, elf the
gentlemen will excuse me, ! may be
able to assist her in finding o Christian
home."
The young rector found Miss Mathi.
sen in the ante-room among the other
candidates; she had not been there five
minutes, but she had alrea.y succeeded
in becoming acquainted with nearly ev.
cry one; she had said that she believed
that she had succeeded. She could
hardly understand why-she would new.
er have came had she imagined there
were so many applicants-she hoped
none of them would hate her--and 81
felt it was better to be defeated by this
sweet little thing from the city than by
any of their lifelong acquaintance
And before the young clergy man had an
opportunity to breach the subject Of 6
boarding place, one of the unsuccessful
competitors tor the leadership, but
nevertheless q girl smart enough tc
know that Young men would congregate
wherever Violet Mathisen might live
had secured the new teacher Is an in
late OF her own home.
The maiden who thus obtained Miss
Madison as a fe!low-lodger found that
she had been entirely right in her con.
lectures, for the little boarding house O
which the two were inmates soon hac
the liveliest parl.r in the town. Miss
Mathisen's faculty for making %acquaint.
ances was simply u%nequalled; she
seemed to have mo preferences, she
certainly wat not forward or in any way
indicate, yet her manner was SO full O.
appeal and trustfulness that every mar
she met adored her as soon as she spoke
to him. She lost one Sunday at church
by the non arrival Of her trunks, fo'
which she telegraphed as soon as she
tie second Sunday she entered the
church just before service began, the
entire congregation surrendered al
discretion, Tor although her cloak anG
hat we're at least fifty degrees too gay
for the occasion, according TO Cornalbir
standards, their fit was perfect, aud they
n entire harmony with the figure
aud face of the wearer.
For u fortnight the whole town was il
accord with Miss Mathisen. who hac
been known almost from the first 81
'Sweet Violet;" afterward everybody
was almost at swords points about her
Some young men hated all other mel
who spoke to her, many young womel
accused her of coaxing their sweetheart
away. Whenever Miss Mathisen heart
any of these complaints she made hast,
to disown any intention of knowledge t
disturb anybody's peace of mind; sh'
was only a school teacher and a stranger
she was devoted to her work and sh,
had no claim of any kind upon the tim,
and attention of any gentleman in tn
village.
This explanation satisfied some youn,
-a.aa. ~ .la- Ala $40. ao.