, 1884-03-04

@who made these snow baIiss' 1 asked a
msll boy.
Casting a frightened look around him he
answered under his breath;
-Jim Higgins, sir.S
Jim was the biggest and worst boy In
school, and / thought that II Il came TO a
fussle between us. rs / felt 1t inevitably would,
there WIS every chance that Jim would get
the best OF me-. Imake no bones Of the fact
that / was afraid OF him and 1 had endeay-
ored quite UNNECESSARILY to .propitiats hin
during the week that school had been going
on. At this moment Jim entered the yard,
squeezing a,snow-ban with his hands between
his knees after the manner of boys who want
to make a hard one. He was making for his
pile when. he noticed me standing by 1t, when
he stopped, Strengthened up and looked at me
u moment as II he hesitated whether to drop
the SNOWFALL or brazen it out. The silence
and the eyes of the whole school on him
braced him up and he cried:
Master, gimme leaver
Certainly j ,tl llIJGtls. g. 1855
With a movement like lightning he flung
the SNOWFALL directly at my head. I ducked
like a fash, but the ball took the rim off my
hat and plastered it against the neighboring
fence. had been no SLOUGH of a snow-baller
myself in my youthful days, but 1 never
flung a ball with such vengeance as that. !
sprang erect and said. d. r JEJ.
i"Now it's your turn" and sent my ice bolt
at him as IL 1t had come from a cannon. He
ducked. of course, but l had calculated on
that, and the ball hit him square on the ear
with a thud that made my heart stand still
He flung his arms over his head and fell back
against the gate by. which he had Just en-
tered His face was pale, and he gasped for
breath. Although with set teeth aud tears
in his eyes, he smiled a CHASTITY smile.
"Oh, masterI" he half sobbed, 4yoE ~
n heavy one" .Uu .o+ p
"You see, Jim.p / said with a lightness 1
did not feel, "snow-balls, like chickens, COM
home to roost-"-
"They do that gasped Jim, as he poked
the crushed ice ont Of his ear with his fore
finger, @and they roost mighty solid, you
bet"
He was grit clear through and never
whimpered. M = 4rGD t. r
When school was m l said:
Boys, the hired me to teach the
young idea how to shoot. 1 have given Jim,
there, a lesson on shooting that, il it didn't as
Ii too often the case, go in at one ear and
out at the other, came very near doing so.
In some years at the teaching business 1 have
got into the bad habit of having my W
way You seem to have got into the same
pernicious habit I am getting old and it's
nhru ior INC 10 acquire rev naDlts. You
are young and it's easy. Now IL don't
have my own way there will be trouble. II
l do, these win be peace. The decision rests
with you. What do you say. Jimr
Jim was still pale and q little shaky on his
pins, and l noticed with sorrow that his ear
was cut.
"Wel," he drawled out, "Tm for peace, for
the rest Of the day, at least Pm in favor OF
giving the master a fair show for the winter
Il guess il we don't he'll take it, anyhow. l
don't want to be hit with the sid OF the
school-house again" u
"Jim,p said /, as he sat down, @Tm afraid
you've been snow-balling again. 1 won't say
anything about it this time, but it had better
stop. Some one will get hurt" s15fa-
] expected that Old Higgins would be
Town next day with a shotgun, but never
heard of the matter again. Idon'tthink Jim
ever told him He was plucky, and we had
peace. ... 4I.