The Pulaski citizen. [volume] (Pulaski, Tenn.) 1866-current, 1884-09-18
The Spelling Bee,

! the social and sometimes festiv,
= gatherings, which furnish the stur
= dy farmer welcome change if no
> pastime from the common tread
: I mill of toll, connected with the till
ing of the ground. AS for the boys
: and girls, the spelling-bees in win
ter are looked forward to with ca
: gerness. caused by the two-fold an
3 ticipation of fun, as well as the
buOyant hopes of carrying off the
prize set apart for the best speller.
When the children returned home
from school one day to gleefully an
nounce the appointment of spell
g-bee, the young folks of both
sexes manifest at once great inter
est while the older folks generally
acquiesce in the coming frolic 81
lently or resignedly, according to
circumstances Occasionally the
head of the family will recklessly
declare his willingness to go along.
By the way, it is customary in the
country that the boys andIgirls, but
more particularly the former, at
tend school in winter, more or less
regularly till twenty years old.
Tall Bill, whom the boys had
years ago nick-named "Whip-poor-
WILL" because the chastising rod
had saddened him oftener than the
rest of the boys, is strapping lad
of eighteen, who cuts with ease two
cords of wood per day in his ia
ther's timber patch. Putting axe
and maui away about sunset on
that particular day, he returns
home to the paternal roof and sit
ting down by the stove, suddenly
remarks to his astonished mother: |
''Ma, don't you think a fellow can
learn ever SO much at a spelling |
bee?" "Why yes, my son, 1 should |
say So" mother replied, who had |
never before observed any ''symp-
toms of that kind on her first born.
Had mother known of the rural |
telephone between the hill-farm and
the timber-patch, she would have
known that thesdark-eyed lassie up
the hill had already notified Bill of
her going to the match. "Sweet
Sam" so called long ago, because
his mother had to coax him to
school with candy, a fact which
leaked out afterwards and procured
the surname for him, had heard of
the spelling bee at the blacksmith
shop, sort Of rural exchange, you
know. On reaching home, he puts
the horses away and on entering
the room says: "Seems the wealth
er has tempered down considera-
bly," a sort of breaking the subject
to the unsuspecting head of the
family; as going out at night in
winter is q rather rare occurrence
in respectable districts of the far
west. Sure enough, paterfamllias
looks up wonderingly, since it has
been all day too cold for Sammy to
do any outdoors work, except the
chores around the stables, and even
the woodshed has been sadly neg
lected. At this critical juncture,
Abbie enters, a sweet girl of six
teen with the milk pals in her
hand and sunny light in her face.
20 MOTHER" she pleads, 'may we
go Ito the spelling-bee to-night?'
The cold man" by the stove, turn
ing the haf-roasted side of his we'll
fed body around to benefit in turn ,
the other half a while, and to look s
in the direction of his good wife, {
grumbles something about Gin such !
weather, ," ''ten below zero, ''I"horses i
amt sharp" all ''nonsense;" but :
when he sees mother who has just 8
returned coaxing kiss from the s
household pet, Abbie, bending over 8
ler knitting to hide a smile, that q
sunny smile, which he liked so well 6
hat he wanted it for himself and q
lis home altogether, he consents to e
ct "the children" go. There is a +
trange tenderness in his unsteady \
'oice, when he adds: ''But come in il
,ood time" And again mother is c
milling in a way which he alone s
an interpret, and which at once n
ecalls to his memory the spring b
eason of his fair and upright WOO f,
ng of the rose of Willow Dell. And "
le begins to rub his left leg vehe- D
nently, complaining of an imagi- d
ary rheumatic pain, all ado to hide b
ot smile but a tear of grateful o.
When the children left e
he room, he turned to his wife o
aging, "You are right, Susan; why q,
hould we deny to our children h
that made us so happy in our a,
outhful days? And do you re- e,
lember the first spell-bee we went Al
o together2 Where was the harm is
hen and afterwards? Aye, we al is
rays trusted each other, have we al
OF? Well, then, we will trust our 81
hildren, too. If we deny to them p
lnocent pleasures they are apt to v
each for forbidden fruit" The if
andy farmer boy, who is too proud n,
attend spelling be, or, when he
oes attend, ridicules it as cheap
lir, will readily visit places of
oubtful respectability. Sweet Sam
as meanwhile in the wood-shed- u
hateful place to the average coun- o.
" lad-furiously saving and split n
ing to replenish the fire-wood pile, So
nd plotting sweet schemes as his oil
lther had in the long ago. So sc
luch for the spelling-bee at home. al
Such happy, merry, and we'll III
lad crowd of chatting and laugh 81
lg children and youths as had h
athered at the capacious school al
ouse; nobody thought of checking a. a.
leir merriment, not even the grave "
shool- directors and somewhat dig III
flied teachers. The house is NJ
ensely crowded, and desks and yf
indow-sills are in great demand pl
,r seats. Now the monitor is w
Gpped, and perfect silence reigns, -
hen the senior director opens the nc
zercises by telling the audience -
bout the schools in the Elong ago, u
here there were hardly any roads ns
trough the uew settled country ye
round, and the children made their In
ay to the log school house guided IN
~ hn Ia