Mexico weekly ledger. (Mexico, Mo.) 1855-1956, 1884-02-14
HE BROKE UP THE SCHOOL

''That is the new school-house, is
it?" inquired Miss Alice Ray, the
"new teacher" as the farmers plod-
ding little team passed by a little
white house standing endwise to the
road, inclosed in rather dilapidated
fence.
''Yes. that's where you'll hold
forth" remarked Uncle Zeke Wood
burn, ''but I'm Altered you won't
hold out long, fur we've got the
toughest set of boys in the State"
and Uncle Zeke gave kind of cack-
ling little laugh as he thought of the
timid, demure little damsel at his
side controlling the boys of Bear
Creek School. z
"But don't the directors expel them
when they are beyond the control of
the teacher!" asked Alice, her heart
beginning to sink at the prospect be.
fore her.
''Expel EN-! no, We never expel
nobody; if teacher can't boss the
school we just let it boss him; it
amt our fight, an the school here
generally bosses the teacher, and
thar's been some pretty good men
licked in that school-house by the
boys"
II did not know the school was so
unruly," said poor Alice, wishing
heartily that she had hired out as
washerwoman. instead of trying to
teach the savages of Bear Creek.
"Oh, maybe it won't be so bad this
winter; thar's jim Turner, he's one
of the toughest of 'em; he'll be 21
in a month, and you'll get rid of him;
hut thar's the Brindley boys. they're
mighty near as bad
Poor Alice listened with a sinking
heart. The cold, hard duties before
her were hard enough at best; but to
go alone and unknown into a strange
ncighborhood to teach her first school
and to be met at the outset by such
dark prophesies. made her feel home
less indeed. She was naturally
timid, shrinking little thing, and if
she had possessed anywhere on the
broad earth roof to shelter her, she
would have tnrned back from Bear
Creek even then. But she had no
home. HeT mother had died when
she was but IA, and she had kept
house for her father two years, when
he died, leaving her alone. Before
he died he advised her to expend the
little sum he would be able to leave
her in fitting herself for a teacher,
and Alice had fulfilled his directions
so literally that when she had COM
pleted her course of study at the
normal school she had hardly $40
left, and when she paid Uncle Zeke
for hauling her and her little trunk
from the nearest railroad town to the
district to where she was to teach, she
had but IS left.
On Monday morning as she started
for the school-house she felt as if she
was going to the scaffold. Her
course of pedagogics at the normal
institute had included no such prob
lem as this school promised to be,
and if it were not for very shame she
would have given her single S. bill to
any one to take her back to the sta
ton and pay her fare to L. When
she arrived at the school-house about
twenty or thirty pupils were grouped
around talking, but spell of silence
fell upon them when she walked up
and saluted them with a ''good morn
ing which was more like the chlrp
of frightened bird than anything
else. AS she entered the door to what
she had already begun to regard as a
chamber of torture, two or three
slowly followed her into the room,
and depositing their books upon the
whitfield desks, took seats and fixed
their eyes upon her with stare that
did not assist to strengthen her
nerves at all.
All her Theory and Practice on
Opening School on the First Day.
seemed to vanish and leave her head
whirling in dizzy helplessness. She
tried to think of something cheerful
to remark, but her brain refused to
form the thought and her tongue
Glove to the roof of her mouth. She
could see in the faces of her pupils,
most of whom were now in the school.
room, that they were aware of hel
fright and enjoyed it thoroughly. BY
strong effort she partially recovered
herself, and bravely resisted the temp
tation to lean her head ON the desk
and have a good cry. She felt thai
she must do something or faint, sc
she rang the bell, though it lacked
Is minutes of 8. She began taking
down the names and ages of the pu'
pills, and by the time this was com
pleted she felt more at ease. She
then began examining the pupils in
the different branches in order tc as
sign them to their proper classes. She
had finished the examination in all the
| branches except the advanced read
ing class, which was principally com
posed of grown girls and young men
among whom was the terrible jim
Turner, of whom she he had beer
warned.
Several of the members OF The
Il,