The Eaton Democrat. (Eaton, Ohio) 1875-1903, 1884-01-17

nine years. He was very thinly dressed
for such a sharp night, and they had
walked fully two miles.
81 felt sorry for them, they looked so
pitiful in their ~shabbiness; for every
body else in the school-house was at
least warmly dressed, and a goodmany
bad smart ribbons and hats and
flounced dresses.
sold Squire Hepner was sit
tin in a chair on the teachers
platform, and 1 saw a dark frown on
his face when Mis- Waitely and Sam
came in. But I spoke up at once, and
tux Sam on my side. 1t happened to
be my urn to choose, and l was bound
the poor fellow should not be sighted,
whether he could spell or not.
"He had half q mind not to spell, but
I saw his mother reach out her hand
and gently push him; and then he hob
bled down to the end of the line and
stood within a footof his Uncle Hepner.
"Then the spellin' commenced. I
blush to tell it, but / actually missed
the very first word given to me, and
that was mermaid I spelled it
.m-u-r, mer.' I knew better, but 1 was
so nervous I could moi collect my
thoughts. So I had to take my seat,
and of course I had a little cry all to
myself.
"But I nearly laughed so as to be
heard all over the room when Azraiel
Whitehead missed goose He spelled
| it .guse,' and he had told me in conf
prize, and had been studyin' his speller
for weeks.
'.Electa missed semanate.' She
| cna11od II u;th on 81 instead of an 90
"Cindy Patch missed 'tranquillize.'
1 think she knew how to spell it, but
| she was excited because seven OF eight
had missed it before her. The Jack
Oak scholars looked very sober when
Cindy had to sit down.
"But you ought to have seen old
| Squire Hepner's eyes twinkle and his
grim face look grimmer when Anime
lech Abers, the best Red Haw scholar,
missed 'phytochimy,' and Harriet
spelled it without hesitation. 'Bime-
lech got confused, and thought the last
letter was Sc instead of "
1.-The Red How people did look NOR
titled. and the Four Mile folks were
highly pleased, and showed it, too; fol.
| all the best spoilers were out on both
sides, and only Harriet Hepner and five
or six others were left. Four of them
missed smicaceous,' and Harriet was
Just going to spell it, when Mis- Waite
", in a scared, timid voice that could
Just be heard, said:
eff you please, teacher, Sammy
hasn't spelled yet
Sammy stood down at the end of
the line and they had overlooked him.
But the teacher replied:
$50 indeed! L thought he "a down
long ago
81 thought he said it sneeringly, and
he gave Sammy the word in a tone that
said plainly: You can't spell it, any
way
"But what did Sammy do but spell it
correctly, without the slightest hesita-
ton.
ssThen the others who were standin'
missed 'd~romedary,' and that left
Sammy and Harriet alone. L tell you,
you might have heard a pin drop then.
Everybody was half-crazy with excite
ment.
ssOld Squire Hepner did not move a
muscle. He had the money. five gold
five-dollar pieces, in a fancy purse, and
was to give them himself to the winner.
cit seemed to me that hat poor
crippled boy got help from on high that
night. 1 never saw anything like it!
At first he was so shy that his voice
almost trembled; but when he and his
cousin he had never spoke to, stood up
there alone, and his fierce old uncle
glared so CONTEMPORARY at him, the
little fellow raised himself to his full
height, and from that moment never
linched.
"His large eyes glistened, and he
threw back his head and looked boldly
at his uncle and spelled his words in q
loud, clear tone that fairlytook peoples
breath away.
"His mother had quietly slipped
through the crowd and had taken a
seat behind him; and them that set near
her said she got one of his hands in
hers and held it, while the tears
streamed down her face.
"Tbe two spelled against each other
for a full half hour; and all the time
poor Harriet was as white as a sheet,
and I could see that she was tremblin'
from head to foot.
sat last the teacher gave the word
st~yrannously.' Harriet spelled the first
syllable. then stopped and stammered,
! looked imploringly at her father and
then tremblingly went on and spelled
it with one n
".How did you spell it. Harriet Did
, you have only
: esquire Hepner had been looking on
, a spellin'-book. too. Now he turned
, sharply round to the master and in his
{ hardest, coolest voice, said:
: "sShe missed it, sir. Pass it to the
next
t "Sam spelled it without hesitating an
, instant.
"You could have heard a pin drop in
l that room. 1t was still as death.
Harriet dropped into her seat and
buried her face in her hands. Squire
f Hepner's face never changed. Without
a word he rose, reached out his long
arm, beckoned to Sam to come to him,
' and then dropped into the lads out
! stretched hand the purse. Turning and
: facing the breathless people, he said:
q - want you all to know that thin
this has been a fair and square match
E and my nephew deserves the prize
+ "Without further words he took hi:
! hat and marched out of the house.
"Well the Red Haw people actually
carried Sam home on their shoulders
!, with Mis- Waitely close behind, erwin
; as if her heart would break with Joy
and But she had on
long, warm plaid shawl that l saw Mis-
! Squire Hepner throw over her as SHE
stepped out of the door.
"One of my sisters went home with
= the Hepners that night, and she sale
= that Harriet cried all the way home
J and was in mortal terror at thu
T thought of meetin' her father. Sht
j. stopped on the doorstep a Ions
! while, and when she did finally steI
r into the room, tremblin' and fairly
moanin', her father, who was sittin
e with his head between his hands before
e the fire, got up and walked over to he
and actually kissed her, there befor,
s them all. Then he went off to bee
!. without a word.
e .But what followed was better still