The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1884-11-22

kefy center of interest to them taken
such a hold upon her.
A few weeks after she said one
fnsining att the breakfast table :
hbys, Pve been thinking that we
night begin geology this summer
@a study it, all of US together. !
I've found textbook; by and by
Insde can draw chart, perhaps.
JerN will take hold, / know, and
Nak and Johnnie can hunt for speci-
mels. We have an hour or two every
night.
srRe children's interest awoke in a
Has. and that very evening the ques
tloEsdisrussed was one brought up
by Nate:
"hat is the difference between
limYtDne and granite?1
sissspie one, but it opened -
wa? for her. and the first meeting
proved success. She had to study
e ch day to be ready and wide awake
for her tlass. They lived in a lime
stone region. Different forms of coral
aboundei, and other fossils were
plenty. An old cupboard in the shed
was turnfd into a cabinet.
One dag Nate, who had wandered
two or thee miles, brought home "a
piece of pck where curious finger
shaped ceatures were imbedded
Great wasbhe delight of all to find
them descfbed as orthocoratites, and
an excursion to the spot was planned
for the mex holiday, Question after
question lei them back to the origin
of the eartl. She found the nebular
hypothesis and hardly slept one
night trying to comprehend it clearly
enough = put before others in a
simple falhion. Her book was al
ways at lhnd. By and by they cIas-
sifed eacb specimen and the best of
their kibl was taken to shelves in
the Sittilg-rOOm.
Her tWn enthusiasm in study
aroused, and far from hardship, it
now beeme delight. Her spirit
was Courageous. The boys, always
fond of mother" wondered what
new lifepossessed her, but they ac-
cepted tie change all the same. She
found tat she could teach and also
inspireher pupils.
Theyheard of a gully, five or six
miles away, where ystaIs had been
found. Making holiday, for which
tbe boys worked like Trojans, they
box their lunch in farm wagons and
Dde to the spot, and if the search was
rot altogether successful, it left them
me memory of a very happy time.
+ In the meantime the farm prosper
d. She did all the work in the house,
and all the sewing, going out, too, in
the garden, where she raised few
lowers and helped to gather few
vegetables. Daniel and the boys were
bitterly opposed to her helping them.
"Mother," said Jerry, 'if you
won't ever think you must go out,
ri do anything to make up. | don't
want you to look like these women
we see sometimes in the fields"
She generally yielded her work
was enough for one pair of hands
Through it all ran the thought that
her children were all growing up !;
they would become educated men ::
she would not let them 60 ahead, not
so as to pass her entirely.
Winter came. Now Daniel could
see to the work but these habits of
study were not to be broken.
"Boys, let US form a history club,
was the opposition "it shan't inter
fere with your lessons at school,"
They took the history ofthe United
States, which the young children
we're studying. Beginning with the
New England settlements. and being
six in number, they called each other
for the time, after the six States, per-
suading old Daniel to take his native
Rhode Island.
"That woman beats all creation"
he was heard to excIaim, "the way
she works all day and goes on at
night over her hOOks.'
The mother said she hardly knew
if she were any Older than her boys
when they were trying to trip each
other with questions. The teacher OF
the district school came oyer one Sat
urday afternoon.
II never had such pupils, !" said he,
"as your sons in history, and, indeed,
they want to look into everything. ="
Afterward he heard with delight
the story of her evenings work. The
deep SHOWS often shut them in, but
the red light shone clear and bright
from the sitting room window, and a
merry group was gathered around the
table.
Every two weeks and evening was