Weekly expositor. (Brockway Centre, Mich.) 1882-1894, 1884-01-10
FRIGHTENED INTO A LIE.

There could not have been u worse
time for those committeeman TO come
in. Poor Miss Marmalade thought it
was too hard. Friday afternoon of the
first hot, summer day. Most of the
children too warmly clad, and all fever
ishly uneasy. And such looking
school-house! The apple-cores and dust
might have been removed, to be sure,
and the teacher was in fault there; but
it was such dilapidated old school
house that Miss Marmalade and the
scholars thought it was no use TO care
anything about it. The walls had been
albums for generations; the benches
and desks were disgraced with cuttings
innumerable. There were not any
blinds nor curtains but those the spi-
ders had woven across the dusky Win
dows.
No wonder the decent neighborhood
of Cherryhill was ashamed of such n
''templc of learning. AN appropriation
had been made for new building, but
the committee thought it imperative
TO instruct the scholars on the proper
treatment of n new school-house. For
generations, every boy that owned q
knife or pencil had considered the
school-housc lawful field for his skill
In fact, the gray-haired chairman of
the committee might have seen there
his own initials in brackets with ccr-
tain "B. H., carved by his own boyish
hand in the days when the now vener-
able Mrs. Brastow was 'little Bethiah
Horn" But Squire Brastow was not
"a bac&ward-looking son of Time" just
now. His whole gaze. intensified by
his clear spectacles, was fixed severely
upon the youthful delinquents before
him. His little grand-daughtc Mamie,
Il timid child Of seven, hardly knew her
grandfather to-day Certainly, he had
never bent upon her such a stern look
rs now alarmed Miss Marmalade's pu-
pills. He described the beauty of the
proposed school-housc and c0ntrasted
it with the present disgraceful build
ing. Now" said he, ''if we were to
let loose this horde of young savages
into new school-house, it wouldn't be
six months, not six months before il
would look just as bad rs this. Now,
Miss Marmalade, we propose to put
the whole matter in your hands, and
we give you authority without appeal
ing TO us in individual eases. If you
know of any boy or girl whiting the
desks or any part of the school-house,
you may cXpel such forthwith. That's
the only way to bring these scholars
up to the understanding OF how the
new school-house should be treated"
Miss Marmaladc bowed politely in as
sent, but there were indignant flashes
in her black eyes.
Monday morning the little school as
sembled, freshened by Sunday and
clean clothes. A thunderstorm had
cleared the air, and the morning open
ed favorably. Prominent among the
scholars in the front row was little
Mamie Brastow, the pet OF the school.
During a writing exercise she broke the
point of her pencil, and came timldi!y
to the desk 10 borrow the teachers
knife. Miss Marmalade handed it to
her with a smile. Nobody could say
..no" to Mamie. The child returned
to her seat, pointed her pencil careful
ly. and was about to return the knife,
when unluckily, she thought she would
make further use of it in digging out
the paper wads which some former oc-
cupants of the seat had stuffed into
hole in the desk-lid. Mamie was natu-
rally nice and dainty, and these soiled
bits of paper We're an annoyance every
time she looked at her desk. She had
often tried to poke them out with q
slate-pencil, in vain. This sharp little
penknife would be just the thing. But
alas! the paper did not yield, and, in
stead, the slender blade snapped IN
two. Poor Mamie fastened to the desk
with her fearful apology. Miss Marina
lade did not care specially for the knife;
that was not what made her so angry.
The Injustice and Indignation OF last
Friday all came back to her, and IN
sharp tones she said, "Mary Jane Bras
tow! did you break that eoh'ttt'ng nc
seats?" Yes" gasped the child.
s'Oh. no. no! / mean. Don you
dare to tell me lie, child You know
what becomes of liars. Take your
books and 90 straight home; and how
do YOU think your grandfather will feel
TO have Won the first offendGp Good
enouoh for him, too" added Miss Mar
malade, with cruel smile; 'he should
not have made such arule. Never
was more anguish buttoned under
child's checked apron than poor little
Mamie carried from that school-room
Dear Grandma Brastow heard tht
whole story, and believed the little CIR
because she had made q study OF chill
slren and understood how probable 4
was that timid soul, in the first scare
of an angry accusation, should be daze'
and crushed, and confess, Topsy-likc
to what IL didn't do. Miss Marmalade
however. was never convinced OF Ma
mics innocence, and was not appease'
by the kind note and the pearl-handle'
knife that Grandma Brastow sent II
that afternoon. And what could Grand
pa Brastow, chairman of the commit
tee. do or sayp The stern old MAJ
never opened his lips on the subject
His little granddaughter was pct,e'
with more tenderness than ever. Mis-
Marmaladc was greeted with the stiff
est of bows when he met her on tn
street. and he resigned his place on tn
school board before stone was lal
for the new building.
The new building is old itself now
and disfigurcd, like Whinier's schoo
house. with '.thc jackknifes carve
initial Mamie Brastow, now Mar