Arkansas weekly mansion., 1884-03-15


desk again before had fully recovered
my strength. Ihave often b, en- paipe,l
to observe that the average boy has lit
tie consideration for the weak. and INV
school seemed to think that because /
wasn't able to give them their regular
fatlonS of birch they might do pretty
much as they pleased-and they did.
One day felt that nv control of the
school was gone. The noise that l was
unable to quell kind of dazed me, as |
sat there feeling completely ill and
helpless. felt that had better res On
and get into a saw-mill or a boiler-mak-
ers shop, or some such occupation,
that was quieter and more soothing than
the one l was in. All at once the noise
ceased and en- looking up l saw that
Bill 1rimmins, the biggest and worst
boy In school. was sitting on a desk
with his feet on the scat he ought have
sat on. This was a direct defiance of
authority that could not be ignored.
| Bal was the only son of his father, and
Old Man Trimmins had no more cons
troll over him than | hal. Bill could
have thrashcd me quite easily, and |
kaew it.
''William,'' said. somewhat we irily.
'would you oblige me by sitting down
on the seat
THANK you said Bill, I'm quite
comfortable where | am
There was "a litter around the room at
this remark. which was doubtless con-
sidercd the very choiccSt of wit.
/ William" l said. rising, Il VIII
have to punish yen if you don't take
: Your seat as Won ought.
! He grinncd at thi, abSurdity and sad:
] "Wcll. L guess you'll never have a
better chance
walked to where he sat in his ele-
waited seat.
! "ifold ont your hand
He laughed.
I strGck him n smart rap over the
knuckles with the ruler. 1 his so en-
raced him that he threw down his slate.
jumped into the aisle, and with an oath
Hung Off his coat. retrcaIed back TO
the desk and h followed. With Al his
/ bravado he was Il raid to hit me =
! square blow VIII ,c! would have settled
! tie mattcrthcrc and then. He was not
/ afra d of me personally, but l repre-
i scented in L way th" authority OF the
+ tiistri was TIE cmhodimcnt. rs It
were, of law and order, and that indciin-
able something he was jbt enough
afraid OF rs To hcstat- about striking,
/ so he clinchcd me instead OF course
( quite ayrcc with you tha> there could
not be Il more demOralZ;Ig sight Tor q
school to see than 4 fight bcIw en- teach
cr and pupil, hut there it was. and l
had not time to sec NV way clearly out
of it. Events had followed each other
too rapidly.
Tn" moment Bill clinchcd. rs they
called it, | felt he hal made n M stake.
Old memories of by gone fights rose
up, and II they rose / elevated W llilam
on my hip and dropped him gathering
on the floor much to his own aStonI~h-
ment and that OF TIL school.
..Nise up. William | said, land hold
out YOUR hand.
lie spranr TO his feet and cried:
You lust tiy that again.
Once more We cl:nthcd. once more he
lost his feet. and once more he lay on
the floor.
There. | have accommodated ynu.
Now obli@e me by getting MP and hold
ing out your hand.
This time he tried to strike me. but l
dodgcd that, cla rci Inn lovingly
aga:n and Hung HIM II full lcn~lh. He
evidently regretted I at hr Lad taken
oil his coat. for the floor was ard. lie
made for the door. hut lost I m. by 90
ing around for his discarded coat. l
reached the Il ,or first, locked it and ut
the key in my pocket, some OF the
girls had begun TO cry, and all The boys
sat hr, athlcsS. Bill looked Hurried and
somewhat the worse 20 wear.
Hold cut YOUR hanl, Wiliam.' |
sad. rs he approached. TO my aston
iShmcni, h held out his hand, but he
instantly thrust it further and took me
around the hoiv, completely TO my sur
prise He ra ;>cd me from the floor and
only a grapevine twist around his leg
saved me. We sur4ed back and forth a
moment. till | got my feet on the fl or
and instantly | had him on the hip
once more. felt M strength rapidly
leaving me, SD with 4 final supreme cf-
fort | hung him without mercy on the
hard floor, and there he lay while l
leaned painting against the wall. As he
showed no signs of getting up. took
'dippcr from the pail which always
stands near the door in Il country
school house. and threw the cold water
in his fac.
He raised himself and leaned with
one hand on the floor, dying Gladiator
fashion, and seemed ut a loss to know
lust where the discussion had left off.
| helped I'm to collect his ideas b. say
Ing:
William. get up and hold out your
hand'
He rose somewhat painfully, as Rip
Van Wrinkle did after he oversight him
self and, dusting OF his clothes, he held
out his hand rather shccpishly. hadn't
strength enough left to thrash him if |
wanted to. | said:
II don't want to whip Il big boy Ike
You. You know what you ought tn do
aS well as l can tell you. If you 60 to
Your seat I'll say no more about it. I'll
let Nou o 1 easy this time.
He felt dubiouSly of the back of his
head to see if it was in place. sad
..thank you' with a grim grin and went
TO his seat.
When got back to my desk the
whole school seemed to whirl round
and round and felt the ring nc in my
ears that q person feels when sinking in
the water. However, | came to the
surface all right, and when the school
house became stab e once more | no.
ticed that the pup Is were all indust.i-
ou-lv attending to their lessons.
such was the intellectual status of
that nrighhorhood that received more
congratulations for my little debate with
Bill Irimm ms than for ali the brilliant
educating | did for two Years after
d, troU Free Press.
Narrow Escapp of an Editor