The Columbus journal., 1884-02-27

old, but not as tall as some boys Of
nine years. He was very thinly dressed
for such sharp night, and they had
walked fully two miles.
II felt sorry for them, they looked 50
pitiful in their shabbiness; for every
body else in the school-house was at
least warmly dressed, and god many
had smart ribbons and hats and
fiounced dresses
..Old Squire Hepner was sit
tin in a chair on the teachers 3
platform, ana saw q dark frown on
his face when Mis- Wsitely and Sam
came in. But Ispoke up at once. and
tux Sam on my side. It happened to
BIO nv turn to choose, and I was bound
the poor fellow she uld not be sighted.
whether he could spell Or not.
..iIe had half 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 footof his Uncle Hepner.
..Then the spellin' commenced. I
blush to tell it, but I actually missed
the very first word given to me, and
that was mermaid I spelled it
sm-u-r, mer.' 1 knew better, but l was
so nervous I could not collect my
thoughts. So had to take my seat,
and of course 1 had 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
dence that he half expected to get the
prize, and had been studyin' his speller
for weeks.
..Electa missed 'emanate.' She
spelled it with an IL instead of an "a. ;
':Cindy Patch missed 'tranquillize. ,
think she knew how to spell it, but
she was excited because seven or eight
had missed it before her. The Jack
Oak scholars looked very sober when
Cindy had to sit down.
s.But you ought to have seen old
Squire Hepner's eyes twinkle and his
grim face look grimmer when Abime-
iech Abers, the best Red Haw scholar,
missed 'phytochimy,' and Harriet
spelled it without hesitation. 'Bime-
lech got confused, and thought the last
letter was 'e' instead of "
..The Red How people did look NOR
tilted, and the Four Mile folks were
highly pleased, and showed it, too; for
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
ly, in a scared, timid voice that could
just be heard. said:
".H 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! 1 thought he was down
long ago. -. -
Il thought he said it sneeringly, and
he gave Sammy the word in q 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.
s'Then the others who were standin'
missed 'dromedary,' and that left
Sammy and Harriet alone. tell you,
you might have heard pin drop then.
Everybody was half-crazy with excite
ment.
..Old Squire Hepner did not move q
muscle lie had the money. five gold
tive-dollar pieces, in a fancy purse, and
was to give them himself to the winner
1T seemed to me that that poor
crippled boy got help from on high that
night. Inever 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 contemptuOusly at him, the
little fellow raised himself to his full
height, and from that moment never
fiinched.
"His large eyes glistened, and he
threw back his head and looked boldly
at his uncle and spelled his words in .
loud, clear tone that fairly took people, 8
breath away.
sEis mother had quietly slipped
through the crowd and had taken q
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.
''The two spelled against each other
for a full half hour; and all the time
poor Harriet was as white as q sheet,
and could see that she was tremblin'
from head to foot.
"At last the teacher gave the word
'tyrannously.' 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 y
esquire Hepner had been looking on
q spellin' book, too. Now he turned
sharply round to the master and in his
hardest, coolest voice, said:
"'She missed it, sir. Pass it to the
next
"Sam spelled it without hesitating an
instant.
"You could have heard q pin drop in
that room. 1t was still as death.
Harriet dropped into her seat and
buried her face in her hands. Squire
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:
"'I want you all to know that I think
this has been fair and square match,
and my nsphe,D deserves the prize
"Without further words he took his
hat and marched out of the house.
"Well, the Red Haw people actually
carried Sam home on their shoulders,
with Mis- Waitely close behind, cryin'
as if her heart would break with Joy
and nervousness. But she had on Q
long, warm plaid shawl that l saw Mis-
Squire Hepner throw over her as she
stepped out of the door.
Zone of my sisters went home with
the Hepners that night, and she said
that Harriet cried all the way home,
and was in mortal terror at the
thought of meetin' her father. She
stopped on the doorstep long
while. and when she did finally step
into the room, tremblin' and fairly
moanin', her father, who was sittin'
with his head hetwoen his hands haf0rA