The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1884-02-13
OUR SPELLING MATCH.

II must tell you. my dear, how
much | enjoyed the spelling match
in your shool one afternoon it re-
minds me so much of when | was
young. I'm right glad they have
spelling matches in schools. When
| was a girl we young folks thought
great deal of the spellin's we had
and this one of yeurs brought back
that old country school house where
got the little learnin' | have, so
that | could shat my eyes and see it
as plain as the day.
at was placed on a little rise OF
ground, right at the edge of a big
grove of hickorvnut and walnut
trees. Old Squire Hepner gave the
ground for it out OF his wood pastur'
lot, and in summer time the grass
grew thick, and full of flowers down
the slope in front of the house, to the
rail fence that shut off the school
ground from the road. We used to
eat our lunches in the fence corners
on spring days.
"You can't think how thick the
grass was, nor how bright and green
the moss was we'd find on the old
rails. And all along the edge of the
grove, and peepin' up so shy and
sweet and modest like, was the vio-
lets and daisies and bluebels and
yaller butter cups for us to place in
our hair and pile on the teachers ia
bic.
Then in winter, we'd have sucn
gay times coastin' down the slope,
and skatin on the pond just acrost
the road. Ne and my little brothers
and sisters walked two miles to go
to the log school house, and thought
nothin' Of it.
Don't | remember well ev'ry one
of those old logs | think | do. 1t
wasn't such poor excuse for
house as you might think, either.
Indeed, -Four Mile School
House, as it was called, was about
he best one in Greenaway township,
'or it was of hewed logs, mind you,
and had a pine floor and a plastered
,eilin', and most of the school hous-
rs were of rough logs, with the bark
,n, and had dirt floors, or at best,
doors with rough boards.
Some of the ether deestrckts
we're jealous of our school house
The next that joined ours was one
If the jealous deestrickts, and the
olks in it used to say that they
lidn't care if we did have such a
inc house, thev could spell our
chool down any time if we'd only
rive them chance But, of course,
We knew they couldn't. We bel;ev-
ID we could out spell them, even if
We did have the best school house. /
"Old Squire Hepner, always took /
! great interest in our school. He /
vas a peculiar kind of a man; folks |
would call him cranky" in these /
lays, suppose. He was so gruff /
md sullen that you'd think he'd /
map your head off.
'Eddication was the old squire's /
hobby. He had no learnin' himself
md used to to tell US how he felt /
he need of it. He thought people /
.ould not be educated unless they /
:ould spell clean from b-a ba, to in /
.ommunicability in the speller. To /
NOW how to spell was to him the
of all knowledge. That
vas one of his curious notions.
well, Squire Hepner had heard
hat the Red Haw deestrickts folks
vas maxim their boast that they
ould out spell ours, aud it angered
i'm. His daughter Harriet, was the
,est speller in our school, and they
ay her father offered her the best
ow on his place if she'd spell the
Red Haw school down.
"One Friday afternoon the old
Squire came stampin' into the
chool house when our school was
lavin' a spellin' match. He was the
Iirector OF our deestrickt; the bold
st scholar would be mute and meek
nough when he appeared. He had
wo little jet black eyes that seemed
o see right through you. He could
make almost any scholar wiggle in
lis seat by fastenin' his eyes upon
i'm.
The Squire was the richest man
q Four mile, but he never gave any
money away, and that made it all
he more surprisin' when, just before
he school let out that night, he got
Ip, and in his short, jerky, gruff way
aid. )