Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1885-08-06
a HELPING HAND.

A HELPING HAND.
Jacks and Roberts Difficulties, and How
They Helped One Another.
elf you can not keep up with this
class you had better go into lower
one.''
The country schoolmaster spoke
harshly, and Robert Gates heart sank
lower than before, if that were possible.
He was the biggest boy in his class
now, and how could he bear the shame
of going among boys still smaller?
But there was no denying the fact
that the master had had great deal of
trouble with him, and that it did seem
as though he were hopelessly dull. MIR.
Hardy delighted in figures. To be
bright at figures, he thought, insured a
boy for success through life. Every
boy who came to him was tried by the
one test, and if he failed in that he had
no opportunity of showing whether he
was bright at anything else.
So Robert, whose talents did not lie
in figures, was having just the hard tug
at school, which, if well endured, wise
men tell us, gives the discipline which
makes the best and noblest men. He
had struggled through the miseries of
notation, enumeration, addition, subtrac-
ton and multiplication. each of which
had been a separate hill of difficulty to
him. And now long division stood up be-
fore him like dead, blank wall There
was no getting around it, no getting
under it-he must climb to the top.
The boys were dismissed, leaving the
school-house with whoop and rush
all but Robert, who, with his book and
his slate, slowly walked away. A
cheery-faced boy stopped and looked
back at him, then ran to him, saying:
"TD give you a lift Bob"
Come on, Jack Brand" shouted
half dozen voices.
81 can't come now" he replied.
"We're going to make up the base
ball club, and you'll lose your place
We're going to put you in for pitcher. y
you'd better CO. said Robert Il
hate to have you miss the fun"
..Never mind" said Jack, heartily.
give plenty of time for fun yet See
here, now-let's go out behind the old
barn and cipher away at your examples
for awhile
They settled themselves on a grassy
slope in the quiet of one of the rare days
of early June, and Robert opened his
book with a heavy sigh
''It's perfect tangle to me, he said,
with rueful shake of the head, think
ing of the days in which he had atched
the slow placing and working of the ex-
amples on the blackboard. The why
and wherefore of the curved lines had
never dawned upon him, the guessing
how many times it would '.go" and
then setting down figure, and the long
Struggling column of figures gyrating
off to the right and finally ending in
nothing, so far as he could see, was a
fearful piling up of mysteries. why"
he went on, 81 can't even remember
which is divisor and which is dividend
when he questions me about the rules -
..Oh. that's easy enough if you only
think moment" laughed Jack. 1.-The
divisor's thing you do something with.
This way nOw-mower, thing you
NOW with. Reaper, a thing you reap
with. Divisor, thing you divide with
don't you see?"
"Why. yes, of course I do, now you
give me something to remember by
Then they bent themselves resolutely
to conquer the difficulties of the process
before them. and it was fortunate that
Jack was blessed with the gift of pa
thence, for days passed before Rober,
could see anything in it except huge
and frightful puzzle. The shouts Of
the boys at play came to them from a
distance, but no sound more disturbing
than the soft whisper of the summer
wind or the pert inquiring "kecheeG
kechee?" of robin or wren disturbed
the droning murmur with which Jack
untiringly went through the lesson
over and over again, little dreaming
that he was securing for himself a
valuable exercise in patience and self
denial.
. see it," at last exclaimed Robert,
springing up with shout of triumph.
Il never expected to see daylight
through such middle, but l do. Now,
let's be off and have a glorious play.
But" he added, very earnestly, 81
never can pay you up in the world. y
Never mind that said Jack.
But" he added, "may be You car
some time"
And his words came true years later.
When the boys went to prepare fol
college under the mild teachings OF the
village pastor, strong contrast to the
| rough schoolmaster, Latin and Greek
| came to Robert almost as pastime.
He reveled in the line of study now
opening before him with all the delight
which comes of finding something in
| the world of learning exactly to his
! taste.
| Jacks troubles began where Roberts
| ended, for his mind was OF different
order, and now Robert was able richly
to repay all his kindness
'But I've got enough OF languages
| now" said Jack after two or three
| wears of laundering among modes
lenses and roots. I'm worse at elias
sizes than ever you were at figures, and
a man can be man without Latin
and Greek. although he can't very wei
| without arithmetic. So go your way
old fellow-heap up the learning and
come out a grand scholar. I'm going
to dive down into one of those grimy