The weekly Floridian. [volume] (Tallahassee, Fla.) 1867-19??, 1885-12-03
SW EET VIOLET.

SNt EEK VIOLET
When the school trustees of the town
of Cornalbin received from New York an
application signed Violet MathlseD,"
for the position of the head teacher of the
town schools intermediate department,
which had been advertised as vacant, they
formally replied by post that the appIi-
plicant could appear before the board at
a specified time, but she could do so at
her own expense. But the trustees wrote
further, that it was only fair to Miss Math-
isen to inform her that there were sixty
applicants for the position, some of them
being well and favorably known at Corn
albin, and that the advertisement had not
been published because the board lacked
material from which to select, but merely
in accordance with one of the bylaws
governing the board.
Yet Miss Violet Mathisen went from
New York to Cornalbin; and within five
minutes of her trembling entrance into
the presence of the board, her success was
assured As she had travelled two hun
dred miles to be present tor examination,
each one OF the five trustees thought it
would be simply courteous to ask her
question or two by the way Of formality,
particularly as she looked like sweet,
helpless little thing, and thus she was en-
abed to capture each member in turn.
She picked apart Squire Bloker's test
problem in the rule of three-and it was
a very knotty one-so quickly that the
Squire forgot where he was, and admir-
iugly murmured, "Well, III be darned ~
She answered correctly question or two
put by DIR. Pestle, the village apothecary,
who never forgot the shop on such occa-
sions. She wound the editor of the Sen
tinel around her finger during drawn
battle over a grammatical puzzle, and
when asked by Shoff1er, who sold beer
and represented the German population,
whether she knew any language but her
own, she repeated Platt Deutsch coup
let that caused Shoffier's eyes to twinkle.
The most obdurate member of the board
was young Falls, rector Of the fashiona
bic church at Cornalbin. He regarded all
witching women, as this creature seemed
to be, as emissaries of Satan; so to bring
the other trustees to their senses he put a
few questions of serious and personal
nature; but when Miss Mathisen changed
the cheerful yet appealing look of her
large eyes to one of deep solemnity, drop
ped her curly brown head, crossed her
breast and began to repeat the Nicene
Greed as an answer, the young clergyman
caught his breath quickly and removed
his glasses as if to get better view of
this unfamiliar character.
Before Miss Mathisen left the room, she
had in her possession an appointment;
it was in writing, and duly signed by the
chairman and secretary of the board.
After she thanked the members for their
kindness and assured them that she should
be obliged to depend upon them, collec-
lively and individually, for counsel, she
departed to look for boarding place.
The members of the board looked at each
other sheepishly for moment, and then
Squire Bloker said:
Il shouldn't wonder if we'd find we'd
made fools of ourselves"
Don't mention it, said the druggist,
g for know we have"
Perhaps" said the clerical member,
seizing his hat in some haste, elf the
gentlemen will excuse me, may be able
to assist her in finding a Christian
home"
The young rector found Miss Mathisen
in the ante-room among other candidates;
she had not been there five minutes, but
she had already succeeded in becoming
acquainted with nearly every one; she
had said that she believed that she had
succeeded. She could hardly understand
why-she would never have came had
she imagined there were SO many appll-
cants-she hoped none of them would
hate her-and so on, until each OF the dis
appointed ones felt it was better to be
defeated by this sweet little thing from
the city than by any of their lifelong
acuuaintances. And before the young
clergymen had an opportunity to broach
the subject of a boarding place, one OF
the unsuccessful competitors for the
leadership, but nevertheless girl smart
enough to know that young men would
congregate wherever Violet Mathlsen
might live, had secured the new teacher
as an inmate of her own home.
The maiden who had thus obtained
Miss Mathsen as fellow lodger found
that she had been entirely right in her
coniectures, for the little boarding house
of which the two were inmates soon had
the liveiest parlor in the town. Miss
Mathisen's faculty for finding acquaint-
tances was simply uneqnaled; she seemed
to have no preferences, she certainly was
not forward or in any way indelicate, yet
her manner was so full of fappeal and trust
fulness that every man she met adored her
as soon as she spoke to him. She lost
one Sunday at church by the non-arrival
of her trunks, for which she had tele-
yraphcd as soon az she received her ap-
pontment; but when on the second Sun
day she entered the church just before
service began, the entire congregation
surrendered at discretion, for although
her cloak and hat were at least fifty de-
grees too gay for the occasion, according
to Cornalbin standards, their fit was per-
feet, and they were in entire harmony
with the figure and face of the wearer.
For a fortnight the whole town was in
accord with Miss Mathisen, who had been
known almost from the first as "Sweet
Violet I" afterwards everybody was al
most at swords points about her Some
youpg men hated all other men who spoke
to her, many young women accused her
of coaxing their sweethearts away. When
ever Miss Mathisen heard any of these