The Press., 1885-05-14
BLUE VIOLETS.

 soliloquized Miss Fay.
 ssWhat can I do with that boy? He is late four days out of the five."
 She had nearly two hours in which to ponder her question, for it was not until the scholars came in from their play that there loomed up above the shorter boys the frowzy yellow head the teacher knew so we'll ss d
 s'We missed yon this morning, Joseph, ? said Miss Fay.
 The boy blundered over some poor ex- cnse, to which there was no response and the school resumed it's studies.
 'sWhat kind of home has Joe Benson ?'' asked Miss Fay at the dinner-table.
 .sNo home at all, or nothing worth call ing such,'' was the reply. "When they built the railroad, some ten years ago, the company bought up all the unoccupied buildings in the neighborhood, and fitted them up for tenements.
 ''Joes father was an engineer, and he went to live in what used to be an old boot shop. He was killed, walking on the track, the first year he came here. A con- struction train came down a quarter of an hour later than usual, just ias he was going over to the station for pail of water. His wife stood in the doorway, and saw him when he fell She was stranger, aud never seemed to care@to get acquainted with folks round here and she~was so shiftless and queer that they let her alone, and she and her boy had lived there right along. She does scme washing, and takes work from the shops at Milvihe, when she can get 1t /; and Joe runs wild. He is just him work around the station, and humoE l,;v rrooI dno1 o,, hyc xofhop,o He doesn' t come to school very regularly does hep
 "Not very, nc"
 The personal appearance of her scholars was very mortifying to this teachers re. fined tastes yet, with an ill-defned feal of giving offence in homes unaccustomed to what she considered some of the bare necessities of living, she had heretofore shrunk from interfering at all with mat ters outside of her own province. There she was queen, and every scholar knew 1 that her word was law. She resolved now to extend her realms. wM She, theiefore vent to her echool lit \ tie earlier than usuaI one morning, that she might provide place for the new basin, towels, and soap which she had pqsaA3issl Ra sss lsbprdss6sd ihs 4sAJalsndsss. 1 peclliar sound reached her earsS She stepped lightly over the threshold, and was surprised to see Joe eagerly scanning magazine she had pnrposely left open or her desk the night before.
 She had hoped to attract the attention of the young .janitor, her most brilliant pupil but that individual was at present engaged in building. dam across the lttls brook, and poor Joe had the whole school room to himself. A steam engine was the attraction; and the great, awkward fellow was trying to spell out the words tha' should give him an insight into it's mys teries. His lips moved, and in half-audi ble tones he was sasinga Yrso-t rot, Ia fota K 3fts|retsry, sonsshins thst koss a4oand like that sad Mss Fay 1nafk kine x sssc cession of circles in the air with her lead pencil. "Are you interested in steam en
 aYess, ma-am. Pm going to have . place on the road some time. 1 ssAnd you want to learn all you can to fit .yorsfor that Hpsitson? That issfight, ! am sure. II shall be 1naofe than glad to help you. But I can't put nice clean book into such dirty hands. You shall be the first to try my new basin and towel. ] wonder we have never had them before. "
 While the boy busted himself in trying to remove the dirt that had been accumu- lating, Miss Fay hung tiny looking glass in conspicuous position, placing in the tray beneath neat dressing comb, and then quietly withdrew.
 When she returned, her hands fnll oi lovely blue violets, she found the boy seated on the great stone that served for g doorstep, so changed in appearance that she scarcely knew him.
 Intuitively, she divided her violets and fastened cluster to the soiled and worn jacket before her.
 .'Yon will set the fashion, she said. Es.See how soon the others will all follow it.