Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1885-04-22
WITH JUNE ROSES.
BY f. f.

The blue sky smiled down lovingly
and brightly as only June skies can
seem; birds twittered and sang in the
treetops or hoped about on the car
pet Of green in search of food for their
young; breezes seemed whispering
among the leaves stories of the fiowery
meadows over which they had come,
while the scholars in the little brown
school house which nestled in the
grove like a brown robin in her leaf
curtained nest looked out of the Win
dows and wondered if noon would
never come. ~
81 say, JIM" whispered one tow
head to another, ''see that snowbank
up there?" pointing to pile of white
fluffy clouds. Now if rs the little
angels, I'd have a game of SNOWFALL"
NAV ye wouldn't, nather," said
Jim, shying a paper wad at the red
headed girl opposite him. eyer ma
don't low ye to play in snow, honey"
80, what whopper" exclaimed
the first speaker.
"No such a thing, remarked Jim, pre-
pairing paper for another charge. aye
know ye didn't play a game last win
ter"
"Well, an what if I didn't; guess I
had the whoopin' cough last winter,
an ma said her brother'd died cause
he'd caught cold wen he had the
whoopin' cough, an it went to his
lungs an killed him. An" ''Crack-
ey," interrupted jim. ''She nearly
caught me that time. II say. let's
study our spellin' lesson. III just
shoot this one more, an then we'll
study. But that one more was the
one too many. 1t hit the ill-natured
fellow in the corner on his freckled
nose, and he promptly reported on
James, who was thereupon assigned
standing room by the teachers desk.
The figst tOWhead left to himself di-
vided his time between the window
and the clock, which to him did not
appear to move at all. "Please,
ma am" said he at length, as though
he had just made a startling discov-
cry, please, teacher, the clocks
stopped" No." said the teacher,
with smile of sympathy, II guess
the clock is all right, But you have
stopped studying, Billy" Towhead
manfully winked the tears away and
dropped his spelling-book out of the
window. Teacher, may [ get my
book?" he said. ''No, Billy, this
makes the third time youha dropped
your book this week. You may study
with Johnny Jones" said the poor,
tired teacher, striving to speak kind
ly. "But something will tear my book
up and Ican't have no more till next
term, pap said.
"What is there out there to disturb
your book?"
"O," said towhead, after short
pause, t'toads'n' things then added
more excitedly, amidst the laugh that
greeted this ominous list of destroy
ers: 80, there's Tom Woodson's dog,
now, m he just hates books"
keep your seat" said the teacher
quietly; Il will get the book for you.
Then you must stand on the floor, SO
as not to be tempted to drop it
again"
Towhead looked rather blank, but
managed to get him drink while she
was gone for the book. Thus the fore
noon dragged ''its weary length
along" The scholars restless and idle,
and the teacher almost too weary and
sad to blame them for it. But at last
the clock struck twelve, school was
dismissed for the noon hour, and the
scholars went shouting and jumping
away to open their lunch baskets on
the cool, green grass beneath the trees,
and lave their faces in the brook that
flowed near by. The teacher was left
alone. The sad meaning of that word
thrilled her as she turned the leaves of
her registrar, to give Teddy Mulligan
credit for his noon head mark in the
spelling class. Then she turned to the
lunch which the farmers wife with
whom she boarded had ''put up" for
her. The lunch was dainty, and nice
ly arranged, as her landlady had paid
more than usual care to its prepara-
ton, remembering that this was the
little teachers birthday, and that it
was sad day, too, for the girl who
had on this day, six years before,
turned from the grave of her mother,
her last relative, SO far as she knew,
homeless and alone, to find dwelling
place among strangers, and earn her
living by teaching school, Yet tempt
ing as the sugared berries, with cream,
and the faky rolls upon which the
cook quite prided herself would have