Thomas County cat. [volume] (Colby, Kan.) 1885-1891, 1886-09-23


tsking your names. Come up, one by
one, as you are sitting"
First. boy stepped up briskly.
Greta had brought blank book to use
for this purpose. -.
.What is your name and age?' she
asked him.
"Tse named Mahaly's Cupid"
.-What is your last name?"
cupid" he replied, confidently.
<.No, that is your first name"
You means Mahaly, cen, don't
you, lady? She's my mother. amt
got no mo- name dan dat. Ibis at
Mars Jim's, an dey calls me Mahaly's
Cupid
She wrote that down. '.How old are
you?''
..Dunno, lady. disremembers."
care you temp"
Il reckon l is. I was right smart
big when de wah (war done broke. l
members when ole Uncle Nick died.
Nanny says dat was in de wah. He
die oh dropsy on de chist, an l run an
burn up my little chist what brought
nv cloes in from Firginny, cause l
didn' want to git de dropsy an die on
it,
Never mind, Cupid. You can go
back to your seat.
The next who came to the desk was
one of the fancy-headed girls. She
gave her name as CHERRY Pyle.
"Cherry PER- repeated Miss Bond,
incredulously."
''Cherry Pyle"
ssHow old are youp',
Cherry hesitated. '.Miss Hannah
she say 1 is eight, but nanny say l
amt but seven"
christmas Jones" came next, then
a well-mannered lad of about fourteen,
who was intelligent in all his answers.
and said his name was "Chiet Justice
Marshall. EAT least that's the name
father gave me, teacher. He was from
Richmond, and used to live with the
Chief-Justice's folks. But they call me
Marsh for short. l live over at Mr..
Fields'.''
Greta found that, as rule, the chill
dren took the surnames of the fami-
lies to whom their parents had former
ly belonged. A ragged and dirty little
urchin came up presently, and gave
his name as ''Syphax Cunningham, :"
and his age as nine. She could see that
for some reason the other scholars
looked down upon this boy. 1t was
plain that they did not regard him as
''first-class,' but this only caused her
to feel a deeper interest in him. There
was ''Chloe," "Ph9be," a "Til-
lah," ''Viney'' and a Lilly Dale;'' a
Patience" "Phyllis," penny"
Nero and Julius Cesar" also
a flames Buchanan" After she had
finished entering their names, she took
up the First Reader" and turned to
one of the easiest pieces.
''Stant up in row, children" she
said, land I'll hear you all read"
At this at least half of them said they
could not read. She began with Chloe.
The lesson began with the text: "A
lamp unto thy feet
"A Lamar Chloe cried out. in g
sonorOuS voice.
'.No, don't call that letter d.
''Well, den, it's b.
'.No, it is not b.
''Den it's a g."
The teacher shook her head.
''Ef it amt q, l knows it's p, y
said Chloe, lighting up again. '.Dem
letters certainly does bodder me, some
o dem handles a-sottin' up, an some
o. dem a-sottin down.
Cherry Pyle next took the book.
monotonously. Tillah, farther down in
the class. let fall the book she had in
her hand, and her head bobbed over to
one side. She was asleep.
''Heads up!' ordered the teacher.
"Attentionn'
Here Christmas Jones, her brother.
broke out. ''Tillah alters do 90 to
sleep, 'cep' when she's playin'
Nanny can't glib her candle to hold
widout she drap it to de flo, an most
set de house atire.
AS the days became weeks, she found
that it was difficult to make the chill
dren feel that the purpose of the school
was study and not play; further than
this. they could not remember any
thing from one day to another. An.
other problem COMPOUNDED her, and
that was how to fill up the number oil
hours she was required to spend with
them. At last she took new depart
ure. She dropped books for one-hall
the day. and taught her pupils through
the medium of their senses. She gave
each one garden patch to cultivate
she told them stories, and encouraged
them to ask her questions about any
thing they did not understand. Then
she brought large doll of her own tc
school, with what scraps of cloth she
could find, TIE gayer the better, and
taught the girls how to cut and make
clothes for it, offering the doll and hel
; trousseau as reward to the best
scholar at the end of the term. Chloe
afterwards won this prize, for when
she once grasped those handles to the
DIS and BIS, p's and q's. they turned ::
crank in her brain that never stopped
again.
One day Christmas came to her with
q grievous complaint against Syphax.
..He done stole my snack, teacher .
"What makes you think SO, Christ.
mas? Take care how you accuse hin
of such dreadful thing"
81 hab cheese an sicafree (fricasseed)
! chicken for nv snack an he smell al