The Abbeville messenger. (Abbeville, S.C.) 1884-1887, 1886-03-23
blame for your getting hurt. Please
let me look Mt IL -

let me look at It."
Tilury glanced at the palm Of her
hand and then suddenly held it out.
'It aches" she said, bluntly.
"Why, poor child!" the teacher cried,
81 should think it would ache. That
is a dreadful silver, let me try to get it
out; Pm so sorry"
Miss Grey got her tiny pearl handled
knife and began to dig it out.
Can you bear the pain2" she asked,
holding the hand tightly i'm her own.
'l--ycs" the girl answered., making
light of it. But the hurt was a severe
one, and a woman of less nerve tn II
Miss Grey could never have succeeded
in taking out the silver, and u girl with
less strength of will could never have
borne it so heroically. Miss Grey
bathcd the hand with cologne and Gov.
cred the wound with a strip of court.
plaster, while she praised the girl TO,
her courage, and petted her because OF
her pain, until, for once, Tilury was the
heroine of the school-room.
1T was almost time to cal! the school
Tor the afternoon session when Miss
Gray took a final look ut the disabled
hand, now carefully wrapped VI in one
of her own prettiest handkerchiefs. The
girls still clustered about them.
"Why, Tilury Kent, what lovely fin
ger nails you have!" she cried. "You
must not bite them off once again, and
let me show you how to trim them
Drcttlly. L never saw prctticr nails, did
you girls 2"
Tilury snatchcd her hand away and
hid it behind her.
'Th' ain't!' she said GROSSLY; '.Jabcs
calls 'cm cats'-claws, an Polly saws
they're skeleton bones, jcs' like Sally
Thomascs. l hate EN-"
"1abcz calls them so because they are
so thin. And that is one great beauty
of 4 fingernail, and Pdlly-wcll, I don't
know what she meant, but I tell YOU
they are lovely. And I'll tell you, Lou
i shall call you Lou because that is q
sort of Il short pet namc-.I will make
you q present of this little knife if you
will let me show you how to take care
of your nails. You deserve the knife.
anyway, after letting nc dig after the
silver rs l did, and not complaining one
word. Here's the knife, and you are a
brave girl, Lou, and we will see what
pretty hands you'll have before school
closes"
She put the knife in the girls hand,
and went out and rang the bell.
The boys had heard of the injured
hand, and the teachers courage and
kindness. They paid no attention to
1ilury, for she had always been remark
able for her grit" rs they called IT, no
one expected anything else of her; bu
they had talked over the new tcache-
with great interest.
"GoSh! amt she got pretty dimplcs
then she laughs thought" jeff Fisher
exclaimed.
"Shc's the 7~~otiest teacher that ever
cum into this dccstric', anyhow" re-
marked Chef by way of affirmation.
"She's Il blamed lcctle morscl to be
around among all us big fellers," Bill
SAID; elancing down toward the sleeve
she had touched, ''but I'll tell We what
it's, boys EFF airy boy lifts his finger to
bother her this winter, I'll les natehulv
mash his frame fur i'm" And as the
bell tapped Bill whirlcd slowly about
and slouchcd away into the school-room.
The boys glanced at each other with
mods and winks and nudging of elbows,
but they we're accustomed to Bill
Fishers leadership and they followed
him into school.
1 think my story isabout told. There
were days of bitter cold; days of wcari-
ness and small %veXations and discom-
forts; but there wero also days of sun
shine, of good lessons, of merry rides,
and jolly spelling schools, to which the
young folks for miles around came,
packing the school-housc to its utmost
limit.
Miss Grey never knew what a load of
defiant shame and bitterness she lifted
from the hearts of those three great boys
that morning by the stove when she
touched the dcspiscd blue-and-white
frocking, and told them that she had
helped weave just such, and had liked
to do it. They had been mortified by
the old-fashioned garments, and had
hated them with impotent hatred, but
one touch had changed all this, and no
longer feeling themselves the clowns of
the school, they developed genuine traits
of manhood, of which no one had ever
dreamed them possessed. :.
The school was a success, and shortly,
after its close as Deacon Whipum met
Mrs. Fisher in the road one day, he said,
with a comical tw itching about the
lips: '
81 guess the little school-marm
licked 'em right down to't,' didn't she,
Mis- Fisher2"
"Well, I vags!" Mrs. Fisher said, with
a loud laugh, cpl hev to. give in beat
this time. I dunno what she done, but
you wouldn't no more know my boys
than you would Tilury Kent, fur the
critters that they WIS six months
ago. She done it somehow, an she
KEEP a good school, I'll hev to own to
that, but never hcarn as she licked one
on EN-"
81 tell ye," the deacon said with a
serious face, "it's all in jes' understand
in human nature, an bringin' out the
best there is in 'em. I tole ye the leetle