Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1888-01-27
said Jacob Hancock. before Valley had

eyes; an luarrehn or set ye never
seed, I know" put in the voice OF
Mrs Hancock. ooh! yell hev yer
hands full with 'em, Miss. Now eff I
was teacher o the Wolf Purarie skule
I'd jes about churn the daylights outen
some Nv en- and she wagged her
head very emphatically.
II do hope We won't hev any trouble
with 'em; but they're so pesky, ALFRED
rough an heathenish Twin out hyar
ermong the Iniuns with little
er no skulin' ter speak on
fur so long a spell, I'm
kinder fear'd fur ye, Miss. But try
yer hand. Ye kin lick mine like sin
of they don't mind ye," were the part
ing words of Hancock as Valley took
up her lunch and started across the
hazy prairie. She found the school
house rough structure. 1t had been
made of green lumber which the fervid
sun of several Kansas Summers had
warped and shrunken until the boards
were an inch and a half apart in places,
allowing ample ventilation. The floor
was little better. The windows were
Sits in the walls, two on each side, and
covered with canvas which had been
tackled to rude framework, all four OF
which coverings were loose now and
creaking dismally in the high autumn
blasts. The door was swinging on its
rusty hinges. The place had decid-
eddy open look.
"a very open reception is accorded
me, that is certain, said Valley, stop
ping in and surveying the interior of
her temple of learning out on Wolf
Prairie. A smile lowered over her lips
as she stationed herself at her desk,
which proved to be an ungainly big
dry goods box. "Gentlemen of leisure
about town are said to find much pleas
ure in them as seats, but 1 hardly be-
lieve / shall enjoy the use of one as a
desk. However, I'll make the best of
the dry-goods box until l draw my first
months salary, then we shall behold
some public improvements
Valleys adaptability to circumstances
helped her overcome all discourage
ments she might otherwise have felt
over the novel arrangements of her
school-room.
Jacob Hancoek's numerous children
"toolz powerful ikin'" to Valley, as
Mrs. II. informed her after one week Of
school had passed.
Jake, the eldest, robust fellow OF
is, had told Valley of the expert.
ence of their last teacher, who had
been forced ITO git up an HUSTLE" by
the largest scholar of Wolf Prairie,
Bill Warren, who, in the language Of
the elder Hancock, was "a holy terror
an always run the skule"
"Bill always goes armed said young
Jake. "The other boys will all mind
We but him. He rules the roost at
home and everybody is as 'fraid of him
as Of the Old Scratch. He's goin' on fur
twenty, and bigger than my pap. But
rough as Bill is, he'll hardly abuse a
woman, I low"
at is to be hoped he is to manly
to do that" said Valley in reply.
The second Monday Of school Valley
discovered many new faces at the
schoolhouse as she came walking up.
Jake came out to meet her and
whispered lowly: "Bill Warren is
here"
Valley was all curiosity to see this
terror of Wolf Prairie, as she began to
term him.
"'That's him leanin' agin the side O.
the house, whispered Jake, "and he's
got his shootin' instruments along"
Valley gave swift glance at the
tall, bronZe-faced, strongly-built fellow
leaning by the doorway, with one hand
caressing the muzzle Of q bright new
rifle. He was quite handsome, she de-
cided at once, with his flashing eyes so
deeply blue as to be easily mistaken
for black, and hair of the hue of a
blackbird's wing. He was dressed
| somewhat brigandish, and wore richly.
| finished belt, from which protruded an
ivory-handled revolver. He did not
impress Valley as being "holy terror"
by any means.
| For one week everything moved along
without discord. Valley seemed to
have "got on the blind side O tibet thar
Bill Warren" jacob Hancock told the
neighbors. All the pupils liked their
new teacher, and she ruled them by a
wise combination of kindness and firm
ness.
The big boys said she was "hard to
beat, and Bill had admitted that she
was "tolerable fairish like"
GLOW a ye gittin' erlong with tibet
thar Bill Warren?" asked Jacob Han
cock of Valley, as she passed his house
on her way home from school, after
two weeks labor at the Wolf Prairie
school.
every nicely indeed" she replied.
"He seems to be quite studious so far. "
HELL break out all of q sudlint