Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1889-08-22
NAN.


tAir Of dark. roglish eyes pesping At him out
Of q pretty hood, which did NOT hide the
.aury face u the maisisn Who had thrown tho
tall
She watched the professor he ciimtsd
over the fence and regained his dizflgured
tile, and trissi, rather rusfutIy, to smooth its
tAttered sides, then shs fered toward
the schr1lbouss
Joel sherwood had ju,t emerged from the
university at W. with considerable honor
and the degree Of good opinion most men Of
his age entertain for themselves He really
was entitled u IL great deal of credit for the
courage and .tssdfastnsss Of purpose with
which be had toil.ssi % make his way through
the tedious university course lie bad done
it alone, and at the sains time managed To
help his widowed mother in Keeping what
had proysd To be a very gaunt and persistent
wolf from the door. But the world. Is Its
custom, had been somewhat slow in recog
nixing his genius; that when the winter
term of school at Weston was offered to him,
he was only too giad To accept IL, hoping that
meantime something better would come TO
him
He picked up his hat, with some sense OF
Disgrace, and strobe on 10 the schooihouss.
II was the sventfui first day" and IL must
be confessed that Joei's heart for minute
sank very low as he saw the roguish face
disappear through the door Of the building
which was to he his castle for the next few
months lie had u dim foreboding that
trouble was In store for him. But shortly
his courage rallied, and with lips closed a lit
tle more firmly than usual. he stepped 10 his
desk
Nan, with many a girlish CYCLE, Was reiat
ing her adventure to circle of admirers.
The idea Of youngteilow like him bring
Ing tail hat down here My how mad he
looked when the thing went over the fencel
Well, IL was rather mean after all. but III
never him again. don't know who he
is Some city chap. s'Irse. down To look at
the natives"
sor walked in
II Joel could have seen the glorious Grim
S,n which swept Mans face. he might have
known how poorly priced was her victory.
But h. WAS busy and had almost forgotten
the episode a moment later
1t was brought back again. however when
he CHANGED To glance at Nan. Once more
the food of crimson dyed her cheeks, but she
buried her face in a boJk and waited until II
had vanished.
That winter joel Sherwood learned many
valuable lessons It was a good school fo'
him He knew more about himself when the
term was over than he ever had before He
put away the silk hat, and wondered why he
ever should have worn 1t down to Weston
BY this time he did not feel himself so
very much superior to the people there as he
had felt They proved to bs kind hearted
aud Intelligent, and he liked them better the
more BIZ knew them
He had found Nan a disturbing element
In his little dominion. Not that she meant to
do anything wrong hat she had too much
mischief In her nature not to he at the bot,
tom Of many a project which brought the
new teacher into disrepute She never pre-
tended that she had no hand in these plpf@
There WAS no deceit In Nan Whatever
did was 81 frank that Joels reproof was
pered by Il strange feeling which caused hiIh
to forgive the spirit which prompted Mans
actiou-a feeling he Knew not how TO anal
we.
Once, when she perpetrated some especial
Iy annoying trick on him, and he had met
her out Of school hours on the way home. her
pretty smile and look Of respect had driv en-
every spark Of anger from his heart and he
broke out.
"Oh, Mani Why will youn---
But she had pulled her hand out Of bis,
and hed before the words were out Of his
mouth
And Nau-she WAS the same thoughtless
girl, ~ far as Joel could see, as the weeks
sped quickly by and brought them nearer
the end Of the term She led the boys and
girls in every game She could outskate
them; not boy dared to challenge her to
rnce on the ice for fear Of the defeat be knew
rr.,,,ll Har ,t, .l.,i
everywhere, Not . boy but would have
rsked his life for her. Not girl but fed to
her In time OF trouble. for she was ever to
them champion equal to every emergency
To all she was simply "Nan"-kind loving
mirthful Nan"
About the time Joel's school closed. the
river, which had been frozen all winter. be
gan to break up. and the ice gave ssus of go
ing out Here and there great seams ap
peared. and u warning roar sounded through
the valley.
Some OF the older boys who had explored
the stream higher up, very sagely predicted
that there would be trouble before night
but this brought to Joel's mind little fear
lie thought the stream might rise, and carry
away the ice but that would be all He
knew nothing about the fearful gorges that
sometimes damned the river. and flooded the
entire country for miles around
At noon the report came that gorge was
forming a short distance above the school
LOUISE. There never hefore had been such a
| pile Of ice crowded into that part Of the
river and water WIS beginning to flow over
the valley A heavy rain set In. falling for
hours in torrents Still Joel had no idea
what danger was impending. This was his
first experience with the river and when
some Of his pupils begged to go home, be
thought II best for them TO wait until the
storm was less terrible or their parents came
Tor them This latter thing happened sooner
than he had thought likely, and some Of the
sturdy yeomen came for their little ones
quite while before the usual time for their
dismissal. and gravely advised Joel to close
| for the day. as they feared trouble from the
gorge up the river.
At length. the young man. impressed more
by the anxious faces OF the children than by
any thought OF real danger, told them to GO
and quietly processiei to help them get start
81 for home
Night was dropping down over the valley
The storm king abroad in all his fury
The night gave promise Of being a terrible
one
Joels heart reproved him for not letting
the children so sooner when he opened the
door and heard the suilen roar which came
from the gorge
He listened sharply
Wonder came a man on horseback. riding
rapidly
What was the matters
The rush Of waters smote his ear The
truth flashed over him
The ice gorge had given way
The young mans face grew pale As he drew
the children back into the house and shut
TIE door He could not let them go now 1t
wAs too late
A few minutes more and q wild current Of
water swept around the building. cutting oil
all hope Of escspe on foot It was now plain
that they were hemnei in
The horsenan waved his hand toward
them. and then wheeled away to seek other
means II reaching the school house. 1t was
trying plscs for the young teacher. and
souse courage Was required to iook calmly
into the faces Of the awe stricken children
and try to quiet them
But in this he had q helper in Nan The
girls face showed nothing ct the terror Joel
expected to se In her The woman seemei
to have snddenly come instead Of the roliick-
ing girl She Was here. there, everywnere,
chssring the younger ones in . most mother.
y way
How this crisis bad transformed bert Joel
noticed more than ever now what . strong
face she bad He had always thought her
pretty now . hook bad come upon her fea-
turo which indicated the spirit which makes
woman heroic. She had become . calm. self
po1saned woman
Will lfal vna thiukinw ~ ttS. r1vxs,y{,