New Ulm weekly review. [volume] (New Ulm, Minn.) 1878-1892, 1889-04-17
The Smart Bow.

uilO oCuOO1IOuS0 OOOE dG d. lull run one
Monday morning. s'I've brought a
piece of chalk, and we'll have good
time before old Pratt comes
Haven't time,'' said Rob Smith,
shortly. algebra lessons hard, and
want all the time / can get to study
it,
'Algebra!'' shouted Rufus. 81
haven't even looked at it; there was too
much fun going on on Saturday for
that. Just let me know when it's five
minutes to nine, and I'll be all right.
Come on, boys!" And followed by a
noisy troop, Rufus rushed into the
.schoolroom, and soon was the centre of
an admiring circle.
Rufus was a smart boy; every one
said so, and it was clearly impossible
that every one should be mistaken. So
Rufus thought; and thus thinking, he
took very little trouble to improve
the abilities which he had. In truth,
among the boys atschool Rufus was al
ready a great man. He was leader in
all their games of skill. he was full of
fun and jokes, he could tell exciting
stories, and, best of all, with single
stroke of chalk upon the blackboard,
he could produce absurd likenesses of
people, which they would even reccg-
nize themselves, and which caused
shouts Of laughter from all the boys
i'm +o1o ,fc
would expect Rufus to stand first in his
class, and make great progress in
study; and, in fact, no boy in the school
could get a hard lesson into his head so
quickly as Rufus.
His talents helped him further than
this; no boy could make so fair a recital
ton on SO little real knowledge as our
s'smart boy" and naturally no boy
could forget the whole subject SO en-
tirely when the hour of recitation was
over. The fact was that Rufus never
gave himself time to think about tho
lesson at all; the words, which rung
through his head like the notes of a
song, were all he knew about it. It
was not strange, with this habit, that
Rufus often fell behind in his classes,
and was not nearly so great person in
the eyes of his teacher as of his COM
panions.
This morning Rufus was even more
entertaining than usual. He was draw
ing graphic picture of scene which
he had witnessed on Saturday, in which
their teacher, Mr.. Pratt, had taken
rather ridiculous part. His sketches
were very clever; no one could deny
this. Even Mr.. Pratt himself, when
he stood at the schoolroom door and
looked over the heads of the boys, who
were too full Of their fun to notice him,
said with shake Of his head: ssThat
boy has talents, certainly; but no per-
severance, no steadiness. I am afraid
it will prove his ruin
give minutes to nine!" shouted one
of the little boys, who was on the
watch. But his shrill voice was hardly
heard amidst the shouts of laughter
which greeted every new stroke of
Rufus's hand.
'Four minutes, Ruff shouted the
little bos; but Rufus was just giving
the finishing touch to Mr.. Pratt's
head, and he could not stop then.
s'Three minutes, Ruff! Time most
up!' shouted the little boy again.
"Here, boys! quick! cried Rufus,
reused at last. ssPratt will be down on
us in a minute. Sam, rub off that
board, will you? Bob, give me that
book; show me the lesson; I'll have it
in a minute And the smart boy
sunk into the nearest desk, and was
aborb in the lesson in minute.
But it would not do to-day. The
lesson was one which really required
study, and coming over the words did
him no good. Trusting to his memory,
which had so often stood him in good
stead, Rufus learned off by rote the ex-
ample which one Of the boys had care
fully worked out, and with this, and
the rule, Of the meaning of which he
had no idea, he closed the book.
The class was called Immediately
after prayers, and Rufus took his seat,
feeling rather uneasy, but little sus-
pecting that Mr.. Pratt was fully aware
OF his occupation during the past hour
AS the time went by, he thought he
was escaping very easily, when sudden
ly Mr.. Pratt called him to the board
and asked him to state and explain the
Eproblems of the mornings lesson.
Like most people vino are fond of
ridiculing others, Rufus was very much
afraid Of ridicule himself, and he felt
hot and uncomfortable when he found
himself standing so helplessly before
the group of boys whom he had enter
tanned at that board half an hour be-
fore.
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