Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1893-09-25
,Maria's Experiment.

Maria Coleman sat kicking her
heels against the desk and chewing
the end of her lead pencil. She and
Miss Henderson were the only ones
in the schoolroom. 1t was after four
O'Clock, and all the others had gone
home. Maria was used to staying af-
ter school; three days out of five in
most of the weeks this was her lot.
Sometimes it was spelling or geog-
-aphy lesson that she missed; some
times she had whispered, or thrown
paper balls, or chewed gum, or quar-
relied with her seat mate, or pulled
Johnny Benefits hair. There was al
ways a reason for Maria's troubles.
IF had a photograph of her, you
aVould not care to see it; at least,
rot to give it a second look. Nobody
ever cared to look a second time at
Maria.
Her hair was red "a sort of carroty
red, the girls said; her face was
freckled; her mouth was very wide;
two teeth were gone; and, altogether,
L suppose it would have been hard to
lind q homelier girl. Perhaps the
ugly scowl that was nearly always on
her face was the worst feature of it;
-but this Maria did not understand.
Nobody liked Maria, and perhaps it is
safe also to say that Maria liked no
body. There was not a boy or girl in
11er grade with whom she had not at
some time or other had trouble. Half
4 dozen girls at this present time
would not speak to her when they
met her in the Playground; and, as
TOT the boys, they seldom took the
trouble to speak, except to shout
some teasing rhyme at her about the
color of her hair or the largeness of
der mouth.
Miss Henderson, who sat at her desk,
book in hand, was not reading. In
stead, she was carefully studying
Maria face and manner, and trying to
decide what she could do for her. A
new teacher was Miss Henderson, who
had come from far away home to
take the place of a friend of hers who
had the position for two years. AS
abe studied Maria's scowling face, she
recalled what her friend had said. ssIn
the main, they are very good child
rem, as good as the average. I some
times think they are better than the
other grades in the same school; but
there is one exception,-a little girl
about twelve years old, who is GER
tainly the worst child I ever knew.
Her name is Maria Coleman; and,
really, do not think she has one re-
deeming trait. She is a fearfulIy
tlomely child to begin with; and her
finger nails are always soiled, and her
red hair in frowzle. AS for her teeth,
she never even thought of brushing
them. Of course, all this makes her
repulsive in appearance, and her tenn
per matches her hair; it is fiery in
the extreme. She has been in my
room six mouths, and during that
time l do not think [ ever heard her
laugh or saw her smile She is in too
constant bad humor to SMILE"
What a record for scholar? Miss
Henderson had asked more questions,
had found ont, indeed, what she
could about Maria, and had been
studying her ever since. She was not
willing to spend six months in that
room without helping the girl in some
way. AS she watched her on this day,
she decided to try an experiment.
Closing her book, she walked over to
where the heels were kicking, and,
sitting down in the seat in front, she
said, with pleasant smile on her
face: s'Does not your hair curl, Maria?
How pretty it would look in curls."
The heels stopped kicking, and Ma
ria turned scowling eyes on her
teacher. Was she being made fun of?
The pleasant voice went on: ssI had
= little friend whose hair was just the
color of yours; and it curled natural
Ey, as I think yours would with a little
care. You cannot think how pretty
Et looked"
e'Did she have freckles?o
sstWhy yes,'' said Miss Henderson,
still smiling kindly. ''Now you speak
Of it, remember she had; and little |
sqaint in her eye, besides. In fact,
sae eve was a trifle smaller than the /
other Yet, for all that, she had one
IF the sweetest faces ever saw.