The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1895-02-22
THE SPELLING BEE.

The SPELLING BEE.
. ~ allus held" said the chronic Ioafer
as ho stretched his legs along the counter
and rested his back comforta bly, against q
pile OF calicoes tibet they amt no sech
thing as roarinborin allus. know some
sails they is electric lights, but when l seen
that big un last night said to my missus,
an l hol Pm right, thct ct WINS nothin
but iron furnaces over TIL mountain Fer,
s'pose, rs tn teacher sails, they is lights
up ct TIL north pole. Dose you uns believe
We could SEQ 'em all tibet distancef Well,
nowl"
He gazed imprcssively about the store
at the close of this discourse The miller,
tho shoemaker and the &. A. r. man wore
disposed to agree with him, but the school
teacher was sarcastic.
III you had ever studied physical geo.
graphy," he said ''you would know that
the aurora borealis is not light made
upon terra firma, but peculiar magnetic
condition of the atmosphere for which
there is no apparent accounting" He
looked toward tho chronic loafsr. "And
the manner in which you pronounce It is
exceedingly ludicrous. 1t is not roarin
BORN always. 1t is spelled a-u-r or q
b.o-r.e.a-l-i-s So
The tinsmith, who was seated upon a
nail kcg, rubbing his hands in the warm
rays of the stove, chucklcd softly. The
chronic loafor noticed him and felt con-
WINGED that the correction of his own
grammar had caused the others mirth
What you uns SO tickled about now?"
he asked gruifly.
Il was jest thinkin," the tinsmith re-
10 Inc -,
ural expression, "of the time my ole frien
Quincy Muthersbaugh spelled down Jimi-
son, who taught up to Happy Grove school.
He dono ct on tibet very word. My, but
tibet there was bee''
Now, fore you git grindin away, senoe
you've got on spellin, 1 want to tell q
good un on
Let him tell us about Quincy Muthers-
baueh, the schoolteacher interposed de-
cisively Your good nm will keep"
Compelled to silence, the chronic loafer
rolled over on his back and gazed defect
edly into the dim recesscs of the ceiling,
while the tinsmith began:
Some folks is nat raj spoilers fest as
Others is nat'ral musicians. Agin, cts
jest as had ter make good speller by ed
dication as ct is to make good bass horn
player. Fer u Teller tibet hain't tibet in
ter make word il never spell no better
than TIL man tibet hain't nat'ral sense
OF how much winds needed fer note'll
play bass horn
II cannot agree wholly with you," in
terrupted the scboolteacher. Give a
child first words of one syllable then two,
then drill them in words ending in ton
until
We won't discuss tibet, teacher, fer ct
don't effect our case. John Unison was
a nat raj speller. You never seen TIL like.
Give him n word of six or seven syllables,
an he'd spell ct out like ct was on black
board right before him. When he was 20,
he he'd spelled down all tho scholars in
Happy Grove an ID won bout six bees
Then he went to tn Pikestown Normal
school, out In tn western part of Penn
sylyany. When he come back, you never
knowed TIL beat. He he'd studied Lating
an algebray, but guess he must "a spent
consider bic time in brushin up his SPELL
In, fer there was only ono Teller bout these
parts who could keep with him fer any time
at all. He was my frien' Quincy Muthers-
bnugh. You uns knows Quincy. He tot
two winters up ct Kishikoquillas school
an went west after he mawried. He was
o powerful good feller-still, an a fine
teacher an speller, but John Unison he'd
tn advantage OF normal school edica-
ton an knOwed it, fer you uns mover seen
tn like of tn way he kerred ON when he
was tcachin ter Happy Grove.
E" Thet was tn winter we he'd so much
snow. 1t he'd dIiftCd in TIL roads SO we
drove through the fields, ef you uns re-
member What with church sushbles an
singin school an spellin bees they was
heap sight goin on
Not q week passed but mo an Quincy
Muthersbaugh went somo'eres, nh fore /
knowed ct both him an John Unison was
keepin comp'ny with Hannah elders
She was jest as pretty as "A peach plump
All rosy, with til slickest nat raj hair an
teeth you ever seen. She was powerful
fond Of cdicntion, so when them two teach
ers was after her she jest couldn't make
up her min. She favored both. But ct
seemed ter me like Quincy was her favor.
ito without her KNOWN ct. He'd go SEQ
her, set down an never say nothin much,
but she kinder thot him pleasant compa-
ny. He was good luollin, an sure an no
fool. Unison was amrsin, tolerablo in
his looks an he'd tn advantage of nor
NAL school edication an kinder dazzled
her. Et allus 'pcared ter me still as IL he
was bit conceity, but then he took with
tn girls.
"Ilannah elders didn't know which Of
them two ter choose. LIT seems she figured
on ct all fall an well inter tn winter.
She begin ter get thin an lose all her col
or, AN both them fellors was near wild
with nnxiunsness an continual quarrelin.
Thcn what yer pose they done;'
=" Eth take long time fer EN- ter do
much til way you tells it, - the chronic
loafer grumbled.
She give out" continued the tinsmith,
not needing the interruption, tibet she'd
take til best udicntud. Thct tickled Jimi-
son, who bl0wod round ter all his friens
how he was Goin ter send 'em invites ter
his wcddin. Quincy lie jest grit his teeth
an said lie was ready. IIO-was goin. he put
ct, like III male knights of old, ter tilt
in tn turning months fer his lady, They
agreed ter hey it out on tn quiet at tn
big spCllln between their schools TIL follyin
week. thot Quincy was gone. He Jest
went ter work, though, nm fer scv'ral days
before tn beo l seen nothin of him. He
was stcdyin tn spollin book.
tn night cemC, nm such crowd as
thoy was Of tn Happy Grove school. They
was sleighin, an fora quarter OF a mile in
| front of Tn huildin they WINS nothin but
horses hitchod ter III fences. Tn school
room was all decorated with green's an
I lighted with lie lamps fer tn occasion an