Courier Democrat. (Langdon, N.D.) 1891-1920, 1897-08-26
King Edward,

dren. don't know whether you'll call
1t a story or not. It's all about the
school l went to in the far West, out
on the edge of the woods, and a couple
OF miles from the village-a long
stretch for short legs, and too long a
walk for the teacher, Miss Mills, who
used to ride over from Deacon Potters
where she boarded, on the queer little
donkey King Edward. Most donkeys
are called Neddie, you know, and Miss
Mills pet had a finer name, you see,
and he wouldn't answer to any other.
He had the loudest bray and the long
est ears of any donkey that ever lived.
Lucky that for us. as it turned out.
1t was queer school room you would
say. The desks were slabs at angles,
and the boys had all cut their names
on them In one corner there was a
shallow box full of fine white sand. The
little ones began to write by making
the letters in the sand with skewers.
When the lesson was over Miss Mills
smoothed the sand with a rolling pin,
and there it was again. I learned to
write that way; slate came next, paper
afterwards.
Miss Mills did the best she could with
us, and King Edward helped keep
school by putting his head in at the
window every now and then and bray
ing. That always made any new
scholar shrek; then the rest of us
would laugh. =.
Miss Mills said she was thankful
when winter came, because she could
shut the windows and keep King Ed
wards head out. But, though it was as
cold as Greenland when we first got
to school, the great fire that was piled
up in the big wood stove would begin
to roast us all by eleven o'clock, and
then up would go the window and in
would come King Edwards head and
his bray.
I remember on the day that am 60
fng to tell you about, Jim Burke, a boy
who was always up to mischief, had
brought over an old sunbonnet of his
mothers and tied it on King Edwards
head, putting the long ears through two
holes he had cut for them.
"There'll be fun when he looks in,"
he said to two or three of us who were
in the secret. Don't tell any of the
girls; want to hear them screech."
We were all singing, 'Twice one are
two, twice two are four, in chorus" I
remember, and Jim had his eye on the
window watching King Edward when
the door moved.
"King Ed is coming in that way"
whispered Jim. Miss Mills heard him
and turned her head.
"That is little too much" she said,
and stepped forward to put the donkey
out, but stopped half way, turned pale
and looked as If she was about to faint.
The next moment the girls were Shrek
ing and the boys shouting, for in
walked bear.
It was q cold winter and the bears
were hungry in the woods and getting
savage. The men were going off for a
bear hunt that week, and the children
were all forbidden to go into the woods,
but none of the animals had come up
into the settlement as yet Nobody
wanted them to. A hungry bear is
dangerous beast, and we all know it,
This was a gaunt, wide-mouthed, red
eyed critter, and he glared at us furi-
ously.
None of us dared to run for the win
dows, for they were on the same side
as the door, not very big either. Miss
Mills couldn't have got through one of
them. The bear was doing very queer
things, moving his head round and
round, but never taking his eyes off of
us.
Get behind the stove and-and say
your prayers, children" said Miss Mills.
ooh, your poor mothers! If any of you
get off ask Deacon Potter to write and
lust tell mine that I'm dead, but not
how it was. Oh, he is coming" and
truly the bear, whose appetite had only
been whetted by Miss Mills lunch, was
now rising on his hind legs with his
forepaws lifted and his paws open,
showing all his sharp nails. He had
his eye on little Fannie Sanford, the
h>hv NJ tho school. hut Miss Mills NM