The Afro-American advance., 1899-11-18

the puzzle II only she had courage to
use il. And truly she had need of all
the courage she could muster. About
two months before, an English family
had settled in that part of the strag-
Cling village called "the devils elbow.
| The Youngest member of the family.
boy about l6 years old, had won sor5e
distinction as prize fighter. He had
never had any schooling to speak of,
and his family had arranged that he
should attend school during the winter
term. Filled with a sense of Importance,
and despising the control of "a gal with
fist no bigger'n chany cup" he had
been disturbing spirit from the first
day. ZAndy's conduct now called for
decisive action. and hence the perplex-
| ity that wrinkled the schoolma' ans
brow and brought ous little lines of de-
termination about the mouth which
were born of desperation. She knew
she must do something; already il was
being whispered about the district that
the new teacher was no good, couldn't
keep no sort of order at all" and would
get her notice at the end of the quar-
ter.No one but herself knew how she
needed the poor salary attached to this
very undesirable situation. Suddenly
she turned and. with heightened color
and flashing eyes, called as quietly as
she could:
ANDREW, come here"
| With a grin of amusement at the
tone and attitude of the teacher, Andy
came lounging up to the raised plat
form that served TO enhance the dignity
of the teacher.
Andrew, your conduct has been such
that have made up my mind to punish
you. Hold out your hand"
'Haw. haw, haw! Whip me, the
champion heavyweight of Clark coun-
ty? Guess not. could take yeh by the
collar with one hand an shake yeh out
o yer boots"
Il know that as well as you do, An
drew, but I'm not afraid of you, In the
first place, bad as you have been,
think you have manliness enough to
keep you from touching woman; in
the second place, if you lay a finger on
me l shall have you punished to the full
extent of the law Either hold out your
hand at once or go home and never come
back again"
Andy sized up the situation quickly,
and being very anxious to learn some
thing and very doubtful of the teach
er's ability to hurt him, smilingly put
his hand out. Down came the hickory
stick, and Andy WINGED and visibly
| l. : 81. n.
teacher motioned to the other hand and
mesmerized by a will so much stronger
than his own, he put it out with a spas
modic jerk.
The frightened children huddled to-
gether in groups, and soon nothing
was heard but the long rhythmic swish
of the whipstock as il rose and fell. and
the grating of Andy's teeth as he real
lied that il would take all his self-con-
troll to keep him from crying like a
baby. 1t was a triumph of mind over
matter; but when outraged justice was
satisfied and the fire of the teachers
wrath had burned itself out. she fell to
the floor a white, lifeless heap.
Keep back" shouted Andy to the
lcrying children as they closed in about
her, "I'll lick every mothers son o. yeh
into a cooked at if yeh don't set down
an keep quiet. An see ere. if yeh don't
mind yer p's an q's after this, yer go
in ter hev me ter deal wit See?"
Andy's championship did not end
there. He was filed with admiration
for the grit of the woman who could
fearlessly tackle the champion heavy
weight of Clark county. And when the
Inhabitants of the devils elbow"
moved TO wrath against the school
ma'am for some well-merited punish
ment, announced their intention of com
ing down on her, he took up n com
manding position on the road, and, bar
ing his strong muscular arms, shouted:
Come on ere, you fellers; if it's
fightin' yeh want, jest call on me. Any
feller thet gives 'er any imperdence as
got ter do wit the champion heavy
weight o Clark county. See?"
As old Bill Judkins said. "yeh could
allays tell by the 'handwrite;' any
woman thet took sech grip o. the pen
meant business. Detroit Free Press.