The Worthington advance., 1900-09-21

"I'll tell you how wen pay for It.
said Torgrim Olsen. "We'll pay for Il
by buying the lumber and putting ny
the building ourselves. Every man here
can give his labor"
whats the matter with building 4
big log schoolhouse?" suggested Jen.
Shipness. sanders Anderson told mt
that up in Minneapolis some rich peo
pie built big houses for themselves out
of logs, and they were thought very
stylish" ~ zzss..
Just the thing!" cried Torgrim OF
sen. boys, ell build big Norwegian
log house out Of squared logs, one just
such as the judge had in our parish, and
ll'l tell sou It will be . mighty hand
some, as well as strong and warm, build
ling. Every man here can spare some OF
the logs that he's been seasoning fol
firewood.'
The very next day the building be.
gan, and contributions of labor and
logs came from all the surrounding dis
tricts. The logs were hewn square, and
under the direction of Torgrim Olsen
there rose building that was as much
superior in beauty to the ordinary
country schoolhouse as an old English
stone church is to an American wooden
meeting house.
A belfry tower, for some future bell
rose at one side, and gables and peaks
diversified the roof. Logs with the
bark left on formed stripes around the
building at the top of the first story
and under the broad caves. As the
building was very much larger than
the old one, only half of the lower story
| was used for a schoolroom. A kitchen
and two dressing-rooms occupied the
rest of this first floor, which was not
plastered, except in the spaces between
the logs.
The reception room in the second
story was ceiled and papered. The
bright, new floor would look we'll
enough for time, and the purchase of
carpet was postponed.
Almost the whole township was pres
ent at the opening of the new edifice,
and before the assemblage broke up a
committee to see about incorporating
the Hawthorne society was appointed.
The society had outgrown the limits
of district No. 3. It was the social or
ganization of the whole township and
must have a legal existence, for it
owned property and intended to ac-
quire more.
'Say," said the postmaster at the
railway village of St. Lombert, where
the people of the township got their
mail, II want you to tell me, Gregory,
what has got into the people in your
town! A lot of them take papers now.
and some of those who took Norwe-
gian and German papers before have
gone over to American"
do You know, Gregory" said Mr..
Maynard, ''there is one important re-
suit of the debates of our society that
have noticed. The men are all trying
to perfect their English, and, positive
ly, I haven't heard a word of foreign
speech for a month. The society is a
great Americanizer."
The meetings of the literary society
June, to be resumed again in Septem-
ber. Although he had intended to keep
the place only year, Gregory applied
for the position of teacher again at the
close of the term. His surprise and cha
grin were great when he was told by
the board that he could not have the
place.
eve do not think it is best to give it
to you," said Mr.. Maynard, "because-
because"
Because" interrupted Henry Trus-
colt, 1--WE are going to send you to the
legislature. It's our turn to have the
assembly man, and I've been talking the
thing up, and you're going to have the
nomination, which is the same as elec-
tion."
"But what am going to live on ?"
said Gregory, on his return home, when
his father congratulated him upon his
prospective preferment.
maynard spoke to me about that last
week. Pfannakuchen, a German that
has your mothers fathers old farm,
wants to sell out. Maynard will lend
you most of the money and I will the
rest, if you are willing to give up the
idea Of practicing law and take to
farming"
II will be glad to do it," said Greg
ory. "Perhaps the tide is beginning to
turn, and the city is at last flowing
back to the country. 1t is fitting that
a returning Yankee like me should buy
out departing German"