Evening star., 1902-02-22
ANOTHER IDOL GONE

The quiet, modest, slender, good looking
young man knew, when he took charge of
the Hinkyville school, that the path before
him was liable to be difficult one.
He was aware Of the fact that for a num-
Der of years the changes in the teacher
ship had been frequent and that the longest
incumbency had been that of q consump-
tive youth whose condition excited the
pity of the pupils. and who had been teach
er OF the Hinkyville scnool for two months
before being compelled to take to his bed.
All OF the other predecessors of the mod
est hero of this little tale had been COM
PEELED to take to the elongated cacti during
the very early days Of their teachership,
owing to the violent If not actually dan
gerous, manifestations Of displeasure on
the part of the rowdy pupils. who formed
the majority.
Most of the pupils were the sons of coal
miners. who themselves worked down in
the bowels OF the earth with little lamps
nAed 70 their caps, when there was nothing
oolng IN the school line. and although only
rev or the pupils were over eighteen
years of age. they made up for their lack
or years In their toughness.
Our young hero had been frankly told
when he was engaged for the leadership,
that ne was up against as about as hard
g. proposition as he would be liable to find
this side of Deadwood or Creede but he
needed the job-was he not endea voring to
earn earn enough money to complete his scien-
lnc education. as we'll as to support his
motner and twelve sisters at the same time
and he fearlessly brushed aside the kindly
warnings of those who gave him the place
and confidently remarked that he guessed
he'd be able to get along all right.
. PROBABLY my predecessors in the posi-
uon, said he, have been addicted to cod
ui,hs ,iahs tne pupils and stroking them the
right way too much, which caused them to
take advantage of the situation There's
orIy one way to handle a bunch of rough
ScnooIpoys, no matter how big and impu-
sh... een. some som. OF them may be, and that is to
snow them from the very outset that you're
the master and the only one When that
Iact IS thoroughly impressed upon them.
Tn aninK NIX they'll get along with me all right,
snoIan - Alow ,,n' .ne reason why, and our quiet
SPOKEN young hero blushed consciously as
ene snreWd-eyed township magnate, who
the back oii
Go it. b'gosh, young feller an, u;n,
Gosh all hemlock, l dew wish you success.,
efcIaimed the township masnate But il
yeW git them coal minin' boys good an
nopnied you'll be earnin' all o. your s22 d
i',onth U an found, an I'm a-tellin' yew"'
our modest but determined young hero
clearly evinced by his manner on his way
TO the'school on his first morning in the no.
suion tnat he fully appreciated the magni-
Tue OF the task he had undertaken in
cuelllng the inborn riotousness of as tough
a crowd Of school pupils as ever used their
INK wells for cnspidors tie while they
hours. oA
Nor. when he had cast his ewes over tho
crowd for the first time, was he disnosed tn
underestimate the proportions of his iob
seated In the back part of the little school
room were seven great, hulHing youths, all
anoul seventeen Years old. and all of them
ensdseu from the very outset In eating
about half pound of black twist tobacco
eacn. Who looked as il 1t wouldn't be anv
KIND OF job at all for them to push a
loaaed freight car up an incline of sixty
eight degrees on a miry road
The rest of the lads weren't quite 90
hulR1ns looking, but from the sulky hostile
stares with which they regarded their new
teacher he could plainly see that if he
was pretty likely to have about as much
trouble with them. collectively. as he an
ticlpated having with the overgrown lum-
makes in the back of the room, against
whom he had been warned
No faltering," said our Young hero to
himself as he mounted the little platform
on which his desk rested and picked up the
ruler lying thereon.
boys, said he, clearing his throat. 81
am taking charge Of this school TODAY with
the fixed determination to run it to suit
myself, and not to conduct it after your
ldeas. l am going to be 1t, with a capital
= = IN TINS snack from the present instant of
tlme, and You want to keep that in mind
perceive that there are seven low-browed.
INFAMOUS looking foafers seated in the
pack or the room, who are chewing tobac-
co. Chewing tobacco don't go with me
to the window and throw those guilds out.
and do 1t real quick, or there'll be some
thing doing in the fiagellation line here in a
minute that'H make slapstick Humpty
Dumpty show look like performances Of
trained and harnessed f1eas''
Not one OF the seven hulkers in the rear
OF OF the room SO much as moved muscle
Ihey simply grinned at the new teacher,
and then at each other, and then thew ali
spat at knot-hole in the floor in unison
A carmine flush overspread the chiseled
features of our quiet-spoken but deter
mined young hero. He grasped his half
inch ruler firmly In his right hand. stepped
tread to the rear of the room reached out
with his left hand for the collar of the first
OF the seven bullies that he came to- and
here, however, Is the hold-on place.
If the writer of this were penning a brief
incident in the biography of some lately
deceased wealthy and influential man who
had. in his early life, succeeded in getting
an education by teaching in a village
to narrate how our modest young hero
grabbed the first of the low-browed school
DULLES out OF his seat with his left hand
Whaled him all over the room. and then
jammed him into the woodbox behind the
stove with such force as to make his teeth
chatter, then he would go on and tell how
the Quiet-spoken' young hero went after
the other six bullies, one by one, and bang
ed them around on the floor and over the
desks in manner that was a sin and
shame. however necessary, and how they
all decided then to jump him at once: and
how he cast away his ruler swiftly pulled
off his coat met them as they came on.
dealing out uppercuts, straight-arm tolts
and telling jabs impartially. and how he
biffed the 'tarnal daylights out of the whole
gang. winding up by kicking them each
anil severally around the schoolhouse four
times while he held them by the backs of
their shoulders: and how from that hour
he had the situation cinched so that the
bullies wouldn't even chew licorice root
until they'd got fourteen miles away from
the schoolhouse. and SO on and so on.
However, that wasn't the way it went in
this case. When our modest young hero
reached forth his hand to clutch at the COL
lar OF the tobacco-chewing bully nearest
him. the latter uncoiled about five feet
eleven Of his loutsh shape, shot out his
right arm with its sixteen-and-a-half
right biceps, caught the quiet-spoken new
teacher on the point Of the jaw. and pro-
ceeded to count him out for keeps When
our modest young hero came to the first
word that he heard was "Gitr' uttered en-
In unison by the whole bunch
Of pupils, and as soon as he clambered to
his feet they took after him and chased
him Just seventeen miles and 1 300 yards
from Hinkyville. where he took refuge in
q swamp and was rescued with difficulty
after eating nothing but swamp grass and