The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1903-11-03

to be expected, it is the part OF an Emmy
Lou to adjust herself to meet, not to try
to understand, these ways.
Miss Lizzie kept in, but that was only one
OF her ways. she had many others. Perhaps
they were no more peculiar than the ways
Of her predecessors, but they were more
alarming.
Miss Lizzie placed a deliberate hand on her
call bell and, as its vibrations dinged and
smote upon the shrinking tympanum, a
rigid and breathless expectancy would per-
wade the silence OF the fourth reader room.
Miss Lizzie was tall, she seemed to tower
UP and over ones personality. One had no
mind OF her own, but one said what one
thought Miss Lizzie wanted her to say.
Eometimes one got It wrong. Then Miss
Lizzie's cold up-and-down survey smote
one into a condition something akin to
yacuity. until Miss Lizzie said briefly. "Sit
down."
Then one sat down hastily.
Miss Lizzie never wasted a word. Miss
Lizzie closed her lips. She closed them so
their lines were blue Her eyes were blue.
zoe, but not a pleasant blue. Miss Lizzie
did not scold, she looked. She kept looking
until one became aware Of an elbow rest
ing on the desk. IN her room little girls
must sit erect
Sometimes she changed. It came sudden
ly. One day it came suddenly and Miss
Lizzie boxed the little girls ears. The little
girl had knocked over a pile of slates col
lected on the platform for marking.
Another time she changed. 1t was when
the little girl brought a note from home be-
cause her ears were boxed. Miss Lizzie tore
the note to pieces and threw them on the
floor.
One lived In dread of her changing. One
watched in order to know the thing she
wanted. Emmy Lou knew every character
istic feature of her ace-the lean nose that
bent toward the cheek, the thin lips that
frightened and relaxed, the cold survey that
Travelled from desk to desk
Miss Lizzie's thin hands were never still
any more than were her eyes. Most often
her fingers tore bits OF paper into fine
shreds while she heard lessons.
Life is strenuous. In each reader the
strenuousness a taken a different form.
In the fourth reader it was copybooks.
Miss Lizzie always took an honor in copy
books. and she meant to take an honor this
year. But the road to fame is laborious.
she had her methods. Each morning she
gave out four slips of paper. On these slips
each little girl practiced until ths result
was good enough, in Miss Lizzie's opinion,
TO go into the book. Some lines must be
find and hair-Iike. Over these Emmy Lou
held her breath anxiously. Others must be
heavy and labored. over these she uncon-
sciously put the tip of her tongue between
her teeth until it was just visible between
her lips.
What, however, is school for but the &C
commodating of self to the changing de-
mands of teachers? In the fourth reader it
was fine lines on the upward strokes and
heavy lines on the downward.
Emmy Lou finally found the way. BY
turning the pen point over and writing with
the back Of the point. the upward strokes
emerged fine and hairlike. This having
somewhat altered the mechanism of the
pen point, it's reversal brought lines somber
and heavy. 1t was slow and laborious,
and 1t spoiled an alarming number Of pen
points. but then it achieved fine lines up
ward and heavy lines downward, and that
IS what books are for.
Hattie reached the result differently. She
kept two bottles Of ink. one for fine and
one for heavy lines. One was watered ink
and one was not.
The trouble was about the trial-paper.
One could have only four pieces. And the
copy could go In the book only after the
writing on the trial paper met with the
approval OF Miss Lizzie. So If one reached
the end of the trial paper before reaching
approval. one was kept in, for a half page
OF copy-book must be done each day. And
kept In" meant staying after school, in
hunger, disgrace. and the silence of a great.
deserted building. to write on triaI-paper
until the copy was good enough to be
put In.
Emmy Lou did not sit with Hattie in the
fourth reader. On the first day Miss Lizzie
asked the class il there was any deskmate
. little girl preferred. At that ones heart
opened and one told Miss Lizzie.
At nrst Emmy Lou did not understand.
For Miss Lizzie promptly seated all the
wcuid-be mates as far apart as possible.
Emmy Lou thought about il. 1t seemed
rs though Miss Lizzie did it to be mean.
Then Emmy LOUIS cheeks grew hot. She
put the thought quickly away that she
might forget It; but the wedge was entered
Teachers were no longer infalIible. Emmv
Lou had questioned the motives Of peda-
sogic deism.
And SO Emmy Lou and Hattie were sen.
srated- But there were three new little
girls near Emmy Lou. Their kid button
shoes had ~tassels. Very few little girls had
button shoes. Button shoes were new. EN-
my Lou had button shoes. She was proud
OF them. But they did not have tassefs.
The three new little girls looked amused
at everything. and exchanged chances; but
they were not mean glances-not the kind
OF giances when little girls nudge each
other and go OF to whisper. Emmy Ton
liked the new little girls. She could not
keep from loking at them. They spread
their skirts so easily when they sat down,
There was something alluring about the
little girls.
AT recess Emmy Lou waited near the door
for them. They al went out together. After
that they were friends. They lived on En-
my LOUIS square. IL was strange. But they
had just come there to live. That ex-
planned IL.
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