Ellsworth American., 1904-06-01
How Stu
Learned to
SuDtAoNs BRUCE
Copyright, 1903, by T. c. Mcclure

In Munkersytllc every uVuS eSieeu
,hat stumpy Dent was silly; not very
rnrch of. but off. Pa Dent himself
sId NOT deny 1t. OF course ma was an
sycention to the rule and vigorously
dcuied everything and anything that
.ouched on the softness OF Stumpy.
.nd toward pa. because of his sittin'
on the fence attitude, she assumed
frigid front.
"slIence Is jes' the same as consent.
nove Dent" she complained bitterly,
owing her spouse with shrewish look.
"sbame on ye. an him your own flesh
an bloodF'
But Dave paid no heed to these out
bursts Asa matter OF fact, pa was
mast speaking to stumpy. He had
fought the good fight and failed. In
time perhaps. he allowed. intelligence
might penetrate to Stumpy's brain.
Good humored. fat and habby.
stumpy had seen nine healthy sum-
mers. His eyes were blue and watery.
his cheeks dimpIed and red. Rain or
shine he wore a hayseed hat two sizes
TOO small for his abnormal crown, kept
in place by an elastic SO tight that 1t
puckered and Redeemed his skin. His
nants were drawn up three inches
above his knees. and. though ma tried
hard to prevent it. Stumpy's kneecaps
were always exposed. for Stumpy had
A weakness for curbstones and mar
bles, and rather than stand on his feet
he hustled along on all fours.
In school work Stumpy was disap-
pointing. two grades behind the times.
Yet he could read. spell. add to the
thousands and would attack millions
II he dared. But. oh. subtraction. sub
traction - not even standing black
board example could enlighten
Stumpy's mind,
His long suffering teacher. like pa.
WIS nearing the evaporation point.
when suddenly happy thought occur
red to her. She had observed Stumpy
on the curbstone playing marbles.
Sure. He must have marbles In h.s
pocket He did have them, bulging
poeketful. jealously guarded, and after
a struggle she successfully extracted
three. But Ii was all she could do TO
get them, and for days her soft, white
hand retained evidence of the getting.
"Stumpy Dent" she cried. with blaz-
ing eyes. ''now tell what l have done.'
"Cobbed ma marbles" walled the
outraged pupil, with streaming eyes
and waggling toes.
Hush. hue, sonny. I'm going to
give them all back to you. I'm only
trying 10 show you what subtraction
is. Now. how many marbles had you
when you came to schoolT'
Twelve" shouted Stumpy.
"How many have you nowY"
One by one Stumpy counted them
and considered.
How many?" repeated the teacher.
Twelve when ye give 'em back
t'me," calmly announced the hopeless
one.
From peut up forms a roar of boyish
laughter made sensitive Stumpy tear
ful and tight as a clam, and away
went hope like the filmy wake of a
dream.
or course Pa Dent soon heard the
story and looked sadly at his son. He
himself had tried the practical iIlustra-
tion scheme. but the lad was unrespon-
siye.
"Stumpy." he demanded. shaking the
boys fat hand little roughly, do you
like school?"
''Yis." was the glib reply.
Then you must do better or I'll take
you away"
Now, Stumpy spoke the truth. He
really loved his teacher. School was
his heaven. and in his clumsy way he
But 1t wasn't pas threat that awaken
ed Stumpy. To Darby Peck. the towns
leading grocer. must be given the cred
It Darby had way with him, such
way that for every customer his
rival, Bollinger. boasted. Darby could
set up four. and Darby had just open
ed branch near Stump's school
Nav, the laddies' trade amt much"
he admitted, but Am a-caterin' tenn
Jest the same"
Here hitherto Bolliuger had held full.
sway. But Bollinger was mean, hard
as nails; he didn't give marbles away
with every five cent purchase. But
Darby did, so Darby corralled the
school Bollinger tried hard TO get 1t
back. At half price. as a lure. he adj
Vertised squeakin' balloons and sticks
OF candy, the chowchow kind. Who
wanted squeakin' balloons and chow
enow candy? And again Darby went
him one better:
=,