Danville intelligencer. [volume] (Danville, Pa.) 1859-1907, 1905-08-04

neap OF Sf1t. f1ty nef pa OMnt nave
it. He used to be professor. and he's
dedicated Lyddy to use good speech"
At the meeting the next night Lydia
received unanimous vote. and when
school opened she was installed as
teacher. She made companions of the
big boys and girls and pets of the little
ones. The country people were perfect
ly satisfied. In due course Of time Dea-
con Watrous and Bill Stiles came to
make the accustomed visit. Lydia was
fully prepared for this occasion and In
vited them to question the class. They
knew but few questions to ask, and
as they had paid many visits to the
school the pupils knew the answers by
heart. Then Lydia asked them to sing
II stirring war song and hymn. Bills
little girl spoke piece, carefully re-
hearsed beforehand. TL1 two members
went away enthusi:stir over the new
teacher and told Wight he had better
go and see for himself.
And he did, appearing suddenly and
Unexpectedly near the close Of an In
dian summer afternoon. Lydia's ex-
preston Of dismay caused litter of
appreciation among the older boys. In
stead Of reprlmand she gave them an
imploring look that could not be with
stood, and order reigned ut once. Ly-
dia felt that the visitor had noted the
look and interpreted 1t as confession
Of inability to govern.
Just as she was about to call upon
tb. f,,, Ab
let loose mouse he had carefully con-
fined In his book bag. Excitement pre-
vailed among the girls and delight
among the boys. Had Lydia known
that she was to lose her position she
would still have done as she did now,
jumped up on her chair.
Hugh caught the mouse threw 1t out
Of the window, elected Bob and his
book bag and in stentorian tone re-
stored order. Lydia came down from
her chair and in her confusion called
upon the arithmetic class to come for
ward. She wished that Lige Jenkins
had remained ut home that day. Arith-
metic was not his forte. She planned
adroltly to omit him. but the visitor In
stantly detected the omission and
pounced upon the unfortunate lad.
'Lige." he asked. "how many times
does 8 go In 27?"
10 Lydia's dismay Llge promptly
stepped to the blackboard and COM
menced a solution via long division.
finally putting down . for an an
Ewer
TRY again. Lige," urged Wight
chcerfully
Lige then substituted the figure 4
for 2.
you've got another gunss coming,
Lige"
The boy looked bewildered, and Ly-
dla desperately came to his rescue.
'Lige. won't 1t go three timest' she
asked inslnuatingly.
Lige looked ut her axlously.
'Why. yes" he replied slowly, "it
Will, but it's dernd tight squeezed"
Then came that delightful uncon-
strained burst Of laughter that Lydia
had heard once before from Hugh
Wight. The school joined with him
The teacher looked at the clock and
thankfully observed 1t was time for
dismissal. She stood at the door until
the last scholar had vanished. Then
she came back to the platform, where
Wight still sat and Lige fingered.
Say" observed the lad earnestly,
"tain't her fault. l never did know
nuthin' about 'rithmetic nohow. She's
the best teacher we ever had"
This touch Of sympathy from the
little champion was too much for Ly-
dia. Her self control slipped, and her
head went down ON the desk.
"Lige," said Wight gently, you did