Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1905-11-16
That riivolous
Miss Bell
BY JEANETTE SCOTT BENTON
copyish.. 1905. by Jeanette scoa Benton

board. The principal subject under
discussion was the hiring Of an assist
ant Latin teacher in the high school.
"Of course, professor, you under
stand,' the chairman explained, that
! the necessity for new teacher rising
as it does in the school year gives us
very little choice The board, however,
has decided unanimously upon Miss
Daisy Bell, room Z, of the Oak street
school. What do you think of her?'
Professor Leigh frowned. my actu-
al knowledge of Miss Bells attain
ments is limited, but she is a frivolous
looking young woman To me she
seems rather impossible Latin teach
er. Her name, Daisy Bell, in the fac
| ulty would almost lower its tome"
He glanced around and caught the
covert amusement Of his auditors, his
lean young face set In stern disap-
prevail. To Professor Leigh life was
real and earnest"
| He writhed under the frivolity and
laxity of those latter days. The light
ness and love Of display shown by the
majority of his feminine acquaintance
annoyed him. Women were sadly de-
generating, in his opinion, and he was
only thirty years old.
Il know" he said stiff1y. " my objec-
| ton is unusual, but the girls of the
high school run to too much frivolity
themselves. Their teachers should be
of another type, if there is any. They
! even have way of wearing their
| hair in a sort of arch over their faces
so that i'm profile you can barely see the
| tips Of their noses. That Miss Bell
wears hers very much the same way"
| The board relaxed decidedly. Pro-
fessor Leigh regarded them in stern
perplexity.
II confess the chairman remarked,
that we have not particularly consid-
cred Miss Bells appearance. She grad
uated last year with unusual Latin
recommendations. AS for her ability
as teacher, the work in room Z Of
! the Oak street school is not easy, and
she has succeeded there Of course if
| she is not satisfactory, professor, other
arrangements can be made for next
year.
The professor arose. my objections
to Miss Bell,v he said, fare of course
| theoretical He smiled a smile of
such entire confidence and good fell
/ lowship that it was easy to understand
| his hold on the high school in spite of
his priggishness. And if you say try
her / shall do it with confidence in
| your judgment"
Which was not quite true, for every
day his soul arose in disapproval
against Miss Daisy Bell. 'What could
there be in a girl with such pink and
white face fiuffed around with such a
mop of yellow hair and such an i'm
preston of frills and fancy things all
about herr" He trembled, too, for her
| influence In the school. The girls
seemed SO infatuated with her. How
could she teach Latin? 1t was almost
| against natural law
Miss Bell grew red and white under
his scrutiny in the Latin class, for he
came in frequently during the first
months recitations.
| At last he was obliged to admit that
she could teach Latin fairly well, but
he resented it. He hated Inconsistency.
| She gradually became the trial of his
life, and he always tried to make her
as inconspicuous as possible. During
| the annual visitation of teachers he
skillfully steered them away from Miss
| Daicv'e olaccos Che xxvac a hlo+ M, Az,
dignity and high standing of his be
loved school. 1t would shake the con-
fidence of any sensible person to see a
girl like that ON the staff of teachers.
AS for Miss Daisy, she tried her best
to please the stern young man. She
didn't have any trouble with her
classes. The girls were obedient and
the boys were gentlemen.
But she could not understand Pro
| fessor Leigh She curled her hair in
its prettiest fashion and worked her
hardest in school, but she could not
melt his uncompromising disapprovaI
She trembled for her position the fol
lowing year. 1t meant bread and but
ter and paying what she owed for her
course at the university.
In view of this contingency her pres
ent bread and butter was Of the cheap
est, and she turned and pressed and
darned her frivolous little frocks and
stuck bow here and trimmed in a
lacy frill there to hide the bad spots
that the bright spring sunshine was
making so apparent.
1t was nearly Q o'clock one evening
when Miss Daisy discovered that by
some mischance she had overlooked
part of her Latin examination papers.
They had to be graded that night, so
she threw little shawl over her Shout
ders. Il will have to go over after
them" she murmured She ran across
the street to the dark, silent building.
The hall looked terribly big and dark,
and she fairly few up the stairs into
the Latin recitation room. She lighted
several matches and finally succeeded
| in finding the missing papers. The