The Chickasha daily express. (Chickasha, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1899-current, 1905-04-06

void, and Elizabeth lifted her pale face
ana her hungry eyes, hungry Tor recogni-
/ ton. hungry tor realization of ideals un-
/ trammeled by the sordid dollar-ma
| hungry FOR tnat which is not found on
| blackboards or In lifeless exercises. or,
| indeed within the four walls OF a school
| room, with its dwartng ruts and its dead
| enlng crcumscriptions, and Marjorie saw
| there a gieam Of strength she knew
| nalBht or q promise OF peace not born
| Of the flesh nor bred in the bone. and,
! with a flash of intuition, she recognized
the presence OF strength greater than her
own.
Lizzie, dear" she said almost quailing
before the quiet light Of the other eyes
you won't take ii too hard, will your
You won't quite hate me, VIII you? /
couldn't help IL. The commission did it,
Don't look at me that way, Lizzie; / can t
stand IT, | don't want the money. ]
hate the very thought Of It, Ia rather
you had II. You deserve 1t and I-heaven
knows, II either is unworthy. IL Is /.
Listen, Lizziei why don't you listen? You
don't seem to hear me. Lizzie, child, you
shall have the money. Each month Ill
draw II and give II to you. 1t iant mine
It's all a fraud. Speak, Lizzie: say some
thlng-Just word-please, please, II only
a word.
You were always kind" said Elizabeth
SLOWLY, and with no uncertainty OF voice
or manner Always noble and dear. The
money Is not mine. / have no right 1
feared II before, and the commission has
proved II. | am incompetent; belong
TO the ranks Of the unit And yeti
can't quite understand Tiny children do
good work and pass high. But / don't
care any longer. They call IL an incen-
tive, but with me II chOkes every thought
OF endeavor. For awhile | felt deadened
10 all desire for progress, but that IL past
My old gait shah be my new. l cannot
do more; II is not in me TO do less.
shall never apply again, Marjorie. I'm
dead to that. TOO Nor shall / seek re-
ward aside from my childrens best well
rare, ana the old salary schedule; fee
l have risen above the whole shameful
thing-risen spiritually and finally"
And you don't hate me? Don't
don't
Envy your No. dear: never. You
have been too noble. too generous with
still Marjorie felt unsatisied. Some
thing Is wrong" she said daily and
hourly to herself, and painfully she
would review and reweigh every word
mat had passed between them, Won
dering II she had overspoken her heart
or had said too LITTLE or had spoken
amiss restraint seemed gradually to
than a mans hand. yet 1t grew till ~
illen the horizon. Elizabeth was not
happy; so much was clear. Convcrsa-
ton on the mooted question had become
an iinposslbility for the rejected girl
not IA words but by an aversion OF man
ner. warded on all approaches to the
question
And Marjorie, realizing more and more
that she herself WAS a partaker Of wrong,
began 10 fear that her presence there
only served as reminder of her friend
humiliation and failure. Herself keenly
s4nsltlYe, she read the condemnation she
iet for herself into her friends heart,
and read enormously, just as we are
p.One 10 hate unJustly those We have
wronged, or who know of our wrong
doing, because we imagine they must
despise us. II is easy to believe what we
elect TO believe; and Marjorie withdrew
further and farther, and no longer sought
friendly counsel or made show Of synN-
pathy or regret. She hates me, she
thought. why should / give her a chance
to rebun me. Am / to blame for my
success or answeraDle for anothers fall
nre? And common consent and usage
spoke in loud voice and said: mo, II
Is the survival Of the tit. II Is the hat
OF physical law. Adaptation, only, means
survival" But her heart hourly regis
tered its protest and said; Withhold
not from ner one grain Of human pity.
How eau you know her need or measure
nor grieI2"
Day after day Elizabeth would plod
hpme froiI school more and more dis
pirited The little uplift at the first, the.
sense Of rising above discord and hu-
initiation, had somehow been overnOrnr.
Stress OF toll, was It? Or rather, bur
dens unknown and unshared? None
seemed % know and few TO care. Ana
Marjorie dared not ask.
A day came at last when the Vital
forces In the girls life had burned low.
and came fitfully-a night when she had
lost sense of time and space and calling
conditions. and moaned and babbled of
things TO which her lips in saner mo-
ments had forbidden speech.
Marjorie. leaning over her bedside, half
distracted, CLEANED bits of a life history
which sent the chill blood in a wave 81
horror and indignation back upon her
heart.
She went to Llzzies schoolroom, now
IN q seething fermeut and interviewed
the children she had loved and lAbured
FOR Then her fears confirmed, she
failing for some time, he said not doing
work UP to her usual standard; a victim
OF the merit system, he should say. She
had seemed somewhat crushed at the nrst
-nerfectlY natural, Of course-must have
been so humiliating to one so sensitive
but she had rallied and seemed to rise
above II. Then the children had heard Of
II. and children get but a half-truth at
best. They learn these tiings-get them
IN the air-and. OF course they did not
understand-thCug it meant she was
not a good teacher-and II weakened her
discipline. They seemed TO lose respect
Tor her. and she, propOrtlonately to lose
mastery of them. Yes, he had tried to
control these things, but the spirit was
felt she had been marked for discredit
A dreadful thing, such a failure becoming
public property. and such will become
public. again and always and IL will
scientious teachers. and the ultimate ruin
OF our school system
Why, that last day, an old German |
woman, unable to read or write word |
of English. scarcely able To speak IN IN
telliRible gutturals. came In with her |
tousled son. No. she would not pud her |
son nit an un-merlt teacher She vas |
pud him NIT an goot teacher, or she vas |
pud him not at all This she had said tD |
Elizabeth in the presence OF the children. |
and that night Elizabeth had gone home /
and come back no more. And the chill /
dren. once so kind and traetable filed |
now with the spirit OF unrest reflected |
upon them from teacher and home and |
community had turned spiteful and imp /
ish, gone rampant with loosened re-
straint. and had been turned over to a |
pupil teacher, under whom they chafed |
and broke away repeatedly
And the principal said with tears In
his eyes. 1T Is cursed system, anu /
viii yet curse this city through It's /
broken spiritless teachers and it's de- |
Hoalized boys and girls"
Marjorie went home with an enlight- /
ened understanding but a sore and heavy |
heart Elizabeth knew no one All that /
day and the next Marjorie refused To-
school time. the cloud seemed to lift and |
her time sense. educated through long
continued habits, reasserted itself She |
opened her eyes aud turned them uuon |
the little alarm clock on the table.
"Why Marjorle" she exclaimed, ITS
after ) clock. ! can't possibly dress
and got TO school BY twenty minutes OF
o. and Ill be fined l must get up at
once" and she tried 10 raise herself, but
matter? What has happnned?" she
naked pitNOuAly. "I'li BE hnpt--and ~