Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1905-12-06

\ the intellectual conquest of her Brobdingnag pupils seemed as hope less as on that first day. School !, seemed to be regarded by them as :, sort of neutral territory admirably adapted for the settlement of long standing grudges. the pleasant ex- change of practical jokes. peace and war conferences, also as a mart of trade where firearms. knives. bear and elk teeth might be swapped with d greater expenditure of time and con- versation than under the maternal eye Preacher" as she was understood and accepted by the house of Yellett, un- doubtedly filled long felt want. Pre- siding over q school of six imp power for week, however, had humhled Mary to the point of seriously consid- ering letter to the home government, meekly asking for return transporta ton. but this was before feminine vile had struggled with feminine vanity. and feminine vile won the day. Schoo! still continued to open at 6, from which early and unusual hour it con tinued, without recess or Interruption, till noon, when dinner pleasantly in vaded the scholastic monotony. to the infinite relief of all parties concerned.
 Mary had dismissed her pupils few minutes before the usual hour on particularly bad day that she might rally her scattered faculties and pre- sent something of countenance tc the watchful eye of Mrs. Iellett. With head sunk in the palms of her hands and elbows resting on the inverted tub. Mary presented picture of woe, in which the wicked element of con- edy was not wholly lacking. Looking up suddenly, she saw Judith Rodney advancing. The first glimpse of her put Mary in more rational mood.
 I'm so glad to see you. Behold my class room appOintments! They may seem tritie novel, but, for that mat ter. so are my pupils" began Mary, de- termining to present the same front to Judith that she had to Mrs. Yellett. But Judith was not to be put off. She looked into Mary's eyes and did not relax her gaze until she was rewarded
 
 Mary laughed long and merrily, the first good. hearty laugh since the be- ginning of her teaching
 Hell me-" Mary broke out suddenly, ''or the suspense will kill me, who wrote that lovely letter-on such good quality Irish linen too! Snob that was. it was the letter that did it."
 that was not home product?"
 You didn't do it. did you?''
 "Oh, no; though I was asked, and so folded and piled in one of the wagons in fact. the extremely simple tent-hold. to coin a word, was in absolute order. It was just d. m., and Mrs. Yellett thought it high time to begin school. Mary tried to convey to her that the hour was somewhat unusual, but she seemed to think that for pupils who were beginning their tasks compara- lively late in life it would be impossi- ble to start sufficiently early in the morning. So at this young and tender hour, with many misgivings, Mary set about preparing her al fresco class room.
 She chose a nice, fiat little piece of the United States, situated in the shade of the clump of willows that bordered trickling creek not far from her sylvan bathroom of the early morning. How she was to sit on the ground all day and yet preserve properly pedagogical demeanor was the first question to be settled. That there was nothing even remotely resembling a chair in camp she felt reasonably as sured, as paw was sitting on an in- verted soap box under pine tree, and paw, by reason of age and intirmity, 1 appropriated all luxuries. Mrs. Yel- lett, with her usual acumen, grasped the situation.
 I'm figgerin'," she commented, that there must be easier ways of governin' than sittin' up like prairie dog while you're at it.
 Mrs. Yellett took hurried survey of the camp. lessening the distance be- tween herself and one of the light wagons with gait in which grace was entirely subservlent to speed; then, with one capacious wrench of the arms she loosened the spring seat from the wagon and bore it to the governess with an artless air of triumph. It was difficult, under these circumstances, to explain to Mrs. Yellett that without that symbol of scholastic authority, a desk, the wagon seat was useless; nev. ertheless Mary set forth with all hel eloquence the mission of a desk. Mrs Yellett was genuinely depressed. Had she imported the magician without his wand-Aladdin without his lamp? She proposed a bewildering choice-an in verted washtub, two buckets sustain ing the relation of caryatides to a board, the sheet iron cooking stove. IF l