The San Francisco call., 1905-03-26

He was somewhat surprised at this
frank appeal. He liked directness.
I II meaps a good deal to u.s.. she
( continued earnestly. 'and if / don't get
tne place 1t will go very hard with my
rather. My salary would help him
more than You can know"
] Hugh felt as ii he had been stealing
\ sneep- She did not want the money for
trlpperies, then, but To help her
| father.
What do you mean by my infu-
encing Bill?" ne asked
| It's like this, she explained. "Dea-
, con Watrous is, of course, for me. and
Blll Is. too, or would be if you leave
MN alone and say nothing about the
/ advantages of having a man; but the
/ last person that approaches Bill has
ninn' anc they say you have a con-
I v1ncing tongue. The deacon is going
t. try and keep Bill away from YOU
until the meeting Is over but 7 didn't
| care to trust il TO that, so I came 70
i ask you / wouldn't presume to ask
| you to vote for me-only to let Bill
| alone"
| Up to this time the eyes, voice and
manner Of the young man had not been
at all encouraging; but in the hearty
peal of infectious laughter that follow
4 ed her request Lydia caught note Of
. appreciation, and some way she de-
( rived hope from his amusement
Miss Gardner, 1T strikes me as rather
| odd that you should come and show ma
/ the way TO gain my point and then ask
me not TO take It. .
! Maybe it is" she said wistfuIly.
but I don't know what else to do
| He remained in deep study for a mo-
ment. He did not like to be Influenced
\ by personalities.
| Well" he said abruptly. 'I'll not
speak to Bill or in his presence about
} this matter, and I'll waive my objec-
/ fnr7e for Is nd OF An~
myself, though 1 still believe a man
should have the place"
! Two bright spots burned IN Lydiafs
cheeks.
Thank you. I will now have an
other incentive to do my best. I shall
| try TO show you that I can NIL the po-
sition as acceptably as a man. You
look incredulOus. They all said about
here that you, city chap could never
make farmer, but you showed them
I you could. I'll show you l can make
a teacher"
Having made this telling point. Lydia
/ took her departure. Immediately the
housekeeper came in and expressed hr
approval of Wight's concession.
/ "Lyddy's a smart gal. and for all her
| purity looks and baby way she's got
heap of grit. Pity her pa didn't have
| it. He used to be professor. and he's
/ eddicated Lyddy to use good speech
received a 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 per-
/ fectly satisfied In due course of time
Deacon Watrous and Bill Stiles came
| to make the accustomed visit Lydia
was fully prepared for the occasion.
and invited 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 stirring war song and a hymn.
| Bilfs little girl spoke a piece. carefully
rehearsed beforehand. The two mem
bers went away enthusiastic 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 a litter OF
appreciation among the older boys.
Instead of a reprimand she gave them
an imploring look that could not be
withstood. and order reigned at once
Lydia felt that the visitor had noted
the look and interpreted II as a con-
fession Of inability to govern.
Just as she was about to call upon
the school for song, little Bob Hanks
let loose mouse he had carefully
confined in his book bag. Excitement
prevailed 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 IL 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
ri he rrvf~h hA1 %A4<
had remained at home that day. Arith-
metic was not his forte. She planned
adroitly to omit him, but the visitor
instantly detected the omission and
pounced upon the unfortunate lady.
'Lige,'' he asked. how many times
does nine go in twenty -seven?''
To Lydia's dismay. Age promptly
stepped to the blackboard and com
menced a solution via long division
finally putting down two" for an an
swer.
Try again. Lige." urged wight
cheerfully
Lige then substituted the igure four
for two.
You've got another guess coming.
Lige."
The boy looked bewi1dered, and Lydia
desperately came to his rescue
"Lige, won't it go three times?'' she
asked insinuatingly-
Lige looked at her anxiously.
why. yes" he replied slowly. ''it
will; but it's dern'd tight Squeeze
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,
't'aint her fault! I never did know
nuthin' about 'rithmetic nohow. She's
| the best teacher we ever had
/. This touch of sympathy from the lit
I tie champion was too much for Lydia.
Her self-control slipped. and her head
went down on the desk.
| "Lige." said Wight gently. you did
J better than l expected. There are lots
/ of things in life more desirable than
knowledge of the science of numbers.
! Take this dime and go down TO The