Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-01-13

Hfty, more than six feet tall, weighed more
than 200 pounds and was all muscle. His
eyes were shades darker than dead black;
his iron gray mustache was big and brist-
ling and his closely shaver chin and cheeks
We're blue black from the heaviness of his
beard; his jaws were square and lean and
his voice. though mild as milk, was so deep
and heavy that 1t reminded you of the note
Of subbass pipe in a big church organ.
you can see why it took US till afternoon
to make up our minds that it would be
safe to presume on the new teachers APP
parent lack of interest in what was going
on. but by 4 o'clock the school room, which
! had been fairly orderly all the morning,
was all a-buzz with whispering. and notes
were being passed freely from the boys
side of the house across the center aisle
to the girls side, and back again.
"Skeeles drove the five miles from Riker's
Settlement in buggy, stabling his horse
at a farmers barn near by When he drove
away that night We were all puzzled, eSpe-
cfally Jonas Smith always the ringieader
when there was trouble. to the great dis
tress of his father. 1t had been currently
reported that Jonas, knowing of Skeeles'
reputation as q disciplinarian, and having
some fear of his own reputation as the
equal 10 any school teacher in shoe leath-
err had been doubtful about attending
school at all that winter.
'If anything, SkeeleS was easier the
second day than on the first, and by Tues
day night Jonas Smith had made up his
mind to stay In school long enough to find
out just what the teacher was made of.
They had no collision till the Monday
opening the second week. however.
Betrayal of Jonas Smith.
by the middle of the forenoon of that
day things had come to a pretty pass.
Whispering was general, the passing of
notes was going on almost openly, and
every once in while Marietta Stevens,
who sat on the back seat just across the
aisle from Jonas Smith. was giggling at
the funny things he was saying to her.
Now, although there were seats for only
forty-four pupils In the Simpkins district
school house, the registration that winter
numbered more than ninety, and the average
attendance was almost seventy. You can
| imagine without any further explanation
that the little school room was fairly burst
ing with noise. 1t was SO great, in fact,
that the A, B, pupils were actually con-
ming their letters out loud most of the time
without attracting special attention
Through all the hubbub Skeeles sat i'm
passively at his desk, listening to the reci-
tations, his black eyes seeing nothing APP
parently, his deep voice occasionally max
ing itself heard, like the bass in a counter
point performance, whereof the higher mel
odies were furnished by the recitations and
whispering of the pupils and Marietta's gig
Cling.
" 'Greenleaf's arithmetic rumbled Skeeles
at about half-past IL, calling the most adj
vanced mathematical class in the room to
the front. This class was made up of Jo-
responded promptly, Marietta tripping
nincingly down the aisle, Jonas tramping
slowly and with heavy stamping, as be1itted
the dignity of the biggest boy in the school.
On the way down-so sure had he become
that the gigantic Skeeles with his big bass
voice, was only q blur-Jonas stopped long
enough to pull ten-year-oid Willie Parker S
ear, whereat Willie let out howl of sur
prise and pain.
For the first time that term the teacher
seemed to notice that something irregular
was going on. His face flushed little,
and, calling Willie to the front, he told
the boy TO stand with his face to the black
board. He paid no attention whatever to
Jonas part in the disorder, though, till
after the recitation in 'GreenIeafs was
over with and the school was let out for
noon
"Jonas-now doubly assured that, after
all, old Bill Skeeles wasn't worth being
afraid of-started swaggerfngly toward the
door, but the teacher stopped him.
Il wouldn't go just yet, Jonas he said.
Jonas stopped short, his swagger all gone,
Tor, although the heavy voice was still milo,
there was new note in it, and imme-
diatey the trouble began.
Like a flash the teacher had opened his
desk and drawn from 1t the biggest eight
foot blacksnake horsewlIip I ever saw. For
a moment Jonas stood looking at it as If
daZed. None Of us had the slightest idea
any such thing was in the school house
at all.
"a big coward like you that will pick
on a little boy remarked Skeeles rather