Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1906-05-01
Then came Leaning

consequence. Then came Leaning
ton.
We had heard nothing of him. Who
ne was, what he was like, what might
be his prowess, we. were ignorant So,
with unwonted curiosity we were pres
ent In force. on the first day of the
second winter-term. He was sitting
at his table as we entered in proper
file, busily engaged in writing, nor did
he lift his eyes until the last of the
line, Billy Turner, dropped into his
seat Then he looked up. His. eyes
were blue, as clear and as fresh as
a baby's. He wore a, little scrubby
mustache Of lighter color than his
hair, which was Of a reddish brown
tinge His forehead was wide and
high, and 1 do not exaggerate when l
say that his chin looked to be as wide
as his brow.
Though we had heard nothing in
advance of him, it became evident, and
that very shortly, that he had of us.
Rising and leaning against the end of
his table, he addressed us as was the
custom Of the new teacher What be
said was to the Toint direct, though 1t
was the calm, but none the less in
cisive. and determined manner of his
speech that carried weight in greater
part among us. l remember glancing
along the line and seeing at the end
recitation bench in front of him, with
words.
What he said was to this effect
Boys, I've heard all about your
treatment of my predecessor here,
and his. Perhaps you found White
and the man who came before him
easy to handle. don't know; you'll
not find me easy am hired to teach
you boys, and l mean to do it to the
best of my ability. Moreover, / mean
to preserve order in this school, and
when make up my mind to a thing
carry it through. If there is any one
among you who has desire to con-
test my rights in the premises he may
come out here in front, and we'll set
tie the matter once and for all time"
And that bundle of sheer nerve
stood there calmly leaning against the
end of the table, and smiling under
his scrubby mustache waiting for
some one of us to rise! But no one
moved.
Never before had such challenge
been cast in our teeth. 1t was gall
ing. And yet there was not one of
us willing to accept it. We had, 1t
would seem, been conquered and made
humble by pair of calm blue eyes,
scrubby red mustache and square
chin. So, day after day slipped by
without the least ruffle in the serenity
of our school life, the while every one
of us was bubbling and boiling within,
each moment approaching nearer and
nearer to the instant of eruption. In
a word we were spelling for a fight.
Did Mark bennington imagine this
to be our state? do not know. Per-
haps he did, and by his own action
sought to provide relief for u.s. For,
as the last class moved down to the
| front one afternoon in March some
thing occurred at the back of the room
that caused little points of fire to
spring up in Leamingtons eyes, and
we heard him call in his harsh, rasp-
ing voice.
you'll stay after school this after
noon, Reuben Strobridge."
Of course, we knew that Reub would
do nothing of the sort. He was the
last of the line as it wended It's way
around the benches and out at the
open door. He walked fearlessly,
with his head uplifted, in open dis
obedience to Leamington's order. The
teacher saw him, sprang from his lit
tie rostrum, and gripping him by the
slack of his coat between his angular
shoulders jerked him back and closed
i the door. So far as details are con-
cerned do not know what thereupon
occurred, but can guess. At five
o'clock Reuben dragged his weary
body into the road where we awaited
him. He had nothing to say. His
spirit was absolutely broken. We re-
VOTED then, and the next day the
eruption occurred.
With eyes open, with full knowl-
edge of the more than probable conse-
quences, we none the less sought per-
sonal conflict with this master of mus
/ Gle. One after another, during the
month that followed, we were thrash
ed, and yet not quite all of us, for
Billy Turner had yet to feel the sting
| of Leamington's rawhide. No singing
birch or fat.faced, aggravating but
painless ruler for him!S A rawhide it
was, timber from much use-the kind
that curls around the legs and arms
and bites like snake.
And why had Billy Turner been ex-
empt, you ask? Simply because Billy
had minded his own business, because
he alone of all of us mad not boiled
within himself Indeed as look
back now, Billy Turner was the only
decent boy in that whole school.
i bennington should have seen this
himself, but by now, no doubt, he had
developed an astigmatism SO far as his
Judgment of us as individuals was con
cerned. And so it befell' that one day
some one placed bent pin on Lean
ington's desk chair. He sat down, to
rise Immediately. And Billy Turner
laughed. That laugh proved his IN
doing.
cat the conclusion Of school you
will all keep your seats
;, bennington bit off the words
clearly.
We all looked at one another. The