Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1911-01-18


the school grounds after we had eat
en- our dinners and alas, did not re-
turn again till quite-late in the after
noon, when, after discussing the aw-
full situation among ourselves, guilty
wretches that We were, we finally
mustered up courage and made a
sneak for our seats. 1t was no go.
The eagle eye of the master was
upon us. We were invited to make
ourselves more conspicuous; in other
words, to align ourselves on the
foor in front of the whole school.
but it didn't last long; we may not
have been very apt scholars In cer-
tain directions, but in others we
were right smart, very short space
of time found us all in a row with
the master in front of us and we fac
ing the school.
1t was the first time in my life
that l had been given the floor in
the presence of an intelligent and
sympathetic audience and that with
out asking for it,
The master stood before us armed
with the insignia of Office. his baton
of power, his stern face bent down
upon us; there was CLEAN in
his eye akin to that of the pirate
chieftain as he haughtily treads the
deck of the lpw-lying, long, rakish-
looking craft, striking terror into the
hearts of all about him
Hold out your right hand" said
he, in a voice that made me tremble
with apprehension, as the instrument
of torture was raised over his right
shoulder to make it more impress
sive. Hold out your right hand"
slowly and timidly produced the
required member from behind my
back where it was concealed for the
moment, and stretched it out in
front of me; down came the merci-
less cane upon it just cnce, but that
was quite enough. l was ordered to
my seat and the others were served
in the same way. There was no par
tiality shown any of us; we were all
equally guilty and merited equal
punishment.
The visible effect produced was
not the same, however, one or two
of US cried over it, the others did
not; whereupon discussion arose
after school was out over the ques-
tion as stated by one of the boys
who had always managed in one way
or another on many former occasions
to escape chastisement for his own
misdoings. Whats the use of cryin'
anyhow" said he. He was prompt
ly advised that he would have found
out II he had been one of the mar
tyred four; it was one thing to sit
On your seat and see somebody else
get lickin' and quite another thing
TO get 1t yourself. / don't remember
whether l was one of the "crybabies"
or not, no matter. / have seen some
very spunky people cry when they
were angry. the angrier they became
the harder they cried. In what other
way can baby give expression to
its indignant feelings so effectively
as by squirming and kicking and cry
ing? Nature has provided it with
that masterful weapon for practical,
not for esthetic purposes. Where is
the young man whose sister has not
seen the time when her greatest con-
ISOLATION was to retire to her own
front room, up stairs, and all by her
self. intone the wall of the weeping
prophet of Israel, 20, that my head
were waters and mine eyes fountain
of tears" Job Trotter had handy
faculty of producing them On de-
mand; he was an expert in the use
of tears; even the astute Sam Weller
gazed upon Job Trottcr in admira-
tion when he was in tears. Tears
are no mean weapons, no matter by
whom or for what purpose they may
be used.
The curriculum at the Beacons-
field school included memorizing and
reciting passages of Scripture; these
verses were called for on stated oc-
casions and they certainly served a
good purpose to me, at least,
for years afterward, upon en-
tering the ministry found
that was able to recall without
difficulty many texts which had been
fastened upon my mind in my child
hood days at school. Three of them
l recall at this moment: Genesis
3-15, Numbers 24-17, and Isaiah
53-6.
Ito be Continued.)
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