The Prescott daily news., 1911-04-10
NOTICE TO QUIT

It was a sign of mental and moral weakness for a teacher to remain in her room one minute after the dis missal bell rang
 To Miss Bird, breathing in the free dom of those welcome minutes, it was a glorious opportunity for personal talks with delinquents for rum maging through table drawers and lingering over droll compositions Sometimes she even sat for a minute or two in utter idleness, just to look at empty seats and fancy their own CTS faces misty and dim above them
 Miss Bird loved her work Mary loved her work, too. But Mary loved hers for the speed with which it could be accomplished and unfortunately Mary's work began only when Miss Birds ended. If Miss Bird had not been a novice in her profession she might have discovered earlier Marys impatience to invade her domain. But in her innocence she failed to do so. The great cloud of dust that poured ominously from the dressing room as soon as the children had marched away irritated her nostrils or evoked 6 sneeze. It never impressed her as the shadow of coming event or set her to thinking of the unswept room. The intermittent uproar in the corri- dor brought fleeting thought that the mop or broom in use there must be badly worn down, but she never interpreted that humping as the her aid of the approach of her rightful sue cessor. Each succeeding night still found her sitting at her desk.
 Once, as she was leaving the build ing at quarter after f. she fancied that Mary looked troubled Miss Bird smiled to her.
 Then Mary spoke solicitously. "Ain't you ever afraid of gettin' cold. sittin' in that chilly room?'
 Well, the temperature does go down." replied Miss Bird, but don't mind much"
 Its the worst thing you could do after bein' in the heat all day" Mary assured her solemnly
 Perhaps she's right" Miss Bird re f1ected as she left the building T must get the habit of leaving early
 On the car going home Miss Bird thought with qualification of the look of anxiety on Mary's face. What a lot of unsuspected sympathy the world held for us, after all! And Mary was right, Miss Bird told herself, Sitting in that cold room was most unwise.
 But the next evening there were reports to be made out and she did not care to take them home. She had been at work on them for a half hour when she heard some one fumbling at her door with key. Through the glass she recognized Mary's head stu. diously bent. As the teachers lock their doors before leaving, the sweep. CTS are provided with pass keys. Mary was using hers now.
 Miss Bird rose and stepped toward the door. Mary looked up in surprise then opened the door and put her head in.
 T beg your pardon. I thought you was gone" She halted. The other teachers are keeping scholars she added significantly. ''I didn't see no scholars here"
 "I'll be gone in just a few minutes now" said Miss Bird.
 All right Then, If you don't mind l like to be putting the sawdust around while I'm waiting"
 Mary distributed the sawdust with such vigor that Miss Bird had to move with some dexterity to escape it.
 For several days after that Miss Bird departed as soon as she could gather together her possessions. h doing so she had no thought of Mary She had simply come to the conclu sion that remaining after hours was somehow unwholesome. She began to take a pride in leaving early.
 Then came the last day of the week and with it complaints of her ranks Mutiny was astir. So 330 found hel facing the occupants of four front seats They were acknowledged law break CTS, every one, but they had to be dealt with reasonably. This matter was complicated by the fact that all four versions of the tort for which they were held differed radically. Il was still further intensified by deaf ening noise from the corridor. Indeed 1t seemed that the last word of every well directed question was lost in a terrific vibration of sound waves just outside the room.
 Miss Bird was puzzled. The whacks seemed to indicate careful aim and