The Wisconsin tobacco reporter. (Edgerton, Wis.) 1877-1950, 1920-06-04
1.-THE SCHOOLMA'AM
BY ETHEL M. FARMER.

Miss Brooks stood on the threshold
! of the little village school vigorously
ringing the rusty old bell. Many school
! ma ans had stood on that same thresh-
old ringing that same rusty bell but
somehow this one seemed different
from the rest. And somehow the clang-
ing of the bell seemed clearer than
ever
The ringing Of the bell ceased, the
long line of. children passed into the
building and the schoolhouse door was
closed. 1t was very evident that the
long days in the little school were not
ones of drudgery. The teacher, who
was little more than girl herself, was
dearly loved by all the children.
AS she began the days work no one
would have surmised that in her heart
there was trouble.
"It really did seem strange about
Ed It could not be true. Dick was
mistaken. He"
A suppressed giggle interrupted her
wandering thoughts.
With great dignity she asked a very
modest little girl, who proudly wore
two tight braids down her back, the
cause of the disturbance.
excuse me, please" the girl spoke
timidIy, "but we had this lesson two
days ago.
Excuse me, too," was all she said
as she reassigned the lesson.
The clock carefully licked away the
minutes and the hands gradually crept
along their daily journey. Then a
ruler fell on the floor with a sounding
thud
A little red-headed fellow in the
front seat was working very industri-
| ously, with his desk covered with pa
pers and opened books, but the tell
| tale ruler lay in the aisle beside him.
Jimmy"
''Er, yes'm, Miss Brooks; did you
mean me?" And he struggled desper-
| ately to return her look with limo
cency.
"Pick it up!' she said slowly, fore
| ing back smile.
With great surprise he leaned over
and picked up the offending article and
placed it thoughtfully in his desk.
All went we'll for a while after the
ruler was safely deposited out of sight
until Jimmy suddenly thought of the
| lovely, big cud of gum he had stuck
under his desk.
GLOW good it would taste" he
| thought, but he knew how stern "she"
was on chewing in schOOl-he had
tried it before.
| He studied the clock with sigh, for
| there were Is minutes more! At last he
| could stand it no longer, and the gum
| was suddenly and s1yly transferred
| from the desk to his mouth.
'How good it was!' And he gave it
| few good chews.
"Jimmy!' came in low tones from the
other side of the room.
Ger. yes'm," he replied, jumping to
his feet, 'I'll take"
'Put 1t in the basket and crawl In
under my desk. Stay there until the
bell rings"
At last the closing bell rang and the
! children filed out of the building, but
| Miss Brooks did not notice that Jimmy
| did not appear.
With sigh she sat down at her desk
and drew out part of newspaper clip
| ping which told of the engagement Of
Lieut.. Edward Smith to a beautiful
society BELLE" All Of the article was
| not there, but Dick had assured her
| that it was true and that Ed had not
| treated her fair.
Just then Dick himself entered the
| room.
| "Where shall we go this eveningT'
| he asked cheerfully.
sAre you sure this is true about
| Ed?" she asked him again.
"How can you doubt it? Forget
| time together"
| She shook her head.
| II guess will not go tonight. Some
| how I do not believe that is true about
HIM"
| Suddenly Jimmy opened his eyes.
Who said Ed? Why, Ed was his spe-
cial friend and was coming home from
the army this very day!
He scrambled out from under the
desk, rubbing his eyes.
"Why, I've been asleep and prom
Used to meet Ed right after school"
s'Ed?" she asked in surprise, after
overcoming the shock Of the unex-
| pected third party.
| The boys face fell.
| SIT was to be surprise to you." he
stammered.
| Just then Dick picked up his whip,
which he had laid on chair, and dis
appeared through the door, for he had
suddenly spied d tall soldier Fastening
up the road with one arm carried stiff
~ in sling.
He had just barely left when the
soldier entered.
Ruth r.
4 40x1 nj