Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1922-04-28


cradle Ramsey seldom failed their
hopes, particularly in Defamation.
| He faced them, his complexion wan,
his expression both baleful and horri-
fed; and he began in a loud, hurried
voice, from which every hint of intel
| ligence was excluded:
Most potent, grave and rev"
The teacher tapped sharply on her
desk, and stopped him. you've for
gotten to bow" she said. "And don't
say potent The word is potent"
Ramsey Topped his head at the rear
wall of the room, and began again:
Most potent potent grave and rev.
enerd signers my very nobe and ap-
proved good masters that 1 have tan
away this sole mans dntter it is NOSE
| true true / have marry dur the very
headan frun tuv my Tending hath this
extent no more rude am I in speech
in speech-rude am | in speech-in
speech-in speech-in speech"
| He had stalled. Perhaps the fatal
truth of that phrase, and some sense
Of its applicability to the occasion had
| interfered with the mechanism which
he had set in operation to get rid of
the recitation" for him. At all events,
the machine had to run off it's job all
at once, or it wouldn't run at all. He
I-rude am I in speech-in speech-in
| speech. Rude am in speech"
'Yes,' the irritated teacher said, as
Ramsey's failing voice continued husk-
lily to insist upon this point. II think
you are" And her nerves were lit
tie soothed by the shout of laughter
from the school-it was never difficult
for teachers to be witty. go sit down,
Ramsey, and do it after school,
His ears roaring, the unfortunate
went to his seat and, among all the hi
larious faces, one stood out-Dora Yo-
GUMS. Her laughter was precocious:
it was that of confirmed superior, in
sufferably adult-she was laughing at
him as a grown person laughs at a
child. Conspicuously and unmistaka-
| bly,, there was something indulgent In
her amusement. He choked. He
didn't care for George Washington, or
Paul Revere, or the teacher, or the
President of the United States or
Shakespeare, or any Of 'em. They
could all go to the dickens with Dora
Yocum. They were all lot of smart
les anyway and he hated the whole
stew of 'em
There was one, however, whom he
somehow couldn't manage to hate,
even though this one officially seemed
to be as intimately associated with
Dora Yocum and superiority as the
others were. Ramsey couldn't hate
Abraham Lincoln, even when Dora
was chosen to deliver the Gettysburg
Address" on the twelfth of February.
Lincoln had said Government Of the
people, by the people, for the people"
and that didn't mean government by
the teacher and the Teachers Pet and
Paul Revere and Shakespeare and
suchlike; it meant government by
everybody, and therefore Ramsey had
as much to do with it as anybody else
had. Beyond doubt, Dora and the
teacher thought Lincoln belonged to
them and their crowd of exclusives;
they seemed to think they owned the
whole United States; but Ramsey was
sure they were mistaken about Abra-
ham Lincoln.
He felt that it was just like this lit
tie Yocum snippet to assume such
thing, and it made him sicker than
ever to look at her.
Then, one day, he noticed that her
eye-winkers were stickin' out farther
and farther.
His discovery trritated him the
more. Next thing, this ole Teachers
Pet would do she'd get to thinkin' she
was pretty! If that happened, well,
nobody could stand her! The long
lashes made her eyes shadowy, and it
was a fact that her shoulder blades
ceased to insist upon notoriety; you
couldn't tell where they were at all,
any more.
A contemplate thing happened.
Wesley Bender was well known to be
| the most untitdy boy in the class, and
had never shown any remorse for his
reputation or made the slightest effort
either to improve or to dispute it. He
was content: it failed to lower his
standing with his fellows or to i'm
press them unfayorably. In fact, he
was treated as one who has attained
slight distinction. 1t helped him to
become better known, and boys liked
to be seen with him. But one day,
there was a Encouragement of the
seating in the schoolroom: Wesley
Bender was given a desk next in front
of Dora Yocum's; and within week
the whole room knew that Wesley had
begun voluntarily to wash his neck
the back of it, anyhow.
This was at the bottom of the fight
between Ramsey Milholland and Yves.
ley Bender, and the diplomatic ex"
changes Immediately preceding hostili"
ties were charmingly frank and uno
hypocritical, although quite as mixed
up and off-the-issue as if they had
been prepared by professional foreign
office men. Ramsey and Fred Mitchell
and four other boys waylaid young
Bender on the street after school, in.
tending iocosities rather than violence,
but the victim proved sensitive. "You
take your ole hands off O. me-" he
said fiercely, as they began to push
him about among them.
"Ole dirty Wes!" they hoarsely bel.