The Pickens sentinel. (Pickens, S.C.) 1911-2016, 1922-03-16

He had stalled. Perhaps the f,sfa.
truth OF that phrase end some sense
OF Its applicability to the occasion hal
lnterfered 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 al,
ut once, or 1t wouldn't run at all. He
sulDed audibly. "Rude rude rude am
l-rude am l in speech-in speech-in
speech. Rude am | in Speech"
YES" the 'irritated teacher said, as
kamsey's failing voice continued husl-
lly to insist upon this point. II think
YOU are!" And her nerves were n lit-
tie soothed by the Shout of lnughter
from the school-it was never difficult
1or teachers to be witty. eco sit down.
hnmsey. and do it after school,"
his ear rearing, the unfortunate
went to h's seat and, among all the hi
larious faces. one stood out-Dorn Yo.
Gums. Her laughter was prccocfous.
1t was that Of IL confirmed superior, in
suiterably adnlt-she was laughing ut
him as grown person laughs at
child. Conspicuously and unmlstaka-
bly,, there was something induigent 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
fOcum. They were all lot Of smart
les anyway and he hated the whole
stew Of 'em!
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; 1t 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 1t was just like this lit.
tile Yocum snlppet to assume such
thing, and 1t made him sicker than
ever to look at her.
Then. mo tluy bn rnttro1 tI,,. -
eye-winkerS were stickin' out further
and further.
HIS discovery irritated him the
more. Next thing. this ole Teachers
Pet would do she'd get to thnkin' she
was pretty! If that happened, we'll.
nobody could stand her. The long
lashes made her eyes shadowy, and 1t
was fact that her shoulder blades
ceased to insist upon notorlety; YOU
couldn't tell where they were at all,
any more.
A contemplate thing happened.
Wesley Bender was well known to be
the most unttdy bt Y In the class, and
had never shown any remorse for his
reputation or made the slightest effort
e''her 10 Improve or to dispute 1t. He
was content: 1t failed to lower his
standing with his fellows or to i'm
press them unfavorably. In fact. he
was treated as one who has attained
Slight distinction. 1t helped him to
become better known. and boys liked
10 be seen with him. But one day.
there was Encouragement of the
seating in the SchoOlroom: Wesley
behder was given desk next in front
or Dora Iocum'S; and within q week
the whole room knew that Wesley had
begun voluntarily to wash his neck
the back OF 1t, anyhow.
This was ut the bottom Of the fight
between Ramsey Nlilholand and Wcs-
ley Bender. and the diplomatic ex-
clG'hges immediately preceding hostil-
lleS were charmtngly frank and un-
hypocriticnl, although quite as mixed
up and off-the-lssue as If they had
been prepared by professional foreign
office men. Ramsey and Fred Mitchell
ana four other boys waylaid young
l5ender on the street after school. in
tending jocosities rather than violence.
but the victim proved sensitive. "You
take your ole hands off O. mel" he
said fercely. as they began to push
hin about among them.
ole dirty Wes" they hoarsely bel
lowed and squawked, in their chang
ing voices. Washes his cars."
washes his neck I" Dora Yocum
told his mama to turn the hose on
hlm!"
Wesley broke from them and backed
away, swinging his strapped books In
a dangerous circle. "You keep off ."
he warned them. II got as much
right to my pers'nal appearance ns
anybody!"