The Brattleboro daily reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1913-1955, 1922-03-22

hadn't any washbasin or soap = : > say
honest, did you have any idea that there
were schools in Vermont without any
soap or water to wash the childrenS
hands? 1t gives me a turn to hear
about it. l went out in the wOodshed,
and took my extra washbasin | keep
there, and fixed her up some soft soap
! in a bottle, with a hole in the cork, 50
the young ones could shake it out on
| their hands.
After that she said she didn't have
any interesting books to give the smart
ones to read when they'd finished their
lessons ahead of the others. and they
got to fooling and cutting up the way
children will when they haven't got
anything to do. l called-up my niece,
Ann. because l knew she has children's
books her children never look at-they re
mostly grown up, now. She said. Why,
yes, of course, the school could have
them, and could have had them years
ago, only she didn't know they needed
them. That's been the trouble. None
OF US knew, day by day, what was
needed.
Wen, after that. it comes out that
she hadn t a mortal thing to give the
children to play with. rainy days, when
they had to stay in. So / made EN- some
bean bags, and got Hiram Willing to
saw holes in q board To make the board.
Those young ones have actually played
one SGT OF bags 10 pieces. ana l III max
ing EN- second set this minute. And
that made me think about games and
l tclcphOned around and got hold of a
chez Keyboard and a backgammon board
that folks weren't using. And | cut
some big letters out of the magazines
and pasted them on pieces of cardboard
and made them a set for that spelling
game, Losomachy they call it. And /
Spliced some old rope into rings, and
made EN- a set of ring-toss. Oh, lots
Of things that came into my mind when
l remembered back when l was a little
girl. It's been fun. And what else? Oh,
yes" Aunt Mari began to laugh, Il
found cut that nobody paid any more
attention to the trUant law than as if it
didn't exist. You know what the law is,
that every child'S got to go TO school as
long as he's of school age Well. know
ing that was the law I'd never thought
thing about it. Supposed of course
they did. Well, not a bit of ii Once
[ began TO take notice of what went on
about schools, ] found that there were
families of children in this town. them
that live far back up in the hOllows, that
hadn't been to school regular. never
Miss Rice. being stranger in town,
thought all she could do was to go to the
trUant officer about it. But WHO Is the
truant officer in town? Well, who but
Jim Rathboue, my cousin jim, and what
does he care whether the Burritt chill
nothing. Nor nobody else. till Miss
Rice told me about it. Why, that big
Burritt boy. that's II now, is a nice,
bright boy as ever was, and he couldn't
hardly read the name of the town he
lived in, last fall. Well, Miss Rice
couldn't think of anything to do about
getting the Burrits to school except to
90 to the proper officer about il. And
The being Cousin jim, that's all the good
it did.
But I could think of something else.
you'd better believe. / went to Jim's
the family every morning at breakfast
time to ask EN- if the Burnt children
We're going to school that day. And /
got all the neighborS round here stirred
up. too. and they'd telephone once or
twice every day; and the men-folks
when they went to town and see Jim.
they'd holler out. When are the Burrit
children comm To school, We kind
OF. made a game of il. But 'twan't no
game for Jim. He was AZ mad as Il
hornet. You'd think to hear him go on
that we were all picking on him with
out u cause and that il want nothing to
him whether the BurritS got any
schooling or not Honestly | don't be
lieve he'd ever thought in his life before
what II meant to be n tTuant officer.
Rachel, his wife, told me that he got 50
he'd swear like a trooper every time the
telephone rang.
But land. 'twan't long before the
BurritS were in school. all four of them,
and nice young ones. too. though they
do look as wild as little hawks. with
never seing anybody before. Miss Rice
and / we take special notice of them
and she sends them over here to get
washed and COmbed when they come to
school very bad-you know their mother
amt more'n half-witted for all she's so
good natured. Miss Rice has made an
arrangement with their folks to keep
them down here nights when it's too
stormy to get back up there in the hol-
low. and we're learning them all sorts
of decent ways. between us
well, for mercy sakes - l exclaimed
"Wiu you please tell NE where you put
four children. as well as a schoolteacher
over night?"
Aunt Mari explained, Miss Rice and
| sleep together. and we put two of
them in the other bed, and the other
two we send over to the Perkinses-
they've got an extra bed, and | told Jen
Perkins I'd like to know what better use
she could make of her spare room than
own town that never would get it any
other way
Oh. yes. I knew how Aunt. Mari
would say that, with her old Jaw set,
and her sharp eyes piercing. L under
stand how Jen Perkins would not have
dditu say nv AtN' quAlS dh'Lcl 0tdhu
what it had meant for the schoolteacher
! to have valiant old Aunt Mari adopt
her-and with her the school and educa-
| ton of the children in her district And
although / shouting a ''hurrah for
Aunt Mari - in my heart. l was also
| Laughing inwardly at the picture of the
marshalling of public opinion in the mat
| ter of the truant officer. with Aunt
Mari marching ut the head!
She was laughing. too, and now she
said. We'll you ought to hear Jim
Rathbone swear he'll never be truant
officer again. | rather think Wen get
somebody elected mex March meeting
that will expect to do something!'
At this moment the car came back
for me and | had to leave, Aunt Mari
hobbling to the door and calling after
me, Goodness, / amt told YOU half of
what we've done. / haven't told you
| about getting. for once. enough good
- II.