Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1935-11-28
Embers
Ely CAYER GRAHAM
G Mcclure Newspaper Syndicate.
WNU Service.

for the day. Outside the rock-waileosl
one room schoolhOuse she could hear
the loud voices of the older boys play
ing dare-base and the chatter OF tho
girls at hopscotch or mumbiypeg. They
all came as early as they could, she
thought rather fretfully, and stayed az
late as they dared, though many OF!
them had chores to do.
She glanced at her watch. Nine
o'clock Reaching for the cracked old;
bell, she stepped to the door and rang
1t vigorously. smile curved her lips
as she watched them troop in. Morn
ing, Miss Harmony" Morning, Miss
Harmony" She held herself very erect,
for she really wasn't very tall, was
Miss Harmony Wright, teacher of Pen.
rose school, District number nine.
She took her place behind the old
fashioned desk on the raised platforms
at one end of the room. At her signal
all 10 of her pupils, from the smallest
to the biggest, stood beside their desks,
awkwardly saluted the big flag, cor,
rectly, primly hung behind her.
81 pledge allegunts to tn flag Of tn
United States, an to tn republic m
which it stands; one nashun, indivisi-l
bull" Then grubby fingers hurriediy!
searched In the song books for Amer
ica' while Miss Harmony played the
opening bars on the wheezy old organ.
Her voice, clear as bell, scared above
their childish ones. Her bobbed head,
with a bit here and there Of grey,
swayed slightly in time to the music.
She smiled at them as they sat down
and began dragging out their books.
Glancing at her watch again. Miss
Harmony relaxed at her desk. Ten
minutes before the first class Charting
classes for so many left little free time
for the teacher. She was usually hear-
ing recltations from one class while
the rest studied. AS many as eight
subjects, all eight grades to recite dur
ing the day.
This was Miss Harmony's third year
at Penrose. In much less time than
that she had become acquainted with
all it's people. She knew to jot the,
idiosyncrasies of its board members.
.Crusty old Mr.. Stahl, who had never
gone beyond the fifth grade himself
and saw no particular reason why any.
one else should. He was president OF
the board y Mr.. Ray, the secretary,
who was slightly deaf. Mrs. Woolford,
whose opinions were ordered by those
of her loutlsh husband.
Miss Harmony knew that the father
of the Schall children was bootleggerl
and that his RACES occasionally found
vent upon one or another of his Eve
anemic offspring.
She knew them all, and fought to-
prevent the minds of the children from
becoming as narrow and selfish as
those of many of the parents.
Other peoples children
Miss Harmony had envisiOned no
such future, though she fought for
them and gave them of her heart
When Roy had so bravely enlisted dur
ing the passioned appeals of the war,
and the backwash of hate and terror
had swept across the ocean, they had
made such different plans, such high
hearted plans. They were to have sew
eral children, for as she was made for
motherhood, so was Roy for an UNDER
standing father. Their mutual fulfill
ment. A home and children Of their
own.
Though she had heard Of female In
tuition there hadn't been the slightest
doubt in her mind that Roy would come
back. Roy, Of the lopsided grin and
thoughtful ways.
| Say, Harm" he had said, hesitant-,
ly, Just before he got on the train that
day, "look after mother, win your She
might worry quite bit an you could
cheer her up"
OF course she would, she told him.
Though she couldn't see anything to
worry about. he was coming back and
that's all there was to 1t
They had chung together at parting,
for after all, even If one Is sure, being
parted at all Is heartbreak.
A little while after that Miss Har-
mony left her uncle's home to 20 to
live with Roys mother. They got along
splendidly, even as today. Miss Har-
mony was working In an Office then,
but In spare hours she was always
working on something for Roy. Sweat
er or socks or anything of their knitted
kim She attended meetings. Good
bye Broadway, Hello France. Over
There. A little being with hair the
merrlest sort of red, she played and
sang them all. o
Then Roy's jolly, censor-marred let
tiers stopped. True, they hadn't been
coming very often because, after all.
there was a war; She and Roy's moth
err thought Of all the possibly happy
excuses to account for that occurrence.
For Miss Harmony the days became
darker. II only one could knowi Il
was the agony Of uncertainty that
preyed on mind and soul.
The blighting words KILLED in Ac-
ton" were still etched on Miss Har-
mony's mind. At first she couldn't
really mourn, for she had to think Of