Year: 1879

AT the age OF sixteen, before we had
discarded our tround-abouts,' we con-
tracted to keep school in District No.
Five, for twelve dollars per month
and boarding round.' We knew very
we'll the little red school house, stand
ing at the exact center of the district,
on the borders of mighty swamp,
the farm houses scattered about the
hills, and we also knew the nuisance
of that particular school, squad of q
half dozen rough fellows, who had
emerged into tail coats and would
hardly relish the discipline of boy
pedagogue in q roundabout. -


After the first flush of elation at our
election, the reflection came back, like
q return wave of ice water, that in all
human probability,ereo orr seventeenth
birthday should dawn, we should be
seen vanishing, head foremost, out of
the school house window, into big
snow drift, propelled by class No,
One of big boys. In our anxiety we
applied to Aunt Anna, q stalwart
maiden of sixty summers, gigantic in
proportions, but every inch lady in
her dear old heart. She had nursed
half the children in town through the
measles, mumps and chicken-pox, and
was the main-stay in all family emer-
geHcies. There were sly rumors that
hn ct oh nf 81 81 hi sC4,
overcame the good old lady at night,
had some relation to mysterious
black bottle which. she always carried
in her work-bag; but Aunt plus the
: fidgets,' was worth regiment of or.
dinary feminines for the home made
uses of country life. al ...:..


Well, now, you are really going to
keep school in District No. Five p said
Aunt Anna, smoothing down her big
checked apron, and raising her specta-
cles for good long look at the incipi-
ent pedagogue, seated in the opposite
corner of the fireplace.


'Yes, Aunt Anna, have promised
to keep that school /; but between you
and me, 1 am dreadfully afraid to
tackle that crowd of boys. You know
what q rough set they are, and one of
them has already given out that there
will be no board wanted in District
No. Five after the first week. a


That's serious matter. Now let's
see il l can't think of something to
help you. Now, you see, I don't know
anything about book learning. No
doubt you can cipher that back seat of
boys into the middle of next week.
But they can fling you over the roof
of the school house in a jiffy, if they
have mind to. know every family
in the district. Eye nursed in every
house, and taken the measure of every
youngster that will come to that
school. There's one thing in your fa-
vor. There will be ten great gals in
that school, and most of 'em are good
gals, too. Now. some of them are a
head taller than you, and two or three
of them are right handsome, too. They
can twist that crowd of great, bashful
boys round their little fingers if they
want to. Now, mind what tell you.
You GO right to work and gam the af-
fections of them ten great gals, and
they'll manage the great boys while
you keep school. .,..e...r .-.


That sounded well, and armed with
this panscea against, rebellion, we
opened school the Monday after
Thanksgiving. 1t was rough look
ing set upon the high seats-that row
of villainous looking fellows, any one
of them big enough to throw me over
into the big swamp with one hand. =


Happily our first boarding place
was the home of two of the 'great
gals Never did we slay ourselves out


to gain the good graces of the lovely
sex, as during the first week of tina


boarding round. We rode on tn


front of the sled with the tallest girl


played checkers with the second. go
all snarled up in q 'cat's cradle wit