Year: 1874

l toulu flhNt ShdhtH inN lulu III tiic olu iti&n


who first tried the efficacy OF grass and


turf on the saucy boy in his apple tree.


and finding these missiles Intellectual, M


sorted TO stones. Woe oE the unwise


mllkmaid, who, counting her chickens be-


fore they were hatched, fell and spilled the


contents of her pail. II seemed an inn


mense advantage 10 have ones artistic


eye teeth cut ON that picture of the boy In


his impossible trowsers perched amid the


limbs of the tree. and on the catastrophe


OF the poor mIlkmaid just at the moment


she was dreaming so blissiully of her


green gown.


The first reading-book TO which we at


tanned. after a long course of Webster,


was like a mouthful of fresh grass to a


lambkin that has munched dry hay many


weeks. The stories OF that small volume


are fresher in my memory than many Of


the things read last week. Simple and


easy Were the lessons, each with a moral


as large and plain as church sieeple.
/ Punishment followed speedily upon the


heels of every sin of omission or commits


sion. Ii the world could be remodeled on


the naive plan of that little book. il would


be very different place from any with


which we are acquainted.


There was a tale of a school boy who


had Christmas cake sent him from home.
and very piggishly refused to share il with
his comrades but rose in the night and
munched the cake surreptitiously i'm bed,
which caused terrible pains, so that the
doctor came and dosed him with pills.
powders and boluses.


There was another fascinating narrative
of girl of inquiring mind who came to
grief on account of her devotion To key
holes. Only by larger experience of life
did the urchins nourished on that reader
discover that people who devour all their
own cake are not overtaken at once with
frightful pains and penalties. and that
eaves-droppers do not habitually tumble
down stairs at the imminent risk of break
ing their necks.


Standing with our queer toes along the
crack of the floor, we were perhaps as
poor a class of little readers as ever muir
dered the English language. There was
one boy. loose joi.ted lad, whose
clothes hung upon him in limp fashion,
as If they had been intended for some one
a size and half larger than he was and
had only come TO his possession bv acci-
cent. Every part Of his frame appeared
10 assist IN the painful reading lessons.
He pumped his words up from the
depths. bringing them out with an even
unaltered nasal drawl that utterly dciiei
s'stops''


1t was this boy. if remember rightly,
who was one day reading the Bible TO his
grandmother. a very deaf old lady and
somewhat childish. The portion of Scrip
ture chosen was acknowledged table from
the Old Testament. The lad went flour
dering on until he came 10 a passage re-
lating to the wife OF Major. which he de-
liyered i'm this wise: .'Milk a bear


81. II
whose good ear was inclined toward him, |
''they don't milk bears. my son."


lit says so, anyway" persisted the lad. !


well. " returned the old lady after
moment Of sagacious reflection. ''they new
GER rave IN my day. but there's no know
ing what they did in olden times"


Every social event In the country used
10 be foreshadowed by the preparation of
large ''batch'' Of pies. Previous TO /
Thanksgiving there were piles of them /
corded and stacked on the battery shelves. I
The Same pious ceremony was performed /
when the school-teacher was expected 10 |
board out his time. More preparation was
deemed necessary for the young man who
taught the winter school. than for the
young woman who ruled in summer. as a
college graduate or half-iedged collegian
was supposed TO have a much more fas-
tidious and exacting appetite than sum-
mer school-ma' am, who was frequently
the daughter of some farmer living in the
The vicisstudes Of bed
and board and various STYLES of cookery.
made district school-keeping a mild form
of purgatory but If teacher had popu-
Lar manners and made himself liked. he
was able 10 pass through the ordeal and
extract considerable amusement. No bet
ter school for the study of human nature
was ever devised.


saw, not long since. in some country
that complaint had been er-
tered against young lady teacher in a
rural district for allowing her young man
TO sit beside her in school hours with his
arm about her waist. occasionally steal
ing kiss. Ii brought to mind certain
young woman with positive shade ofred
in her ringlets. and s'tip-tilted' nose.
somewhat in the style of Susan Nipper.
who tasght the summer term long ago.
She was keeping company with young
man belonging TO another township. and
'he made up her wedding outfit in the in
ervals Of Instruction and sometimes car
led on both emplovments at the same
line. can hear now the scratch Of her
needle a she conducted a spelling lesson
md laid the gathers of "A white garment in
ler lap with the energy peculiar to her
disposition. This trOusseau was not quite
IS elaborate a. a modern society girls. and I
he money earned at school-keeping was
probably designed to purchase the six real
liver teaspoons then considered indispen-
able to the setting-up of anything like re
pectable housekeeping.


Miss Nipper's young man sometimes
along and tapped at the school,
Iouse door. and was told to come in with f,
tartness which augured i'll for his future
'eace Of mind. lie was a tall. slender,
nd painfully bashful youth. with small !
cad and mouth held PARKWAY open as il ,
nemed. because overcrowded with teeth.
here was a little pale fuzz on his chin,
nd his hair was the color of a very young