THE CORN LADY 19 



telligent, ambitious btoy about fourteen years 

 old. He cannot come to school this Fall, 

 for it is necessaiy for him to stay home and 

 help with the work; but I am going to teach 

 him during evenings and he is looking for- 

 ward to the time when corn husking is fin- 

 ished so that he can start in. 



You should know another of my boys 

 whom I like. They tell me that last year 

 the teacher had to use the stove poker on 

 him and the director finally found it nec- 

 essary to expel him for the good of the rest 

 of the pupils. He is seventeen years old and 

 has a dark, forbidding face. But, under- 

 neath the mask that he wears to hide his real 

 feelings, I can see strength and promise of 

 a better manhood. I am finding a way to 

 help him to waken up his good side and I'll 

 tell j^ou about it later. 



We had a school cleaning bee and all 

 turned in and made the schoolhouse just 

 shine. The boys carried water; the girls 

 washed the windows and desks and blacked 

 the stove and I scrubbed the floor. We 

 were all so proud of the house, when it was 

 clean, that I didn't mind my aching muscles 

 a bit. They all cleaned their feet the next 

 morning without being told and I even 



