36 THE CORN LADY 



Farm" and "The Use of the Babcock Milk 

 Tester." Each pupil selected what they 

 were most interested in and looked up all 

 they could in farm journals, bulletins and 

 papers. They asked their fathers and neigh- 

 bors for pointers, too. 



The little people learned some songs. 

 "The Whistling Farmer Boy" was their mas- 

 ter piece. Then they had a corn drill, 

 dressed to look like ears of corn and the dear 

 little girl, our school baby, held an ear of 

 corn and played she was the "Mother Ear." 



Almost everyone came for the afternoon. 

 I had selected a committee of men and an- 

 other of women, who had no children in 

 school, to judge the exhibits; and I had taken 

 all the names off from the entries and num- 

 bered them. After the ribbons had been put 

 on, we had the program, and then we told 

 whose corn and sewing and cooking had 

 won. 



How can I tell you how glad I was when 

 I saw that the blue ribbon had gone on the 

 single ear that my mountain boy had selected 

 and on the ten ears that the boy with the 

 dark face and the dark past had brought.' 

 Max, the mountaineer, prizes that little blue 

 ribbon more than anything he ever had be- 



