THE CORN LADY 13 



corner and kept a smiling face. You un- 

 derstand, Daddy, for you have just the 

 same feeling for the country. I believe I 

 inherited it from you this love for the open 

 country and the soil and farm people. 

 Thank you for the heritage. It is the best 

 thing I have known. 



It was like Providence when Mr. Brown 

 came in and told me that they w r anted a 

 good teacher for the Oak Grove School next 

 year, and that they would pay me as much 

 as I was getting in high school. Didn't I 

 just jump at the chance? You should have 

 seen the look on the face of Grace Berry 

 the brilliant sophisticated teacher of history 

 in our high school when I told her. She 

 looked as though she would faint away as 

 she exclaimed: "Going to teach a country 

 school?" She is too polite to say what she 

 thinks, but her face told me that she believes 

 I am going backward in my profession, in- 

 stead of progressing. Poor, ignorant spin- 

 ster lady that she is; she has entirely failed 

 to keep up with the times. Her mind is too 

 shallow to hear the call of the country; to 

 appreciate the great stretches of green fields ; 

 to know the delicious odor of upturned sod 

 and to understand the gladness, the peace 



