216 Old Days on the Farm 



these brave womenfolk never faltered at their task 

 of producing the family clothing. Many a ' ' grey- 

 haired boy," to-day, thinks lovingly back, as I do, 

 to the days when he wore a suit that mother made. 

 Skill with the needle was one of the finest accom- 

 plishments that these pioneer women held dear. 



At these country school examinations it was cus- 

 tomary for the trustees to furnish prizes and these 

 were usually presented by a minister who always 

 said a few kind words of praise or advice to the 

 clever scholar. I recall that I once won a prize 

 and was given a copy of Paley's "Natural Theol- 

 ogy," about as dry a piece of literature as it is 

 possible to imagine for a grown-up — fancy the 

 joy it brought to a boy of twelve. The donor ex- 

 pressed the hope that I might some day be a great 

 divine, like Paley, and I found myself sorrowing 

 that the minister had not hoped that I would turn 

 out an adventurer or a pirate instead, and had 

 given me a book to encourage me in such a career. 



SPELLING BEES 



**I wasn't much at grammar, 

 I wasn't much at cipherin', 

 At readin' I would stammer 

 My I'amin' mostly triflin' — 

 'Cept spellin' — thar I came out strong, 

 I'd spell an' spell the hull day long." 



Most country schools over fifty years back, had 

 spelling bees or classes every Friday afternoon. 



