1881 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUliE. 



.513 



" Come and teach school in our district 

 this winter; it will be a good school for you, 

 and in the spring yon will have money 

 enough to ■ go lecturing ' a long while. '' 



" But how do you know the people will 

 have me V"' 



" I know, because I have applied for you 

 already, and they will be glad to get you . I 

 am sure you had better take it." 



I accepted the offer, but was told, before I 

 commenced, that the school had a very bad 

 name. For several winters, the custom had 

 been to turn the master out of doors, and 

 then the directors always fell back on a man 

 who Avas a wood-eliopi)er by trade, but who 

 had muscular strength enough to enforce 

 obedience, even if he was not wholly up to 

 the times in all the modern sciences. 1 did 

 not care very much about this, for I had a 

 sort of philosophy that, if one did his 

 duty well and faithfully, he was not 

 likely to get into aiiy trouble of that kind. 

 Besides, when fighting had got to be done, 

 I was considerable on a fight too. Even aft- 

 er the school was well started. I found 

 there was a little ill feeling toward me, be- 

 cause the trustees had rot chosen some of 

 the young men in their own neighborhood, 

 and" the wood-chopper, after having had a 

 look at me. said he guessed he would have 

 to come in l)efore very long and take charge 

 of the school, as he usually did, before the 

 winter was very tar advaiiced. I had my 

 own views, however, and kept my own coun- 

 sel. I Avas not, therefore, surprised when I 

 found I had. after a month or two, gained 

 the good will of almost every scholar. In 

 In Our Homes. Part First (p. liO), I have told 

 you how I made the hardest case in the 

 school learn the multiplication-table. This 

 achievement did a great deal for me, and 

 pu]nls, parents, and directors, seemed to feel 

 they had got the right man in the right 

 place. I was much in the habit of playuig 

 with my scholars at noons and recesses, and 

 ]Mrs. Gray (my sister) once warned me I 

 would have trouble, if 1 did not preserve a 

 proper dignity ; but I assured her the schol- 

 ars all thought so nmch of me there would 

 be no trouble. There was, though. 



I think it was some time in February that 

 I noticed a growing uneasiness and impa- 

 tience among some of the older pupils. 

 They not only got into a habit of Avhisper- 

 ing. without "much heed to whether my eye 

 was on them or not, Init they actually talked 

 out loud. I talked i)leasaritly, and finally 

 plead with them, but it did not stop. ^Vheu 

 Ithreateiied, some of the older boys laughed. 

 That night, in going to my boarding-place 

 across lots, 1 selected a good beech whii), 

 and before any of the pupils came next 

 morning, 1 hid it imder the schoolhouse. 

 After school opened, I told them that the 

 first pupil who deliberately and defiantly 

 whispered, that day, would be punished. I 

 resolved to get a very fair and plain case, 

 but none came until afternoon. Then one 

 of the largest and heaviest boys in the 

 school (in fact, a much larger man than my- 

 self) whispered, and kept whispering right 

 before my eyes. 



'' LysandeV, you are whispering." 



"Yes, sir," 



" The safety of the school demands that I 

 should punish j^ou." 



'• Mr. Root, you are not man enough to 

 teach this school, and the sooner you give it 

 up. the better." 



This boy was by no means the worst one, 

 and I well knew it ; but, as is often the case, 

 the ringleaders had put him up to it. I rea- 

 soned with him ; but the otheis snickered ; 

 and although he admitted I had been a good 

 friend of his, and all of them, he still insist- 

 ed that I had better give up the school. 

 With white face, and I presume trembling 

 limbs, I told him 1 should hold my place 

 where the trustees had put me, as master, as 

 long as any breath was left in my body, and 

 1 directed one of the boys to go out and get 

 the whip. Unfortunately, he was so scared 

 he did not get my directions, and came back 

 saying he could not find it. Things were 

 coming to a crisis. 1 forbade any one mov- 

 ing, and went and got it myself. This was 

 unfortunate, as my absence allowed them 

 to arrange a concerted action. 1 came back 

 with the whip, and ordered him to step out 

 on the floor. lie did so, but warned me not 

 to touch him with that whip. The suspense 

 was painful, and I was anxious to have it 

 over. To show him that I was not at all 

 afraid of his threat, or his superior strength, 

 I struck him withtlie thin end of the Avhip 

 right across the face. With a yell of rage 

 and pain, he sprang toward me ; but as the 

 blow of the Avhip perhaps slightly blinded 

 him, I easily tripped him, and, placing my 

 foot on his throat, demanded an uncondi- 

 tional surrender. As I half expected, he 

 gave it at once, and promised to behave and 

 obey, if 1 Avould let him go back to his seat. 

 Had I been a Christian, I would have 

 breathed a prayer to God for deliverance ; 

 but 1 knew no God then. The mental strain 

 had been such that I was weak and off my 

 guard ; besides, I supposed it was all over, 

 and I was conqueror, I was surprised to 

 hear a hiss and a titter, as he, Avith head 

 down, proceeded to go to his seat; but the 

 taunts of his comrades, that could hardly be 

 suppressed even there, Avere too much fox 

 him, and, breaking his Hag of truce, as it 

 seemed to me, he stepped on a Ioav seat 

 near, and before I could gather myself at 

 all, he leaped Avith his Avhole great Aveight 

 directly upon me, crushing me to the fioor, 

 and called to the rest to come and help, as 

 they had promised to do. My mother told 

 you, in Fart First of Our Homes, that I as a 

 child had a violent temjter, but that it took 

 considerable provocation to get it fully 

 aroused. While helpless under him on the 

 fioor I heard the movement of feet, as the 

 rest prepared to come and put me out of 

 doors Avith my predecessors, and invite the 

 wood-chopper to come. All of the tiger in 

 me was fully aroused, and the thought that 

 I Avas borne down by one who had proved a 

 traitor to his fair promise, nerved me to a 

 frenzy. I would have prayed, but I did not 

 know of prayer. He, knoAving he Avas guil- 

 ty, was probably a little off his guard, es- 

 pecially as I seemed to have giA-enup; but 

 it was only to mass strength. It came, and 

 in a second, almost, I was out from under 



