206 My Neighbor's Wood-Shed 



river, when they landed on a sand-bar and 

 Winkle came off viftor. How far fiftion 

 was mingled with fa& in this story was of no 

 importance. It showed Winkle to be a real 

 fisherman, and I sought him on all occasions 

 in preference to the solid folk of the farm- 

 houses that stuck to their fields like leeches, 

 sucking them dry. 



For a time the school-teacher came on 

 Saturday mornings, and was covertly disliked 

 from the first because he monopolized the 

 conversation. This conceited fellow would 

 swing round the corner as if the world was 

 too small for him and expefted all present to 

 hold their breath while he remained with 

 them. Then he harangued. Woe to him 

 who dared to interrupt ! Was it not the 

 school-master who was speaking? I soon 

 wearied of the snob and demurred to many 

 of his statements, and insisted when he had 

 gone that it smacks of servility to accept a 

 diftum because an individual has been giving 

 forth opinions with an authoritative ring. 

 Because a man snorts like a petty tyrant are 

 we to swallow his decisions willy-nilly ? 

 The sluggish wits of my neighbors were 

 finally aroused. They could remember noth- 



