Part 6 (2/2)

term At the close of the first session of the last day, I threw a football toit down the street, and when they returned in the afternoon to take vengeance upon me for my unprecedented rule over them, I was in the ”hub of the universe” I afterwards learned that my discretion was the better part of valor, for my ferocious pupils had the determination and the necessary force to send me unshriven to Davy Jones' locker

I had never believed in the doctrine of reincarnation until I met in the city, the veritable Judas Iscariot, ready and anxious to sell anybody and everything for thirty pieces of silver, nickel, copper, or any old thing he could pick up This Jew pretended to wish to sell one-half interest in his cootiations with hiation, that he had already sold several confiding teachers, who ascertained too late to save their money, that this fraud was collector and treasurer of all funds of the coery, and that his report always claimed that all collections had been paid out for expenses

He reend, that when the devil took Christ to the top of a high doive you to fall down and worshi+p : ”Shentlemen, peeshness ish peeshness, and if you can't trade, I will take dat offer”

Ito the unho, like usted with this business experience, and wishi+ng to do good and get good, I advertised, offering 50 for an acceptable position as teacher, and I at once receivedteachers

I interviewed a clergyman anted the reward in advance; but when the tioods, he had suddenly decaht to avoid a coat of tar and feathers fronant parents whose children'sOthers extended itching palms for the money, but failed to secure for me the ”_sine qua non_”

At last, an i to accept a ”louder” call in Boston, introduced me to his Board as a particular friend whom he had known for many years, (he had never seen reatest of living instructors

When the three doctors, constituting the school board, were about to giveexaed calls summoned theue's assurance that I was a university graduate, they hastily signed my commission and I was saved

I shall always remember my two years' experience in this beautiful toithof the school I foundboys and girls I had ever beheld, seated in a noble new hall well equipped with organ and all the apparatus which wealth could procure

Soon after the opening exercises, the usual trial of the newodor threw all into convulsions of coughing, ale quantity of cayenne pepper down the register I quietly opened the s, and when the noxious fumes had passed away, the new principal said:

”I feel sure that the pleasant outward appearance of oodness and honor of you all, and I areeablesuspicion fro for his thoughtless rudeness”

A fine,boy at once arose ”Come up here, my friend, and let us talk it over,” I said, and he came and stood by my side ”We are all brothers and sisters here, and I have no doubt you, Arthur, will now express your regrets for what you have done” He did so, the audience applauded, and the incident was closed

The new master's manner was such a decided contrast to that of his ”knock down and drag out” predecessor, that it captivated his proteges at the start, and this was the only unpleasant episode inchildren

I established a society called the ”Class of Honor,” which soon coainst him or her for failures in scholarshi+p or deportment, was decorated with a blue ribbon, and when he had earned and worn this for one month, he was presented with a handsoraved the words ”class of honor” They were prouder of this decoration than ever were the iion

If a pupil failed on so it correctly later with extra inforathered from the reference books, and thus he was saved froe independent researches in the school and public libraries Each class of honor pupil could whisper, go out, or go to the blackboards to draw or cipher without asking perh sense of honor was thus developed which is so essential to a successful career

We had a systerace and erectness to the carriage, and every Friday afternoon, the large hall was croith the parents to enjoy the singing, decla exercises, and all went e bell

My salary was raised voluntarily every six rounds We often, on holidays, roaether; I often dined with them in their homes, and at picnics; on all public occasions I was one of the principal speakers, and my life was an ideal one in all respects save one For sonated with ish Abajona, kept my throat in an almost chronic state of irritation, and too frequently for days at a time, I could hardly speak above a whisper Had it not been for this one serious handicap, I think I would gladly have remained there for life

I kept a saddle horse, and often cantered twenty miles to my father's house, and my boat on the lake furnished many a pleasant sail for myself and pupils

One incident shows the appreciation ofthe first can of General Grant for the presidency, many of my pupils and I joined the W--Battalion of unifor ”Tanners” We marched to the city as an escort for speakers at a Republican rally When the hoodlums smashed our lanterns with rocks, our captain, the son of a distinguished statesed the rioters, using orously; I was cut off from my company of which I was lieutenant, and captured by the Democrats As soon as my men realized this, they rushed upon my captors _en masse_; many heads were broken, but I was rescued and carried to the train on the shoulders of ood as ht, I would never have left W----, but the teer salary froe froreen fields, where wild birds sang their free, joyous songs, and where wild flowers bloo their sweet perfu air of a hothouse where the birds drooped in cages and where the feere forced into existence by steam heat and unsavory fertilizers In the former the people were social, natural and free from the trammels of tyrannical fashi+ons; in the latter they were cold, distant, and valued you according to the size of your bank account and the number of your horses and servants In the one the teachers were educators, free to develop superior inal lines; in the other they were mere machines to carry out the ironclad rules of the opinionated precedent-hunting school board

In the for; in the latter the newly-rich set the pace of ignoble luxury and display; while the others aped their hich led many to bankruptcy, poverty, and misery In the one you were free fro to the dictates of your own conscience; in the other you were ignored and disliked unless you attended and contributed liberally for the support of the palatial orthodox church

I was early told that I would fail if I persisted in attending the little Unitarian church; but I preferred failure to hypocrisy, and would not sell e

Two of oted members of the fashi+onable church, and at once set me down as a corruptor of youth because I was an advocate of the liberal faith The venoested the spirit of the inquisition, and one day she found her blackboard decorated with the following truthful poeested by her spirit and the first syllable of her name: