Part 24 (1/2)

A thought shot like lightning through To to his feet and shouted--”I done it!”

The school stared in perplexity at this incredible folly Toather his diso to his punishratitude, the adoration that shone upon hih for a hundred floggings Inspired by the splendor of his own act, he took without an outcry thethat even Mr Dobbins had ever administered; and also received with indifference the added cruelty of a command to remain two hours after school should be dismissed--for he kneould wait for him outside till his captivity was done, and not count the tedious ti vengeance against Alfred Temple; for with sha her own treachery; but even the longing for vengeance had to give way, soon, to pleasanter s, and he fell asleep at last with Becky's latest words lingering dreamily in his ear--

”Tom, how _could_ you be so noble!”

CHAPTER XXI

VACATION was approaching The school than ever, for he wanted the school toon ”Examination” day His rod and his ferule were seldoest boys, and young ladies of eighteen and twenty, escaped lashi+ng Mr Dobbins' lashi+ngs were very vigorous ones, too; for although he carried, under his wig, a perfectly bald and shi+ny head, he had only reached n of feebleness in his reat day approached, all the tyranny that was in him came to the surface; he see the least shortcos The consequence was, that the s and their nights in plotting revenge They threay no opportunity to do the master a mischief But he kept ahead all the tieful success was so sweeping and majestic that the boys always retired froether and hit upon a plan that pronpainter's boy, told him the schehted, for the iven the boy ao on a visit to the country in a few days, and there would be nothing to interfere with the plan; thepretty well fuddled, and the signpainter's boy said that when the do he would ”” while he napped in his chair; then he would have hiht time and hurried away to school

In the fulness of ti the schoolhouse was brilliantly lighted, and adorned reaths and festoons of foliage and flowers The reat chair upon a raised platfor tolerably mellow Three rows of benches on each side and six rows in front of hinitaries of the town and by the parents of the pupils To his left, back of the rows of citizens, was a spacious temporary platform upon which were seated the scholars ere to take part in the exercises of the evening; rows of small boys, washed and dressed to an intolerable state of discoirls and young ladies clad in lawn and randmothers' ancient trinkets, their bits of pink and blue ribbon and the flowers in their hair All the rest of the house was filled with non-participating scholars

The exercises began A very little boy stood up and sheepishly recited, ”You'd scarce expect one of e,”

etc--accoestures which athe h safely, though cruelly scared, and got a fine round of applause when he made his irl lisped, ”Mary had a little laot her meed of applause, and sat down flushed and happy

Tom Sawyer stepped forith conceited confidence and soared into the unquenchable and indestructible ”Give ive esticulation, and broke down in the s quaked under him and he was like to choke True, he had the manifest sympathy of the house but he had the house's silence, too, which was even worse than its sympathy The led awhile and then retired, utterly defeated There was a weak attempt at applause, but it died early

”The Boy Stood on the Burning Deck” followed; also ”The assyrian Ca exercises, and a spelling fight The re Latin class recited with honor The priinal ”co ladies Each in her turn stepped forward to the edge of the platform, cleared her throat, held up her manuscript (tied with dainty ribbon), and proceeded to read, with labored attention to ”expression”

and punctuation The themes were the same that had been illuminated upon sirandmothers, and doubtless all their ancestors in the female line clear back to the Crusades ”Friendshi+p” was one; ”Meion in History”; ”Dreaes of Culture”; ”Forms of Political Government Compared and Contrasted”; ”Melancholy”; ”Filial Love”; ”Heart Longings,” etc, etc

A prevalent feature in these compositions was a nursed and petted ush of ”fine language”; another was a tendency to lug in by the ears particularly prized words and phrases until they orn entirely out; and a peculiarity that conspicuously marked and ged its crippled tail at the end of each and every one of the effort was made to squiriousinsincerity of these sermons was not sufficient to compass the banishment of the fashi+on from the schools, and it is not sufficient today; it never will be sufficient while the world stands, perhaps There is no school in all our land where the young ladies do not feel obliged to close their compositions with a sermon; and you will find that the serirl in the school is always the longest and the h of this Homely truth is unpalatable

Let us return to the ”Examination” The first composition that was read was one entitled ”Is this, then, Life?” Perhaps the reader can endure an extract frohtful emotions does the youthful mind look forward to soination is busy sketching rose-tinted pictures of joy In fancy, the voluptuous votary of fashi+on sees herself araceful forh the htest, her step is lightest in the gay asselides by, and the welcome hour arrives for her entrance into the Elysian world, of which she has had such bright drea appear to her enchanted vision! Each new scene isthan the last But after a while she finds that beneath this goodly exterior, all is vanity, the flattery which once charrates harshly upon her ear; the ballroom has lost its charms; and asted health and imbittered heart, she turns aith the conviction that earthly pleasures cannot satisfy the longings of the soul!”

And so forth and so on There was a buzz of gratification fro, accompanied by whispered ejaculations of ”Hoeet!” ”How eloquent!” ”So true!” etc, and after the thing had closed with a peculiarly afflicting sermon the applause was enthusiastic

Then arose a sli”

paleness that coestion, and read a ”poem” Two stanzas of it will do:

”A MISSOURI MAIDEN'S FAREWELL TO ALABAMA

”Alabaoodbye! I love thee well! But yet for a while do I leave thee now! Sad, yes, sad thoughts of theeh thy flooods; Have roamed and read near Tallapoosa's strea floods, And wooed on Coosa's side Aurora's beam

”Yet shame I not to bear an o'erfull heart, Nor blush to turn behind er land I now hs Welcome and home were mine within this State, Whose vales I leave--whose spires fade fast from me And cold must be mine eyes, and heart, and tete, When, dear Alabama! they turn cold on thee!” There were very few there who knehat ”tete” meant, but the poem was very satisfactory, nevertheless

Next appeared a dark-co lady, who paused an ian to read in a measured, soleht Around the throne on high not a single star quivered; but the deep intonations of the heavy thunder constantly vibrated upon the ear; whilst the terrific lightning revelled in angryto scorn the power exerted over its terror by the illustrious Franklin! Even the boisterous winds unanimously came forth from their mystic homes, and blustered about as if to enhance by their aid the wildness of the scene