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_ The first of September came all too soon, and
school began. Among the boys and girls
who went trooping up to the "East Corner
knowledge-box," as they called it, was our friend Ben,
with a pile of neat books under his arm. He felt
very strange, and decidedly shy; but put on a bold
face, and let nobody guess that, though nearly thirteen,
he had never been to school before. Miss Celia
had told his story to Teacher, and she, being a kind
little woman, with young brothers of her own, made
things as easy for him as she could. In reading and
writing he did very well, and proudly took his place
among lads of his own age; but when it came to
arithmetic and geography, he had to go down a long
way, and begin almost at the beginning, in spite of
Thorny's efforts to "tool him along fast." It mortified
him sadly, but there was no help for it; and in
some of the classes he had dear little Betty to console
with him when he failed, and smile contentedly
when he got above her, as he soon began to do, --
for she was not a quick child, and plodded through
First Parts long after sister Bab was flourishing away
among girls much older than herself.
Fortunately, Ben was a short boy and a clever one,
so he did not look out of place among the ten and
eleven year olders, and fell upon his lessons with the
same resolution with which he used to take a new
leap, or practise patiently till he could touch his heels
with his head. That sort of exercise had given him
a strong, elastic little body; this kind was to train
his mind, and make its faculties as useful, quick and
sure, as the obedient muscles, nerves and eye, which
kept him safe where others would have broken their
necks. He knew this, and found much consolation
in the fact that, though mental arithmetic was a
hopeless task, he could turn a dozen somersaults, and
come up as steady as a judge. When the boys
laughed at him for saying that China was in Africa,
he routed them entirely by his superior knowledge
of the animals belonging to that wild country; and
when "First class in reading" was called, he marched
up with the proud consciousness that the shortest
boy in it did better than tall Moses Towne or fat Sam
Kitteridge.
Teacher praised him all she honestly could, and
corrected his many blunders so quietly that he soon
ceased to be a deep, distressful red during recitation,
and tugged away so manfully that no one could
help respecting him for his efforts, and trying to
make light of his failures. So the fiist hard week
went by, and though the boy's heart had sunk many
a time at the prospect of a protracted wrestle with
his own ignorance, he made up his mind to win, and
went at it again on the Monday with fresh zeal, all
the better and braver for a good, cheery talk with
Miss Celia in the Sunday evening twilight.
He did not tell her one of his greatest trials,
however, because he thought she could not help him
there. Some of the children rather looked down
upon him, called him "tramp" and "beggar," twitted
him with having been a circus boy, and lived in a
tent like a gypsy. They did not mean to be cruel,
but did it for the sake of teasing, never stopping to
think how much such sport can make a fellow-creature
suffer. Being a plucky fellow, Ben pretended not
to mind; but he did feel it keenly, because he wanted
to start afresh, and be like other boys. He was not
ashamed of the old life; but, finding those around
him disapproved of it, he was glad to let it be forgotten,
even by himself; for his latest recollections were
not happy ones, and present comforts made past
hardships seem harder than before.
He said nothing of this to Miss Celia; but she
found it out, and liked him all the better for keeping
some of his small worries to hiniself. Bab and Betty
came over Monday afternoon full of indignation
at some boyish insult Sam had put upon Ben; and,
finding them too full of it to enjoy the reading, Miss
Celia asked what the matter was. Then both little
girls burst out in a rapid succession of broken
exclamations, which did not give a very clear idea of
the difficulty, --
"Sam didn't like it because Ben jumped farther
than he did -- "
"And he said Ben ought to be in the poor-house."
"And Ben said he ought to be in it pigpen."
"So he had! -- such a greedy thing, bringing lovely
big apples, and not giving any one a single bite!"
"Then he was mad, and we all laughed; and he
said, 'Want to fight?'
"And Ben said, 'No, thanky, not much fun in
pounding a feather-bed.'"
"Oh, he was awfully mad then, and chased Ben up
the big maple."
"He's there now, for Sam won't let him come
down till he takes it all back."
"Ben won't; and I do believe he'll have to stay
up all night," said Betty, distressfully.
"He won't care, and we'll have fun firing up his
supper. Nut cakes and cheese will go splendidly;
and may be baked pears wouldn't get smashed, he's
such a good catch," added Bab, decidedly relishing
the prospect.
"If he does not come by tea-time, we will go and
look after him. It seems to me I have heard surne-
thing about Sam's troubling him before, haven't I?"
asked Miss Celia, ready to defend her protege against
all unfair persecution.
"Yes,'m, Sam and Mose are always plaguing Ben.
They are big boys, and we can't make them stop. I
won't let the girls do it, and the little boys don't dare
to, since Teacher spoke to them." answered Bab.
"Why does not Teacher speak to the big ones?
"Ben won't tell of them, or let us. He says he'll
fight his own battles, and hates tell-tales. I guess
he won't like to have us tell you, but I don't care, for
it is too bad!" and Betty looked ready to cry over
her friend's tribulations.
"I'm glad you did, for I will attend to it, and stop
this sort of thing," said Miss Celia, after the children
had told some of the tormenting speeches which had
tried poor Ben.
Just then Thorny appeared, looking much amused.
and the little girls both called out in a breath, "Did
you see Ben and get him down?"
"He got himself down in the neatest way you can
imagine;" and Thorny laughed at the recollection.
"Where is Sam? " asked Bab.
"Staring up at the sky to see where Ben has flown
to."
"Oh, tell about it!" begged Betty.
"Well, I came along and found Ben treed, and Sam
stoning him. I stopped that at once, and told the
'fat boy' to be off. He said he wouldn't till Ben
begged his pardon; and Ben said he wouldn't do it,
if he stayed up for a week. I was just preparing
to give that rascal a scientific thrashing, when a load
of hay came along, and Ben dropped on to it so quietly
that Sam, who was trying to bully me, never saw him
go. It tickled me so, I told Sam I guessed I'd let
him off that time, and walked away, leaving him to
hunt for Ben, and wonder where the dickens he
had vanished to."
The idea of Sam's bewilderment amused the others
as much as Thorny, and they all had a good laugh
over it before Miss Celia asked, --
"Where has Ben gone now?"
" Oh, he'll take a little ride, and then slip down
and race home full of the fun of it. But I've got
to settle Sam. I won't have our Ben hectored by any
one -- "
"But yourself," put in his sister, with a sly smile,
for Thorny was rather domineering at times.
"He doesn't mind my poking him up now and
then, it's good for him; and I always take his part
against other people. Sam is a bully, and so is
Mose; and I'll thrash them both if they don't
stop."
Anxious to curb her brother's pugnacious propensities,
Miss Celia proposed milder measures, promising
to speak to the boys herself if there was any more
trouble.
"I have been thinking that we should have some
sort of merry-making for Ben on his birthday. My
plan was a very simple one; but I will enlarge it, and
have all the young folks come, and Ben shall be king
of the fun. he needs encouragement in well-doing,
for he does try; and now the first hard part is nearly
over, I am sure he will get on bravely. If we treat
him with respect, and show our regard for him, others
will follow our example; and that will be better than
fighting about it."
"So it will! What shall we do to make our party
tip-top?" asked Thorny, falling into the trap at once;
for he dearly loved to get up theatricals, and had not
had any for a long time.
"We will plan something splendid, a 'grand combination,'
as you used to call your droll mixtures
of tragedy, comedy, melodrama and farce," answered
his sister, with her head already full of lively plots.
"We'll startle the natives. I don't believe they
ever saw a play in all their lives, hey, Bab?"
"I've seen a circus."
"We dress up and do ' Babes in the Wood,"' added
Betty, with dignity.
"Pho! that's nothing. I'll show you acting that
will make your hair stand on end, and you shall
act too. Bab will be capital for the naughty girls,"
began Thorny, excited by the prospect of producing
a sensation on the boards, and always ready to
tease the girls.
Before Betty could protest that she did not want
her hair to stand up, or Bab could indignantly decline
the rele offered her, a shrill whistle was heard, and
Miss Celia whispered, with a warning look, --
"Hush! Ben is coming, and he must not know any
thing about this yet."
The next day was Wednesday, and in the afternoon
Miss Celia went to hear the children "speak pieces,"
though it was very seldom that any of the busy
matrons and elder sisters found time or inclination for
these displays of youthful oratory. Miss Celia and
Mrs. Moss were all the audience on this occasion, but
Teacher was both pleased and proud to see them,
and a general rustle went through the school as they
came in, all the girls turning from the visitors to nod
at Bab and Betty, who smiled all over their round
faces to see "Ma" sitting up "'side of Teacher,"
and the boys grinned at Ben, whose heart began
to beat fast at the thought of his dear mistress coming
so far to hear him say his piece.
Thorny had recommended Marco Bozzaris, but
Ben preferred John Gilpin, and ran the famous race
with much spirit, making excellent time in some parts
and having to be spurred a little in others, but came out
all right, though quite breathless at the end, sitting
down amid great applause, some of which, curiously
enough, seemed to come from outside; which in fact
it did, for Thorny was bound to hear but would not
come in, lest his presence should abash one orator at
least.
Other pieces followed, all more or less patriotic and
warlike, among the boys; sentimental among the
girls. Sam broke down in his attempt to give one
of Webster's great speeches, Little Cy Fay boldly
attacked
"Again to the battle, Achaians!"
and shrieked his way through it in a shrill, small
voice, bound to do honor to the older brother who
had trained him even if he broke a vessel in the
attempt. Billy chose a well-worn piece, but gave it a
new interest by his style of delivery; for his gestures
were so spasmodic he looked as if going into a fit,
and he did such astonishing things with his voice that
one never knew whether a howl or a growl would
come next. When
"The woods against a stormy sky
Their giant branches tossed; "
Billy's arms went round like the sails of a windmill;
the "hymns of lofty cheer" not only "shook the
depths of the desert gloom," but the small children
on their little benches, and the school-house literally
rang "to the anthems of the free!" When "the
ocean eagle soared," Billy appeared to be going
bodily up, and the "pines of the forest roared" as if
they had taken lessons of Van Amburgh's biggest
lion. "Woman's fearless eye" was expressed by a
wild glare; manhood's brow, severely high," by a
sudden clutch at the reddish locks falling over the
orator's hot forehead, and a sounding thump on his
blue checked bosom told where "the fiery heart of
youth" was located. "What sought they thus far?"
he asked, in such a natural and inquiring tone, with his
eye fixed on Mamie Peters, that the startled innocent
replied, "Dunno," which caused the speaker to close
in haste, devoutly pointing a stubby finger upward at
the last line.
This was considered the gem of the collection, and
Billy took his seat proudly conscious that his native
town boasted an orator who, in time, would utterly
eclipse Edward Everett and Wendell Phillips.
Sally Folsom led off with "The Coral Grove,"
chosen for the express purpose of making her friend
Almira Mullet start and blush, when she recited the
second line of that pleasing poem,
"Where the purple mullet and gold-fish rove."
One of the older girls gave Wordsworth's "Lost
Love" in a pensive tone, clasping her hands and
bringing out the "O" as if a sudden twinge of
toothache seized her when she ended.
"But she is in her grave, and O,
'he difference to me!
Bab always chose a funny piece, and on this afternoon
set them all laughing by the spirit with which
she spoke the droll poem, "Pussy's Class," which some
of my young readers may have read. The "meou"
and the "sptzz" were capital, and when the "fond
mamma rubbed her nose," the children shouted, for
Miss Bab made a paw of her hand and ended with an
impromptu purr, which was considered the best imitation
ever presented to an appreciative public. Betty
bashfully murmurred "Little White Lily," swaying to
and fro as regularly as if in no other way could the
rhymes be ground out of her memory.
"That is all, I believe. If either of the ladies would
like to say a few words to the children, I should
be pleased to have them," said Teacher, politely,
pausing before she dismissed school with a song.
"Please, 'm. I'd like to speak my piece," answered
Miss Celia, obeying a sudden impulse; and, stepping
forward with her hat in her hand, she made a pretty
courtesy before she recited Mary Howitt's sweet little
ballad, "Mabel on Midsummer Day."
She looked so young and merry, and used such
simple but expressive gestures, and spoke in such a
clear, soft voice that the children sat as if spell-bound,
learning several lessons from this new teacher, whose
performance charmed them from beiginning to end, and
left a moral which all could understand and carry
away in that last verse, --
"'Tis good to make all duty sweet,
To be alert and kind;
'Tis good, like Littie Mabel,
To have a willing mind."
Of course there was an enthusiastic clapping when
Miss Celia sat down, but even while hands applauded,
consciences pricked, and undone tasks, complaining
words and sour faces seemed to rise up reproachfully
before many of the children, as well as their own
faults of elocution.
"Now we will sing," said Teacher, and a great
clearing of throats ensued, but before a note could be
uttered, the half-open door swung wide, and Sancho,
with Ben's hat on, walked in upon his hind-legs, and
stood with his paws meekly folded, while a voice from
the entry sang rapidly, --
"Benny had a little dog,
His fleece was white as snow,
And everywhere that Benny went,
The dog was sure to go.
He went into the School one day,
which was against the rule;
It made the children laugh and play
To see a dog --"
Mischievous Thorny got no further, for a general
explosion of laughter drowned the last words, and
Ben's command "Out, you rascal!" sent Sanch to the
right-about in double-quick time.
Miss Celia tried to apologize for her bad brother,
and Teacher tried to assure her that it didn't matter
in the least, as this was always a merry time, and
Mrs. Moss vainly shook her finger at her naughty
daughters; they as well as the others would have
their laugh out,a nd only partially sobered down when
the Bell rang for "Attention." They thought they
were to be dismissed, and repressed their giggles as
well as they could in order to get a good start for a
vociferous roar when they got out. But, to their great
surprise, the pretty lady stood up again and said, in
her friendly way, --
"I just want to thank you for this pleasant little
exhibition, and ask leave to come again. I also wish to
invite you all to my boy's birthday party on Saturday
week. The archery meeting is to be in the afternoon,
and both clubs will be there, I believe. In the evening
we are going to have some fun, when we can laugh
as much as we please without breaking any of the
rules. In Ben's name I invite you, and hope you will
all come, for we mean to make this the happiest
birthday he ever had."
There were twenty pupils in the room, but the
eighty hands and feet made such a racket at this
announcement that an outsider would have thought a
hundred children, at least, must have been at it. Miss
Celia was a general favorite because she nodded to all
the girls, called the boys by their last names, even
addressing some of the largest as "Mr." which won
their hearts at once, so that if she had invited them
all to come and be whipped they would have gone
sure that it was some delightful joke. With what
eagerness they accepted the present invitation one
can easily imagine, though they never guessed why
she gave it in that way, and Ben's face was a sight to
see, he was so pleased and proud at the honor done
him that he did not know where to look, and was glad
to rush out with the other boys and vent his emotions
in whoops of delight. He knew that some little plot
was being concocted for his birthday, but never
dreamed of any thing so grand as asking the whole
school, Teacher and all. The effect of the invitation
was seen with comical rapidity, for the boys became
overpowering in their friendly attentions to Ben.
Even Sam, fearing he might be left out, promptly
offered the peaceful olive-branch in the shape of a
big apple, warm from his pocket, and Mose proposed
a trade of jack-knives which would be greatly to
Ben's advantage. But Thorny made the noblest
sacrifice of all, for he said to his sister, as they walked
home together, --
"I'm not going to try for the prize at all. I shoot
so much better than the rest, having had more practice,
you know, that it is hardly fair. Ben and Billy
are next best, and about even, for Ben's strong wrist
makes up for Billy's true eye, and both want to win.
If I am out of the way Ben stands a good chance, for
the other fellows don't amount to much."
"Bab does; she shoots nearly as well as Ben, and
wants to win even more than he or Billy. She must
have her chance at any rate."
"So she may, but she won't do any thing; girls
can't, though it 's good exercise and pleases them to
try. "
"If I had full use of both my arms I'd show you
that girls can do a great deal when they like. Don't
be too lofty, young man, for you may have to come
down," laughed Miss Celia, amused by his airs.
"No fear," and Thorny calmly departed to set his
targets for Ben's practice.
"We shall see," and from that moment Miss Celia
made Bab her especial pupil, feeling that a little lesson
would be good for Mr. Thorny, who rather lorded it
over the other young people. There was a spice of
mischief in it, for Miss Celia was very young at heart,
in spite of her twenty-four years, and she was bound
to see that her side had a fair chance, believing that
girls can do whatever they are willing to strive patiently
and wisely for.
So she kept Bab at work early and late, giving her
all the hints and help she could with only one efficient
hand, and Bab was delighted to think she did well
enough to shoot with the club. Her arms ached and
her fingers grew hard with twanging the bow, but she
was indefatigable, and being a strong, tall child of her
age, with a great love of all athletic sports, she got on
fast and well, soon learning to send arrow after arrow
with ever increasing accuracy nearer and nearer to
the bull's-eye.
The boys took very little notice of her, being much
absorbed in their own affairs, but Betty did for Bab
what Sancho did for Ben, and trotted after arrows till
her short legs were sadly tired, though her patience
never gave out. She was so sure Bab would win that
she cared nothing about her own success, practising
little and seldom hitting any thing when she tried. _
Read next: CHAPTER XX. BEN'S BIRTHDAY
Read previous: CHAPTER XVIII. BOWS AND ARROWS
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