-
 
 V 
 
 *, -

 
 " When near the Jwuse he saw Julia out in Hie yard cutting a 
 bouquet of roses for Mrs. Boggs." [SEB CHAPTER XLII.]
 
 SILAS COBB 
 
 A STORY 
 OF SUPERVISION 
 
 BY 
 
 DAN V. STEPHENS 
 
 AUTHOR OF 
 
 PHELPS AND HIS TEACHERS 
 
 
 HAMMOND BROS. & STEPHENS 
 FREMONT, NEBRASKA
 
 COPYRIGHT, 1900, 1901 AND 1902 
 
 BY 
 
 DAN V. STEPHENS 
 
 FIRST EDITION, JUNE, 1901, 5000 COPIES 
 
 SECOND EDITION, JUNK, 1902, 5000 COPIES
 
 PREFACE 
 
 THE story of "Silas Cobb" in the main is based 
 on facts. All the characters, with one or two 
 exceptions, are chosen from among the acquaint- 
 ances of the author, and in real life played the parts 
 assigned to them in the story. 'Tis true, the incidents 
 are slightly embellished, and a few even are drawn 
 from the imagination in order to secure the desired les- 
 sons. 
 
 While in this story "Silas Cobb" appears as he 
 really existed, yet should you go to Brush county and 
 ask the people what sort of a man he was, you would 
 get a very commonplace account of him. You would 
 find it hard to reconcile their accounc with this narra- 
 tive. The reason for this discrepancy lies in the fact 
 that few of us know even our most intimate friends as 
 they really exist. If we could only draw aside the 
 curtain and look into their hearts and see all that lies 
 hidden there, we would realize that, in spite of many 
 outward seeming inconsistencies, their lives were trend- 
 ing upward, and that many of them were really great. 
 As it is, we only see the shell that covers them, and 
 they seem to us to do so many strange and complex 
 things that we often find ourselves doubting either 
 their sanity or their honesty. We see them with our 
 own eyes and according to our own hearts. 
 
 So that is the reason why you would find only a com- 
 monplace account of "Silas Cobb" among the people of 
 Brush county. The same may be said of "old Henry 
 Boggs," who lived quietly among his neighbors with- 
 out their being conscious of his nobleness of charac- 
 ter. To them he was only "old Henry Boggs," and
 
 6 SILAS COBB 
 
 much like other men. It would require a great, loving, 
 honest heart to measure the real worth of "Henry 
 Boggs," and such a heart didn't happen to neighbor 
 with him. But there came into his life in the course 
 of time a sweet-faced country girl who was great 
 enough to measure his heart. This was "Josephine 
 Alger," a girl you would not look at the second time in 
 passing. Yet she was so good the people absorbed her 
 life unconsciously. She, too, passed as a very ordinary 
 woman among her friends. 
 
 Yet the same screen that hid the virtues of "Silas 
 Cobb," "Henry Boggs" and "Josephine Alger," also 
 hid the vices and hypocrisy of "Professor Littleman." 
 
 The moral, however, is that heroes and heroines are 
 always among us, if our hearts are great enough to 
 find them. Our custom is to worship those whom 
 some one else has found and labeled, "This is a hero." 
 Those we possess we seldom cherish. Surrounded by 
 heroes and heroines, we wander away to other lands to 
 worship the labeled idols instead of seeking out our 
 very own at home. 
 
 While this story was told in idle moments, and by 
 one unused to the task, it is hoped that from the inci- 
 dents related many valuable lessons may be drawn by 
 the discerning reader. THE AUTHOR. 
 
 FREMONT, NEBR., June 1, 1901.
 
 SILAS COBB 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 THE scenes and characters of this narrative belong 
 to Brush county, Illinois. Should you meet one 
 of these characters you could describe the 
 country he came from, or if you should see the coun- 
 try you could form a fair estimate of the people it 
 would produce. Both have characteristics in com- 
 mon. Should you take your map and try to locate 
 Brush county you would fail, because its very 
 ordinary name is hidden behind a fictitious one, 
 but the country to which it belongs lies within the 
 fork made by the Ohio and Mississippi rivers. A 
 closer description might invite too much scrutiny, 
 which would embarrass our characters as well as 
 the author. The physical features of the country 
 are rough, and the soil is not very productive. The 
 hills are worn down to the yellow clay, and here and 
 there is an abandoned field grown up with brush. The 
 country roads are well worn, showing the result of 
 almost a century's travel. The aspect of the whole 
 region is that of well advanced maturity, if not old age. 
 The county seat of Brush county contains about two 
 thousand inhabitants, and has one railroad passing 
 through it. Some of the citizens have been heard tc 
 say that the town was not up-to-date, and this statement 
 they attempted to prove by pointing to the fact that the 
 Town Council had refused time and again to pass an 
 ordinance preventing the pasturing of cows on the pub-
 
 8 SILAS COBB 
 
 lie common. This action of the council so chagrined 
 that portion of the population that did not own cows, 
 that they nick-named the town Cowville, and by that 
 name it will henceforth be known in this narrative. 
 
 The town is very old and has a quaint appearance. 
 The residence houses generally stand on the edge of the 
 street, and not upon the center of the lot to which 
 they belong, surrounded by a spacious yard. 
 
 The old-fashioned county fairs are held each fall in 
 the same old buildings that were erected in ante-bellum 
 days. The court-house bears the date of 1840 over the 
 door, or did at the time of which this narrative treats. 
 Even the county officers at this period had an old, musty 
 air about them. The auditor had been in office since 
 the year before Abraham Lincoln had been assassinated. 
 Everything and everybody savored of the past. To 
 this day, should you happen to be in Cowville on 
 county court days, you would hear the sheriff 
 calling the county court to order from the balcony of 
 the ancient temple of justice. He would come out on 
 this high forum and in a loud voice proclaim to the 
 town: "Hear-e! Hear-e! Hear-e! The county court is 
 now in session." A little later you will see this same 
 functionary appear again on the balcony, or, if he 
 doesn't feel like making his act so formal, he will sim- 
 ply stick his head out of the window and call the 
 desired witness: "Hugh Leonard! Hugh Leonard! 
 Hugh Leonard!" his voice echoing from building to 
 building. Down on the public square there, some- 
 where, Hugh is waiting to be called. If the sheriff 
 doesn't see any movement below as if Hugh were com- 
 ing, he sings out to someone he knows: "Say, Jim, 
 do you see Hugh Leonard around there?" "No!" 
 "Well, call him, then." Jim takes up the call and
 
 SILAS COBB 9 
 
 bellows forth Hugh Leonard's name the traditional 
 number of times. So the customs of a people long ago 
 dead and forgotten cling to them still. 
 
 He 'ii-iiv nnirei-sally called "The Professor.' 1 '
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 IT was in this county, among these old things, that 
 the characters of our story lived and acted their 
 little part in life. It was back in the eighties that 
 Mr. Littleman was elected for the third time county 
 superintendent of schools of Brush county. Before 
 the time of his election he was principal of the Cowville 
 schools. He was universally called "The Professor," 
 and since he was the only professor in the county, 
 there was no confusion from the wrong man's answer- 
 ing to the title. 
 
 The Professor was a man of considerable book learn- 
 ing, but he was unfortunate in being born with poor j udg- 
 ment and a bad heart. llowevei', this latter fact was 
 not generally known to the people of the county, and 
 when the Republican convention met, the Professor 
 was renominated without opposition. A few days 
 later the Democratic convention met, and in casting 
 around for a suitable man for the place, it found itself 
 short of material for that office, notwithstanding it was 
 the dominant party of the county. 
 
 After much talk about the advisability of taking that 
 office out of politics as much as possible, the conven- 
 tion endorsed the Professor's nomination. It might be 
 remai-ked, however, incidentally, that the Professor did 
 not poll the entire Democratic vote, owing to an un- 
 timely remark made by one of his friends to the effect 
 that they (the Democrats) did not have a man among 
 them that could read or write, therefore none able to 
 fill the office, so they were compelled to seek a candi- 
 date from among the Republicans. Strange, but it is 
 said to be true, this remark had a cooling effect on the
 
 SILAS COBB 11 
 
 sensitive Democrats, and some agitated the matter to 
 such an extent that there was talk of calling a new con- 
 vention to place a candidate in the tield against Profes- 
 sor Littleman. The only reason this was not done was 
 the original one, that no one could be found suitable 
 for the position. 
 
 There was one young man by the name of Silas 
 Cobb, teaching in District No. 8, in Muddy Creek 
 township, said to be a Democrat, who would suit them 
 in every particular except one he wasn't of age. Old 
 Henry Boggs, from Muddy Creek, brought him out, 
 and had much to say about his sterling qualities. It, 
 was finally decided to let matters go as they were, and 
 nothing more was said about it. Even Henry Boggs 
 himself, the author of the idea of nominating this 
 young man, forgot the incident, and the prospective 
 candidate never heard of it. 
 
 The circumstance referred to, which was soon for- 
 gotten by everybody else connected with it, reached the 
 ears of Professor Littleman, and the events which fol- 
 lowed show how one can create an opponent by giving 
 his own recognition to such a possibility. 
 
 Old Henry Boggs' protege was in good standing at 
 the county superintendent's office, and had been since 
 he began teaching three years previously. His work 
 had been praised by the Professor, and the patrons of 
 his school were greatly pleased with him. No cloud 
 li:id yet appeared on his horizon and the future seemed 
 full of promise. Each day unfolded new ideas and 
 new plans were laid for the improvement of his work. 
 His education, while sufficient in principle, had been 
 one along solid lines and little opportunity had been 
 afforded him for acquiring social polish. He was a 
 country boy, plain, honest, and in a physical sense 
 rather awkward, but yet not without prepossessing 
 qualities.
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 PROFESSOR LITTLEMAN of all others, was the 
 only man who remembered Silas Cobb as a pro- 
 spective candidate for the office of county super- 
 intendent. He remembered it for a purpose. He 
 reasoned that if he were not disposed of by the next 
 campaign, there would be no doubt of his nomination 
 by the Democrats, with good prospect of his election. 
 If he could get him out of the county, there would be 
 no one left for the Democrats to nominate, and he 
 would have clear sailing again. 
 
 With a rather indefinite idea as to what course he 
 should pursue, he concluded to visit Mr. Cobb's school, 
 and perhaps something would suggest itself to him. 
 During the fall term he drove out one morning to 
 Muddy Creek and called at No. 8. Mr. Cobb greeted 
 him cordially, as was his custom, and was soon eagerly 
 engaged in a conversation with the Professor, telling 
 him of his work and plans. The school-room had a 
 busy air about it, and the pupils, after giving the Su- 
 perintendent a passing glance, went on with their work 
 without paying further attention to either the Professor 
 or teacher, who sat chatting in the rear of the room. 
 The pupils moved about the room as necessity required, 
 in consultation over their work. There was a busy, 
 interested air about the whole school. 
 
 While the Professor sat there taking note of the 
 work of the pupils, the idea occurred to him that many 
 people would consider that Mr. Cobb kept very poor 
 order, and if their attention were called to it, he might 
 lose much of his influence and reputation. When the 
 school closed at four o'clock, the Professor offered a few
 
 SILAS COBB 
 
 suggestions, among them that his order might be im- 
 proved somewhat. 
 
 Mr. Cobb took the suggestion seriously to heart, and 
 began to look into the condition of his school with a 
 view of strengthening the weak points. He thanked 
 the Professor for the criticism and promised to con- 
 sider the matter thoroughly. He then invited his visi- 
 tor to go home with him to old Mr. Boggs' where he 
 boarded, and spend the night. The Professor accepted 
 the invitation, and they walked together, leading the 
 Professor's horse, down to Mr. Boggs' home. As they 
 neared the house, they saw old Mr. Boggs coming in 
 from the field with a load of bright, new corn fresh 
 from the husks. They met at the barn-yard gate, just 
 as the old man was clubbing and yelling at some old 
 razor-back hogs that were attempting to follow his 
 wagon through the gate. "Howdy -do, gentlemen 
 plague take them hogs, anyhow howdy Mr. Little- 
 man, howdy Silas. Glad t' see ye, Professor. Come 
 right in, er go up t' the house, an' take a seat till I git 
 the feedin' done. Mighty glad t' see ye come down. 
 Take the Professor up, Silas, an' keep him company 
 till I git the work done", Mr. Boggs ran on in his 
 warm-hearted manner, scarcely giving the Professor a 
 chance to thank him for his welcome. 
 
 The Professor didn't go up to the house. He helped 
 old Mr. Boggs put up the horses, and talked while he 
 worked. Mr. Cobb excused himself and went to work 
 on his lessons for the next day. This gave the Profes 
 sor a good opportunity to sound Mr. Boggs. 
 
 "Well, Professor, how did ye find the boy's school?" 
 inquired Mr. Boggs. 
 
 First-rate," answered the Professor promptly. 
 "Silas is a fine boy. He's young yet, but I think, if
 
 14 
 
 SILAS COBB 
 
 he keeps on improving, he will be a good teacher that 
 is, a pretty good teacher, in time. He seems to be doing 
 
 "Howdy-do, gentlemen plague take them hogs, anyhow." 
 
 fairly well in his work. I was just wondering if you 
 had ever heard any criticism on him his order, for 
 instance."
 
 SILAS COBB 15 
 
 "No, I hain't," said Mr. Boggs. "He's rated high 
 on that p'int." 
 
 "Well, now, that is just what I thought," replied 
 the Professor, "but I am trying to think who it was 
 that reported to me that his discipline was simply out- 
 rageous some one at my office told me said his 
 school was a bedlam, and I came out on purpose to see 
 for myself. Now, who could that have been? Well, 
 I can't remember now, and it doesn't matter, but I 
 was glad to find the school was nothing like as bad as 
 reported. Yes, Silas is a good boy, and I look for him 
 to develop in time to doing better work. How long 
 has he taught here, Mr. Boggs?" 
 
 "This is makin' his third year now, an' plagued ef I 
 wouldn't like t' see the man who told ye his school wuz 
 a reg'lar bedlam." 
 
 "I am sorry 1 can't remember who it was, Mr. Boggs, 
 but don't say a word about it. I wouldn't have Mr. 
 Cobb know it, for he is sensitive and it would discour- 
 age him. Don't hurt the boy's feelings by mentioning 
 it. The same party, whoever he was, said something 
 about him being here too long ought to have a 
 change be better for the school, or something like 
 that. I do wish I could recall his name, but it's no 
 use. I was just thinking if that was the case, I would 
 see to it that Mr. Cobb got a better school elsewhere. 
 I have a place I could recommend him to right now, in 
 Johnson county, where he could get $10 more a month 
 than you pay him here." 
 
 "That's mighty kind uv ye, Mr. Littleman, but 
 when Si Cobb wants $10 more a month, he'll git it right 
 here, an' I tell ye now, it's all a lie about him bein' 
 here too long, an' not keepin' order. There ain't a 
 child in school what don't love Si Cobb. They learn
 
 16 SILAS COBB 
 
 as they never did afore, an' t' let Si Cobb go would 
 raise the biggest row ye ever hearn uv. Why, there 
 ain't a man, woman er child in this whole country about 
 that ain't fer Si Cobb every day in the week. The 
 man that told ye them lies can't live in these parts." 
 
 The Professor saw he had gone too far and was 
 likely to arouse old Mr. Boggs' suspicion, so he deftly 
 changed the subject, after passing a compliment on 
 the teacher to make sure of covering up any appear- 
 ance of prejudice on his part. The next day, in leav- 
 ing the district, he met three other patrons of the 
 school, all enemies to old man Boggs, but friends of 
 the teacher. To them he told in the same manner, 
 what he claimed he had heard about the school. These 
 men were not of the same honest, rugged character as 
 Boggs, so they were impressed with the story. They 
 had never heard of such a thing before, or even dreamed 
 it possible; but coming from the county superintend- 
 ent, it had its effect.
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 ON Saturday there were several patrons gathered 
 at the Muddy Creek post-office to get their mail 
 and do the week's trading at the general store. 
 The story was told there to the effect that Si Cobb's 
 school was a perfect bedlam, and someone in the dis- 
 trict had sent for the superintendent to come out and 
 see what could be done about it. 
 
 The next day at church there was more talk about it. 
 The people gathered in knots discussing the matter. It 
 was now reported that in case the school got clear 
 beyond Silas' control, the superintendent had kindly 
 offered to get him a school in another county at a 
 higher salary. One warm friend of Mr. Cobb's, who 
 didn't know but these reports were true, declared that, 
 "after all, that one-horse professor is not a bad fellow. 
 That shows he has a heart all right." So the talk ran 
 on, and in the meantime Silas Cobb was teaching a 
 Sunday school class of large boys in the old church, 
 perfectly oblivious to all the comment his supposed fail- 
 ure was causing. Finally someone went to old Henry 
 Boggs, who was the director of the district, and 
 asked him about the matter. When he was told that 
 everybody was talking about Silas' failure, the old 
 man's wrath was a study. He fumed and swore. He 
 declared the people of that "deestrict must be a lot uv 
 blankety-blank fools, ef they didn't know a little bit on 
 their own account." Here they had a first-class school 
 for two or three years, not a word of complaint of any 
 kind, till one day the Professor comes out with a story 
 about what some one should have said about the school, 
 and the next day everybody believing it, or at least
 
 18 SILAS COBB 
 
 apparently not knowing enough not to believe it, when 
 they have the evidence of a first-class school to prove 
 it by. 
 
 That night when the teacher got home, old Henry 
 was still fuming about the reports. 
 
 "Silas," he almost yelled, "what kind uv a school 
 air ye keepin' up there, anyhow? What's all these 
 reports comin' t' me 'bout ye not keepin' order, an' 
 bein' here too long, an' all that stuff? Plagued ef I 
 don't make it warm fer somebody 'fore this thing's 
 over." 
 
 Mr. Cobb was surprised, but he knew the old man 
 well enough, having lived under his roof for three years, 
 so he was not appalled by any means at the fierce man- 
 ner in which he was greeted. 
 
 "Why, Mr. Boggs, I am not aware of anything 
 unusual happening at the school. The work is going 
 along very nicely; in fact, better than ever before. I 
 was just thinking this afternoon as I walked home how 
 splendidly every class was doing. There are my big 
 boys and girls so interested in their work I can hardly 
 get them to take proper exercise at recess. They want 
 to keep at books and paper. The little fellows hunt 
 the fields over for plants and insects which we classify 
 and name. We now have a large collection. The 
 truth is they are so interested in their work that I find 
 it very difficult to supervise all they are now doing. I 
 can't work enough hours in the twenty-four to do all I 
 need to do to keep those boys and girls properly pro- 
 vided with work. What do you see in all that, Mr. 
 Boggs, to warrant your bad humor." 
 
 "Well, I'll jest tell ye, Si, t' be truthful, I wuz so 
 blamed mad at the fools uv this deestrict that I mought 
 have been a mite rough with ye, son, but it wan't
 
 SILAS COBB 19 
 
 'cause I wuz a-blamin' you. I knowed ye wuz doin' 
 right. But some half-idgit has been tellin' that ye 
 hain't got no order iu yer school, an' that ye need t' go 
 somewhere else fer a change, an' all sich as that. Now 
 who tells this, Lord only knows, fer I don't. That 
 Littlehead Professor told me as how some one told him, 
 an' the feller who told him he had f ergot. Then he 
 asked me t' say nothin' t' ye about it, as it might hurt 
 yer feelin's, but blame me, ef he didn't peddle it 
 'round the deestrict 'fore he left, an' it's been talked by 
 everybody fer a week, an' you an' me never knowed it. 
 That Professor's a snake, an' ef he don't watch out, old 
 Henry Boggs will show him he's no fool." 
 
 After inquiry, Silas Cobb learned to his amazement 
 that within a week's time his reputation had been 
 greatly damaged. He could not tell from what source 
 the blow came. He could not quite understand the 
 Professor's attitude. It looked a little suspicious, but 
 search as he might, he could find no motive. So he 
 dropped the Professor out of the subject, and sought 
 another reason for his trouble. He was to read a paper 
 at the first meeting of the "literary," which would 
 convene the following night. All the patrons and 
 young people of the district attend these weekly gather- 
 ings, where an entertaining program is given. On this 
 particular night the schoolhouse was packed. Every- 
 body in the district able to walk or ride, came. It was 
 given out at school in the afternoon by Cobb that he 
 desired a full attendance of the patrons, as he proposed 
 to talk to them on school matters. Everybody was 
 anxious to hear what "Mr. Silas" would have to say. 
 
 The program was carried out without anyone's giv- 
 ing it much attention. They were too deeply inter- 
 ested in the speech Silas Cobb was going to make.
 
 20 SILAS COBB 
 
 They always felt interested when he was on the pro- 
 gram, but to-night he was to vindicate himself of the 
 charges made against him. The last thing on the pro- 
 gram was Mr. Cobb's paper. He came forward, laid 
 his paper down on the desk, and said: 
 
 "I will substitute for my paper something more to 
 the point. I sent out word to you this evening request- 
 ing your presence here. I wanted to talk to you about 
 some rumors which I had just heard. I sent you word 
 by the pupils of my school. They had heard these 
 rumors long before I did, but not a single one of them 
 had the heart to repeat them to me. They felt instinct- 
 ively that someone was mistaken, and they did not feel 
 like hurting my feelings by telling me of these criti- 
 cisms. I have since learned how valiantly they have 
 denounced the charge that their school was a bedlam of 
 confusion. How such an impression could get abroad 
 is past my understanding. It would seem that such 
 charges would first come from the pupils. But in this 
 case there is not a child who does not deny the truth- 
 fulness of them. 
 
 "I am told that Superintendent Littleman reported 
 that some person had made the complaint to him. No 
 one has been able to find that person. I would like 
 very much to face him here to-night. I know I have 
 no enemies in this district. I know that if anyone did 
 have a criticism to make on my school, he would come 
 straight to me with it, and say, 'Silas, I am afraid your 
 school is not as orderly as it might be.' I would then 
 thank him for it, and at once examine it with a critical 
 eye, to find if the charge were true or imagined. 
 
 "Superintendent Littleman did visit my school. He 
 found some good things, but I am frank to say to you 
 that he did not praise my work very much. He sug-
 
 SILAS COBB 21 
 
 gested to me that my order might be better, and that 
 the manners of the pupils could be improved. I 
 thanked him for the criticism, and have since made an 
 effort, even against my own best judgment, to follow 
 his suggestions. There are various notions about 
 schoolroom order. Some want the schoolroom to be 
 as silent as the grave. It is their hobby. I am not of 
 that class. I want my pupils to feel free and easy in 
 their movements. 1 want them to do their work as 
 quietly as need be, and I try to teach them that unnec- 
 essary noise and movement is a waste of energy. When 
 you go into a factory you do not stop at the threshhold 
 and ask yourself about the noise of the establishment; 
 you are impressed at once with the great work going 
 on. You see every workman intent on his piece, or at 
 least he should be, and he is working with as little or 
 much noise as his work allows. No one is employed 
 in there to keep order. There is a foreman who gives 
 each man a piece of work to do, or a machine to run. 
 
 "That is the way I try to run my school. Come and 
 see us to-morrow, and you will find each boy and girl 
 bent on some task. If you look a little deeper, you 
 will find his task is pleasant. He is enjoying it very 
 much. He knows of very little going on around him. 
 If you should speak to him he would probably not hear 
 you the first time. He is absorbed in what he is doing. 
 If he makes a little noise sometimes, he is not con- 
 scious of it, nor are many of his mates, because they 
 are busy also. When I find a boy who dislikes school, 
 I sometimes spend weeks working with him to get him 
 started on something he likes, or make clear to him 
 difficult points that have made him dislike school. 
 
 "If a boy is absorbed in his work, and all at once 
 runs on to some matter he wishes to speak about with
 
 22 SILAS COBB 
 
 a boy across the room, he gets up like any gentleman 
 would do here to-night, and walks over to the boy 
 with whom he wishes to speak. My school works and 
 acts just as it pleases while it works. I wish to say to 
 you, however, that the school learned to work first, be- 
 fore it was allowed to act free of restraint. 
 
 "If you will come to our school, you will find us too 
 busy to pay any attention to small noises. I hope you 
 may never find me wasting my time listening for the 
 traditional pin to drop. 
 
 "You ought to be able to answer for yourselves, 
 whether or not your children have advanced as they 
 should while under my direction. I hope they have, 
 and I assure you I have put forth an honest, earnest 
 effort to do my work in the best approved manner." 
 
 Silas sat down amid hearty applause from everybody 
 in the house, and he had scarcely taken his seat, and 
 the applause ceased, when a dozen patrons were trying 
 to speak at once. Finally, the one with the loudest 
 voice drowned out the others, and made a complimen- 
 tary speech upon Mr. Cobb's work. He was followed 
 by others, and at last a resolution endorsing his work 
 in the strongest terms was passed, every soul voting 
 for it. 
 
 The literary adjourned, and everybody who could 
 get to the teacher shook his hand. He was reinstated 
 again as the biggest man in the district by all odds, 
 and old Henry Boggs came next. 

 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 ABOUT three months after the incidents of the 
 literary, a couuty teachers' association was held 
 at Cowville. Under all circumstances it would 
 have been very proper for the county superintendent 
 to place Silas Cobb on the program. He was a 
 representative country teacher from the northwest 
 corner of the county, and would have been better able 
 to discuss subjects pertaining to country schools than 
 any other teacher in the county. This was not done, 
 however, nor was he notified, as other teachers were, 
 of the meeting. No program had been sent him. All 
 this occurred to Mr. Cobb as a natural thing. He did 
 not expect to be placed on the program, nor did he 
 want to be. He naturally thought he had been over- 
 looked in sending out programs, or it had been sent 
 him and lost in the mails. 
 
 The meeting was held as advertised, and Mr. Cobb 
 was present. Every teacher there, except Silas Cobb, 
 was called upon to express an opinion at different times 
 during the day. There was a sharp discussion of one 
 subject on the program, in which he participated to his 
 credit, bethought, but the Superintendent very severely 
 criticised every point he made, and it seemed to the 
 teachers present not only uncalled for, but an incor- 
 rect position on the subject. These incidents began to 
 open Mr. Cobb's eyes to the bare fact that for some 
 cause or other he had the ill-will of the Professor. He 
 felt thei-e must be a misunderstanding of some kind. 
 As soon as he came to this conclusion, he found from 
 his point of view there was only one other thing to do. 
 He must go to the Professor and frankly ask him if he
 
 24 SILAS COBB 
 
 had erred in his conduct in any manner. When the 
 meeting closed he walked up to the Professor and at 
 the first opportunity he spoke to him. 
 
 "Professor, I have just been thinking to-day, that 
 you or I, one, or probably both, were laboring under 
 false impressions, and I know of no more satisfactory 
 or honorable way of settling the matter than taking it 
 up between us personally, and sifting it to the bottom. 
 To be frank with you, I am rather surprised and hurt 
 at the manner in which you have treated me to-day. I 
 have overlooked many little things that I might have 
 taken offense at, because I thought it simply an over- 
 sight, but to-day you called on every one present but 
 me to discuss subjects at issue, until it was a conspicu- 
 ous fact that I was the only one omitted. When I 
 took occasion to debate a matter I felt I was capable of 
 discussing, you almost insulted me with your brusque 
 and vigorous criticism. Now what I want to know is 
 this: Have I in any manner neglected my duty to you 
 or my school, or have I been unfortunate enough to 
 offend you? Or am I unduly sensitive in regard to the 
 manner in which I have been treated?" 
 
 The Professor was not used to a bold policy like 
 that. He was confused and could not properly handle 
 his words for a moment. It made him angry to think 
 a teacher, a "country jay" at that, would dare to come 
 up before him and question his conduct. 
 
 "No sir," he replied, "I have no knowledge of your 
 offending me. I scarcely know you well enough or in- 
 timately enough for that. I simply didn't agree with 
 what you said and told you so. That is all there is to 
 it. As to the other matters you speak of, you are 
 entirely too sensitive. You will get over it as you 
 grow older." With that, he turned and walked away.
 
 SILAS COBB 25 
 
 Silas Cobb hud at last gotten his whole-souled con- 
 fidence iu always being able to make matters clear as 
 day, somewhat shattered. He stood there for a few 
 minutes, insulted and humiliated, and then went home. 
 He never spoke of it to a living soul. Some would 
 have heralded the insult abroad and planned a bitter 
 win- against the Superintendent. If Silas Cobb had 
 simply repeated the facts to old Henry Boggs, there 
 would have been one of the livliest word wars ever read 
 about the next time the old fellow happened to 
 meet the Professor. Not only that, but Henry would 
 talk it to the neighbors, and in a week there would be 
 such bitter hatred for the Professor, he would scarcely 
 feel comfortable passing through that locality. Mr. 
 Cobb knew all this, too. He understood human nature 
 well for one so young. He was a man far in advance 
 of his twenty years. But his idea was that such a 
 course could do him no good in any manner, and he 
 would simply be crippling the usefulness of the county 
 superintendent. His idea was that no one should work 
 at cross purposes with the man selected to lead them. 
 He felt outraged, but kept it to himself and went on 
 with his work.
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 SILAS COBB heard nothing moi'e from the Profes- 
 sor till the next summer. The county teachers' 
 institute was to be held at Cowville, and he was 
 notified and requested to be present. 
 
 Unfortunately for him, or the Professor, it is hard 
 to tell which, he was in the Professor's class in gram- 
 mar. The very first recitation brought on a clash be- 
 tween them. The Professor called on Mr. Cobb to 
 recite, and had apparently set a trap for him. There 
 are many points in grammar on which even gramma- 
 rians differ, and it was one of these that Mr. Cobb was 
 called upon to discuss. He was told to sit down after 
 he had finished. Another teacher was called and 
 answered according to the Professor's idea. 
 
 "Correct," said the Professor. "Take note of that, 
 Mr. Cobb; you need to brush up on these points." 
 Mr. Cobb arose to defend his position. He was ig- 
 nored and the class work went on. Three days after- 
 wards Mr. Cobb got up and faced the Professor after 
 the fifth insult like the above, and said: "Sir, lam 
 compelled to leave your class. I will not be insulted 
 in this manner daily." With that he left the room. 
 
 Mr. Cobb had long ago concluded that it was simply 
 a natural antipathy the Professor felt for him, as he 
 could find no motive for it. What could the Professor 
 have against him, a poor country boy, while he was a 
 man high in educational circles of the state? There 
 was no other way to explain it, so he kept out of his 
 presence as much as possible. 
 
 At the close of the institute an examination was held 
 for teachers' certificates. It was a custom to renew
 
 SILAS COBB 27 
 
 the certificates of successful teachers, but Silas Cobb 
 did not ask for a renewal of his. He did not care to 
 ask for any favor, so he wrote the examination from 
 beginning to end, paid his fee and went home. 
 
 In the course of two weeks the certificates and notices 
 of failure were sent out. Silas Cobb received, to his 
 great amazement, a notice of failure to pass the exam- 
 ination. This was something he had never dreamed 
 of, as he felt sure he had made very high grades in all 
 the branches. He had spent several terms on the com- 
 mon branches in a private normal school, and under- 
 stood them well. He didn't know what to do at first, 
 but finally decided to go to see the superintendent on 
 Saturday and find out on what points he had failed. In 
 the meantime he would not tell Mr. Boggs about his 
 trouble. 
 
 On Friday night Mr. Boggs was propped up against 
 the wall in the kitchen, reading the Cowville Weekly 
 which had just been received. Presently he snorted 
 out in such a fury that everybody in the room was 
 startled. Mrs. Boggs dropped the skillet, and Silas 
 bit the end off his lead pencil. 
 
 "Sufferiu' Moses! That blankety -blank Littlehead 
 agin! Si Cobb, ye set there so peaceful, like ye didn't 
 have a trouble in the world. Don't ye know that 
 blaukety-blank Littlefool has refused t' give ye a cer- 
 tif-i-kate? Jest what the idgit's got agin ye I can't 
 ever understand, but blame me ef I don't eat him raw 
 ef he don't give me satisfaction on this matter. Jest 
 listen t' this, right here in the Muddy Crick News: 'It 
 is rumored that Si Cobb won't teach Muddy Creek 
 school next year, owing to a shortage of an otficial doc- 
 ument called a teacher's certificate. This is straight 
 from headquarters.' Bleedin' Moses! Ef I c'd git the
 
 28 
 
 SILAS COBB 
 
 man that put that lie in this here paper, I'd skin him 
 alive. How is this, Silas Cobb? What do ye know 
 'bout it?" 
 
 "All I know, Mr. Boggs, is that I have received a 
 
 "Sufferm* Moses! That Uankety-Uank Littlehead agin!" 
 
 notice this very day saying I have failed to pass a satis- 
 factory examination. I assure you I am greatly sur- 
 prised and grieved about it. There must surely be a 
 mistake. I know I could not have failed. I know
 
 SILAS COBB 29 
 
 what I know, and those questions I did know, and I 
 answered them correctly. I am positive that when I 
 call on the superintendent, as I shall to-morrow, it will 
 all be explained. If I am unable to get a certificate, I 
 don't know what the others could get, as I have had 
 more schooling than three-fourth^ of those teaching in 
 the county. Everybody knows that who knows me. 
 It is simply a mistake. But why should that item be 
 in the paper?" 
 
 "Yes, why?" said Mr. Boggs. "Si Cobb, ye haven't 
 fight enough in ye fer a girl. Why don't ye brace up 
 an' make a row over this outrage? Blamed ef I own 
 ye ef ye don't go right down there to-morrow an' put it 
 straight t' that chap from the shoulder. Ask him, by 
 the bleedin' blazes, what got this item uv news in the 
 paper here; then ask him where yer certif-i-kate is at. 
 Jest say ye want it, an' want it quick, too. Ef ye don't 
 git it, Si, jest take him by the nose an' pull it hard fer 
 old Henry Boggs, an' then give it a twist fer yer own 
 sake. Jest tell him that old Henry Boggs laid the 
 corner stone t' that old court-house twenty years afore 
 he wuz born, an' he has enough lands an' money t' pros- 
 ecute him t' kingdom come fer perjurin' hisself when 
 he swore he'd do his duty t' the people." 
 
 "A friend like you, Mr. Boggs," said Silas, "is only 
 met with once in a lifetime. I wasn't going to tell you 
 about this matter until I could see if I could get it ad- 
 justed, as I didn't want to worry you with it. If I 
 should have failed, I was coming to you then for advice. 
 I know you are always right in your judgment of the 
 value of the actions of men. I know you feel that 
 Superintendent Littleman has a grudge against me, 
 and I have tried to believe you mistaken, even in the 
 face of many things you do not know about; but if I
 
 30 SILAS COBB 
 
 am unable to get a certificate, I shall be willing to 
 openly say the Professor is unjustly prejudiced against 
 me." 
 
 Much more was said about the matter, but nothing 
 transpired worth noting until the next day.
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 MR. BOGGS and Silas drove down to Cowville 
 to see Superintendent Littleman. While 
 Silas went up to see the Professor, Mr. 
 Boggs dropped in to unburden his mind to Central 
 Comraitteeman John Smith, of the Times. He told all 
 about the outrages on Silas Cobb, leading up to the 
 climax of the Professor refusing to give him a certifi- 
 cate and having the fact printed in the Weekly. 
 
 "Let's see," said Mr. Smith, reflectively, "isn't that 
 the young man you wanted us to nominate for super- 
 intendent a year or so ago?" 
 
 "Thunderin' Moses! Ef I ain't the biggest fool in 
 all the county. Here I've been wonderin' fer the last 
 year what that Littlehead had agin Si <^obb. Now it's 
 all clear as day. That feller's tryin' t' kill him off so he 
 won't have no one t' run agin next year. Blame me, 
 ef I hadn't fergot all about that; never even told Si 
 about it, an' he's nigh puzzled t' death t' know what 
 that bleedin' fool has agin him. Now I mind we 
 talked 'bout it fer a day er two 'round town here, so uv 
 course the Littlething heard uv it, an' he has been the 
 only man t' remember it. Sufferin' Peter! An' t' 
 think I, old Henry Boggs, of all men, would fergit t' 
 tell Si 'bout it." 
 
 "Well, there is no doubt of the correctness of your 
 view, Mr. Boggs; you have sized up the Professor to a 
 dot. He even called in here once, only a short time 
 ago, and asked me who we were going to nominate 
 against him, and mentioned Mr. Cobb to me. Yes, 
 you are right; he is just that short-sighted. He has 
 probably gotten himself into an awkward place. From
 
 32 SILAS COBB 
 
 what I have seen and heard of that young fellow, Lit- 
 tleman will find more than his match in him." 
 
 Just at this point Mr. Cobb came in looking for Mr. 
 Boggs. Finding the two together, he greeted the edi- 
 tor, Mr. Smith, and excused himself for interrupting 
 them and was on the point of leaving, when Boggs 
 couldn't hold in any longer and demanded to know the 
 result of his trip to the Superintendent's office. He 
 looked at Mr. Smith in a questioning manner, and Mr. 
 Smith told him that he and Mr. Boggs had just been 
 discussing his trouble, and both felt provoked that a 
 public officer should let his prejudice rule him in such a 
 high-handed manner. 
 
 "I called on the Professor," said Mr. Cobb, "and 
 asked him in what I had failed. He gruffly answered 
 'everything.' 'Well,' I said, 'I want to see my papers; 
 I have not failed in everything, and I want to prove to 
 you that I have not, or I want you to satisfy me that I 
 have. At any rate, I want to see my papers.' 
 
 " 'I am sorry, sir, but I am too busy to-day to bother 
 with it. You will have to come some time when I am 
 not so busy.' 
 
 " 'Well,' I said, 'I am busy also, and I cannot come 
 down here again very soon, and I can look over my 
 papers without your assistance if you will lay them out 
 here on your desk; that is all I ask; I want to see how 
 they are marked.' 
 
 " 'You can't see them to-day; they are not here; I 
 left them at the house, and I am not going after them.' 
 
 " 'Well,' I persisted, 'give me a note to Mrs. Little- 
 man asking her to show me my papers. I will go up 
 there myself and go over them in her presence.' 
 
 " 'I will not do it,' he answered, point blank. 
 
 " 'Well, then,' I said, 'I shall try and do the best I
 
 SILAS COBB 33 
 
 can in the matter, and I warn you that I shall not go 
 home to-day or to-morrow or the next day until I have 
 settled the matter one way or the other. When I leave 
 you this time, you and I will understand each other 
 better than we have heretofore.' 
 
 "With that I left his office for advice. So here I 
 am, waiting to hear what my friends will advise me to 
 do." 
 
 Mr. Boggs was for taking the place by storm at 
 once. He was furious at such an outrage. But Mr. 
 Smith smiled. He knew Littleman well; knew he was 
 a moral coward and a man without any idea of justice. 
 
 "Wait a bit," he said, "I will speak to him." 
 
 A telephone, a new thing in that part of the world, 
 had been placed in the court-house for the use of all the 
 officials, and was the one conspicuous sign of progress 
 to be seen in Cowville. When Superintendent Little- 
 man got to the phone in answer to Mr. Smith's call, 
 Silas Cobb and Mr. Boggs heard something like this: 
 "Hello! Professor, is that you? Say, can you tell me 
 whether or not Silas Cobb got a certificate? Silas 
 Cobb! yes! Oh, he didn't? Well, what's the matter? 
 Failed in all? Well, don't you think you made a 
 mistake? You don't know? I should think you had, 
 and a big one, too. Why, I know Silas Cobb has for- 
 gotten more than half the people you have licensed ever 
 knew, and so do you. Say Professor, I am too busy to 
 bother about this matter you will look it up? Good! 
 I wish you would, Professor. Look it up at once, and 
 let me know. I want to know before I go to press. 
 Say, Cobb is here now, he and Mr. Boggs, and when 
 you have found the mistake send the certificate over 
 here so they can get it before they go home eh? All 
 3 right Professor, much obliged. Good-by."
 
 34 SILAS COBB 
 
 Mr. Smith sat down and smiled. "I rather think 
 your certificate will be here within twenty minutes, 
 Mr. Cobb," he said. "I hope if you are ever fortunate 
 enough to hold a public office, you will conduct your- 
 self in such a manner that it will never be necessary to 
 have any one talk to you as I have just now talked to 
 the Professor. I am inclined to think that even now, 
 young as you are, you would not stand on any ground 
 you could not defend against all who might come. It 
 ought to be a humiliation to be compelled to do what 
 it is his duty to do, but I doubt if he thinks of it in 
 that light. It is very probable he will look at it simply 
 as a little trick he wasn't able to turn; nothing more 
 nor less." 
 
 Within the time set, the certificate, properly made 
 out and signed, was delivei'ed at the Times office by a 
 boy, and word sent by the Professor that a mistake 
 had been made in confusing Mr. Cobb's name with 
 that of a girl named Cobbson, and he had just found 
 the error. He hoped Mr. Cobb would overlook the 
 matter, mistakes would occur, etc. 
 
 Up to this time Silas Cobb knew nothing of the 
 motive that guided the Professor in all his petty 
 actions in relation to himself; but that night when old 
 Mr. Boggs unburdened his mind of all he remembered 
 of the incident when he had proposed Silas' name for 
 county superintendent, he was perfectly satisfied that 
 the Professor had made a foolish attempt to sacrifice 
 him. This was a clear case of creating a candidate for 
 office where none really existed, by simply trying to 
 kill off an imaginary one. Old Henry Boggs had for- 
 gotten the incident entirely, and never would have 
 recalled it again, and Silas Cobb not only never heard 
 it, but would not have thought of aspiring to the
 
 SILAS COBB 35 
 
 office. The Professor simply forced the idea upon them, 
 and they were not long in developing quite an ambi- 
 tion along that line. But after much ambitious talk 
 it was considered out of the range of possibilities. He 
 was only twenty years old and had never taught 
 school outside of the country district of No. 8, and 
 the idea of electing him would be laughed at, so Silas 
 declared and after much protest, the old man agreed 
 to it, and the subject was wiped off their political 
 slate.
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 EVERYTHING moved on as usual in educational 
 lines, nothing being done except to plod along 
 as the work had plodded for twenty years. No 
 new or advanced steps were taken to keep the county 
 up with the educational progress going on in the out- 
 side world. 
 
 The Professor went up to Springfield each winter 
 to attend the state teachers' association. There he 
 heard all the up-to-date ideas discussed, and would 
 often combat them. He would sit around as useless as 
 a wart on a log, and never seemed in favor of any- 
 thing that wasn't established before he was born. 
 Nothing new seemed to get nourishment in his mind. 
 That winter Silas Cobb went to the state association 
 for the first time. It was a great revelation to him. 
 He knew no one there, but he went from section to 
 section, listening to papers read and to the discus- 
 sions. 
 
 By accident he came into the county superintendent's 
 section. He saw his mistake and was about to leave 
 when his attention was directed to the speaker, a tall, 
 smooth-faced young man, who he afterwards learned 
 was a neighboring superintendent. The speaker was 
 talking on the subject of "Course of Study and Classi- 
 fication of the Country Schools." He became so inter- 
 ested in what was being said, he sat down and listened 
 carefully to the end. He had never heard of anything 
 more sensible or practical, and he was just wondering 
 why it was that Brush county had not taken steps in 
 that line, when the Professor arose from his seat ani 
 made a rambling harangue against the whole idea. It
 
 SILAS COBB 37 
 
 was absurd to attempt grading the country schools. 
 He was surprised that his worthy colleague should 
 waste his time on such useless work. "You could 
 never get a course of study to work satisfactorily 
 under such conditions." 
 
 "Did you ever try it?" called out Superintendent 
 Smith, who made the former speech. 
 
 "Well, no;" replied Mr. Littleman, "but I am sure 
 it would not work." 
 
 "Well, it does work," replied Mr. Smith. "We 
 have our schools, every one of them, following a 
 course of study, and have been for two years. We 
 know by experience what can be done, and all I have 
 said is based on actual work. It has always seemed 
 rather singular to me that those who have never tried 
 to do anything are the first to come here and throw 
 the weight of their ignorance against those who have 
 tried to take a step forward." 
 
 It was very apparent that a lively debate would be 
 precipitated on account of Mr. Smith's vigorous words 
 of reproof to the non-progressive men of the conven- 
 tion. There were others there like the Professor, who 
 took the paths their fathers had beaten out, and were 
 ready to denounce as faddists those who attempted to 
 improve the road. 
 
 Superintendent Blockhead, from Kickapoo county, 
 quickly took the floor and declared: "There are 
 others here besides Superintendent Littleman who do 
 not chase after every will-o'-the-wisp that appears on the 
 scene; men who have some stability of purpose and do 
 not despise the methods of their fathers because they 
 happen to be old. There are too many fads and fad- 
 dists in this state for the state's good. We ought to 
 think before we act. Superintendent Smith is a little
 
 38 SILAS COBB 
 
 young yet, but when he has served his people as long 
 as I have he will not be so ready to denounce old things. 
 He will know more and say less about the weight of 
 ignorance being against progress." 
 
 Superintendent Smith was on his feet in an instant. 
 He knew a great many things about Superintendent 
 Blockhead's methods, and since the matter had become 
 so personal he meant to use them. He was ready for 
 anything. 
 
 "I did not mean to make personal remarks in this 
 debate. I simply used the word ignorance in the sense 
 of not being experienced in a certain subject the one 
 under discussion. You gentlemen have declared grada- 
 tion of country schools impossible. I ask, 'Have 
 you tried it?' You answer 'No.' I then declare I 
 have tried it for two years with splendid results. I 
 know what I am talking about on this subject. You 
 admit you don't. I say you throw the weight of your 
 ignorance against progress. You tell me I am young; 
 I haven't served my county long enough to know as 
 much as you do. I admit it, but I have learned in the 
 few years I have served my people that classification 
 and gradation is a fact, not a theory only. You have 
 sei-ved your people, Superintendent Blockhead, sixteen 
 years, and you have made no test of these matters, but 
 you come here and use your long years of experience as 
 a block to check the progress of others. To my per- 
 sonal knowledge your principal occupation during all 
 these years has been to hold examinations and visit the 
 schools once a year; that is all you have believed in. 
 It may have been because it was the easiest way to fill 
 the place you were elected to four times in succession. 
 You hold one teachers' meeting annually, when you 
 ought to hold one a month; you spend more time each
 
 SFLAS COBB 39 
 
 month visiting with farmers and politicians than you 
 do attending to school matters. I say this for the bene- 
 fit of the new superintendents present, who might, on 
 account of your long experience, be led to believe that 
 what you say is true. I want them to know that I live 
 across the county line from you, and that I know you 
 to be a man who loves his ease; who wouldn't under- 
 
 " Superintendent Smith was on his feet in an instant." 
 take anything that calls for an extra effort. You place 
 your portly frame and air of experience in the road of 
 progress in order to keep your neighbors from advanc- 
 ing. It might be proof that you were out of date. I 
 want the superintendents present to know that your ideas 
 and mine are as wide apart as are the cardinal points, 
 and that while you have a crude notion that classifica-
 
 40 SILAS COBB 
 
 tion and gradation are impossible, I have a full-fledged 
 example of its possibility in operation in my county. 
 Now, Mr. Blockhead, I have finished, and I ask your 
 pardon if my necessarily plain language has offended 
 you." 
 
 He sat down, and not a man said a word. Superin- 
 tendent Blockhead had received a mortal blow. He was 
 the greatest fake in the state; did less and got credit for 
 more than any of his unworthy competitors in that line. 
 He didn't want his history aired any further, so he kept 
 still. He knew Mr. Smith quite well and was afraid of 
 him. He might possibly be led in another speech to 
 tell about the teachers he licensed and how they 
 swarmed over the line into Smith's county like the tra- 
 ditional locust, with their ignorance and inexperience, 
 driving experienced and competent teachers before them 
 from the field. 
 
 Silas Cobb sat there taking in this discussion with 
 the keenest interest. When the meeting adjourned he 
 went up to Superintendent Smith and introduced him- 
 self; asked about his course of study and work in gen- 
 eral, learned all he could about grading schools and got 
 a copy of his course of study. When he went home 
 he began to organize his school to fit into the regular 
 prescribed work of the course, and before the winter 
 was over he wrote Superintendent Smith, thanking him 
 for the assistance he had given him, and telling him of his 
 success in thoroughly organizing his school according 
 to the course.
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 THE year for electing county officers was half spent 
 before much had been said about the matter. 
 Silas Cobb had put the whole subject out of his 
 mind, and had never even considered it possible to ever 
 reach the office of county superintendent. Old Henry 
 Boggs had also given up the idea, but with reluctance. 
 
 Along in July, Mr. Boggs received a notice from 
 Central Committeeman Smith, editor of the Times, 
 requesting his presence at a meeting of the county com- 
 mittee, of which Mr. Boggs was a member. 
 
 Mr. Boggs drove into Cowville on the appointed day, 
 and met a dozen other Democrats, who had congre- 
 gated for the same purpose. After fixing the dates for 
 the county convention and primaries, they mapped out 
 the most favorable course for the convention, even 
 selecting the most desirable men to be presented for 
 nomination. When they got down to the "tail end" of 
 the ticket, the office of superintendent was taken up. 
 No one had a candidate for the place, nor one to recom- 
 mend. 
 
 All agreed that Professor Littleman should be 
 opposed by Borne one, but who? that was the burning 
 question. 
 
 At this point everybody present received a shock by 
 old man Boggs snorting out: 
 
 "Bleedin', sufferin' Moses! ef I didn't jest about fer- 
 git Si Cobb agin. Why, Silas Cobb's jest the man. I 
 told ye 'bout him four years ago. Ye mind he wuz 
 too young. Blame me, ef I don't believe I'm losin' uv 
 my mind. That boy is jest now twenty-three years old, 
 an' he's the most sensible chap ye ever seed. I tell ye
 
 42 SILAS COBB 
 
 no man can beat him makin' friends. He'll git all the 
 votes in Muddy Crick township but two. He's the 
 best teacher we ever had, an' I recommend him t' yer 
 consideration. Old Henry Boggs ain't a-speakin' fer 
 them that's not right, gentlemen, an' ef ye ever have 
 any complaint agin Si Cobb, I'll answer fer him my- 
 self." 
 
 There was nothing for the committee to do but to 
 either favor Mr. Cobb's nomination or leave the place 
 vacant on the ticket. There was not another democratic 
 teacher in the county available. But aside from the 
 fact that there was no one to nominate, there were 
 many who thought Mr. Cobb would make a good offi- 
 cer, and there were others who did not know him, but 
 who believed in the judgment of old Henry Boggs. How- 
 ever, nothing further could be done until the conven- 
 tion met. 
 
 That evening old Mr. Boggs drove home with a light 
 heart. Next to Mrs. Boggs, he loved Silas Cobb the 
 best of anything on earth, even better than his big, fat 
 horses, and that was saying a great deal. 
 
 When he came in sight down the road, Silas was sit- 
 ting on the front porch reading the last issue of the 
 Times. The old man's face and form showed through 
 the clouds of white dust, stirred up by his elephant- 
 like horses, not unlike an Australian bushman. Sit- 
 ting in the middle of the seat, straight as an arrow, 
 hairy as an ape, with both arms outstretched, pulling 
 on the lines as though he were making a "2:40 gait," 
 he came on, the outfit producing an effect much like 
 that of a big snow plow or road grader. 
 
 Silas knew something very pleasing had happened to 
 the old gentleman, or else he had done something of 
 importance in some form or other. It aroused his
 
 SILAS COBB 
 
 43 
 
 curiosity to such an extent that he got up and went 
 down to open the big gate and club away the old razor- 
 back sows and pigs so Mr. Boggs could get into the 
 barn-yard. He came on, and thundered through the 
 gate with a clatter and a bang, storming at the razor- 
 backs from one side to the other as he went in. He 
 
 "That evening old Mr. Boggs drove home with a light heart." 
 
 pulled up inside with a "Whoa!" "Ain't them pretty 
 horses, though, Si? I tell ye there's no better team 
 on the hull crick than them. But who keers fer 
 horses? Si, I've got somethin' so good t' tell ye, that 
 ye'll jest about have fits when I do blurt it out once. 
 Do ye know what old Boggs has did, young man?
 
 44 SILAS COBB 
 
 He's jest about as good as got ye nominated fer super- 
 intendent." 
 
 "You surely can't mean it, can you, Mr. Boggs?" 
 replied Silas, his face full of excitement. 
 
 "Plagued ef I don't, even ef I did jest come the 
 nighest in the world uv fergittin' ye, Silas. Well sir, 
 Si, ye jest ought t' have seed the old man pawin' the air 
 makin' his speech. I come so dad burned near fer- 
 gittin' about ever havin' mentioned ye afore, that my 
 language mought not have been so fluent as it would a 
 been ef I had had time t' prepare my speech. Ye see, 
 it come t' me like this: We couldn't think of anyone 
 to put agin the Professor, an' some 'lowed it would be 
 mighty bad fer that cuss not t' have an erponent, an' 
 jest then I thought uv how he thought he had an 
 erponent in ye, Si. Well, Si, I jest jumped up, an' 
 bein' big, and havin' a big mouth, an' being kinder 
 black-lookin' in these whiskers, I guess I took them 
 delegates by storm. No use fer me t' try to tell ye uv 
 my speech, Silas, but suffer it t' say, I got all them 
 Democrats t' agree that ye wuz the right man fer the 
 place, an' I believe ye'll git the nomination by accli- 
 mazation. Bleedin' Moses! but I did storm at 'em in 
 that speech! Smith after'ard told me I did mighty 
 well presentin' yer case." 
 
 Silas walked up and took the old man by the hand, 
 and though Mr. Boggs stood six feet tall, and had a 
 big, brawny hand, Silas stood within an inch of his 
 height, and when his strong, muscular hand closed 
 down on the old man's with a hearty grip of grati- 
 tude, the old fellow winced a little. 
 
 "Mr. Boggs," said Silas, "you have my gratitude 
 forever. No matter what comes to me in the future, I 
 shall always remember you as a father to me. You
 
 SILAS COBB 
 
 45 
 
 seem never to cease thinking of ray interest, and I 
 shall always remember your kindness." 
 
 After the excitement of the day, this was too much 
 for the old gentleman. When he felt this big, hearty 
 boy grasp his hand, and heard his words of praise, a 
 few tears trickled down his wrinkled cheeks, for which 
 
 " But I did storm at 'em in that speech." 
 
 he was ashamed, and in order to hide his embarrass- 
 ment, he heaved a piece of board at a razor-back, and 
 stormed into a flock of chickens that had invaded the 
 corn crib near by, much to their confusion, scattering 
 them cackling in every direction.
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 A FEW weeks later the primaries were held, and 
 Muddy Creek township selected an enthusiastic 
 delegation, instructed to do all in their power 
 to secure the nomination of Silas Cobb. Up to the 
 day Mr. Boggs came home with the good news that 
 such a thing as his nomination was possible, he had 
 never thought of himself in that light. In all his 
 twenty-two years of life he had never pictured himself 
 in the capacity of county superintendent. Many times 
 he had elected himself to congress, to be governor, 
 and even once or twice he reached the presidency of 
 the republic. Had it been any of these positions he 
 was being considered for, there would have been little 
 new thought for him, as he had gone through all these 
 details so far as his limited view reached, and he would 
 have at once known what to do or say. 
 
 But this, of all positions to which he might justly 
 have aspired, he had sadly neglected to think about or 
 study at all. From the day Mr. Boggs brought the 
 news home, he had given himself up to a full consider- 
 ation of the subject from all sides. When the conven- 
 tion met he had some idea of a superintendent's duties. 
 
 It happened, by accident, that both the Democratic 
 and Republican conventions met at Cowville on the 
 same day. Mr. Cobb and old man Boggs went down 
 with the Muddy Creek delegation. On the way they 
 were joined by another delegation from a neighboring 
 township. These men were at once informed of Mr. 
 Cobb's candidacy, and readily agreed to support him. 
 It was apparent from the start that Muddy Creek's can- 
 didate would be selected by the convention. There
 
 SILAS COBB 47 
 
 were too many democratic votes up there to be over- 
 looked. 
 
 As usual, all the candidates for the other offices were 
 selected first, and, there being no interest then in the 
 different delegations, the candidates gave their support 
 to Mr. Cobb in order to satisfy his "stronghold." 
 
 Cobb was nominated and called out for a speech. He 
 was young and green, and having never appeared be- 
 fore an audience outside of the evening literary society 
 and spelling schools held in his district, he was greatly 
 confused and in doubt as to what he should say. To 
 make matters worse, he saw Professor Littleman in the 
 audience, grinning and smirking at him in a conde- 
 scending manner. He had heard the Professor talk in 
 a say-nothing manner many times, but he, at least, 
 could talk without embarrassment, and such an accom- 
 plishment, at such a moment, seemed to Silas to mean 
 success in his coming canvass. His speech to the con- 
 vention was a nightmare, not only to himself, but to 
 the convention also. He stumbled, stammered, blushed 
 and trembled for the space of probably a half minute, 
 on the judge's stand, and then left it, humiliated to the 
 dust. The convention was made up of good-hearted 
 men, and they seemed to understand instinctively that 
 he was a good fellow, and he looked intelligent, so they 
 applauded his poor, embarrassed speech as much as that 
 of any other candidate. 
 
 Professor Littleman, who had been nominated by the 
 Republicans, turned to his friend who had come in 
 from the Republican convention, and said with a sneer: 
 "Pretty thing for a man of my long experience and 
 education to be pitted against, isn't it? The very idea 
 is absurd. They surely don't expect to elect such a 
 green fellow as that. They have just put him up to
 
 48 SILAS COBB 
 
 defeat him. I dare say half these men here fully ex- 
 pect to vote for me, and just put this hoy up in order 
 to make my election sure. The boy will be wiser in a 
 month or so." His friend assured him that there was 
 no doubt of his statements being absolutely correct. 
 
 They left the court-house togethei', and went down 
 in front where a party of Republicans were chatting 
 over the possibilities of the election, while they were 
 waiting for news from their Democratic brothers up- 
 stairs. Professor Littleman and his friend were greeted 
 warmly by them, and many jokes were sprung on the 
 young man who had just made an ass of himself up- 
 stairs. The Professor said: "Gentlemen, you missed 
 half your life in not hearing Si Cobb's speech accepting 
 the nomination. It was full of wit, wisdom and ora- 
 tory. It beats anything ever heard in Brush county 
 court-house. It was simply a literary masterpiece. 
 Come to think of it, though, I am very glad you didn't hear 
 it, for if you had, it would surely have won some of you 
 over to his side." Some of the party had heard Cobb's 
 effort, and had just finished telling of his humiliation, 
 when the Professor appeared on the scene and made 
 his satirical speech. The crowd greeted his sally with 
 loud laughter, and many idiotic remarks were made at 
 the expense of Si Cobb. 
 
 In a few minutes the crowd came pouring down the 
 old, rickety stairs from the court-room, and began to 
 disperse. Along with the last of the delegates came 
 Mr. Cobb. He had a good, honest look in his face. 
 He came straight up to the Professor as soon as he saw 
 him and greeted him very cordially. "How do you 
 do, Professor? I am very glad to meet you, and con- 
 gratulate you on your renomination. While I cannot 
 wish you success in your coming canvass, on account of
 
 SILAS COBB 49 
 
 my personal interest in it, yet I hope we shall have a 
 friendly contest, and whoever wins, will do so as a 
 gentleman." 
 
 This greeting was so open and friendly, that the 
 manner of it, more than the words, had a very pleasing 
 effect on all those present. 
 
 The Professor looked both pleased and ashamed. 
 He saw before him a face young and full of frankness, 
 and free from all shams and intrigue. The crowd that 
 looked on also felt abashed and just a little ashamed of 
 the tone and manner they and the Professor had 
 employed against Mr. Cobb. They did not expect him 
 to come in among them to congratulate his opponent. 
 That was unlocked for even by the Professor, so he 
 stood there scarcely knowing how to answer the young 
 man. Mr. Cobb was looking steadily up in his face, 
 which made it harder still for him to answer him. 
 
 Finally the Professor managed to answer him in a 
 sort of a sheepish manner, and as an excuse to get 
 away, said: "Excuse me, please, there's Mr. Brown, 
 whom I wish to see before he leaves town," and with 
 that he hurried off. Mr. Cobb then greeted the men he 
 knew and was introduced to others, and before he knew 
 it he was holding quite an informal reception on the 
 court-house steps. 
 
 Later, as he was leaving, one man remarked to a 
 party of friends: "He may not be able to make a 
 speech on the judge's stand before a convention, but I 
 tell you one thing he can do. He can take you by the hand 
 and look you straight in the eye, and somehow or other 
 you believe in him. He has more common sense and 
 good manners in a minute than that one-horse, vulgar 
 Professor, who has been publicly insulting him, ever 
 4 read about. For my part I shall vote for Silas Cobb,
 
 50 SILAS COBB 
 
 though I sat as a delegate in the Republican conven- 
 tion that nominated the Professor. I take it that a 
 school superintendent ought to be an example of good 
 manners and honesty. The Professor showed us here 
 that he had neither good manners nor an honest heart." 
 
 Several nodded assent to this, but political lines were 
 drawn too closely for the timid to express themselves, 
 so nothing further was said, and the day closed with 
 Silas Cobb and Professor Littleman pitted against each 
 other in a political race for the office of county super- 
 intendent of schools. 
 
 That night, as Silas Cobb and old Henry Boggs 
 drove home together, they discussed the events of the 
 day. While Mr. Cobb was feeling contented with the 
 results as a whole, he felt rather blue over his failure to 
 make an intelligent speech. 
 
 "Shucks, Si! What's a speech! Now, there's old 
 Gibson uv our deestrict, who makes the biggest speech 
 at our annual meetin', an' he's alus spoutin' at the lit- 
 erary and spellin' schools. He's alus presidin' an' 
 speechify in' at the Fourth uv July celebration, funerals 
 and prayer meetin's. But who keers fer old Gibson? 
 Everybody says he's windy and don't count fer much 
 nohow. Now look at Sam Street. He can't make a 
 speech afore the deestrict meetin' t' save his life, but 
 he's so all-powerful in his influence that he jest about 
 runs the deestrict. I tell ye, Si, it's not all in speech- 
 makin'. Ye teach the best school uv any man in this 
 here county, t' my notions, an' I wouldn't keer ef ye 
 couldn't say 'Jack Robinson' in a public meetin'. It 
 wus only 'cause ye wuz rattled, Si. I've hearu ye make 
 as fine speeches at our literary as any man ever made, 
 an' I'm sure ye'll be all right on that when ye git 
 cooled off."
 
 SILAS COBB 51 
 
 Good-hearted Mr. Boggs ran on like this, trying to 
 make Silas feel better over his failure, until they drove 
 up in the barnyard and were greeted with a dozen 
 questions in a string by Mrs. Boggs, wanting to know if 
 Mr. Si was nominated. 
 
 "Hold on, mother," said Mr.Boggs, as Mrs. Boggs 
 ran on, "now jest wait till I tell ye Si wuz nominated. 
 When Sam Street an' me told them town fellers that 
 this township demanded a representin' on the ticket, 
 they jest put on Mr. Silas Cobb without any more 
 kickin'. They know no ticket can pull through with- 
 out the full vote uv Muddy Crick township, so ye see, 
 me an' Sam can git 'bout what we ask fer." 
 
 "I am glad you feel so good over my success, 
 Mrs. Boggs," said Silas. "I owe it all to your good 
 old husband, who has a heart so big and honest that he 
 has completely swallowed me up in it. I could not 
 have done a thing there without him. He has just 
 taken me under his wing, and fought his way along 
 with me. I am even a dead load to him, because, 
 instead of helping, I made a miserable, pitiable effort 
 to make a speech to-day, thanking the convention, and 
 instead of doing us both credit, I made the audience 
 feel ashamed of me. I don't know whether I shall ever 
 live it down or not. They will surely think me unfit 
 for the office, and I even fear, myself, I am not over 
 fit for it."
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 MOST people admit that it does not pay to abuse 
 your opponent in a political canvass, but few 
 practice it. It is so easy to drift into criticism 
 that only a few men resist the temptation. In that part of 
 Illinois it was customary to hold early conventions and 
 make a long canvass. The candidates usually aimed to 
 call on most of the voters in the county. Professor 
 Littleman and Silas Cobb were not exceptions to this 
 rule. They started out soon after the conventions 
 nominated them. Their methods of canvassing were 
 as different as the two men. They could not do other 
 than they did. Each followed his own bent. The 
 Professor knew everybody, and he greeted them with a 
 "Hello, John," "How are you, Jim? Glad to see you. 
 How's the corn turning out? 'Bout done husking? 
 Seen the kid yet Si Cobb my opponent? No? Say, 
 isn't that a great note, putting up that boy against me? 
 Why didn't they nominate a man with some education, 
 if they must nominate any one? The idea of putting 
 up that green, ignorant boy is absurd. He can scarcely 
 get a certificate, and between you and me don't want 
 you to mention it he had quite a little trouble to get 
 through at all this year. I had to consider the matter 
 a second time, and strain a point to let him in. In 
 fact, I wouldn't have let him pass at all, but I knew he 
 was to be my opponent, and people might say I was 
 prejudiced against him." 
 
 That was the Professor's style of canvass. He 
 changed it now and then to break the monotony, but 
 he always expressed the same thing. That was his
 
 SILAS COBB 53 
 
 nature. He couldn't act otherwise, and be true to 
 himself. 
 
 Silas Cobb followed his inclinations. He had never 
 made a canvass. He knew nothing about it. He fol- 
 lowed the Professor, and greeted the people like this: 
 "How do you do, sir? I believe you are Mr. Brown? 
 My name is Silas Cobb. I am the democratic nomi- 
 nee for county superintendent. I am going over the 
 county, making the acquaintance of the people, and 
 giving them a chance to see me, so they will be better 
 able to pass judgment on me at the polls. As a rule, 
 we form a fair idea of men by meeting and conversing 
 with them. My opponent is a man of much experi- 
 ence. I have very little, and I am sure, if I stand any 
 show of being elected at all, I must, at least, let the 
 people see that I am a full grown man. There isn't 
 any use for me to tell you of my aims, should I be 
 elected. It is hard to tell just what I should do, until 
 I have more information at hand as to what ought to 
 be done. For fear you might be misled as to my qual- 
 ifications, I wish you to look at my Normal school 
 diploma, showing me a graduate from the teachers' 
 course, and first grade county certificate, issued me by 
 Professor Littleman. You will notice he gives me very 
 high markings. These papers ought to settle the mat- 
 ter of educational qualifications. You will have to use 
 your own judgment as to whether you think I am en- 
 dowed with enough common sense to properly conduct a 
 public office. So far as I can see, the last requirement 
 mentioned is of greater importance than the first. A 
 man could run the office with common sense alone, but 
 he couldn't run it without common sense if he knew 
 the contents of all the books. Now, Mr. Brown, I 
 leave the matter with you. Good-by," and with a
 
 54 SILAS COBB 
 
 hearty, honest shake of the hand, he went on to the 
 next man. 
 
 That was Silas Cobb's plan of canvass. It was just 
 like him. He followed his own bent. Each man he 
 left admired his manly, honest ways. They enjoyed 
 looking into his open countenance. They noticed no 
 envy or hatred of his opponent. Each man remem- 
 bered as he looked at his splendid standings shown on 
 his certificate, that the Professor had said he let him 
 pass on a pinch. They contrasted his dignity with the 
 Professor's familiar, vulgar criticism. They did not 
 see anything green-looking about him. He looked 
 even brighter than the Professor. He didn't look like 
 a kid either. He stood five feet, eleven inches. The 
 Professor was full three inches shorter. 
 
 Long before the election day came around, there 
 were many events that caused Silas Cobb's hope to rise. 
 To many it seemed certain that his election was already 
 assured. 
 
 At last the election was held and the votes were 
 counted. It was a great victory for Silas Cobb. He 
 carried every township in the county. It seemed that 
 almost every man whom he had met and shaken hands 
 with had cast his vote for him, so wonderful was his 
 influence over those with whom he came in contact. 
 
 Professor Littleman raved about his defeat. Said 
 the people had gone crazy. Didn't know a good thing 
 when they saw it, and many other uncomplimentary 
 things. 
 
 Silas Cobb was delighted with his success. It meant 
 a great deal to him. It placed him high above his 
 former position, and set him ten years ahead at one 
 bound.
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 ON DECEMBER 5th he was to succeed Superin- 
 tendent Littleman as county superintendent, 
 so he presented himself at the office promptly 
 at nine o'clock. The Professor was already there, and 
 was bustling around the room in a cloud of dust. He 
 had pulled a few dusty records and blanks out from 
 equally dusty shelves, and was placing them on the 
 table. They had not been disturbed by use, or a 
 duster, for many a day. 
 
 "Good-morning, Professor," said Silas, on entering 
 the room. 
 
 "Good-morning, sir," replied the Professor. "I 
 suppose you have come to relieve me of my duties 
 here?" 
 
 "Yes, sir," replied Silas, "I am here for that pur- 
 pose, but there is no haste on my part. I only came 
 up early so that I might be able to get a few pointers 
 from you before you found it necessary to leave. I 
 assure you that I shall be very much obliged for any 
 information or advice you see fit to give me before 
 leaving. I have much to learn, I am sure, and your 
 advice and help will benefit the people." 
 
 "Mighty little would I help you for the people's 
 sake, I can tell you, sir," retorted the Professor. 
 "Did they show any gratitude to me for all I have done 
 for them? Have I not served them here for many 
 years, and given them the best part of my life, and 
 now live to see the day when I am kicked out of office 
 by them? Oh, no; I have no thanks nor help for 
 them. Neither do I owe you anything. Yet I am not 
 averse to giving you a little help if you are quick about
 
 56 SILAS COBB 
 
 it. This is my busy day, and I have much yet to do. 
 What can I do for you, Mr. Cobb?" 
 
 "You can't do anything for me, Mr. Littleman, I 
 assure you. You might possibly have done something 
 to aid the work of the schools, by giving me such 
 information and advice that any new man in the work 
 would need, but, so far as I am personally concerned, 
 I do not need any help in your power to give. Neither 
 would I feel like accepting it if you had, considering 
 the feeling you display." 
 
 "Very well, sir," said the Professor, "then please 
 sign this receipt for the records and other supplies of 
 the office, and I will be through with you and the office 
 for good. Here is the receipt," and this is a copy of 
 the one he handed to Silas: 
 
 DECEMBER 5, 188 ; 
 
 Received of L. J. Littleman, the following records 
 and supplies: 
 
 1 Record of Teachers' Examinations. 
 
 1 Record Book (blank). 
 
 Miscellaneous lot of blanks. 
 
 1 office desk. 
 
 6 chairs. 
 
 Silas looked over the two records and found that only 
 one of them had been used. He asked what the blank 
 record was for. The Professor said it could be used 
 for anything he might see fit to record in it. The 
 teachers' record was the only one he needed to keep. 
 Perhaps Mr. Cobb would need more bookkeeping. 
 Silas asked him only one more question, and that was 
 in regard to the institute fund. "Oh," he said, "you 
 can get that from the county treasurer. He keeps a 
 record of it I suppose."
 
 SILAS COBB 57 
 
 "All right, Mr. Littleman, I am much obliged to 
 you. I will try to get along now, if you have nothing 
 further to say." 
 
 "I'll bid you good-day, then, sir," said Littleman. 
 
 "Good-morning, sir," replied Cobb, and the inter- 
 view was over. 
 
 The actions of the Professor had been so contempt- 
 ible, and his incompetency so glaring, as evidenced by 
 the manner in which he had kept his books, and this 
 together with the condescension he had shown, made 
 Silas thoroughly disgusted with him. So much so that 
 he declared to himself that no such scene should take 
 place when he went out of office. He would do his 
 very best to show his successor every courtesy, though 
 he should be a bitter enemy. 
 
 While Silas was still in this state of mind, old Henry 
 Boggs came in to see how "the boy" looked in his new 
 honors. "Come in, Mr. Boggs, and let me display a 
 rather bad temper to you. I am so disgusted with the 
 state of things here that I feel like making a hasty vow 
 to you. At any rate, I am going to make you a pledge 
 of honor as a guarantee to my successor in office. 
 Whoever he may be, whether friend or bitter enemy, 
 he shall receive a cordial greeting on the day I turn 
 over the office to him, and I shall remain with him as 
 long as he desires, giving him needed information as 
 to the details of the work. My worthy predecessor, 
 who has left me with simply a 'good-day, sir,' turned 
 over these two books here, as the complete office outfit. 
 If this is all there is to the office, the remainder of it 
 must be a matter of memory, and his memory at that. 
 He left without offering a word of advice, though I 
 did ask him to advise me on what he thought I needed. 
 J suppose I will, in time, get the odd ends together,
 
 58 SILAS COBB 
 
 but it would have been an easy task for him to help me 
 get a start. In fact, it was his duty to have everything 
 written up and a record made of it. As it is, this 
 record of examination of teachers is the only thing here 
 that has a mark in it. This book with it has never 
 been used at all. So you see I am to begin work to-day 
 with an examination record as the basis. Who are the 
 teachers, and where teaching? I don't know. Who 
 are the school officers, and where are the school dis- 
 tricts and schoolhouses located? I don't know. What 
 has he been doing and where has he kept all this vast 
 amount of data that ought to be a permanent record of 
 the office? I don't know. I say . this to you, Mr. 
 Boggs, as I would to a father, and I would not have 
 you discuss it outside, but I think a man who will hold 
 a public office as long as Superintendent Littleman has, 
 and turn it over to his successor in such an outrageous 
 condition, is one of two things: He is either dishonest 
 or incompetent. And so far as I am concerned, I 
 wouldn't have any choice between the two conditions. 
 But I want you to be my witness to-day, and disown me 
 if I fail in the least, that I shall leave every act of my 
 official career a matter of record, open to inspection, so 
 that my successors will see what has been done. There 
 shall be no doubts about what I did and didn't do. My 
 records in the office will show it in detail. Now what 
 do I know about his institute fund? Not a thing. 
 This office shows that he never had any by its silence 
 on the subject. The very idea of a public officer hand- 
 ling a large sum of money annually and never keeping 
 an official account of it in his office is simply little short 
 of criminal."
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 MR. BOGGS was a little surprised at this tirade, 
 as it was not like Mr. Cobbto criticise sharply 
 the acts of others. 
 
 "Silas," he said, "ye make me happy. I alus thought 
 ye a girl iu temper, but plagued ef I don't believe ye 
 can git up some spunk anyhow." "Silas," continued 
 the old man impressively, "I ain't got any eddication, 
 as ye well know, an' I ain't goin' t' say anything about 
 sich matters, but ef ye don't mind t' listen t' an old 
 man like me, I want t' say something t' ye like I would 
 t' a son uv my own." 
 
 "I do hope you will, Mr. Boggs," said Silas. "I 
 know you have learned many things that would be a 
 great help to a boy like me. Do go on." 
 
 "Well, ef ye don't mind, Silas, I want t' give ye 
 some uv my observin's. I have lived in these here 
 parts nigh on fifty years now, comin' here when I wuz 
 about twenty-three years old, jest about yer age I 
 reckon. When I wuz leavin' my old hum in Indiany, 
 I wuz jest sixteen. That wuz seven years afore I come 
 here. My old pap give me some mighty good advice, 
 but good as it wuz, it seems to me now I never got a 
 good hold on it fer more'n fifteen years. It jest some- 
 times seems t' me a man's got t' git blistered a few 
 times afore he finally keeps away from bilin' water. 
 The morn in' I wuz leavin' hum t' work fer myself, my 
 old pap, he says t' me, 'Henry, come with me t' the 
 field this mornin', I want t' give ye some wholesome 
 advice afore ye 'gin going' fer yerself. I says 'alright, 
 pap', an' I trotted along side the double shovel plow 
 an' old Nell till we got in t' the cornfield. Then my
 
 60 SILAS COBB 
 
 old pap, he says: 'Henry, yer 'bout makin' a start 
 out in the world fer yerself now, an' I can give ye 
 nothin' in money. The only thing I can give ye is my 
 observin's uv life as it is lived in the world. 'Pears to 
 me now, Henry, lookin' back over nigh onto sixty 
 years, that I mought have been a rich man, an' able t' 
 give ye a start in life, ef I had done some things that 
 wa'n't jest straight. Then agin, I mought have lost it 
 agin, ye can't tell. But, Hennie, there's one thing I 
 saved by not bein' able t' give ye a start in life. I 
 saved havin' that feelin' I'd have a givin' ye a start 
 with money I took from some one else by trick or 
 stealth. I am an old man now, an' not long t' live, 
 an' I tell ye, Hennie, it's the pleasantest thing uv my 
 life t' feel I ain't wronged no one that I knows uv. 
 Ever' man has his own row to hoe er plow as he sees 
 fit. No matter which implement he uses, ef he uses it 
 well. Now it 'pears t' me that this row uv corn here 
 is pretty much like a man's life. Ye start out in it, 
 an' there'll be weeds a plenty a growin'. Now there's 
 an old kuckle bur a growin' rank. Ef I don't hold a 
 steady han' when my plow strikes it, it'll slip off t' 
 one side an' make me plow up a hill uv corn. Ye see, 
 Henry, it not only leaves the bur growin' t' scatter 
 its pesky seeds through the hull field, but it destroys a 
 hill uv corn in t' the bargain. Ye'r understandin' what 
 I'm drivin' at, ain't ye, Hennie?' I says 'yes, pap; ye 
 mean fer me t' make believe that the burs air the bad 
 things that git root in a man's heart, an' that in gittin' 
 root somethin' good is choked out.' 'That's it 'zactly, 
 son', he says, 'ye got t' hoe a steady course an' plow 
 clear through t' the end uv the row. Whenever pesky 
 weeds git in yer way, uproot them t' once. Don't 
 argue it at all; ef ye do ye'r lost.'
 
 SILAS COBB 
 
 61 
 
 "Now, Silas, that is jest as nigh as I can recollec' 
 what my old pap told me, an' it took jest about fifteen 
 years afore I got t' thinkiu' much about it. When a 
 feller's young he don't worry about sich things much. 
 But ye'r beginniu' life in a public office, an' ye'r young 
 
 it 'pears t' me this row uv corn liert is pretty 
 much like a man's life." 
 
 yet. There'll be them that will represent the kuckle 
 bur, an' try t' make ye plow up a hill o' corn fer 
 their sakes. There'll be many times, too, Silas, when 
 ye'll be tempted t' do it. But when ye come t' one uv 
 them temptin' places, jest recollec' old Henry's kuckle 
 burs, an' uproot 'em. Fer ef you don't, ye'll have
 
 62 SILAS COBB 
 
 what my old pap called a 'rocky row.' It'll be so 
 bloomin' full uv burs iu a year ye won't be able to 
 see the corn. There'll be politicians, too, who'll come 
 t' ye in the interest uv some frien'. They don't know 
 nor keer how well eddicated er fit they be fer teachin'. 
 That cuts no figger with them. They want ye t' give 
 'em a certif-i-kate. Ye'r likely to think ye would ruin 
 yersel' if ye failed to favor these chaps, but ye 
 wouldn't Silas. Ye jest smile an' treat 'em nice, but 
 let 'em understan' ye'll settle the matter 'cordin' t' 
 rules. By an' by, as yer cultivatin' goes on, ye'll 
 see less and less uv them burs in yer row, an' in time, 
 ye can hope not t' see a cussed one. They can't stan' 
 hard plowin'. Now, Silas, my son, them's the words 
 uv an old man whose observin's have been spread out 
 over three-quarters uv a century. I've been uprootiu' 
 them kuckle burs fer many years, an' t' be honest 
 with ye, Silas, the's a good many left yit, but not nigh 
 so many as the' was t' begin with, an' I am feelin' 
 pretty comfortable. Don't keep me nothin' like busy 
 uprootin' 'em. So them's my words, Silas; I ain't 
 covered no particular p'ints. I jest give ye the gen- 
 eral principles that fits all uv us." 
 
 The old man stopped and gazed reflectively at the 
 floor. His mind, no doubt, was hunting for some- 
 thing long ago lost perhaps before Silas Cobb was 
 born. 
 
 When he failed to continue his philosophy, Silas 
 thanked him heartily for his advice, and told him he 
 was sure it would be a guide to him in many a doubt- 
 ful place.
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 FUST at this poiiit, Mr. Cobb received his second 
 caller. A young lady, perhaps twenty-two years 
 of age, appeared in the doorway, and with her 
 
 " Held oul her hands to him with a glad smile and Itearty 
 greeting." 
 
 appearance, old man Boggs uttered a sigh of admira- 
 tion. She had a wonderful face and a figure to match 
 it. Dark eyes, wavy black hair, ruddy cheeks and lips, 
 and a complexion almost transparent. She came right
 
 64 SILAS COBB 
 
 up to Mr. Cobb like an old friend, which she was, and 
 held out her hands to him with a glad smile and hearty 
 greeting. 
 
 ' 'Mr. Cobb, I came up early to congratulate you. I 
 can hardly tell you how glad I am you were elected. 
 When I first heard of it I intended to write you, but I 
 concluded I would rather wait and come to you myself 
 so you could see how much I meant it." 
 
 "I believe you, Miss Howe," said Silas, "and it does 
 me a great deal of good, and pays me a compliment I 
 appreciate very much, to have you come. How are 
 you, anyway, Julia? It's a long time since you and I 
 ran barefoot together over the dusty roads, isn't it? 
 Let's see; it's now fourteen years ago, isn't it? We 
 were just nine years old then; your birthday came in 
 June and mine in May." 
 
 "Now that's a perfect shame, Mr. Cobb, that you 
 should remember that so well. I shall never be able to 
 conceal my age from you, shall I? And there, too, you 
 have given it away to Mr. Boggs, who, I am sure, will 
 tell it to all the young men of his neighborhood." So 
 the light talk ran on for some time, all of which told 
 the story of Miss Julia Howe's character to a keeu 
 observer as plainly as if it were a printed page. She 
 was very pretty, and no one knew it so well as herself. 
 She was vain and selfish, and had a very superficial 
 knowledge of what she had been teaching. In short, 
 it was plainly apparent that the years of her maturity 
 had been passed over successfully, on account of her 
 good looks. As old Henry Boggs expressed it a little 
 later, "She traveled on her shape." 
 
 This fact had been commented on many times before 
 by people who knew her. A few months later, Miss 
 Jessie Parks, a very staunch character, teaching in No.
 
 SILAS COBB 65 
 
 7, Muddy Creek township, remarked to another teacher 
 one day: "Well, I don't know how it is that Julia 
 Howe gets along as well as she does. She gets as good, 
 if not a better, cei-tificate every year than I do. She 
 seems to get the best school to teach. She never at- 
 tends teachers' meetings. She has a very limited 
 knowledge of the common branches. In fact, I have 
 helped her on simple problems that my pupils are con- 
 versant with, and grammar she has no knowledge of 
 whatever. Yet, with all that, she gets along better 
 than I do, while I work at the profession the year 
 round, and attend all educational meetings." 
 
 "I know why," said her friend. "It's because she's 
 as pretty as she can be. No man can resist that face 
 and smile of hers. She jollies them into giving her 
 anything she wants. It's the same way with school 
 boards. Why, do you know, that girl never failed to 
 get any school she ever applied for, if a teacher had 
 not been engaged? School boards are her easiest marks. 
 Oh, she is a jollier from away back! You and I, Jes- 
 sie, are neither handsome nor young any more, and 
 can't hope to compete with Julia Howe. We've got to 
 make up for it by being absolutely first-class in our 
 work." 
 
 "Well, I don't know about the competition, now," 
 remarked Miss Parks. "I fancy Silas Cobb is not 
 going to be greatly influenced by Julia. He is not 
 much of a hand for girls, anyway; besides he is abso- 
 lutely honest and straightforward in his manners. I 
 rather think you will find Julia working on the ground 
 floor with us this year." 
 
 "Don't you think it," said her friend. "Si Cobb is 
 
 flesh and bone, same as other men, and you just mark 
 
 6 my words, Julia Howe can bend him round her finger
 
 66 SILAS COBB 
 
 in a day. Why, he is young and has never been 
 around much. He'll be just like a child in her hands. 
 Look how she has had the Professor under her thumb 
 for years. Anything she wanted to do, she did, and 
 anything she didn't want to do, she didn't do, and the 
 Professor let her go. If it had been you or I, we 
 would have received notice of a revocation of our cer- 
 tificates." 
 
 "You need not compare Silas Cobb to the Professor," 
 Miss Parks retorted. "You don't know him, or you 
 wouldn't speak that way. He has a mind of his owu, 
 and Julia will not be able to twist him about. She will 
 be the one that will be twisted, and I shall be greatly 
 surprised if she isn't broken in the operation, too." 
 
 This discussion between two leading teachers of the 
 county will give the reader a fair estimate of Miss 
 Julia Howe's reputation, and what seemed to b her 
 long suit.
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 AFTER she had chatted for a half hour over trifles 
 with Mr. Cobb and Mr. Boggs, she left prom- 
 ising to call again soon. 
 
 "Gee whiz!" commented Mr. Boggs. "She's pretty 
 as a pictur', ain't she, Si? Sufferin' Moses! ef that 
 gal ain't a reg'lar peach. Si, how come ye t' know 
 her?" 
 
 "Oh, she and I were children together before my 
 parents died. We lived next door to the Howes, and 
 Julia and I played together for two years. I have met 
 her quite often since then, and we have kept our old 
 friendship alive. She is a very beautiful girl, and it 
 distresses me just a little. Seems to me I see a little 
 trouble ahead of me." 
 
 He fell into a deep study for a moment, and the old 
 man seemed to be thinking along the same lines. 
 
 "Say, Si, I f ergot t' tell ye 'bout another weed that's 
 dif'runt from the kuckle bur. What makes this here 
 weed so bad is, when it grows up nextt' the corn, ye can 
 skursly tell it from the corn. It has leaves jest about 
 like the corn, as it were, and while it ain't hard t' 
 uproot, it takes a good eye t' know it. An' do ye 
 know, Si, that the's jest lots uv men in this world who 
 ain't never been able t' tell which from t'other, an' they 
 go on cultivatin' this thing, which ain't neither corn 
 nor weed, an' they never find out the diffrunce till they 
 begin shuckin' in the fall. Ye ketch my meanin', don't 
 ye, Si?" 
 
 "Yes, Mr. Boggs, I understand you thoroughly, and 
 was thinking how splendidly you illustrated a point 
 that neither of us feel like openly discussing."
 
 68 SILAS COBB 
 
 "That's so,* that's so," said Mr. Boggs. "The gal's 
 a perfect lady; no doubt uv that. She needs trainin', 
 an' dependence on her own pasture. 'I should jedge 
 she's been browsin' on other people's fodder fer some 
 time back." 
 
 "Come, Mr. Boggs, it is past noon. You are to go 
 to dinner with me. I am going to board at the City 
 Hotel, and shall want my baggage taken there. Major 
 Kent is a nice old fellow, and will be greatly pleased 
 to have me stop with him. Come, let us go over." 
 
 When they walked into the little hotel office, they 
 found the Major behind the desk. He was very tall, 
 and very thin; had a little bunch of whiskers under his 
 chin, and a row of white false teeth; wore a Prince 
 Albert coat and brown trousers, year in and year out. 
 
 "Why, bless my life, ef it ain't that old hairy Boggs 
 an' Si Cobb. Come in, ye old gorilla, I'm jest as glad 
 as I can be t' see ye, anyhow. How be Mis' Boggs? 
 An' Si' how be ye, too? Air ye holdin' office t' day, 
 a-greetin' uv yer friends?" 
 
 The old Major asked so many questions, and never 
 waited for answers, nor wanted any for that matter, 
 that no particular attention was given to answering 
 them. 
 
 Mr. Boggs, with a twinkle of humor in his eye, 
 looked at Silas and said: "Don't see nothin' wantin' 
 in that greetin', do ye, Si?" It seems proper fer two 
 uv the biggest politicians in the hull county t' be given 
 the glad han' by a great sojer like the Major. I fergive 
 ye the ugly names ye called me, ye old rail-splitter, 
 'cause ye'r a pretty good old skeleton, anyhow." After 
 they had finished joking each other, Silas engaged the 
 best room in the house, and showed Mr. Boggs into his 
 new home.
 
 SILAS COBB efl 
 
 That afternoon they went back to the office, and took 
 another look at what there was in the way of supplies. 
 That didn't take long. The record book before men- 
 tioned, containing a list of teachers' certificates issued, 
 was the only scrap of evidence there was that there 
 had ever been a county superintendent. It was evident 
 at once to Silas' logical mind that the first thing he 
 needed was a complete set of books to properly record 
 all his official acts. But what books, and what kind? 
 that was the question. 
 
 "Say, Silas," said Mr. Boggs, "who wuz that young 
 feller up at Springfield ye told me uv, that made old 
 Blockhead hunt his hole an' crawl in, pullin' it after 
 him? There's the feller ye want t' see t' once." 
 
 "Why, that's Superintendent Ed Smith, of Brown-, 
 ville. I hadn't thought of him. Yes sir, he's the 
 man I want to see this very night. I will just get on 
 the five o'clock train and run over there, and come back 
 on the morning train. Mr. Smith will be glad to help 
 me get started, I am sure." 
 
 "That's shorely true, Silas. Ye can git somethin' 
 fresh an' good from that feller. He's young, an' been 
 in office long enough t' find out some of his mistakes."
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 THAT night Silas called on Mr. Smith and received 
 a very warm welcome. When he had stated the 
 object of his visit, Mr. Smith said: 
 "Why, of course, I shall be delighted to do every- 
 thing I can for you. To begin with, Mr. Cobb, I 
 want to say to you that I didn't show the good judg- 
 ment you have when I came into office. I went to 
 work and got out a lot of records and had them made 
 up to my order. My mistake was in doing this before 
 I had ever seen anyone else's records or talked to any- 
 one about it. The people who made my books were 
 first-class workmen, and you will see the records are 
 all well made, but they knew nothing about matters of 
 supervision, and were unable to give me any advice. 
 I have since found that the books were not what I want 
 at all. If I had gone to some wide-awake superintend- 
 ent, and examined his books or put myself in communi- 
 cation with some house that makes a specialty of this 
 work, I would have been infinitely better off. I have 
 since been shown whole sets of records for every 
 department of work, that embodies every known con- 
 venience and requirement in the simplest manner, by 
 the representative of a publishing house that does 
 nothing but study the needs of our work and make our 
 supplies. Had I gone to them in the first place I 
 would have been able to show you a system of office 
 records to be proud of, but instead have now only to 
 show you my mistakes, which perhaps will help you 
 equally as well. 
 
 "As an evidence of my mistake, look at this ponder- 
 ous volume here. It contains eigkt or ten different
 
 SILAS COBB 71 
 
 forms, and not one of them is made up as I would make 
 them now, in the light of what I have seen. I could 
 have purchased all of these forms in separate books, 
 more convenient to handle, and infinitely better adapted 
 to the work, for just about half what it cost the county 
 to make this book. There is no use, Mr. Cobb, for a 
 superintendent, the first term he is in office, no matter 
 how bright he may be, to attempt to improve on the 
 forms and records put on the market by men who have 
 been engaged in it for years. To do so presupposes 
 these men to be half-witted, or at best not overly bright 
 in the occupation they have taken up as a specialty. As 
 a matter of fact they have their salesmen out all over 
 the United States, and are in a position to get all the 
 latest ideas on everything new, and as a business prop- 
 osition, they are not slow to adopt the best. It is 
 reasonably safe to take what they offer you in prefer- 
 ence to attempting to make up something new your- 
 self." 
 
 Then Mr. Smith went from book to book, and showed 
 Silas Cobb all the work he had done. Not a thing was 
 missing. There was a record that showed the location 
 of every teacher in the county, and all the information 
 that was of any use was given in detail. There were 
 school officers' records and examination records, both 
 for teachers and pupils. There were the records of 
 finance and letter books, all kept in the most exact 
 manner. In regard to the records of the institute fund, 
 Mr. Smith said: 
 
 "Mr. Cobb, I want to especially call your attention 
 to the importance of keeping your institute fund ac- 
 count in the most systematic manner possible. This is 
 a matter that the county commissioners will examine 
 into every term, and sometimes every year. It ought
 
 72 SILAS COBB 
 
 to be kept so there would be no doubt or guess work 
 about the correctness of the account. Should you keep 
 this account in a loose, careless manner, an enemy 
 could make you a great deal of annoyance by insinuat- 
 ing that your accounts were not what they ought to be. 
 Such a criticism made to a county board of commis- 
 sioners in connection with a poorly kept set of books 
 would do you infinite damage, not only with the board 
 but with the people. The fact that the books were 
 poorly kept would be ground for suspicion. Now what 
 I did, as soon as I found that the needs of the office 
 called for it, was to buy a full set of records for this 
 fund, consisting of a ledger with properly headed col- 
 umns for all kinds of certificates, renewals, and rejec- 
 tions, for each month, together with the items of ex- 
 pense; a book of reports to the county treasurer with 
 stubs for treasurer's receipts; and a book of warrants 
 against the fund, a stub of which showed all deposits 
 and balances. 
 
 "Now these three books constitute quite an accurate 
 account of the fund, and will check with each other. 
 Thus the treasurer's receipts check with the same de- 
 posit entered on the stub of my warrant book, and this 
 in turn checks with the amount of the month's receipts 
 entered in the ledger. The first year of my work I 
 had nothing of this kind. My predecessor left an ordi- 
 nary fifty cent double column ledger in the office, and 
 nothing more. I kept my accounts just as he did his, 
 and turned that little old thing over to the board to 
 'check up.' There happened to be a banker on the 
 board that year and when he saw that book, you ought 
 to have seen the disgust pictured on his face. 'Mr. 
 Smith,' he said, 'is this all the bookkeeping you have?' 
 I told him it was. 'Well, where are your warrant
 
 SILAS COBB 73 
 
 stubs, and receipts for deposits, etc?' I didn't have 
 any and told him I supposed they had been lost, as they 
 were kept in a pigeonhole in the desk. The other two 
 members had been on the board for years and they had 
 never seen anything of the kind, and didn't know much 
 about such matters anyway. 'Well, I'll tell you gen- 
 tlemen, what I think about it,' said the banker. 'I 
 think there is no doubt about Mr. Smith having 
 accounted for every dollar of the fund, but to save our 
 lives, we can't prove it by his books. I, as one of this 
 board, advise Mr. Smith to open up a complete set of 
 books so this fund can be properly accounted for. The 
 idea of anyone having so little sense as to buy such a 
 thing as this book in which to keep a permanent ac- 
 count for the county is past my understanding,' and 
 with that he tossed the old paper-backed ledger over to 
 me in disgust and said: 'If I kept my bank's accounts 
 that way, I would land in the penitentiary before the 
 year was up.' And it is a fact, too, he would. These 
 books I am showing you were purchased from a pub- 
 lishing house at a short .time afterwards, and 
 
 when I presented them to the board the next year, each 
 took a book, (there are three you see) and checked my ac- 
 counts in twenty minutes. They were very much pleased 
 and the banker told me I was a genius to get up such a 
 set of books. I was tempted to let him believe it. 
 
 "Here are my letter books. In these you will find 
 every letter of an official nature I ever wrote. They are 
 indexed and the books are all labeled, so I can tell in 
 what book to look for a certain letter. Many say this 
 is nonsense, but I tell you it is a great deal of satisfac- 
 tion to me and I often find use for them." 
 
 After a few hours spent as above indicated, Silas 
 Cobb had just about all he could absorb at one sitting,
 
 74 SILAS COBB 
 
 and after thanking Superintendent Smith and promis- 
 ing to come again soon for more help, he went home. 
 It is unnecessary to add that he at once procured a full 
 set of records and started his work from the beginning 
 along the most approved lines.
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 THE first few weeks he had much to do in gather- 
 ing together the loose ends of the office, and 
 getting his work mapped out. While he was 
 doing this there was much gossip in Cowville as to his 
 probable success. Many still claimed that a great mis- 
 take had been made in replacing Professor Litileraan, 
 a man of great experience, with a boy of no experience 
 whatever. "Why, what could they expect from such 
 an upstart?" said some. Others said he couldn't be 
 any worse than Littleman was, and there were many 
 others still, who claimed that they could see many rea- 
 sons why more could be expected than ever before. So 
 matters stood that way for several months, until Silas 
 began to quietly create an impression on the people. 
 This was his formative period. He was not only tak- 
 ing form and growing, but he was also shaping the 
 opinions of his people by the manner in which he con- 
 ducted himself. 
 
 One day after he had been in office six weeks, he was 
 thinking about calling a meeting of the teachers. It 
 had been customary for years to have one county meet- 
 ing of teachers each year. While he was debating this 
 point in his mind, it occurred to him that it was not of 
 very much use after all, to have only a few hours of a 
 year for discussion of educational subjects. Why not 
 have several meetings, in fact one a month? Then he 
 saw the objection to that was the necessary expense teach- 
 ers would incur in coming so far to attend. Then why 
 couldn't there be several meetings held at different 
 places in the county, so the teachers would have to 
 spend neither too much money nor time to attend?
 
 76 SILAS COBB 
 
 From this idea he developed his plans rapidly. He 
 would have about ten different places of meeting. He 
 would select a local leader for each of these meetings, 
 and they should be held monthly. That would give 
 ample opportunity for teachers to keep abreast of the 
 times. Then, too, it would help to give the teachers a 
 clear understanding of the course of study which he pro- 
 posed to introduce. There they could discuss every 
 phase of it from month to month. By this time he had 
 become so enthusiastic over the subject that he must 
 talk to some one about it. He went over to see John 
 Brainard, principal of the schools of Cowville, a bright 
 fellow of his own age. He explained the plan to Mr. 
 Brainard, and received his enthusiastic endorsement of 
 it at once. "Yes sir, Mr. Cobb," said Braiuard, "you 
 may put me down as one of your most earnest workers. 
 I will take charge of the work of this section for you, 
 as you request, and I pledge you the encouragement of 
 every teacher under me." 
 
 Here is where Superintendent Cobb showed off to his 
 best advantage. He was gifted with unusually good 
 judgment. He was almost always able to properly 
 weigh any new matter presented to him. Add to this, 
 then, his fearlessness, and you have two good qualities 
 combined. Silas Cobb never hesitated after he made 
 up his mind what ought to be done. It was on this 
 point that in after years he outclassed most of his col- 
 leagues. While his neighboring superintendents (ex- 
 cept Mr. Smith) were leisurely debating the advisability 
 of adopting certain plans, Silas Cobb would not only 
 have decided the matter one way or the other for him- 
 self, but would probably have completed the test in 
 actual practice. In the course of a conversation with 
 Superintendent Smith one day, Mr. Smith said: "The
 
 SILAS COBB V 
 
 greatest trouble, Mr. Cobb, with most people, is that 
 they work too slowly. They think too sluggishly. A 
 man's life is very short. Sometimes his political life 
 is extremely short, and he must think hard and fast, 
 and act. He can't make much of a show or do much 
 good if he spends half of his term of office trying to 
 decide whether it is best to do this or that. We had 
 better make mistakes now and then as a result of hasty 
 acts, than to do nothing but think. The good one does 
 ought to over-balance his mistakes, if he keeps everlast- 
 ingly at it. Now there's Superintendent Slowly, over 
 at Sandy Crossing; you know him, don't you? Well, 
 that fellow, to my personal knowledge, has spent two 
 years debating the matter of introducing a course of 
 study in his schools. He has consulted no less than 
 200 teachers and school officers on the subject, and he 
 is not yet clear as to the best course to pursue. He 
 will spend an hour getting the idea pounded into the 
 head of some dense school officer for the sake of getting 
 his opinion upon it. If it happens to be unfavorable 
 to the project, he becomes doubtful right away. One 
 day I shocked him by telling him bluntly what I 
 thought of such work. He asked me what I did when 
 I adopted the course. I told him J just adopted it, 
 that's all; didn't wiggle-waggle around about it either; 
 just simply purchased 150 copies of the course and 
 mailed one to each teacher. Wrote her full particulars 
 how to proceed with it, and told her to proceed. A 
 month later I wrote asking for a report of progress, 
 which brought out the fact that several teachers were 
 of the opinion such a thing was impracticable, and they 
 had done nothing with it. Here's where I shocked Mr. 
 Slowly. He wanted to know what I said to those 
 teachers. 'What I said?' I repeated rather brusquely,
 
 7 SILAS COBB 
 
 'Why, I just wrote them that I didn't ask for their 
 opinion. I wanted to know what progress they had 
 made, and they could have their choice between a dis- 
 missal or following the instructions of the office.' Well, 
 sir, you ought to have seen his face. Of course I 
 didn't put it quite so bluntly to the mossbacks as I told 
 him, but they seemed to understand it clearly. 'Why, 
 how could you dismiss them?' he said. I answered, 
 'Revoke their certificates for insubordination.' 'Oh, 
 you couldn't do that,' was his reply. 'Well,' I said, 
 'I'll tell you, Mr. Slowly, the only difference I can see 
 between you and me is, I run the affairs of my county 
 as I think they ought to go. Over in your county you 
 don't do anything without consulting about everybody 
 in your county before you do it, and then you don't 
 have time to do it decently; besides, you let the teach- 
 ers disobey your instructions whenever they see fit to 
 follow their own ideas instead. Whenever I have a 
 teacher who thinks she can't follow my instructions be- 
 cause her own judgment is so much better, I simply 
 drop her from my list after having given her due notice 
 and time to improve her opinion. I just do it, that's 
 all, and I want to tell you that my teachers now would 
 no more think of not doing their very best to carry out 
 every detail of my instructions than they would think 
 of asking me to revoke their certificates. Teachers 
 will do just as you let them. They will either run over 
 you, or follow your instructions, according to what 
 they think will be the safest and most convenient plan 
 of action." 
 
 That was Mr. Smith's idea of how a superintendent 
 ought to conduct himself, and it was entirely in accord 
 with Silas Cobb's idea also. The difference between 
 the two men was in the manner of prosecution. Super-
 
 SILAS COBB 79 
 
 iotendent Smith was rather blunt, and made little effort 
 to soften his words. He often made enemies as a result 
 of it, while Silas Cobb would say the same thing in 
 substance, and make friends. It is only a matter of 
 words and manner of using them.
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 LET us come back to Superintendent Cobb's associ- 
 ation plans. He divided his county into ten 
 districts aud named a local manager for each, and 
 prepared programs for the first month's work. He 
 mailed them to all the teachers, together with a circular 
 letter outlining his plans. It provoked a great deal of 
 discussion all over the county. Professor Littleman 
 thought it a great joke, and encouraged adverse com- 
 ment. It got to such a point that many teachers did 
 not attend the first meeting. They did not favor the 
 idea, anyway, and being encouraged by so many adverse 
 criticisms, they stayed away with a feeling of perfect 
 safety. 
 
 These meetings were called for the month of March, 
 and when Silas got his first reports he was rather 
 encouraged. The first five managers to report told of 
 fairly interesting meetings, with probably 50 per cent 
 of the teachers present. The last five to report showed 
 almost complete failures. Three of the local managers 
 had no teachers present, and the other two had only a 
 few. He reflected a great deal over these conditions, 
 and wondered just what course he should pursue to keep 
 them going. He knew exactly what Smith would do 
 under the circumstances, and concluded that he would 
 do the same. He wrote a sharp, forceful circular on 
 the subject, and mailed it to each teacher. Then he 
 got the newspapers interested and filled a column a 
 week on this and other subjects for the next three 
 months. By exerting every effort he could think 
 of, he managed to keep the ten divisions alive until 
 they could adjourn for the summer vacation. It had
 
 SILAS COBB 81 
 
 been up-hill work, and Professor Littleman, who was 
 out of a job and had nothing else to do, pronounced 
 his effort a great blunder and a flat failure. 
 
 Superintendent Smith, however, wrote him a nice 
 letter, saying that he had done something quite right, 
 and that he was going to copy his idea the next year. 
 He wanted to meet him and discuss ways and means. 
 
 This greatly encouraged Silas, and he began to plan 
 for his next year's work. 
 
 At the summer institute Superintendent Cobb made 
 a good impression. There he almost destroyed the last 
 vestige of influence Professor Littleman had. Not by 
 making war on the Prof essor, but by treating everybody 
 in such a whole-souled manner that this result was in- 
 evitable. He almost broke the Professor's opposition, 
 also, by showing him marked attention. The Profes- 
 sor had called at the institute, not to attend, but to put 
 another nail or so into Silas's coffin, while he incident- 
 ally visited with the teachers. "He was a sly dog," as 
 old Henry Boggs once remarked. But the Professor 
 was disarmed as soon as he crossed the threshold of the 
 building. Silas met him at the door and greeted him 
 warmly; took him from class to class, asked his opin- 
 ion about this and that, and wound up by asking him 
 to make a speech' to the assembled teachers. He con- 
 sented to do this. He was very fond of his own 
 speeches, and thought he always did well. 
 
 While he was being shown around, the teachers were 
 taking in the situation. They remembered how Silas 
 had been compelled to leave the Professor's class the 
 year before on account of being repeatedly insulted. 
 They now saw him cordially treated by Mr. Cobb, and 
 requested to talk to the teachers. 
 
 While Mr. Cobb was making an announcement from
 
 82 SILAS COBB 
 
 the platform, Miss Josephine Alger whispered across 
 the aisle to Miss Bender, "Say, how do you think the 
 Professor feels now? Don't you think the coals will 
 burn him?" "No," snapped Miss Bender, "nothing 
 there to burn." Then they both giggled, and the Pro- 
 fessor got up and made them all tii-ed with his empty 
 words. That day he lost his power over even a small 
 minority of teachers, and Silas Cobb rose correspond- 
 ingly higher in their estimation.
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 SOME three weeks before the institute began, Miss 
 Julia Howe called for the third time on Silas at 
 his office. Her former calls had been social ones, 
 devoted entirely to an effort to become "solid with the 
 office," "get a stand in." Silas understood it all and 
 watched the play with much interest. He had his mind 
 made up to one thing, and that happened to be adverse 
 to giving any favors to Miss Howe. He remembered 
 that she had not been present at a single teachers' meet- 
 ing since he came into office, and had not, apparently, 
 even given the matter a thought. 
 
 On the morning of this third visit she came flutter- 
 ing into the office, smiling and happy, and extended 
 her pretty, soft hands to Silas. It was a heart-warming 
 trick of hers to always extend both her hands, and this 
 morning she placed one in each of Silas' strong muscu- 
 lar palms, and gave them a hearty, lingering squeeze. 
 It was such a warm, cordial greeting, so full of life, 
 health and happiness, that Silas felt it quivering through 
 every nerve. 
 
 "Why, good-morning, Julia. You come fluttering 
 in here like a ray of sunshine, happy as a bird. Are 
 you always happy? Do you never have a serioug 
 thought?" 
 
 "Never, Silas. In my whole life I don't remember 
 ever having the blues, and as to serious thoughts, I 
 hope I won't get them too soon. I want to always 
 remain young and pretty. There, now, listen to that; 
 assuming that I am pretty. Why don't you tell me I 
 am, now? Didn't I fix up my hair, and wear all this
 
 84 
 
 SILAS COBB 
 
 pretty toggery to-day j ust to make my old playfellow 
 say I was just perfect?" she said, laughing. 
 
 She paused and waited for Silas to finish his survey 
 of her hat and hair, and finally, with a smile he answer- 
 
 "That day you had on an old straw hat." 
 
 ed: "I will tell you one thing, Julia, it is a vast 
 improvement over the toggery you had on that day, 
 fourteen years ago, when you and I ran away and went 
 to your Grandma Owen's to get some sweet apples. 
 That day you had on an old straw hat you picked up in
 
 SILAS COBB 85 
 
 the wood-shed. It must have belonged to the hired 
 man some time in the past. You didn't dare to go in 
 after your own, you know. Then as to dress, I think 
 you just had a little slip of a dress of some kind on 
 that reached to your knees. Beyond that, that is, 
 below that, you were not dressed at all. Neither was I, 
 for that matter. So, viewing your costume in the light 
 of those childhood days, I should consider you elegantly 
 dressed. But as to your being pretty, that I should 
 not dare to pass upon in an official capacity. That is 
 not stipulated as a requirement. But I will say this 
 much: I see no improvement now as compared with 
 your looks in those days." He smiled at his roundabout 
 compliment of her youth and waited for her reply. She 
 looked rather puzzled and asked: "You liked me bet- 
 ter then with all those old rags on than you do now 
 when I am decently dressed?" 
 
 "Yes. I really liked you better then, Julia, 
 because you had so many little ways that you have out- 
 grown now, and you have acquired so many new man- 
 ners, I can scarcely recall the old impression of you 
 when you are in my presence. When you are not here 
 I never think of you as you are to-day, but as you 
 were then." 
 
 "Silas, it must be that slip of a dress you speak of 
 that I have outgrown, isn't it? But after all, I remem- 
 ber that day very vividly. You had on an old cap, and 
 your face was dirty. You came across the meadow 
 back of our barn, on the run, and peeped through the 
 bars by our wood-shed, and called to me breathlessly, 
 'Oh, Julia, come on, quick, and let's go to your grand- 
 ma's and get some of them sweet apples. Hurry, I've 
 runned off, and papa might see me.' I was playing in 
 the wood-shed with my dolls, and had no hat. When
 
 86 
 
 SILAS COBB 
 
 I started in to get one, you protested vigorously. 
 'Your mamma wouldn't let you come, Julia; don't you 
 go in; get that old straw hat and come quick.' With 
 that I grabbed the old hat, and you actually pulled me 
 
 "And peeped throuyh the bars by our wood-stied." 
 
 through between those bars, when a gentleman would 
 have pulled them down. Then you kept hold of my 
 hand and we just heeled it over the meadow, along the 
 fence, till we came to your father's cornfield, then you 
 crawled through a big crack between the rails and 
 pulled me through after you. And right there, Silas
 
 SILAS COBB 
 
 Cobb, you did an ungentlemanly trick; you kissed me 
 when I stepped on a brier and cried. Then we heeled 
 it again down along the corn rows till I couldn't stand 
 it any longer. There was a brier in my big toe. We 
 stopped under an old bellflower apple-tree and sat down. 
 You undertook to get the brier out of my toe. 
 
 " IVcjuat Jieeled it over the meadow." 
 
 I was crying. Your fingers were all thumbs. You got 
 out an old brokeu-bladed knife and began. I never 
 suffered so in my life, but you butchered away at that 
 toe until you just about cut it off. You finally got the 
 brier out, and in order to soothe my wounded spirit
 
 88 
 
 SILAS COBB 
 
 and toe, you climbed the old bellflower and got me a 
 lapful of green apples. Then you got some silks off the 
 young corn and gathered some clover blossoms along 
 the fence row for my old straw hat. Then we went to 
 grandma's orchard and got all the sweet apples we 
 could eat, and grandma didn't know we had run off. 
 
 "Butchered away at that toe." 
 
 When we got home I was locked up in the bed-room for 
 a whole hour for it, and you, Silas Cobb, got a licking, 
 as you justly deserved, for running off with a young 
 lady who didn't know any better." 
 
 At this reminiscence Silas laughed heartily. He re-
 
 SILAS COBB 
 
 raembered it all just as she had related it, and though 
 it had almost been forgotten, it only needed the telling 
 to bring it all clearly before him. By drawing aside 
 the curtaiu that hid this little bit of childhood drama, 
 Silas' mood had been considerably softened. 
 
 "Julia," he said, "you have a good memory, and can 
 tell a delightful story. If you would use that power 
 in the schoolroom, you could teach some wonderful 
 truths to the pupils while they listened to you spell- 
 bound." 
 
 "I don't know about the story business, Silas, but I 
 do have a good memory, and do not forget my old 
 playmates if they do forget me," she replied with a 
 laugh.
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 BY the way, Mr. Cobb," said Julia, "before I for- 
 get it I want to ask you a question. Do we all 
 have to attend the institute this year, and take 
 the examination?" 
 
 "Yes," he said, "I have decided to make a full ex- 
 amination test of all the teachers this year. After that 
 I shall be guided by their professional conduct, largely. 
 But this year I want to issue new certificates on my 
 own grades, and put everybody on an even footing." 
 
 ''Well, I am awfully afraid I can't pass a first grade 
 examination, on account of not having done any work 
 in the higher branches for some time. If you make 
 your test hard, I shall fail, I know." 
 
 She said this in such a frank and sincere manner that 
 Silas was quite a little affected by it. Then he remem- 
 bered she had not attended a single teachers' meeting 
 during the year, and the thought of it provoked him 
 very much. 
 
 "Now, Julia, you claim not to be able to pass this 
 examination. You knew this long ago. Yet all year 
 you have not attended a single teachers' meeting, and, 
 if I am not mistaken, you called to-day to get an excuse 
 from attending the institute. Am I not right?" 
 
 "Yes sir, I did, but" 
 
 "Well, wait a moment, Julia; I want to tell you 
 that I would like to favor you very much, for old 
 friendship's sake if nothing else, but you have not done 
 your duty and I just can't show you any favors that 
 I do not show my best teachers. It wouldn't be treat- 
 ing them right, nor would it be treating you right either. " 
 
 Julia looked at him for a moment in a manner indi-
 
 SILAS COBB 91 
 
 eating that her feelings had been deeply wounded, and 
 she didn't know what to say next. It was rather 
 against her pride to have things told to her in that way. 
 No other superintendent (and she had taught in three 
 counties) had ever spoken that way. Why should he 
 do it of all others the man she had played with as a 
 child? He ought to be good to her and make her work 
 as easy as possible. Silas was looking steadily at her. 
 His countenance was even solicitous and anxious. 
 
 "Julia, I shall expect you to attend the institute and 
 take the examination, and I warn you now that you 
 will get the same treatment other teachers get." 
 
 "Well, what kind of treatment do you think I want? 
 I can take your examination if I have to, and I will 
 too, so there, now. Nobody ever treated me so cruelly 
 before." 
 
 Then she cried, just as did she when she got the 
 brier in her foot long ago. 
 
 Silas was still and thoughtful while she was crying. 
 He was wondering if he were not too hard on her, and 
 was half inclined to weaken a little, when he remem- 
 bered old Henry Boggs' last advice: "There's a weed 
 I f ergot t' tell ye uv, Si, that grows in next t' the corn. 
 It has a leaf 'bout like the corn, an' many people go on 
 cultivatin' it an' never know the diffrunce till shuckin' 
 time." When these homely words rang through his 
 mind, he stiffened up at once. "How like this weed 
 she is," he thought. "Many superintendents have 
 mistaken her for a real teacher, and have gone on 
 encouraging her in her weakness for years." At last 
 he said: 
 
 "Julia, I want to help you get rid of some very 
 bad habits. You have been able to make your way 
 along through the profession so far by diplomacy.
 
 92 SILAS COBB 
 
 You are, from what I can judge, looking on the sur- 
 face, entirely lacking in seriousness. I doubt if you 
 care a straw whether your pupils advance or not. My 
 opinion is you do not read or study along the lines of 
 your work. You have been able to get what you 
 wanted from the superintendents and school boards 
 without working for it. It has crippled you, probably 
 for life, but you might be able to make up a great 
 deal of the lost opportunities by close application from 
 now on. I am willing to help you if you will only 
 help yourself." 
 
 Her eyes snapped fire. She looked at him in such 
 anger that Silas was shocked. He had never seen any- 
 thing of the kind in her nature before. She had never 
 met a man in all her life that she could not manage as 
 she saw fit, and get anything she desired. She had 
 gotten so used to that sort of a program that she was 
 no less surprised than Silas was, but on a different 
 point, however. It angered her beyond control, and 
 before she had reflected on the result of such a display 
 of temper, she had said some very hateful things. 
 
 "Silas Cobb, you may think it your duty to perse- 
 cute a poor girl like me who has to make her living in 
 the world, but it is too contemptible for me to stand 
 without losing my temper. No one ever treated me so 
 shamefully before." 
 
 Another burst of crying followed this. Silas got up 
 and left her sitting where she was, weeping, and went 
 out into his public office, closing the door after him. 
 He was greatly wrought up over the matter. He won- 
 dered what Superintendent Smith would do with a case 
 like that. Should he try to break her ugly spirit and 
 attempt to make a teacher of her, or should he dismiss 
 her at once? It was a serious question. He remem-
 
 SILAS COBB 93 
 
 bered all those childhood days he had spent with her, 
 and that seemed to furnish a good reason why he ought 
 to put up with a great deal, if in the end he could 
 only get her started right. She had been unfortunate 
 in being born with a beautiful face and form; too beau- 
 tiful, probably, for the capacity of the mind that came 
 with it. These things should be considered. 
 
 While Silas was meditating on the subject, she open- 
 ed the private office door, came out, and walked out of 
 the front door without looking at him. She slammed 
 the door after her, and it seemed to Silas as though his 
 heart was between the door and the jamb and received 
 the blow. He had not yet got hardened to scenes like 
 this and, as he reflected over it later, he heartily 
 wished himself back teaching school in No. 8, away 
 from all this strife and trouble.
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 SILAS had hardly gotten the desk dusted and papers 
 rearranged on the desk in his private office the 
 next morning, when there came a timid rap on 
 the door. 
 
 "Come in," he called out. 
 
 The door opened, and, in a hesitating and humiliated 
 manner, Julia Howe appeared on the threshold. 
 
 "Come in, Julia, how are you to-day?" 
 
 She never spoke, but with a flushed, troubled coun- 
 tenance and trembling lips, she came up to him and 
 took the hand he offered her. She dropped into a chair 
 at the corner of the table as she took his hand, and 
 without releasing it, she pillowed her face in her arm 
 on the table and, between hysterical sobs, asked him 
 to forgive her for her unlady-like conduct the day be- 
 fore. 
 
 Silas was getting decidedly nervous. If some one 
 should happen to come into the outer office and hear 
 that hysterical sobbing, it would be rather embarrass- 
 ing. He must get her quieted. 
 
 "That's all right, Julia. I like the manner in which 
 you conduct yourself this morning only don't cry that 
 way. Some one will hear you. I appreciate the spirit 
 you display in the matter, and I am very glad to forgive 
 you. Come now, dry those eyes quickly;" and, as he 
 talked, he was stroking her black, wavy hair with his 
 free hand, the other still being clutched between hers. 
 "Do hush! There is some one coming up the stairs 
 now." 
 
 In a broken voice she said, "I will," and began wip- 
 ing her tear-stained face; "only believe that I am very
 
 SILAS COBB 95 
 
 sorry for what I did more than I can ever tell you. I 
 don't know what I can do to atone for it." 
 
 "That's all right, Julia. You are going to atone for 
 it for your own sake, by being a good girl and doing 
 your duty always, and with a happy heart." He 
 covered both of her hands in his and added, "I can 
 trust you now, Julia. Don't evade anything you think 
 you ought to do. It only makes you weaker. Excuse 
 me a few minutes please," and as the outside door 
 opened, he entered his public office, somewhat flushed 
 from his interview, to find himself face to face with 
 Clay Green, a simpering gossip, who conducted a cigar 
 stand down on the square. 
 
 Grinning idiotically, he called out in his whimpering 
 tone of voice, "Howdy, Silas? I jest run in t' see how 
 you're gittin' along." 
 
 "I am getting along very nicely, sir," replied Silas. 
 "How are your affairs to-day, Mr. Green?" 
 
 "Oh, I am doin' fairly well, I reckon. Don't have 
 callers so very early in my line. 'Spose you ain't havin' 
 callers this early either, air you, Silas, or air you alone 
 now?" 
 
 "No, I am not alone. One of my teachers is now 
 waiting for me in my private office. Is there anything 
 I can do for you, Mr. Green?" 
 
 "No, uothin' 't all. Jest called in t' see you a min- 
 ute on a friendly visit, that's all. Don't lemme keep 
 you from your company, Silas." 
 
 He left the room, grinning and winking, hisdried-up 
 face looking much like a withered apple. 
 
 From the other side of the door Julia heard every 
 word, and understood its purport. She knew Clay 
 Green to be a dirty old gossip who spent his time mostly 
 in meddling in other people's affairs. She knew he
 
 96 SILAS COBB 
 
 came over there on purpose to see if he could get a clue 
 on which to start a new scandal. He doted on such 
 things. Silas understood him also, and knew the object 
 of his visit. He felt a pity for him rather than anger. 
 This feeling is only possible to those who have a great 
 deal of charity for the weakness of humanity. 
 
 Julia came out now ready for the street, and there 
 seemed to be a new light in her face. The lines around 
 her mouth had taken a new expression, and she seemed 
 less troubled about the future. 
 
 "Good-by, Julia. Come up often to see me, and ask 
 me for assistance whenever you need it." 
 
 "Good-bye, Silas, and thank you for your offer." 
 
 "There," he thought, as he sat down; "five months 
 in office, and half ruined already. That fool Green 
 will scatter all sorts of reports about this matter. She 
 has been up here four times, and I'll wager he knows 
 the date and hour of each visit, and the length of time 
 spent in the office." 
 
 That afternoon Henry Boggs dropped in to see how 
 he was getting along. 
 
 "Well, how's the weeds comin', Si? Air there as 
 many as they wuz at the beginnin'?" 
 
 "More, Mr. Boggs." 
 
 "Pshaw! Ye don't say. Tell me, Silas, is that 
 there new weed I brung into existence specially fer yer 
 benefit, got int' the corn right smart aready?" 
 
 "That is it exactly, Mr. Boggs. The trouble is 
 on now." 
 
 Then he told Mr. Boggs in detail the whole story. 
 The old man listened with great interest and with many 
 an exclamation of "Sufferin' Moses," etc., to the end. 
 When the narrative was finished, the old gentleman 
 looked very thoughtful, and then a smiled played over
 
 SILAS COBB 97 
 
 his rough features as he remarked: "Ye did mighty 
 well, Silas. Uv course, though, ef it'd been the old 
 man, guess he'd let the gal had her way 'thout 
 protest. Couldn't never stand tears. He'd jest remain- 
 ed nootral an' let things take their course." Then he 
 laughed heartily, and Silas joined him. It wasn't 
 often the old man joked, and when he did it seemed 
 worth a laugh. 
 
 This brings the events down to the institute hereto- 
 fore mentioned. Julia Howe had not called again at 
 the office, and Silas had not seen her until the day the 
 institute convened when she registered. Her name was 
 the first recorded and Silas was greatly pleased. He 
 felt the war was over.
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 THE institute was one of those old-fashioned, one- 
 week, "one-horse" affairs. Just such institutes 
 had been held there for thirty years. Nothing ot 
 value outside of the social and professional character 
 was given. The teachers attended them in a sort of 
 perfunctory manner and because it pleased the county 
 superintendent. They did not expect to learn anything. 
 Why should they? Every year two or three professors 
 of note, who had made a reputation for being good 
 story tellers, had been employed. These men were 
 able to keep them from going to sleep, and that means 
 that they were good entertainers. Teachers were never 
 expected to recite or offer any opinions, so there was no 
 excitement of brain cells and very little mental growth. 
 Each professor would stand before his class and talk 
 for forty minutes. They had always done that way. 
 Some of the teachers having sensitive minds received a 
 few stray thoughts now and then and stored them 
 away, but the great mass of teachers were not impress- 
 ed. Superintendent Ed Smith declared that the aver- 
 age mind was of such a nature that it resisted thoughts, 
 and the only way to get them in was to drive them in, 
 as with a hammer. Silas Cobb held just about as poor 
 an institute that year as any in southern Illinois. The 
 only splendid feature of the whole thing was Silas 
 Cobb himself. Unlike many other superintendents in 
 the state, he pronounced his work very poor. He 
 understood that little good was done. He found on 
 examination of the manuscripts that three-fourths of his 
 teachers actually didn't understand the rudiments of 
 the common branches. Instead of presenting these
 
 SILAS COBB 
 
 subjects to the teachers with the best known methods, 
 he had employed lecturers who talked about the prin- 
 ciples and philosophy of education and kindred sub- 
 jects. As soon as he found what the actual condition 
 of his teaching force was, he set about to find some 
 way of improving it. He concluded that the only way 
 to relieve the condition was to either reject fully three- 
 fourths of the present force and replace them with ca- 
 pable, well-educated teachers, or else work up to a 
 higher plane the material he had. He found it would 
 be almost impossible to get teachers in other localities 
 to come to Brush county, on account of the low wages 
 paid, and if he cut out the weak three-fourths he would 
 not have enough teachers to fill his schools. His delib- 
 eration over the matter resulted in his appointing the 
 last afternoon of the institute for the organization of 
 the county teachers' association. Before the day the 
 association was to meet arrived, he selected a local 
 manager for each of the ten local divisions into which 
 he had divided his county. He was very careful in 
 selecting these local managers, because he wanted to 
 get teachers who would not only make good leaders, 
 but good teachers as well. They should be able to 
 teach a class of fellow teachers in the most approved 
 manner. He then arranged a program for the year's 
 work on the common branches. The teachers must 
 know more about the subject matter. He took up the 
 principal features of each subject in outline, and the 
 local managers were to take charge of the teachers and 
 teach the subject, not as the teachers had been teaching 
 it, but as it ought to be taught. By this method, the 
 subject matter as well as the method would be pre- 
 sented, and teachers who had been floundering along 
 with poor success, would begin to understand why it 
 had been poor. Teachers can't teach successfully what 
 they only half understand.
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 THE local associations were organized on these 
 lines, simply because Silas Cobb forced the mat- 
 ter through by the strong position he took on 
 the subject. When he laid his plans before the teach- 
 ers, he was surprised to find no enthusiasm over it. 
 There were several who even dared oppose it. One 
 teacher, who had the appearance of having kept school 
 for a great many years, got up, and, in an important 
 manner, wanted to know if the superintendent expected 
 men like him, who had taught school before he was 
 born, to go back to the a b c's again, and besides that, 
 he did not think it right to expect teachers to take the 
 time on Saturday that belonged to them to attend a 
 teachers' meeting. For his own part, Saturdays were 
 his busy days, and he had not attended the meetings 
 held last year, and he didn't think he could attend this 
 year. He didn't approve of the plan anyway. 
 
 Silas asked: "Are there others who wish to express 
 themselves? We want to have all who object to this 
 plan of action to say so now before we begin." 
 
 This encouraged a few other old fossils to protest 
 against the monthly meetings. Most of them agreed 
 with the former speaker. They had taught too long to 
 be required to attend these meetings every month. 
 Might be all right for the young teachers, but for the 
 old ones, never. But there were still many others who 
 agreed with the superintendent that they needed these 
 meetings, this monthly contact, to keep up with the 
 times and improve themselves. 
 
 When every one was through talking, Silag Cobb
 
 SILAS COBB 101 
 
 took occasion to make his position clear to them beyond 
 the shadow of a doubt. 
 
 "Teachers," he said, "I am going to try to tell you 
 just what my intentions are for the coming year. I 
 want you to know first, before I go into detail, that I 
 am very much interested in your welfare as well as that 
 of the schools. As a private individual I am always 
 anxious to help you whenever I possibly can, and as a 
 public officer I hope always to do my exact duty by 
 you. I have fully decided in my own mind that the 
 plans I have laid before you are good the best I know 
 of, at least. I have received your opinions on the sub- 
 ject in a very frank manner. There are many of you 
 who favor this course; there are others who oppose it. 
 You have given your reasons why. The sum of your 
 objections have been, 'I can't spare the time, and I 
 don't need to go back to my a b c's. 
 
 "After hearing these objections, I am still of the 
 opinion I am right. The reason I have not changed, 
 perhaps, is because several of the gentlemen who have 
 protested against going back to their a b c's, as they term 
 this review of the common branches, are holding their 
 certificates, or will hold them, by virtue of my lenien- 
 cy and hopefulness that before the year is up they will 
 be able to pass a creditable examination. You would be 
 surprised, teachers, to know that seventy-five per cent 
 of you could justly be refused a certificate, and the only 
 reason I will not refuse you is the fact that I have de- 
 cided I can get you in the way of earning your certifi- 
 cates through these teachers' meetings. Now, person- 
 ally, it makes no difference to me whether you earn your 
 certificates, or whether I drop you from the roll by re- 
 fusing to grant them on the poor work shown by your 
 manuscripts, except as a matter of feeling. I would
 
 102 SILAS COBB 
 
 rather see you help yourselves to do better. I do my 
 part by offering you this study and instruction through- 
 out the year. Some of us make quite an ado about 
 Saturdays being the only days we have to ourselves, 
 and it ought not to be consumed in attending teachers' 
 meetings; not even three hours on one Saturday out of 
 the four we have in each school month. I do not have 
 Saturdays to myself; neither does any other professional 
 man, except those engaged in teaching. Clerks, lawyers, 
 doctors, mechanics and laborers, all work from early 
 morning till late in the day, six days in the week. They 
 would delight in a day's work that began at nine 
 o'clock and closed at four p. M.,and have three and one- 
 half Saturdays thrown in for good measure. Yet some 
 of you get up here and complain of the extra three 
 hours' work a month called for in this plan. Not only 
 do you have all the spare time mentioned, but fully 
 half of your number do not use even a fraction of it to 
 improve yourselves. You do not take a newspaper, or 
 read a current book. Some of you have taught fifteen 
 years in this county, and had all this spare time to 
 yourselves, and yet are not to this day able to pass a 
 satisfactory eighth grade examination. I tell you now 
 that no such conditions will be tolerated another year. 
 I have planned to wipe it out in one year, by your as- 
 sistance, and at the end of that time it will be erased, 
 either by your own acts, or by a stroke of the pen in 
 the county superintendent's office. The rules must be 
 obeyed. You have fair warning. 
 
 1 'We have been accustomed to doing just what we 
 pleased in the past about such matters, and I believe 
 some of us have not done well as a result of it. I even 
 notice that some of you talk as though you did not care 
 much what course the superintendent pursued; it would
 
 SILAS COBB 103 
 
 not affect you in the least, as you would act as you saw 
 fit. It is true that you get that impression honestly 
 from your experiences in the past, but I want to treat 
 you all honestly, and give you full notice of the policy 
 of this office so you will not have any trouble in adjust- 
 ing your actions to the changed conditions. From this 
 day on every teacher in Brush county will be guided in 
 all such matters as attendance at teachers' meetings and 
 kindred subjects entirely by the directions sent out 
 from this office. The teachers of Brush county will 
 act as a unit. I shall not be compelled this year to 
 beg, preach to and encourage teachers to attend these 
 meetings, as I did last year. The reason is quickly 
 given, and is simply because I shall take nothing but 
 an absolute acquiescence in all requirements made of 
 you. If there are any teachers who think they will be 
 able to evade their duty, I shall at once revoke their 
 certificates for insubordination. I adopt this vigorous 
 policy because I am tired of begging you to do what 
 you ought to do as a duty, and be delighted to do. 
 
 "Those who have opposed my plans need not fear 
 that I shall feel any annoyance or enmity toward them 
 for it. I asked for honest opinions. They gave me 
 theirs, and I thank them for them. I want them to 
 feel the same way about the matter, and take hold of 
 this work with me with a will. No one ought to com- 
 pel me to use that authority I possess to enforce my 
 requirements. 
 
 "As to the adoption of this plan of work, it is en- 
 tirely optional with this meeting. Whether you adopt 
 it or not, it will go on just the same, but it would please 
 me greatly to know that the teachers of this county are 
 in accord with this forward step, and in closing I wish 
 to say to you that I am doing my best to do the right
 
 104 SILAS COBB 
 
 thing. I may make mistakes, but I am going to follow 
 out my own convictions. I hope you will always take 
 me at my word, and not depend on my doing anything 
 that is not consistent with what I have said here to-day. 
 If you get into trouble because you have ignored the 
 requirements made of you, then don't come and ask me 
 to break the rules so you can escape the penalty. I 
 shall not vary one jot or tittle from the printed rules 
 governing the conduct of teachers in relation to these 
 monthly meetings." 
 
 He sat down. One of the most active teachers got 
 up and enthusiastically endorsed the superintendent's 
 position. He declared that Brush county was fifty 
 years behind the times, simply because they had never 
 had a superintendent who had the courage to go ahead 
 and do what he thought he ought to do. He worked 
 up the teachers to such a pitch of enthusiasm that even 
 the old fossils stood up when a rising vote was called 
 for, endorsing the superintendent's plans. 
 
 Thus a new leaf was turned, and Brush county began 
 to go forward with great bounds.
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 ALL the gossip about the town as to whether Silas 
 Cobb would succeed or fail, had ceased. He 
 had passed beyond the point of probation, so 
 far as the people were concerned. They had seen sev- 
 eral examples of courage and firmness that secured for 
 him the confidence of the best people. The teachers, 
 too, began to understand that they all stood on the same 
 footing. However, they were still in doubt as to the 
 position Julia Howe held in the estimation of the su- 
 perintendent. During the institute there was consid- 
 erable gossip. 
 
 Miss Alger said to Miss Young one day: "I see 
 Miss Julia Howe had to attend institute this year like 
 the rest of us." 
 
 "Don't you think it!" was Miss Young's retort. 
 "Don't you see how she is always hanging around 
 the superintendent's desk? She is always asking him 
 for information on this and that, and smiling up in his 
 face like a silly flirt. No sir, she just came here for 
 no other reason than to be with Mr. Cobb. She's just 
 struck on him, and you mark my words, she will get 
 just what she wants. She will get the best certificate 
 and best school in the county." 
 
 "Why, Miss Young, I am surprised at you. That 
 is really an insult to Mr. Cobb, and I am sure there can 
 be nothing in your suspicions. He is just as fair and 
 honorable as he can be, and you ought not to assume 
 so much of which you are not positive." 
 
 "Assumption is it?" began Miss Young. "Well, 
 you had better get posted. Hasn't she been caught in 
 the superintendent's office a dozen times or more? Tell
 
 106 SILAS COBB 
 
 me why she should go there so often? Didn't Clay 
 Green go up there one day and find her in the superin- 
 tendent's back room in a nice little chat with him? 
 Who knows what happens in there? Oh, I know 
 Julia Howe! She thinks she is the only beauty on 
 earth, and men have always made a fool of her. Why 
 should Si Cobb be an exception?" 
 
 Miss Alger, not very aggressive at most, and not 
 inclined to debate the subject further, simply said in 
 her kind-hearted way: "She doesn't seem like she used 
 to, though, Miss Young. You know she has studied 
 very hard during the institute, and that is something 
 she never did before." 
 
 "She is only hoodwinking Silas Cobb, that's all," 
 replied Miss Young. ' 'She is making him believe she 
 has turned over a new leaf and is going to try to do 
 something for herself. She has weighed the superin- 
 tendent. He has a soft heart, and when he sees her 
 working so hard he will give her another year to work 
 up her grades if she falls short of the requirements, 
 which she is absolutely sure to do. Why, she doesn't 
 know anything about books, and yet is able to make 
 people believe she does. Pshaw! I have pupils in 
 my school in the seventh grade who know more of 
 arithmetic and grammar than she does. Whatever she 
 gets, I am sure she will not earn, even if it is the poor- 
 est second grade certificate." 
 
 It will be seen from this conversation that Clay 
 Green's visit was sufficient to start every gossipy 
 tongue in the town to wagging. 
 
 There were eighty-six applicants for teachers' certif- 
 icates at the examination held just before the institute 
 closed, or rather, before the day the county associa- 
 tion was organized. When the institute closed, Super-
 
 SILAS COBB 107 
 
 intendent Cobb went to work grading the manuscripts. 
 It was his first large examination, and the work of 
 grading was slow and tedious. After a few days' 
 work it was apparent that a great many would fail to 
 pass a satisfactory grade. One of the first manuscripts 
 he graded was Miss Howe's. He was very anxious to 
 know her fate at once. To his great sorrow, her stand- 
 ings were on an average below fifty per cent, and he 
 was compelled to head the list of rejected applicants 
 with her name. The list afterwards grew to great 
 length. 
 
 Early on Tuesday morning, Julia Howe appeared at 
 the threshold of the superintendent's office, just as she 
 had a few weeks before, as Silas was dusting his desk. 
 
 "Good-morning, Julia. There is one thing to your 
 credit that I have noticed, which is very commendable; 
 you are an early riser. How are you to-day?" He 
 reached out and took her hand. 
 
 "I am well, thank you, Mr. Cobb, only I am terribly 
 nervous, and I waited just as long as I could before 
 coming, knowing you would not have had time to grade 
 the papers before this, and possibly not now, but I 
 just had to come. You are not done with them, are 
 you?" 
 
 "No, indeed," said Silas. "It is a long task and I 
 won't be through within two weeks." 
 
 At this Julia's countenance fell, and she looked very 
 much disappointed. 
 
 "But," added Silas, "I have marked all your papers, 
 Julia, and have your grades ready for you. I was BO 
 anxious about it I marked them first of all." 
 
 He handed her the sheet of paper showing the results 
 of her examination. She took it with trembling hands 
 and eagerly scanned the list. Her face grew pale and
 
 108 SILAS COBB 
 
 her lips trembled. She looked up at Silas and said in 
 a voice scarce above a whisper, "I have failed, then?" 
 
 "It is true, Julia, and it hurts me very much. I was 
 exceedingly anxious for you to pass, since you have 
 worked so earnestly lately. I am sure if you could go 
 away to a normal school for a term or so you would be 
 able not only to pass, but to make a most excellent 
 teacher, with the other good traits of character you 
 possess." 
 
 There was a silence between them. He was waiting 
 for her to make some sort of comment, and she was 
 unable to do so, apparently on account of the emotion 
 she felt. The color came back to her cheeks, and fin- 
 ally she looked up at him, her eyes overflowing with 
 tears. They dropped, unnoticed by her, on the paper 
 she held in her hand. There was a forced smile on her 
 trembling lips as she rose from her seat. She handed 
 him back the paper, already sprinkled with her tears, 
 and held out her hands to him. 
 
 "It is all right, Silas; I don't blame you for it. I 
 think you are a noble, brave, and honest man, and I 
 admire you. I may be able to do something. Good- 
 by, and I hope you will remember me only as I have 
 been these last few weeks. I did my very best, but I 
 knew too little to begin with. I couldn't overcome the 
 obstacles before me in so short a time. Somehow you 
 have upset all my plans and changed the whole current 
 of my life. Before you came into office I never knew 
 a sad moment. I was at the top of everything. I suc- 
 ceeded somehow without effort. You came one day 
 and I learned of my ignorance and folly. For some 
 reason, when I was in your presence I felt so mean, 
 weak, and silly that it angered me. Gradually I got 
 over that, as I realized the great gap between us. You
 
 SILAS COBB 109 
 
 were everything a man ought to be. I was only one 
 thing a woman ought to be. God gave me a good face 
 and form, but all my life I had neglected to cultivate a 
 mind to go with them. You pointed this out to me; 
 not in words, but I felt it. The thoughts formed in 
 my mind, just as if you had uttered them, and now that 
 old spirit is broken, and I have begun to see things 
 differently. Silas, I may have been frivolous beyond 
 reason; I may have been over-pleasant to people that 
 could help me, for I needed the help. As an excuse 
 for it all, I wish you to know that 1 have been at the 
 head of our family and its only support for the past 
 four years. My little brothers had to be educated and 
 the home kept up. All this I have been able to do, in 
 spite of my ignorance and folly, for the people have 
 spoiled me by being good to me beyond my deserts. 
 What I hope for is that I may leave you knowing that 
 I have regained your respect and confidence." 
 
 She paused for breath, and then seemed to forget 
 what she was going to say, and a troubled look came 
 over her countenance. 
 
 "Julia, you surprise me beyond measure. I could 
 not have believed before now that you were capable of 
 such noble thoughts and unbiased judgment. You 
 seem able to analyze your own character to the smallest 
 detail. The spirit you show me to-day is worth all the 
 wealth of the world. Give me your hands again, Julia, 
 and let me congratulate and encourage you. I admire 
 you more than you can know." 
 
 She stood there before him, tall, dark, beautiful, 
 with a light, soft hand clasped in each of his, looking 
 iuto his face. The pleasant words brightened her 
 countenance, and put a warmth into her sparkling eyes.
 
 no SILAS COBB 
 
 Her hands closed tightly on his, and a warm glow came 
 into Silas' cheek. 
 
 "Good-bye, Julia, and remember I am always ready 
 to do anything I can for you." 
 
 The door closed, and Julia's light footsteps echoed 
 down the old cob-webbed corridors.
 
 CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 FOR a long time Silas sat at the window, gazing 
 down at the sun-baked streets. One might have 
 supposed he was gazing with interest on the 
 human life stirring below. An old man on a rickety old 
 wagon, with a pair of poor old horses, was driving by. 
 He was barefooted, and costumed in a pair of overalls, 
 undershirt and a straw hat. On the wagon were a few 
 bunches of splits made from young trees and used in 
 weaving bottoms in chairs, together with a few bushels 
 of potatoes. He delivered the potatoes to the City 
 Hotel, and re-bottomed several of the office chairs that 
 had worn out. Silas sat watching the proceedings 
 across the street. It is not recorded whether he was 
 thinking of what he saw, or what he had felt an hour 
 before. It is one of the blessings of man to be able to 
 think without the world's knowing what he is thinking 
 about. After an hour's reflection, not feeling capable 
 of undertaking any serious task, he got up, closed the 
 office and went down to the hotel. He took a chair out 
 on the shady side of the house and sat down. Around 
 the corner from where he sat, the old man was at work 
 bottoming the chairs. Business was dull with Clay 
 Green across the street, and spying the old man at work, 
 he walked over to gossip with him. 
 
 "Howdy, Caleb? Ye don't want t' work too hard in 
 the hot of the day." 
 
 The old man raised his head and spit a mouthful of 
 tobacco juice square into the face of a sunflower gome 
 ten feet away, and said: 
 
 "Howdy." 
 
 He kept on working without another word.
 
 112 
 
 SILAS COBB 
 
 "How's yer crap this year, Caleb?" 
 
 "MiddlinV 
 
 "What have ye been doin' these hot days?" 
 
 "Diggin' taters." 
 
 "Tater crap good?" 
 
 "Yep." 
 
 "How's Mis' Fisher?" (That's Caleb's wife.) 
 
 "MiddlinV' 
 
 "Howdy, Caleb? Ye don't want V work too hard in the hot of 
 the day." 
 
 "Who's goin' t' teach yer school this year, Caleb?" 
 
 "Dunno." 
 
 "Who teached it las' year?" 
 
 "Julia Howe." 
 
 "How'd ye like her?"
 
 SILAS COBB H3 
 
 'Middlin'." 
 
 "Did she behave herself?" 
 
 "Middlin', I reckon." 
 
 "Do ye want her agin?" 
 
 "Yep." 
 
 "What?" 
 
 "Yep, I sed onct. Can't ye hear?" 
 
 "Hain't heard how she and Si Cobb's carryin' on I 
 reckon, or ye wouldn't want her." 
 
 "Carryin' on?" 
 
 "Yes, carryin' on! Thought ye'd open yer eyes a 
 little when a feller's trying to give ye a p'inter. It's 
 jest skanlus, the way that gal's goin' t' ruin. She jest 
 come down from Si's office a while ago, an' it's not 
 the only time, nuther. Why, she's been a-goin' on 
 this here way all summer, an' everybody's a-talkin' about 
 'em. It's a downright shame, Caleb, that honest men 
 like you an' me have to look on to sich skanlus acts. I 
 jest went up one morniu,' when she wuz there, t' see 
 what wuz goin' on, an' I saw 'nuff to make my eyes 
 bug out, I tell ye. I jest " and then Silas Cobb came 
 on the scene. 
 
 "You just lied, didn't you; and I am going to teach 
 you a lesson you will remember to your last day. I 
 will just take you by the nose this icay, and I will 
 just slap your face this way. Then I will slap it on 
 this side. Then I will cuff your ears this way, and that, 
 and now I will stop long enough to ask you whether 
 you think you can refrain from slandering respectable 
 women? If not I will proceed to cut a switch and 
 give you a good thrashing. It's the only way to reach 
 a wretch like you." 
 
 All this time the culprit was begging for mercy, 
 8 declaring he had lied about him, and would never do so
 
 114 SILAS COBB 
 
 again if he would let him off this time. He was so 
 frightened he could scarcely get into his little shop 
 across the street. 
 
 Old Caleb Fisher stood looking on in silence. When 
 it was all over, Silas turned to him and spoke: 
 
 "How do you do, Mr. Fisher? I am very sorry to 
 
 11 You just lied, didn't you, and I am going to teach you a lesson 
 you will remember to your last day." 
 
 come into your presence and disturb your peace of mind 
 by such actions, but it was a duty." 
 
 The old man puckered up his mouth and fired another 
 shot at the sunflower before he spoke, and then came 
 very near forgetting what he was going to say when he 
 saw his shot went wide of the mark, and only struck
 
 SILAS COBB us 
 
 the lower petals of the blossom. Perhaps Silas' activ- 
 ity had unnerved him so his aim was not true. 
 
 "Ye did middlin' well," he replied. 
 
 "I don't know about that, Mr. Fisher, but I do know 
 that Clay Green is a traducer of character. He wastes 
 half his time sitting at that window watching the peo- 
 ple of this town, and his dirty mind befouls everything 
 it thinks about. The only thing on earth that will 
 help him is just the treatment that I have administered." 
 
 The old man went on bottoming the chairs, now and 
 then taking a shot at the sunflowers by way of diver- 
 sion. 
 
 The sun-baked sidewalk sent up little quivers of heat, 
 and the dust, at every gust of wind, was sent flying 
 everywhere. Silas went back to his office, and in the 
 space of ten minutes the scene was as peaceful and 
 quiet as before.
 
 CHAPTER XXVI. 
 
 FOR several days after the incidents related in the 
 preceding chapter, Silas Cobb pored over exam- 
 ination papers. The task was a laborious one, 
 and when it was finished he felt a sense of great relief. 
 Had he known what a storm of abuse would be heaped 
 upon him as a result of the long list of applicants he 
 had marked with the fatal word "failed," he probably 
 would have anticipated the future with considerable 
 dread, beside which the sense of relief from having 
 finished the task of grading would seem insignificant. 
 
 He had just finished tabulating the results, and was 
 preparing to mail to each applicant a report of her ex- 
 amination, when Miss Cora Laugly called to receive 
 hers in person. She was greatly agitated, and very 
 anxious to know the result. Silas greeted her cordially, 
 and when she had stated her mission, he replied: 
 
 "Why, certainly; I will look over the list, Miss 
 Langly, and give you your report at once." He knew 
 she had failed, but it wasn't in his heart to tell her so 
 outright, knowing how the blow would affect her, so 
 he hunted among the loose papers on his desk for the 
 fatal list that lay right before his eyes, and chatted in 
 a light vein as he looked. Finally he found it, and 
 his face took on a serious look, as if he were acquiring 
 new information that pained him very much, and said: 
 "Miss Langly, I am very sorry to report that you 
 have failed. I am sorry, because it will be harder for 
 you to bear since you have already held a certificate 
 and taught school at least one year, and because you 
 are known to me as a conscientious, hard worker. But 
 it is impossible to make much headway in this great
 
 SILAS COBB m 
 
 work of reviving the schools unless we raise the stan- 
 dard of teachers. Therefore, many of you will have 
 to take a few terms at some good school and better fit 
 yourselves for the work. When you have done that, 
 come back to me and get your place among us. I shall 
 be the first to welcome you and help you to a posi- 
 tion." 
 
 Miss Langly, looking thin and careworn, stared 
 straight ahead at the dingy old wall of the office, that 
 had probably witnessed many scenes just as pathetic 
 long before the present occupants were born, and 
 made no reply. Silas was silent also, and there was 
 not a sound in the room save the rattling now and then 
 of crumbs of plaster from the old walls. One can't 
 stare forever at the blank wall without doing or saying 
 something, and the thing Miss Langly did was very 
 much like her sex. After a few preliminary twitches 
 of the lips, she burst into tears. That was all there 
 was to it. To her it was tragical. Perhaps it was her 
 only means of a livelihood. Probably she had others 
 depending on her for bread as well. To a man like 
 Silas Cobb, whose heart was as warm as the south 
 wind, these scenes were very trying. He felt with 
 them all the pain they suffered, and were it not for his 
 well-grounded sense of justice, his sympathies would 
 have ruled his mind, and the country schools would 
 have floundered along helplessly another decade under 
 the direction of incompetent teachers. 
 
 Miss Langly had barely left the room when another 
 type of applicant appeared on the scene. She came in 
 with an air of considerable importance as one who 
 was aware of her power and the influence of her 
 family. She had no doubt these points of superiority 
 over such as Miss Langly, who was without family
 
 118 SILAS COBB 
 
 influence, would be considered by the superintendent 
 very favorably. 
 
 She looked amazed when quietly informed that she 
 had failed to pass a satisfactory examination. 
 
 "Why, that is ridiculous, Mr. Cobb," and the 
 thought of it made her angry "why I know I have 
 passed and you have not graded my papers right." 
 Her attitude became more hostile, and finally she said: 
 "My father told me you were making a lot of the 
 teachers fail, but he said if you cut me out you would 
 be defeated for a second term, and I hope you will be 
 too, so there, now. You " 
 
 "Excuse me, Miss Joy, but I fear you have per- 
 mitted your very bad temper to do you a great injury. 
 It will take a long time for you to undo what you 
 have done within the last few minutes. At the pres- 
 ent time you are no more fit to teach school than a 
 child, no matter what your standings on examination 
 might be. A teacher should be, first of all things, a 
 perfect lady. That means a great deal. It will take 
 you a long time to master the qualifications requisite 
 to those who attempt to direct the growth of a child's 
 mind. Come back to me when you are ready to apolo- 
 gize for your conduct, and I will show you your 
 papers and point out your failings to you. Till then 
 I bid you good-day." 
 
 She withdrew, slightly frightened, but still resent- 
 ful. 
 
 A half hour later Silas heard heavy footsteps on the 
 stairs, and he felt sure it was Mr. Joy, whom he well 
 knew to have been one of his strongest supporters dur- 
 ing the campaign. It gave him no little pain to know 
 he was under obligations to him, and was repaying 
 him with what seemed to Mr. Joy the rankest kind of
 
 SILAS COBB 
 
 119 
 
 ingratitude. But Silas Cobb was too firm to be 
 shaken from the true course by contrary winds. 
 
 Mr. Joy entered the office in a perfect rage. It 
 seemed to him, in his ignorance, that he had just 
 cause for being in that condition. 
 
 "My gal has jest told me you won't give her a cer- 
 
 "Jlfr. Joy entered the office in a perfect rage." 
 
 tificate, and I want to know mighty blamed quick why 
 you don't; do you hear? Didn't I run all over the 
 county gittin' votes fer you, and didn't I git you the 
 office? And here you pay me fer it by refusin' my 
 child a certificate. The Professor has issued her two,
 
 120 SILAS COBB 
 
 and she has teached a year already. You've jest 
 
 simply got too d smart, Silas, that's the size of it, 
 
 and I want to tell you so to your face." 
 
 During this storm of big talk Silas sat looking him 
 in the eye, as quietly as if he were telling him the con- 
 dition of his health. There was not a trace of emotion 
 in his face, and his eyes were so penetrating that Mr. 
 Joy began to feel uncomfortable and to doubt the jus- 
 tice of his cause. So it was with almost everybody who 
 came in contact with Silas Cobb. To look in his 
 eyes was to believe him honest to the core. Mr. Joy 
 glanced furtively at Silas, and finished by saying in a 
 conciliatory tone of voice: "Of course, I may be mis- 
 taken, Silas, and I jest come in to see you about it, 
 knowin' you would do me the right thing, seein' that I 
 stood by you in time of need." 
 
 "Now that last is better, Mr. Joy, and I am glad 
 that you feel that you did me an injustice by coming 
 into my office in such a temper. Your daughter has 
 just left me and I am very sorry to be compelled to re- 
 late to you that she acted so badly, even worse than 
 you did, that I could not issue her a certificate if she 
 made the top mark in every branch. I am going to 
 say to you frankly, Mr. Joy, that I blame you for it 
 all. You taught the girl those ugly ways, and led her 
 to believe that you owned me, and that she would be 
 favored, standings or no standings. You see, you have 
 done the girl a great injury. I am doing my best for 
 the school children of this county, and that means I am 
 doing my best for your children. Your daughter made 
 an average of only fifty-five per cent, fully twenty per 
 cent short of the required standing." 
 
 "Well, what difference does that make, Silas, 'tween 
 you and me? Ain't we stood tergether in politics, and
 
 SILAS COBB 
 
 why in blazes can't you fix her up a certificate anyhow? 
 It's jest 'tween us you know." 
 
 "That is true, Mr. Joy; it is just between us, and it 
 is none the less dishonest because you propose it to be 
 between us. Why should you ask me to lower in your 
 case the standard for the qualification of teachers which, 
 as it is, is none too high, and thereby do an injustice to 
 every other teacher in the county, and at the same 
 time force upon the people a teacher who is not compe- 
 tent? You never think of asking a grain dealer to take 
 your corn at forty pounds to the bushel and pay you 
 the same price he would Henry Boggs for his corn at 
 fifty-six pounds to the bushel? Of course you don't, 
 and no one else does. It is only with this office, appar- 
 ently, that people think they can get full measure for 
 half measure, in case they have a 'pull.' But it can't 
 be done on that principle while I am in office. The 
 candidate who cannot fill the standard measure is la- 
 belled 'short, 'and that absolutely ends it until the short- 
 age is made good. The only excuse you have for mak- 
 ing such a request of me is on the ground that you 
 supported me during the campaign. I am aware that 
 you did support me, but I did not know your motive at 
 the time or I should have told you to support the other 
 man. I thought you were supporting me because you 
 had made up your mind that I would better serve your 
 school, and the people at large. I see now you did not 
 expect that, but wanted me elected, thinking I could 
 be induced to serve your personal ends, even to the det- 
 riment of the schools. Now, to do you justice, Mr. 
 Joy, you did not mean to injure a soul, for at heart I 
 actually believe you to be an honest man; but the fact 
 remains that your actions brand you as being dishonest. 
 This I lay to the fact that you have not thought much
 
 122 SILAS COBB 
 
 about anyone's interest but your own. You did not 
 think of your neighbor's children, or even your own, 
 being injured for life by an incompetent teacher. You 
 have not studied that subject so much as you have 
 others, which accounts for your opinions not being well 
 founded." 
 
 "That's pretty hard, Silas, ".replied Mr. Joy. "I 
 never yet had a man talk that way to me, but seems 
 like I don't feel so very mad about it. It is a fact; I 
 never thought about it bein' any injury to children. 
 Don't know jest how the gal is goin' to injure a child 
 jest a-teachin' it to read, write and figger, but I am 
 willin', that bein' out o' my line, to leave it with you, 
 Silas." 
 
 ''You are a breeder of fine stock, Mr. Joy, and a suc- 
 cessful one, too, for I have seen your fine, well-broken 
 horses, and your well-kept grounds and buildings. 
 Everything about your place is ideal. I have never 
 seen a better kept farm than yours. As to your stock, 
 you have a horse so well trained that one almost expects 
 to hear him talk. You will remember you had him do 
 his tricks one day for me. When you were training 
 that horse you would not have thought of letting Jim, 
 your hired man, handle him. He would have ruined 
 him in a day. Isn't that so?" 
 
 "To be sure it is, Silas," replied Mr. Joy, enthusi- 
 astically, and in a good humor now. "You jest hit the 
 nail on the head. Talkin' about trainin' horses, there 
 ain't one man in a thousand that kin do it. Why, 
 shucks! do you know, I won't let Jim drive any of my 
 blooded horses? He'd ruin 'em, sure. Yes sir, that's a 
 fact. I kin train a horse, and as to keepin' up the 
 place, I am all right on that, too." 
 
 "That is surely in your line, Mr. Joy," replied Silas,
 
 SILAS COBB 123 
 
 "for I never saw anything better done anywhere, and 
 your success with horses shows the value of skilled 
 trainers. You never could have made that horse an 
 intelligent animal if you had not been a trained horse- 
 man. It is exactly the same in training children. 
 With a skilled teacher, a child is developed into a 
 beautiful creature, and with an unskilled teacher he 
 develops into a mentally deformed one." 
 
 "Silas," replied Mr. Joy, "you hit me that time, 
 and I acknowledge you have given me a good hard 
 lick, too, and I furnished you the club. That's a good 
 one on me! Why, confound me, anybody could see that 
 all right. You've got to have trained horsemen to make 
 good horses, and the same is true of teachers, of course. 
 Say, Silas, I see you air right and I am wrong, and if 
 you will fergit the past I will, and we will start in new; 
 you a traiuin' teachers and me a trainin' horses. But, 
 doggone me, if I don't go right home and teach that gal 
 some manners. She ort to knowed better'n to act up 
 that-a-way." 
 
 "That is all right, Mr. Joy. It does me good to 
 hear you talk that way. I always knew your heart was 
 right." 
 
 Silas was very successful in shaking people loose 
 from wrong ideas by telling them of their faults, but 
 he always knew enough to point out their virtues to 
 them, so as not to jar them too violently. Thus, he 
 did two good things encouraged their good traits and 
 discouraged their bad ones.
 
 CHAPTER XXVII. 
 
 THE ENTIRE week was given up to the recep- 
 tion of applicants who had received notices of 
 failure to pass the examination. They came 
 in singly, by twos, threes, and sometimes, it seemed 
 to Silas, by droves. Those who were not in tears, 
 as a rule were in open rebellion. They declared such 
 high-handed outrages had never before been committed 
 on an unsuspecting people. 
 
 On Saturday morning Mr. Avery, a very smooth- 
 tongued gentleman from the village of Adkins, called 
 on Mr. Cobb. He wanted a private interview, and 
 when shown into Silas' little private room, he began at 
 once: 
 
 "Say, Silas, do you know you are making a fool of 
 yourself, my boy? I took you to be a pretty keen 
 fellow, and never dreamed you would turn on your 
 own supporters. I don't think you ungrateful, Silas, 
 but I do think you are on the wrong track. Mr. 
 Johnson, Sam Johnson you know who I mean was 
 over to see me last night, and he told me you had 
 refused his girl, Sarah, a certificate. I was simply 
 astonished when he told me, for I knew that you were 
 aware that he worked for you in the campaign day 
 and night, for two weeks before election. Besides 
 his girl has taught one term, and holds a certificate 
 from Littleman. I didn't just see why you should do 
 a fool thing like that, and told Johnson so. It seems 
 to me, since we have elected you to office, you ought to 
 at least not make open war on your friends. So I have 
 come up especially to hear what you have to say about 
 it."
 
 SILAS COBB 125 
 
 Silas listened patiently and very attentively till he 
 had finished, and then he said: "Mr. Avery, I am 
 very glad you have come to me. It shows that you 
 are at least ready to get at the root of things at once, 
 before you express your opinion too freely on the 
 outside. Now, let us take up Miss Johnson's cage at 
 the beginning. She took the examination here and 
 made an average of fifty-two per cent on a list of ques- 
 tions that were very simple and practical. She could 
 neither read nor spell respectably, nor even solve a prob- 
 lem in compound numbers. She had never had anj school- 
 ing outside of a very poor country school. I honestly 
 decided she could not possibly teach a school. It 
 would be an outrage to the long-suffering people to 
 impose on them in such a manner. Her father called 
 here with her, and I showed them her papers. They 
 seemed satisfied she had been honestly treated. I told 
 them it would not do to issue a certificate on those 
 grades. I understand now, from you, that he was not 
 satisfied, but has gone to you, knowing you to be one 
 of my warmest friends, and asked you to come to me 
 and intercede for his daughter for him. Am I right, 
 Mr. Avery?" 
 
 "Yes, he did ask me if I could do anything for him, 
 and I told him I would see," replied Mr. Avery. 
 
 "Well, you are not the only prominent citizen I 
 have had call on me on similar errands. The naked 
 proposition then is this: I have refused Miss Johnson 
 a certificate. She brought her father to see me, 
 and I refused the second time to grant it. They seek 
 an influential neighbor whom I admire very much, and 
 send him to see me, hoping that, with his political 
 influence and friendship, he might get what they 
 failed to get. In other words, they assume that I am
 
 126 SILAS COBB 
 
 both a fool and a knave. What respect could you- 
 have for me? What respect could Mr. Johnson and 
 his daughter have, knowing that I could be influenced 
 by political friends to do to-day what T refused to do 
 yesterday, while the evidence that guided me remained 
 the same? I can't blow north to-day and south 
 to-morrow, Mr. Avery, without some veiy good 
 reasons for it. But I want to ask you a question now, 
 and I believe you will answer it frankly: Did you ever 
 know a man occupying this position who would reverse 
 his decisions simply because a friend wanted him to 
 do so?" 
 
 "Yes, I have." 
 
 "What did you think of him, Mr. Avery? Hon- 
 estly, now." 
 
 "Oh, he was a pretty good fellow, I guess." 
 "Well, now, tell me how far you would trust him." 
 Mr. Avery looked up and smiled. "Say, Silas," he 
 said, "you are all right. I like you for your fearless, 
 straightforward course. In short, I don't mind saying 
 to you that you make me half ashamed of myself. You 
 see we have been so used to that sort of thing we 
 haven't thought about how it really did look from an 
 honest man's point of view. I am just as glad as I can 
 be to see you take that position. You were not elected 
 to serve the leading Democrats of this county, but the 
 people, and I thought when you were talking, how 
 really incompetent that girl is, and how I would dis- 
 like to have her teach my children. I remembered then 
 that she had been teaching a term or so, and somebody 
 had to suffer for it. I am really thankful to you for 
 calling my attention to this evil. While I am a poli- 
 tician, yet 1 think I am sufficiently honest, if I know 
 what is right, not to injure my neighbors."
 
 SILAS COBB 127 
 
 The afternoon's mail brought Silas a letter, which 
 read as follows: 
 
 MY DEAR SIR: Will you please inform me whether 
 or not Miss Julia Howe received a certificate? I will 
 consider your reply entirely confidential. 
 Yours truly, 
 
 HENRY JAMES, Postmaster. 
 
 This Mr. James was postmaster at Fairfax, a gossipy 
 little village, where Miss Howe had taught one year, 
 and Silas felt certain nothing but curiosity and envy 
 prompted the query. So far, no one knew whether 
 Miss Howe had failed or passed, and all her acquaint- 
 ances were almost consumed with curiosity in regard to 
 it. Silas replied like this: 
 
 DEAR MR. JAMES: Your letter of inquiry regarding 
 Miss Howe's record of examination is just at hand. In 
 reply, I desire to say to you without any intent of 
 offering you offense, that you can no doubt get your 
 question satisfactorily answered by addressing Miss 
 Howe personally on the subject. Unless you are a 
 school officer, and are officially in need of the 
 information, I shall remain silent on the subject. This 
 office does not consider it in the range of duty to 
 satisfy mere curiosity on a subject that concerns no 
 one but Miss Howe herself. Yours truly, 
 
 SILAS COBB. 
 
 P. S. As a second thought, I have decided to send 
 your letter to Miss Howe for her to do with as she sees 
 fit. 
 
 Mr. Cobb then mailed to Miss Howe a copy of his 
 letter to Mr. James, together with the James letter. 
 It is safe to say that Miss Howe shed a few tears of 
 gratitude over this silent evidence of protection Silas 
 saw fit to afford her. While he did it as a matter of 
 principle, he felt it would show her he had no 
 prejudices. 
 
 Mr. Henry James had a few sparks of manhood left
 
 128 SILAS COBB 
 
 in him, and when he received Superintendent Cobb's 
 letter, he was chagrined to think his wife, who had 
 induced him to write to Silas, would get him into such 
 a humiliating position. lie took the letter home to 
 his wife at once, and they quarreled about it. Neither 
 of them expected to get a reply from Miss Howe, and 
 it never occurred to them, even if she did reply, that 
 she would tell them the truth about it. To the great 
 surprise of Henry James, he received a letter from 
 Miss Howe which disturbed him greatly. If he were 
 humiliated when he received Silas Cobb's letter, he 
 might properly be classed among the crushed when he 
 received hers. He wrote her a pathetic apology, and 
 told her he would not breathe a word of the contents, 
 etc., and he kept it from his wife for at least one 
 week. The following is her letter: 
 
 AUGUST 1, 188 . 
 MB. HENRY JAMES, FAIRFAX, ILL. 
 
 DEAR SIR: Superintendent Cobb has kindly sent 
 me your letter of inquiry as to the result of my exam- 
 ination, and foot-noted it, saying I should answer it or 
 not, as I saw fit. I have decided to answer it, and I 
 am sure you and your friends will be delighted to 
 know that I have failed to pass the required standard. 
 Why you should be, God only knows, for I have never 
 injured any of you in my life, and I frankly give this 
 information, knowing that it will give you pleasure, 
 and that you will use it to my injury. 
 
 I assure you I hold you no ill-will. 
 
 Yours very truly, 
 
 JULIA HOWE. 
 
 Mrs. James and a few other ladies of the town had 
 been very envious of Miss Howe, and had never let an 
 opportunity pass to criticise her. Her beauty and 
 social qualities had drawn to her most of the better ele- 
 ment of the town, and this was gall and wormwood to
 
 SILAS COBB 129 
 
 Mrs. James. As before stated, Mr. James, being a 
 weak man, was able to keep the secret a full week 
 before Mrs. James caused the culprit to divulge it. 
 Then she compelled him to tell her how long he had 
 kept the news from her. When she found he had 
 carried the letter a week, she grew very angry, and 
 accused him of too much intimacy with that thing. 
 She then hurried through her dinner, and without 
 washing the dishes, dressed, and went calling that 
 afternoon on all of her friends, and almost "walked 
 her legs off" getting around to them all to spread the 
 precious news. How she did enjoy it! One of the 
 sti'angest things in this wide, wicked old world is the 
 keen enjoyment one woman gets in rending another.
 
 CHAPTER XXVIII. 
 
 FROM day to day Silas Cobb had inquiries, both by 
 mail and in person, from people who desired to 
 know if such and such a one had passed. To all 
 these questions Silas had the good sense to make the 
 same reply, in substance, as that addressed to Henry 
 James. He gave a good many lessons in ethics to peo- 
 ple in that trying month of August. They came to 
 him before breakfast, then all forenoon at the office. 
 They interrupted his noon hour, and harassed him all 
 afternoon; then after supper he was besieged at the 
 hotel until bedtime. Papas, mammas, sisters, brothers, 
 politicians and school boards all requesting him to 
 reverse his decisions, and issue certificates to favorites 
 who had failed. This poor girl had her mother to sup- 
 port, and that one had already contracted for her school. 
 Another one had been promised such a small school, 
 there would be no trouble in her teaching it. She 
 didn't need to know much. The people wanted her, 
 and why should he care? Some grew angry and 
 threatened him with defeat at the next election. Oth- 
 ers were satisfied with his explanations, while still 
 others were passive. In this manner Silas spent the 
 hot mouth of August, and fought a battle against as 
 great odds as is seldom the misfortune of any man to 
 meet. Yet few, if any, of his constituents realized, 
 or even appreciated at the time, the great service he 
 was rendering the county, as he stood there alone, with 
 no sympathy or encouragement, fighting for the rights 
 of the little boys and girls, and sometimes it seemed to 
 him that the very people he was fighting for were in 
 sympathy with the enemy. There were times when his
 
 SILAS COBB isi 
 
 spirit seemed ground iuto the earth, after a trying day 
 with school officers and politicians, and, sitting alone 
 in his room at night, by the ill-smelling oil lamp, doubt 
 would creep into his heart, and he would ask himself 
 whether he shouldn't give it all up, and go back to old 
 Mr. Boggs', where he had always been at peace. Per- 
 haps after all he had been too hard on the would-be 
 teachers. Then the faces of those who had gone down 
 amidst the ruins of the fatal examination would pass in 
 review before him. There was Miss Howe, tall and 
 beautiful, standing before him again, and he could re- 
 call every word she had said to him, and it seemed now 
 in the silence of the night, that they came from a 
 broken spirit. He sighed, and his mind ran back to 
 the barefoot time of his youth, and meadows, orchards, 
 cornfields and a little slip of a girl, were there before 
 him. He even smelled the clover blossoms, and could 
 hear the buzz of the bumble-bee. Yes, even Julia, the 
 girl he had played with that June day in the long ago, 
 he had cast down with the others from a place she had 
 long since reached. Yet, after all, did he not do right, 
 and had he not suffered greatly, too, in doing it? But 
 it was too late to change his course if he would, for, 
 as he said to Mr. Avery, he could not blow north to- 
 day and south to-morrow without grave reasons for it. 
 
 His thoughts reverted to Superintendent Ed Smith. 
 The thought of this impulsive yet extraordinary man 
 made him wish to see him at once. It would be a 
 comfort to talk it over with him, so he promised him- 
 self a holiday, and on the following morning he went 
 over to see his neighbor, and was greeted with an 
 informality that was refreshing. 
 
 "Why, hello, Silas, you dear old cub, how are you
 
 132 SILAS COBB 
 
 anyway? Mighty glad to see you, ray boy," and he 
 pulled Silas into a chair beside his desk. 
 
 "I am not feeling very happy, Mr. Smith, and that 
 is why I am here," Silas replied. "I have spent a 
 month in purgatory, and I have come over to see if you 
 know a way out of the place, or if not, to get as much 
 encouragement from you as possible, for I tell you 
 honestly I am very much discouraged." 
 
 "Good gracious, boy, you look as if you had come 
 home to die. What's the trouble? Haven't run you 
 out of the county have they?" 
 
 "No, not so bad as that, but I am harassed very 
 nearly to death by the friends of wrecked school- 
 teachers." 
 
 Superintendent Smith leaned back in his chair and 
 laughed heartily. He was a man as indifferent to a 
 frown as any one could be, and it amused him to see 
 Silas wearing such a long face over so small a matter. 
 So he proceeded to give his idea of the situation. 
 
 "Silas, you may not know it, but you are a pioneer, 
 and you are right now making the first clearing. That 
 county is as dark as Egypt and the people never had a 
 county superintendent before. The things that have 
 been in office over there were not county superintend- 
 ents at all. No one who knew anything about super- 
 vision ever honored them by that name. They simply 
 imposed on the people, and licensed every sort of indi- 
 vidual who came along to teach school. True, it is a 
 sad commentary on the intelligence of the people. 
 But how should they know? They had nothing to 
 compare their superintendents with. All they ever 
 had were ground out of the same grist. No matter 
 what Littleman did, right or wrong, if any one came 
 up and kicked about it, he would undo his work at
 
 SILAS COBB 
 
 133 
 
 once. So you see the people have grown used to hav- 
 ing every whim gratified, whether it hurt the county 
 at large or not. When you came into office they 
 expected you to be like your predecessors. I have kept 
 track of you, and knew what was coming. I knew 
 
 "Superintendent Smith leaned back in his chair and fc . 
 laughed heartily." 
 
 you would have to fight it out with them at once and 
 win or your work would be a flat failure. Don't I 
 know by experience what it is? Did I not have the 
 same battle to tight over here? The only difference 
 between us is, I enjoyed the fight, and I see you are
 
 134 SILAS COBB 
 
 in tears at what you consider is the ruin you have 
 wrought. But don't you worry. Your fight is over, 
 and if you stand firm you will never have any more 
 trouble. People will learn that you cannot be moved, 
 once honestly decided. They will fall into line and 
 take your rulings as a matter of fact, and never think 
 of coming up to influence you to change them. Those 
 who fail will not call to trouble you about it, but take 
 it for granted that they have failed for good and valid 
 reasons." 
 
 "Your words," said Silas, "picture very clearly the 
 far-reaching influence of a county superintendent, even 
 though he be a very weak man. We usually consider 
 if a man be weak, his influence is very small in any 
 direction, but I can see that in the case of a county 
 superintendent it is different. It would seem that his 
 very weakness causes a train of evil that could never 
 be equaled in extent by the good done by a strong, 
 conscientious man. His weakness throws down the 
 bars to all sorts of impositions. The people not only 
 suffer incalculable loss by having incompetent teachers 
 thrust upon them, but the dignity and integrity that 
 should be attached to the office is dragged down into 
 the dirt. In the meantime people have learned to look 
 upon the office as a thing that can be bought and sold 
 for political preference or even money. God knows 
 it's a difficult thing to break down long-established 
 precedent, though it is based on false premises and 
 rotten to the core." 
 
 "That is true," replied Mr. Smith. "Precedent is 
 everything to an old community. It is a clog to pro- 
 gress and a cover for incompetency and often fraud. 
 Anything new is frowned down unless a strong hand is 
 at the helm. An old wrong can be perpetrated on the
 
 SILAS COBB 135 
 
 people time and again, simply because they are used 
 to it. Try to correct it and you have to fight. Hun- 
 dreds of honest men are elected to office every year, and 
 they* begin work with high aspirations and an ambi- 
 tion to do the right thing for the people. In the tirst 
 efforts they make along these worthy lines they meet 
 with the opposition of some one who is affected by the 
 iH-w move, and he at once brings his influence to bear 
 on the office. If that isn't enough to stop him, he gets 
 all his friends to help him, and the end usually is that 
 the men who are holding public trust defer to private 
 interests. 3o these men who meant to go right and do 
 right find themselves conforming to the natural law, 
 and they move along the line of least resistance. 
 'What's the use,' they think, 'of going against the 
 people? If they want me to do this way, why need I 
 care? Am I not their servant, and ought I not to do 
 as they wish me to do?' 
 
 "So they argue themselves into believing that they 
 are doing right, and that these self-interested people 
 who protest against their acts are the whole people. 
 They are willing to do as they, the interested voters, 
 want them to. Why? Because the remainder of the 
 voters don't care a rap. Most public officers are like a 
 schoolma'am I heard of over in Superintendent 
 Slowly's county. She had been foolishly teaching 
 that the world was round, to the chagrin of the school 
 board and most of the patrons. When she was called 
 up before the indignant school board, and an explana- 
 tion of her degeneracy demanded, she frankly abjured 
 her theory of the rotundity of the earth's shape, and 
 told them she would henceforth hold to the pancake 
 idea; thus she avoided a conflict with authority. 
 
 "Silas, I am a firm believer in the predomination of
 
 136 SILAS COBB 
 
 the good, always providing, however, that a good man 
 is at the head to help out in a pinch. And I'll tell 
 you another thing, too, that I believe in. The harder 
 you try to hold an office term after term, the less 
 liable you are to succeed. A fellow gets to catering 
 to this and that and makes a perfect ass of himself, and 
 the people gradually catch on to the fact. That is, a 
 few of them do, and they tell their thicker-headed 
 brothers about it. So, in time, he loses his job. On 
 the other hand, here is what has happened to me. I 
 came into this office practically under protest. I had 
 a good place and didn't need this one. Well, I was 
 independent, and I took some pleasure in telling a few 
 fellows who tried to dictate the policy of the office 
 with a threat of defeat for the second term, that I 
 didn't care a rap for their support; I was only serving 
 the people by special request, and would be glad to 
 quit any time they got tired of my services. Then I 
 would laughingly ask them if they had a message from 
 the people to me to that effect. So things went on 
 that way, and gradually it became a well-known fact 
 among the people that I didn't particularly care for 
 the office. When some one would raise the question 
 about my wanting a second election, there was always 
 some fellow there to say, 'Well, you can't work no 
 bluff on him, he doesn't care a snap for the office and 
 wouldn't turn his hand over for it.' Strange as it may 
 seem, the perversity of human nature makes men do 
 things by contraries. There's quite sure to be another 
 fellow in the crowd who is also an independent lance, 
 and he naturally admires a fearless man, but he rather 
 likes to force things himself, so he says: 'That's just 
 the kind of a man we want some one who is not 
 afraid to act fearlessly on any subject that may arise
 
 SILAS COBB 137 
 
 for fear he might lose a vote or two.' You know what 
 sort of an administration I have had over here. It has 
 been as cold-blooded, so far as hewing to the line is 
 concerned, as anything could be. I felt sure when I 
 started out that one term would be sufficient to give 
 the people a surfeit of me. What's the result? I 
 couldn't get off making a second campaign, and I had 
 more votes than ever. I account for it largely on the 
 ground that the ordinary man, when not personally 
 interested, likes to see a public office run vigorously 
 and honestly. He gets sore if lie sees that an officer 
 can be managed by some neighbor of his with whom 
 he is not on good terms. In fact, all the republican 
 voters I lost last year on account of having to sit on 
 them souie time or other during my term, were counter- 
 balanced by their envious democratic neighbors who 
 thought I was a man of great discernment. They had 
 had to sit on these same fellows long ago, and it 
 pleased them to know I endorsed their act, apparently." 
 
 The more they discussed the matter the better Silas 
 felt. He could not help feeling with his constituents 
 every disappointment they felt, but this talk with 
 Superintendent Smith braced him up and he felt better 
 about it. He was sure he was right, but one needs 
 sympathy and encouragement when facing trials, great 
 or small. A lot of small trials are more wearing, too, 
 than a few large ones. 
 
 Silas went home full of determination to fight it out 
 along the lines he had laid down. 
 
 The experiences that Superintendent Cobb met with 
 are common in all counties where the superintendent 
 follows a similar course, and has been preceded in 
 office by a man like Professor Littleman. In many 
 counties at the present time, such conditions are
 
 138 SILAS COBB 
 
 unknown for the simple reason that there has been a 
 long line of strong men in office, each adding to the 
 strength and virtue of the work done by his prede- 
 cessor. In such a county few people aspire to be 
 teachers who have not had considerable preparation, 
 and if they fail to pass, that ends the matter.
 
 CHAPTER XXIX. 
 
 THAT afternoon when Silas got back to his office 
 he had a call from Caleb Fisher. That gentle- 
 man came in, deeply absorbed in something, and 
 as Silas' greeting brought him back to the earth again, 
 he found it necessary to take a turn around the room 
 once, and not finding a spittoon in sight he passed out 
 into the hall. No man, even though he be as brief as 
 Caleb Fisher, could handle his tongue submerged in a 
 pint, more or less, of tobacco juice. He came back 
 into the office ready for business. Life was a serious 
 matter with Caleb. He never smiled or said an extra 
 word if he could avoid it. 
 
 "Howdy." 
 
 This was in answer to Silas' former greeting. He 
 always took everything in courses, and did one thing 
 at a time. 
 
 "What can I do for you to-day, Mr. Fisher?" 
 
 "Want t' git a teacher." 
 
 "Oh!" replied Silas. 
 
 "Yep." 
 
 "Whom do you want?" 
 
 "Julie Howe." 
 
 "Oh! (This time rather surprised.) I don't think 
 you can get her, Mr. Fisher." 
 
 "Why?" 
 
 "Don't think she is going to teach this year." 
 
 "Why?" 
 
 "She has not told me, but I think I am right." 
 
 "We want her anyhow!" 
 
 "I have another teacher I can send you though, Mr. 
 Fisher."
 
 140 SILAS COBB 
 
 "Don't want any other." 
 
 "I fear you can't get Miss Howe." 
 
 "She asked me fer the school." 
 
 "When?" 
 
 "Las' spring." 
 
 "Oh! that's quite different now." 
 
 "Why?" 
 
 "Well, Mr. Fisher, I see you are a warm friend and 
 believer in Miss Howe, and I am glad of it. You* are 
 a school officer and have a right to know why you 
 can't get her. She has failed to pass the examination." 
 
 Caleb got up and took another turn around the 
 room, and making sure for the second time no spittoon 
 was to be found, he put his head out of the open win- 
 dow and aimed at a wheelbarrow in the yard below. 
 He looked pleased when he came back to his seat, so 
 Silas assumed that he hit his mark. He sat down, and 
 after due reflection said: 
 
 "Oh!" 
 
 "Yes," replied Silas, "and I am very sorry. She is 
 a good girl." 
 
 "Middlin'." 
 
 "You like her as a teacher very much, I suppose?" 
 
 "Middlin'." 
 
 "Do you want the other teacher I mentioned to 
 you?" 
 
 "Middlin' oh I mean er what did ye say?" 
 
 "Do you want Miss Young, the other teacher I told 
 you about?" 
 
 "I reckon." 
 
 "All right; when shall I tell her to come?" 
 
 "Nex' week Monday." 
 
 "All right, Mr. Fisher, I will send her out." He
 
 SILAS COBB Hi 
 
 vouchsafed no reply, but stalked out and down the 
 stairs. 
 
 Silas would have given a great deal to know what 
 was in his heart. Caleb Fisher was a philosopher, and 
 although he went about looking like a tramp, he was 
 wise, or passed as being so, far beyond his neighbors. 
 
 Wheu Caleb hired Miss Young, the people were very 
 much surprised, for they had all expressed a preference 
 for "Julie" Howe, as they all called her. Caleb only 
 answered their inquiries with the brief statement, 
 "Can't git her," and that ended it. No one ever 
 attempted to cross-examine Caleb Fisher. Silas won- 
 dered if the old man would give the reason for his 
 failure, and was pleased to learn later that he had not. 
 He evidently understood that he had forced Silas to 
 give his reason, and from that fact reasoned that Silas 
 wanted it kept a secret. Or he might have understood 
 that it would injure Miss Howe's reputation as a 
 teacher. At any rate he kept all reflections on the sub- 
 ject to himself.
 
 CHAPTER XXX. 
 
 ON a bright September morning Silas started out 
 on a tour of inspection, or visits, according to 
 the current vernacular, to the different schools 
 of the county. He drove out to old Henry Hoggs' 
 home in time for dinner, and was met by Mr. Boggs 
 at the barn-yard gate, where it became that worthy 
 gentleman's duty to club away the irrepressible swine, 
 as Silas had done on that notable evening of the day 
 Mr. Boggs had made his speech before the committee. 
 "Howdy, Silas! I'm mighty glad t' see ye son. Drive 
 right in now an' git out dad drat them plagued hogs! 
 Now come on, quick! Burn me ef I don't pen up 
 these shoats an' git rid uv 'em. Been lettin' 'em run 
 out t' git a little mast along the crick bottoms." 
 
 "Mr. Boggs," said Silas, after the fight with the 
 * "razor-backs" ended and the gate was closed, I 
 couldn't resist coming out for a little visit with you 
 and Mrs. Boggs. Just want to visit with you some 
 for old time's sake, you know." 
 
 "That's right, Silas, my boy; ye don't want t' fergit 
 the old folks. We've been a wishin' ye'd come out 
 fer some time back. Wanted t' know how ye've been 
 gittin' on, too." 
 
 Then followed a long talk, in which Silas related all 
 his experiences with his examinations and politicians. 
 Mr. Boggs listened with many exclamations of sur- 
 
 *The breed of hogs around Mr. Boggs' gate is common to southern 
 Illinois and Indiana, especially Indiana. It is a native of the soil, and 
 resembles it in quality. It is usually poor and hungry and its long snout 
 and thin appearance accounts for its nickname of "razor-back." In 
 some localities it is called "elm-peeler" just why is not known, unless 
 it arose from its marvelous ability as a rooter or "peeler" of the 
 meadows suggested probably by the native boys who enjoy chewing 
 sljppery-elm bark, which they peel from the young trees,
 
 SILAS COBB U3 
 
 prise, but when Silas ceased, the old man did not 
 seem to be quite satisfied something had been omitted 
 which he wanted to hear about, so he said: "Silas, ye 
 hain't said a word 'bout Julie Howe. How be that 
 young lady now, an' is it a fact ye've refused her a 
 certif-i-kate?" 
 
 "Yes," replied Silas, "I had to do it; I thought, and 
 some how, Mr. Boggs, I feel rather badly about it. 
 There seems to be something about it that troubles my 
 conscience. If she had remained like she was at the 
 beginning, thoughtless and frivolous, I should not feel 
 that I had made a mistake, but she has changed so 
 completely, and seems so serious and earnest, and even 
 frank to admit her weakness, that I don't know 
 whether, after all, she should not have been given 
 another chance. But the deed is done and cannot be 
 recalled, right or wrong. What do you think about 
 it, Mr. Boggs?" 
 
 "Miss Alger wuz over here las' week an' wuz a 
 tellin' Mrs. Boggs 'bout how Julie had gone off t' 
 school an' how she wuz dif'runt from what she wuz'," 
 said Mr. Boggs, "an' blame me! Silas, I feel 'bout like 
 you. The gal shorely shows lots uv sense an' energy, 
 from what Miss Alger told me and my ole woman." 
 
 "Is it a fact that she has gone away to school, Mr. 
 Boggs?" asked Silas. 
 
 "It shorely is, Silas, fer Miss Alger told us that her 
 cousin lives next door t' Widder Howe, an' she got the 
 news from one uv Julie's little brothers. He said they 
 had a mighty hard time gittin' the money, too, an' do 
 ye know, Si, I jest wanted t' go an' see that gal an' 
 offer t' loan her 'nough money t' gradeate her at school. 
 Blamed ef I didn't! But Miss Alger says they's 
 mighty proud, an' it's not shore they would borrow
 
 144 SILAS COBB 
 
 when they have nothiu' in sight t' pay back with. 
 Julie an' her ma don't seem t' tell their troubles, an' 
 uothin' is kuowed about it, 'ceptin' what the boy told. 
 Si, do ye think ye could manage t' tell her when ye 
 see her agin that old Boggs would be mighty glad t' 
 loan her some money t' pay her schoolin' 'thout 
 interest, an' she could pay it back when she got back 
 teachin' agin?" 
 
 "That's not a bad idea, Mr. Boggs, but if she is 
 away it will probably be a long time before either of 
 us could see her. Besides, I have no idea just how I 
 could present the matter to her. It is rather a delicate 
 subject, yet I do heartily approve of your generous 
 motive." 
 
 "Shucks, Si, don't need t' mention it t' me. Me'n 
 the old woman's got 'nuff t' do us longer'n we'll ever 
 be needin' it. 'Sides, it'd be helpin' the gal t' git 
 eddicated." 
 
 That afternoon Silas visited Miss Josephine Alger's 
 school in No. 6. She was probably as good in country 
 school work as any other teacher in southern Illinois. 
 When Silas drove up to the schoolhouse he was im- 
 pressed with the general appearance of the grounds. 
 Everything looked neat and carefully kept. There 
 were young trees, with here and there a bunch of 
 shrubbery, and along by the schoolhouse wall was a bed 
 of pansies. There were no broken sticks and boards 
 lying around in the playground. 
 
 When Silas stepped into the little hall and cloak- 
 room, he found the same neatness displayed there. 
 Instead of an indiscriminate mass of wraps, caps, din- 
 ner pails, etc., that is a common sight in the average 
 school cloak-room, there was a neat row of caps and 
 bonnets, and above them a long shelf covered with
 
 SILAS COBB us 
 
 newspapers with scalloped edges, 011 which the dinner 
 pails were placed. The pile of rubbish common to 
 such places was missing. 
 
 On entering the schoolroom proper, he found a 
 bright, cheery prospect before him. In a window, 
 standing in the sunshine, were two or thi'ee geraniums 
 in bloom. On the teacher's desk was a bouquet of 
 pansies from the bed by the side of the schoolhouse. 
 Here and there on the walls were simple and appro- 
 priate decorations. Everything looked cheerful and 
 cozy. The floor was clean from many gcrubbings, and 
 the almost ever-present schoolroom dust could scarcely 
 be detected anywhere. It was a lovely room, though 
 simple, and the delightful autumn breezes came quiver- 
 ing thi-ough a yellow cornfield near by, through the 
 mullein stalks and goldeurods of the parched pasture 
 lands, and on through the open windows, laden with 
 the breath of ripening corn and the song of the cricket, 
 shedding blessings on the happy children and teacher. 
 The effect of these beautiful surroundings and the 
 influence of a loving heart on that school were appar- 
 ent at a glance. The pupils were clean and well- 
 mannered, and did not stare Silas out of countenance, 
 as pupils are wont to do. 
 
 "How have you been able to make your surround- 
 ings so delightful, Miss Alger?" said Silas, after his 
 first greeting. He spoke in a tone of voice that 
 reached every pupil in the schoolroom. Miss Alger 
 blushed at this, and it seemed to wipe out the lines of 
 care that time had placed in her face, and Silas won- 
 dered why he had always thought her plain. 
 
 "I can scarcely tell you, Mr. Cobb," she said, 
 
 "unless you will take the plain statement that we just 
 
 10 simply did it with our hands. It isn't much to do.
 
 146 SILAS COBB 
 
 Any one can do it. In truth, you must not credit me 
 with doing it, but rather these boys and girls here. 
 They scrub this floor every other night, and dust 
 every nook and corner every day. You see it is easy 
 when I have some one to do the work for me." 
 
 "Oh, Mr. Cobb," spoke up Miss Becky Stewart, 
 who sat in the back seat on the girls' side, "Miss Josie 
 helps do it all. She does most of it. Course us girls 
 and boys help, but you just ought to see how she finds 
 dirt after us." Then a lad chimed in, and still 
 another, till Miss "Josie" was overwhelmed with their 
 compliments. It was all nice! Suppose the delighted 
 and loving pupils did speak up without being asked? 
 It was in a good cause, and it was orderly and polite. 
 Then why not? Had not the superintendent come to 
 bring good cheer and encouragement? Was it not 
 good for them all to enter into a little chat about a 
 very big subject? Isn't there too much stiffness about 
 schools in general, and would it not be better if the 
 pupils were allowed a chance to learn to be ladies and 
 gentlemen? 
 
 "Miss Alger," continued Silas, "I cannot say too 
 much in praise of the general appearance of your 
 schoolgrounds and room. I have never seen anything 
 quite equaling it in my life, anywhere. You are 
 instilling into the minds of your pupils some of the 
 most important lessons of life. Such taste and neat- 
 ness displayed in the decorations of this room are of 
 great importance. This school is to be doubly con- 
 gratulated; first, in having you as a teacher, and sec- 
 ond, in thoroughly appreciating you and following 
 your leadership. Now please tell me how you manage 
 to keep your playgrounds and outbuildings in such a 
 neat condition?"
 
 S CORB u? 
 
 "If you will permit me, Mr. Cobb, I will call on 
 Captain Jenkins to explain that to you, as he is 
 responsible largely for that work," replied Miss Alger, 
 smiling. 
 
 "Certainly, Miss Alger, "said Silas, rather surprised, 
 as all eyes were centered on a fourteen-year-old lad in 
 the back seat. Captain Jenkins, almost bursting with 
 pride, yet greatly confused, was urged in an encour- 
 aging tone of voice to tell all about it. "Course," he 
 said, "there isn't much to tell about it. Miss Alger 
 appointed me captain because I made the highest 
 average in deportment for the term, and my duty is to 
 direct the work of cleaning the schoolgrounds and 
 house, and she gave me a plan to give credit marks to 
 my men for doing the work. We plant the trees, 
 flowers and shrubbery during the spring term, and the 
 llowers we take care of much as we can during the 
 vacation. But when school begins we clear off all the 
 weeds and get everything washed up in good shape 
 during the first week. We have quite a lot of stuff 
 growing in our beds that we have gathered up in our 
 botanical excursions. Then, too, we have gathered 
 all those insects in that case over there. That is not 
 done under me, though. I have charge of the play- 
 grounds at recess. I have several officers under me 
 who help manage things. All boards, ball clubs and 
 other things we may have to play with are always put 
 away on a shelf in the coal-house when the bell rings. 
 Every other afternoon in the spring and fall we wash 
 the flooi-. There are so many of us it only takes 
 us twenty minutes to do the job after the pupils all get 
 out. Then we wipe with damp cloths all the window- 
 sills, desks, and every point where dust accumulates, 
 every day after school closes. That keeps our room
 
 148 SILAS COBB 
 
 fresh and clean and we all feel better. I believe that 
 is all I can think of to tell about." 
 
 Over in the third seat from the front on the boys' 
 side, little Willie Sharp now vigorously snapped his 
 fingers and held up a reasonably clean hand. 
 
 "Well, what is it Willie?" asked Miss Alger. 
 
 "I jist got ten credits to-day noon, teacher, and I'm 
 a lootenant now. Capt'n 'pointed me while you was 
 ringin' the bell." His face was all aglow with happi- 
 ness, and it is safe to say that few mortals in mature 
 life ever reach the pinnacle of happiness that little 
 Willie did at that moment, when Superintendent Cobb 
 smiled on him, and told him he was a brave boy, and 
 one who he was sure would never disgrace his position 
 by any misdeeds. And didn't it make little Willie a 
 better boy? 
 
 "Captain Jenkins," asked Mr. Cobb, "what do you 
 do when some one of your men won't work, or take 
 any interest in your flowers, shrubs and trees? Do 
 you attempt to make them take part?" 
 
 "Oh no, Mr. Cobb. We wouldn't do that, for Miss 
 Alger don't even make us do it. Every boy in 
 school is glad to do it. The better he does 
 his work the more credits he gets, and the boy that 
 didn't work wouldn't have much fun, for this is like 
 being men, and doing things like men do them. 
 Then all the boys want to be captain some day, and the 
 only way to be captain is to win credits in doing good 
 work." 
 
 "How about the girls, Miss Alger; do you have a 
 similar organization among them?" asked Silas. 
 
 "We used to, Mr. Cobb, but the whole school now 
 works on the same plan together, and the honors are 
 about equally divided between the sexes. I am the
 
 SILAS COBB 149 
 
 high judge to whom all hard questions of law and 
 equity are referred, and one of our rules provides that 
 an officer may be removed from office for conduct 
 unbecoming a gentleman or a lady. This rule has a 
 splendid effect on us all in making us control our 
 tempers, and act with reason and justice. To begin 
 with, many were removed from office and had to begin 
 at the bottom again, but now it has been a year since 
 the last officer was removed for unbecoming conduct. 
 It is a great educator and we are ever so much better 
 now than we were. In the beginning we often got 
 angry on the playgrounds and quarreled, but nothing 
 but demerit marks came from it and now we scarcely 
 ever get angry. When we do we keep still. We used 
 to have dirty faces now and then, which also was only 
 good to get us demerited, so we now almost always have 
 clean faces and hands. All the little courtesies due 
 each other are subjects for our careful attention, and 
 it does seem that we have greatly improved, The gov- 
 ernment of the school is now easy as all the pupils here, 
 even the little fellows, are imbued with enthusiasm and 
 ambition to reach a high place in the government." 
 
 That afternoon when the work of the classes was 
 finished, Miss Alger tapped her bell and the pupils 
 laid away their books and slates, etc., in their desks 
 very methodically and without haste. At another 
 tap they turned facing the aisle, and at another they 
 stood, and at still another the columns filed through the 
 cloak-rooms. As it was warm weather they had no 
 wraps and it was not necessary for them to pass back 
 to their seats. Instead they filed outside. As Silas 
 glanced over the vacant room, he was pleased to note that 
 there was not a book nor anything used by the pupils 
 visible any where. He had scarcely taken note of all
 
 150 SILAS COBB 
 
 this before his attention was directed to Captain Jen- 
 kins, who had marshaled his men outside, and eight of 
 them entered the room again. Each of the first three 
 carried a pail of water. The other five had brooms. 
 There was no noise or hurry, their movements being 
 precise and very business-like. The boys with the 
 water distributed it over the floor, and the five with 
 brooms came after them. In less than ten minutes the 
 water, with two or three more pails added, was all 
 swept out at the door. While the sweepers were at 
 work, four girls, headed by Becky Stewart, followed 
 with damp cloths, and dusted all the desks, table, and 
 window-sills. The windows were all up, and the warm 
 September wind dried the floor rapidly. 
 
 The work was all done, and the children were troop- 
 ing joyously off home along the hills and creek 
 bottoms within twenty minutes from the time school 
 was dismissed. 
 
 Silas and Miss Alger had been witnesses of the work 
 from a side window by the pansy bed. They were 
 still standing there amid the songs of the crickets and 
 katy-dids, fanned by the delightful autumn breezes, as 
 the last of Captain Jenkins and his men disappeared 
 along the lane bordered with trees of many-colored 
 foliage. The absence of the children seemed to be a 
 signal for all those insects that plaintively sing the 
 death song of summer to begin, and their sad hum- 
 ming noise seemed to drive away thoughts of the pres- 
 ent and leave one in a reflective mood. Miss Alger 
 knelt by the pansy bed and plucked a bunch of the 
 largest flowers. While she was engaged at this self- 
 appointed task, Silas noticed her thin hands and plain 
 face, somewhat lined by the passing years. He 
 noticed her thin and small figure as she knelt there by
 
 SILAS COBB 1*1 
 
 him, and could not help thinking of all the years she 
 had toiled and suffered almost unnoticed, because she 
 was plain and unassuming. He saw that all her 
 youth and beauty had been laid as an offering at the 
 feet of the people, and they had accepted it as a matter 
 of fact, because, forsooth, they paid for it. They did 
 not know nor appreciate that all they got had not been 
 paid for, neither could money buy it. They had not 
 paid her for the heart and life that went from her 
 to those pupils. They had simply paid for her 
 knowledge of the multiplication table and similar 
 qualifications, but the real things of value they knew 
 not of, nor appreciated. The great lessons of love and 
 life she taught were not laid down in her text-books, 
 but they emanated from a heart that had been nour- 
 ished at the bosom of Mother Earth, and had grown 
 so strong and natural that it took in the whole world 
 with love and pity love for its virtues and pity for its 
 frailties. 
 
 She arose from her kneeling position with a bunch 
 of pansies which she began to arrange into a bouquet. 
 
 '^Miss Alger," said Silas feelingly, as he stood 
 watching her, "I want you to know that I appreciate 
 you and your work probably better than any of your 
 legion of acquaintances, and I appreciate it so much 
 that I am sure I shall not find words sufficiently strong 
 to do you justice. You have put your life into your 
 work, and while these people will never be able to half 
 appreciate all you have given them, yet the good you 
 have done these children is a sufficient reward. Your 
 influence will have a decided effect on their future. I 
 know I have much to credit to you myself. I feel 
 better and stronger for having seen your work and
 
 152 SILAS COBB 
 
 been with you this afternoon. I can better help 
 others, now that you have helped me." 
 
 Miss Alger stood there full of suppressed emotion as 
 she received the first really intelligent compliment she 
 had ever heard on her work from a man able to judge. 
 The lovely pausies in her hands shook in spite of her, 
 and the tears gathered in her eyes. The man she 
 admired and respected most of all her acquaintances 
 had praised her work. It seemed worth all her years 
 of labor and sacrifice unnoticed, to hear him, of all 
 others, tell her so. Yet she tried to laugh as she said: 
 "You are worthy of these, Mr. Cobb, and I will pin 
 them on your coat as a token of rny great respect for 
 you and appreciation of your compliment. I prize it 
 very much much more than you can imagine. There, 
 now! and I will pin one on myself decorate myself 
 with flowers, in celebration of the day of my greatest 
 happiness, for you must know, Mr. Cobb, that was 
 the first compliment ever passed on my work by a 
 county superintendent. You can now better appre- 
 ciate my childish delight, for I have starved for a 
 word only a word, you know, of assurance that I was 
 doing right for many a long year. You will pin it? 
 if you please, sir. How a kind word changes the 
 whole prospect of life thank you, Mr. Cobb," and 
 her trembling little hand crept into his, where it was 
 sure to find warmth and sympathy. 
 
 At that moment there was nothing plain in her face. 
 It was lit up with the light that comes only from a 
 great, loving heart that feels a kindly interest in the 
 whole human race, both weak and strong alike. 
 
 "You love your work, Miss Alger, for its own sake. 
 Your heart is wrapped up in your task. That is why 
 you have done it so well. All masterpieces in litera-
 
 SILAS COBB 
 
 ture, art or mechanics, have been produced by men 
 who did it for the pure love of doing it. If one does 
 not like his work, his success will be very mediocre. 
 Time-servers barely eke out an existence. It is possi- 
 ble to develop a love in our hearts for quality which 
 will leave us happy and bring out all the good that is 
 in us, even though our task be very humble. I once 
 knew a boot-black who gained a reputation as wide as 
 that of the governor of his own state, only in a differ- 
 ent line. He did not like shoe-polishing at first, but 
 he did his work fairly well, and one day a jolly, good- 
 hearted traveling man told him he did his work splen- 
 didly, and if he would put more heart into it he would 
 find many people who would appreciate it, and go out 
 of their way to get his services. This encouragement 
 awakened a new desire, and new brain cells were built 
 up along that line of thought. In time he got to tak- 
 ing the keenest delight in seeing the shoe take on a 
 glossy surface. His heart began to enter into his 
 work, and as it did a wonderful change for the better 
 took place. In a short time traveling men began to 
 take notice of his work and speak about it. "Where 
 did you get that 'shine'?" some one would ask. 
 "Harvey put that on the black boy at the Capitol 
 hotel. Isn't it perfect?" So Harvey's reputation 
 spread over the state, and as commercial travelers do 
 not recognize state boundaries, it went beyond, and I 
 heard him spoken of often and made quite a subject of 
 discussion a thousand miles away from his town, all 
 because he put his heart into his work and did it better 
 than his fellows. Commercial travelers from all other 
 hotels, where there were boot-blacks a plenty (time- 
 servers), would go over to the Capitol hotel to get
 
 154 SILAS COBB 
 
 Harvey to shine their shoes. But I fear I am keeping 
 you rather late, Miss Alger." 
 
 "Oh no! you are not, Mr. Cobb. I enjoy your talk 
 ever so much." 
 
 Silas untied his horse, and turning to her, laugh- 
 ingly said: "This is Blaze-face, Miss Alger, and I 
 think you will like each other as you grow better 
 acquainted. The rascal seems to have a preference for 
 the ladies and apples, especially apples. But with 
 these mild faults, he is the most sensible animal in this 
 county, so Mr. Boggs says. Come, get your hat, and 
 I will take you to your boarding place so Blaze-face 
 can show off his good points."
 
 CHAPTER XXX L 
 
 A FEW weeks after Silas Lad visited Miss Alger's 
 school he had a caller from that district. Mrs. 
 Willoby had moved into the district the year 
 before, and had entered into the life of the district at 
 once with avidity. She had taught school back in the 
 woods of Indiana and Ohio, and what she didn't know 
 about the business, from her point of view, wouldn't 
 make a primer. She came into Superintendent Cobb's 
 office with an air of importance quite befitting her 
 state of mind, and after a few common-place words of 
 greeting, she set forth the object of her visit: 
 
 "Mr. Cobb, I feel it my duty to lay before you the 
 state of affairs in our school. Before I begin, perhaps 
 it will be well for me to explain to you that I am an 
 old teacher, myself. I have taught school in two 
 states, and a dozen different counties, and probably 
 twenty different schools. I have recommendations 
 from seven county superintendents, and my work 
 has been commended by hundreds of patrons. My 
 specially strong point, if I have any one stronger than 
 another, is the proper disciplining along the lines of 
 culture and good manners. My family was of gentle 
 tock, and I suppose I inherit that taste. So you see, 
 Mr. Cobb, I am quite able to see the weak points in 
 our school, and I feel it my duty to come to you at 
 once, as there is no one else in our district really 
 capable of making a clear statement of the trouble." 
 
 Silas had not taken his eyes from her face, and she 
 was yet very favorably impressed with herself when 
 she paused for breath.
 
 156 SILAS COBB 
 
 "Go on, Mrs. Willoby, and state your trouble," said 
 Silas. 
 
 ''Well, it is just this," she said. "That Miss Alger 
 has not been conducting her school as she ought to. I 
 told her so last year, and Mr. Littleman told me to tell 
 her, but it did no good whatever. She just smiled 
 and thanked me and went on just as before. I came 
 up here to see the Professor two weeks after we moved 
 into the district and bought our present farm, and I 
 told him then, in very plain language, that I did not 
 send my boy to school to learn to scrub and clean the 
 schoolgrounds. The very idea is revolting to a refined 
 taste, and the Professor said so, too. He said I ought 
 to go right up and have it stopped. I told the director 
 about it, but he as good as insulted me then and there. 
 Said something about it not going to hurt my son to 
 learn to scrub, and I just turned my back on him, and 
 have shown him several times since that it doesn't pay 
 to insult a lady of family. What I want you to do, 
 Mr. Cobb, is to revoke that old maid's certificate, or 
 have her put out of that school. I just won't have any 
 such low-down proceedings going on there. We own 
 more property and pay more taxes than any one else 
 there, and ought to have a say about how our school is 
 to be taught." 
 
 "Mrs. Willoby," replied Silas, "I am pained and 
 surprised to hear you speak the way you have. There 
 is not a sweeter or more noble-minded woman living 
 than Miss Alger. If there ever lived a person 
 with a more practical and intelligent idea of 
 what is proper in a schoolroom than she has, I have 
 never had the pleasure of meeting her. One or the 
 other of us is entirely wrong in our estimate of her 
 school work, for I hold the highest opinion of it. She
 
 SILAS COBB 157 
 
 comes the nearest to my ideal teacher of any one I ever 
 knew. 
 
 "Did I ever in my life hear the like!" exclaimed Mrs. 
 Willoby, now in a flutter. "I thought from your 
 refined appearance, Mr. Cobb, you would be a man of 
 refined tastes. I am perfectly amazed!" 
 
 "My dear Mrs. Willoby," replied Silas, rather 
 seriously, looking her straight in the eyes, "our stand- 
 ards are different, that is all. You ought not to 
 trouble yourself over that. Your ideals are not like 
 mine, so, of course, we cannot appreciate the same 
 things. I do not feel amazed by your insinuation that 
 I am coarse in my tastes, because I see you honestly 
 believe that. We must learn to be patient with one 
 another. You have not understood Miss Alger at all. 
 Her high ideals and motives are easily discovered if 
 you look for them. I fear, Mi's. Willoby, you have 
 only seen what seem to be faults, and have made them 
 so large that you cannot see her virtues. Now, to take 
 up the criticism you offer, let us consider the aim of 
 education. You mentioned one of the cardinal points 
 yourself, one in which, you say you have obtained pro- 
 ficiency. No one can attach too much importance to 
 the culture of the mind, as to matters of social relations 
 among men. But that is not the only important 
 feature. The child should be taught to do well every- 
 thing he does, or will have to do in after life. Miss 
 Alger not only teaches the matter pertaining to text- 
 books, but she teaches neatness and accuracy in every 
 act of the pupil. He is taught cleanliness, both in 
 person and surroundings. This you seem to object to. 
 Your school board does not pay for a janitor. Miss 
 Alger is perfectly willing to do the janitor's work, but 
 she has adopted a method of having her pupils assist
 
 158 SILAS COBB 
 
 her, and even this she works into a valuable lesson, 
 and makes it seem like play to the children. She is so 
 careful in keeping the schoolroom neat and clean that 
 the pupils acquire, after a few years, such tastes along 
 those lines that the effect can be noticed at home by 
 the general appearance of the premises. I have partic- 
 ularly noticed this in No. 6. Miss Alger has taught 
 that school nearly four years, and I assure you I can 
 tell when driving through that neighborhood just 
 where the boundaries of No. 6 begin and end by the 
 neatly kept farmyards and houses. Miss Alger not 
 only keeps her own premises looking well, but she 
 inspires the children to see that things are kept nice at 
 home. Now you will pardon me, I am sure, Mrs. 
 Willoby, for making a personal application in this 
 case. I do it with the kindest intent, for I want to 
 bring you and Miss Alger together. Such talented 
 women as you are ought to work together. Now, to 
 go on. You have not lived in No. 6 yet one year, and 
 four mouths of that was during vacation time. I 
 passed through the neighborhood a few weeks ago, and 
 was particularly attracted by the neat appearance of 
 the barnyards and the grassy lawns around the houses. 
 All of it could be traced to the efforts of Miss Alger's 
 pupils. They come home from school and see to it 
 themselves that rubbish and pieces of board are 
 gathered up and burned, or put out of sight. They 
 mend broken fences and walks, and keep down the 
 weeds. This the pupils do as a matter of pride. It is 
 a little bit of disgrace for a pupil to live with such 
 signs of carelessness around him. As I drove on I 
 saw quite a number of homes almost perfectly kept, 
 considering the opportunity, but at last I came to one 
 that showed signs of much neglect. I said to myself,
 
 SILAS COBB 
 
 159 
 
 'This must be No. 5.' It did not look like a home 
 where an Alger boy or girl lived. The barn-yard was 
 littered up with sticks, pieces of boards, an old broken 
 hay-rake, a broken plow, and various other rubbish 
 common to most barn-yards outside of No. 6. The 
 
 "J came to one that showed signs of much neglect.'' 
 
 lawn around the house had patches of weeds in it, and 
 a broken slat or two could be seen in the fence. The 
 walk was also broken and out of repair. In short, no 
 Alger boy lived there, I thought. But to my surprise, 
 Mrs. Willoby, and I hope you will pardon my seeming 
 rudeness in mentioning it; this place, as you no doubt 
 have recognized, was your own, and your boy, whom 
 you think above learning to scrub and clean up his
 
 160 SILAS COBB 
 
 own litter at school, lives daily in these surroundings 
 unconscious of them, because, in my opinion, you have 
 over-shadowed Miss Alger's influence over him. Now 
 what I hope is that you will go yourself, and look at 
 Miss Alger's school. Just stay a day and watch them 
 work heart and soul at whatever they are set to do. 
 You cannot help seeing the far-reaching influence of 
 her methods. I have seen them everywhere. You 
 have lost their effect because you have misunderstood 
 Miss Alger, and I hope you will see for yourself that 
 these things I tell you ai-e true." 
 
 By this time Mrs. Willoby was left stranded in a 
 perfect calm. What could she say, and how could she 
 answer him? She knew her place was just as he had 
 described it, and she remembered having asked her hus- 
 band one day, as they drove to Cowville, why other 
 people had such pretty places who didn't have half the 
 wealth they had. But she had never dreamed that all 
 this was due to Miss Alger's school. She could not 
 feel hurt toward Mr. Cobb, because he was so kind and 
 considerate and honest; yet it all hurt her pride. She 
 wanted him to think her gentle and well-bred. She 
 had told him she was. She must live up to it, so she 
 said: "Mr. Cobb, I am very glad to have had you talk 
 this way to me. It has hurt me a little my pride, I 
 suppose, but I am going to visit the school and see for 
 myself, as you suggested. If you are not mistaken, I 
 have surely misjudged the effect of her methods." 
 
 That ended the matter. The next time Silas heard 
 from No. 6, Mrs. Willoby and Miss Alger were friends, 
 and Willoby's back-yard, as well as front, had been 
 cleaned, and the last eyesore of No. 6 had been removed.
 
 CHAPTER XXXH. 
 
 CONDITIONS change so rapidly in this country 
 that a man of middle age often finds himself 
 marveling at the great stride of progress made 
 since he was a boy. Even Brush county, Illinois, can- 
 not now boast of a school like the one Andy Weaver 
 taught down on Brush Creek, back in the ''eighties." 
 It was one of the old-fashioned, rough-and-ready schools 
 that delighted in locking out the teacher and keeping 
 him out until the demand for a treat of some kind was 
 granted. It took more muscle than brains to teach such 
 a school, and the contest was never a one-sided affair. 
 The combats often ended in the teacher being thrown 
 out and given a good pounding by the big boys of the 
 school. During the winter that Andy Weaver took 
 the school in hand, some of these rough lads had in- 
 dulged this taste to extremes, and had thrown out two 
 teachers in as many months, which was sufficient to 
 arouse the school board to action. They seemed not to 
 bother themselves about one teacher being thrown out, 
 but when two of their selection had been ruthlessly 
 turned out into the cold world, the board sent for Andy 
 Weaver with an honest intention of checking the dis- 
 turbances. Yet, it is a fact, the whole neighborhood, 
 with a few exceptions, took some pride in the strength 
 and prowess of these rough lads. The school board 
 employed teachers on a principle foreign t3 the true 
 theory of what a teacher ought to be. They asked no 
 questions about his qualifications intellectually, but 
 they examined him critically on his physical strength 
 and courage. No woman had ever been employed so 
 far as any one knew. What could a woman do with
 
 162 SILAS COBB 
 
 such a school? They must have a man. and a big one 
 at that, or they would have no school. 
 
 The last two teachers had given up the work after a 
 HftJnth's trial each, and finally the board employed Andy 
 Weaver to. begin where the last teacher left off. He 
 came to them highly recommended for courage and 
 strength, though he was not a large man by any means. 
 
 The first day started off very nicely, and Andy began 
 to feel that the school was not so bad after all. At 
 noon he had a very nice chat with Bill Green, the 
 leader and three or four of his associates, the boys all 
 as large as Mr. Weaver, and from seventeen to twenty 
 years old. 
 
 The afternoon recess came on before any inkling of 
 trouble showed itself. The smaller children naturally 
 looked on Bill Green as a hero, because he had thrown 
 out two former teachers, so they began to wonder if 
 Bill wasn't afraid of the new one. The truth was he 
 had rather taken a liking to Mr. Weaver, who had come 
 up to him at recess and slapped him on the back, say- 
 ing: "Well, William, how are you any way, and 
 what are you going to do next summer?" This was a 
 good start. He liked Weaver for that rough, hearty 
 slap. He seemed like a good fellow, and not like the 
 two girl-boys he had thrown out of the house. 
 
 But the little "brats," as Bill called the children, 
 spoiled it all. One little fellow, nicknamed "Dirty- 
 face," came up with the taunt, "Ye'r afeard of the new 
 teacher, ain't ye, Bill?" Then to avoid a cuff that was 
 sure to follow, he dodged around a group of girls and 
 got away, but yelled back over their heads, "Bill's 
 afeard! Bill's afeard! Looky! Bill's afeard!" The girls 
 joined the boys in their teasing and loud laughter at 
 Bill's expense.
 
 SILAS COBB 163 
 
 'Manda Brown said, "I jist hope Bill will git a good 
 poundin', and teacher kin do it too. Bill knows it. 
 That's why he keeps so still." 
 
 "Bill don't know it, nuther," retorted that young 
 man. "I kin jist tell ye now that no sich little thing 
 as that teacher is kin lick me." 
 
 "Lis'n at 'im talk," yelled little "Dirty-face" from a 
 safe distance. "Ain't he brave? Ain't he a buster? 
 Teacher '11 take him across his lap and spank Billy 
 shore for that big talk. He'll " but he had to dodge 
 around the corner of the house to escape a board Bill 
 had hurled at him, so the sentence was unfinished. 
 
 Bill's chums joined in the wrangle, and declared that 
 the teacher would have his hands full to lick all four of 
 them. 
 
 These four large boys bullied the remainder of the 
 pupils so much that they had alienated their sympathy. 
 
 Mr. Weaver had overheard all this talk and was 
 growing uneasy, and concluded he had better change 
 the conversation, so he put on his hat and went out. 
 As he did so he called to the boys that were lined up 
 against the schoolhouse, and said, "Can't we have a 
 good run, boys, before I call school? What's the matter 
 with a game of pull-away? William, let you and me 
 stand the whole school; what do you say?" Everybody 
 was delighted and gathered around the teacher talking, 
 laughing and jostling each other. Bill came up last, 
 rather reluctantly, and said, "Guess we can stau' 'em 
 all right." 
 
 Then they took their places on the base and the 
 whole school took the other base. The rush began, and 
 Bill tore down through the crowd like a hurricane, 
 catching some half dozen medium-sized boys and girls, 
 but missing the big boys, his chums. The next rush
 
 164 SILAS COBB 
 
 cleaned out all the little fellows, then began a race for 
 the ringleaders. They could run, and while Bill was a 
 master in the wrestle or combats with the fist, he was 
 not a match for some of the boys in a race. He could 
 knock down more of the little fellows in a rush when 
 the crowd was thick, but he was too awkward to head 
 off the lithe fellows. So it took four rushes to catch 
 the four big boys, and Mr. Weaver caught them all. 
 Bill fell down twice in dodging after Henry Sweet, and 
 caught nothing but a handful of sod where he measured 
 his length on the ground. Weaver thought this object 
 lesson of his prowess on the playground would have a 
 good effect, and it did on the three chums of Bill. 
 Each felt his wiry grip when he caught them, especially 
 Henry Sweet, who tried to break away. The teacher 
 pinned him so tightly in his arms he could scarcely 
 breathe. This awed him, for he saw he had met his 
 master. But Bill was sore at heart. He had not for- 
 gotten the taunts of "Dirty -face," and now to set an 
 example before the school of letting the teacher catch 
 all the big boys didn't help matters any. He felt mean 
 and ugly; yet as they went into the house Mr. Weaver 
 took hold of Bill's arm as they walked, and laughing, 
 said: "Bill, we are too much for them, aren't we? But 
 I never could have caught armsful of those little fellows 
 like you did. I declare, I believe you caught six in 
 those big arms of yours at one time. My! but you have 
 a muscle there, Bill," and as he said it he felt of his 
 muscle, and closed down on it with such force that Bill 
 came near screaming out with pain. "Say, but I wish 
 I had an arm like that." 
 
 This little incident did two things to Bill. The first 
 was to make him feel better and think the teacher a 
 pretty good fellow, and the other was the sore feeling
 
 SILAS COBB 
 
 165 
 
 about that muscle which made him respect the teacher's 
 grip. 
 
 So he took his seat the back one, which he always 
 took by force each winter when he started to school 
 feeling better and happier. He took out his slate and 
 began to "cipher," and after a few minutes' work he 
 
 " Ye'r afeard, Bill, ain't ye? Fd hate V be a coward." 
 
 happened to look up and saw "Dirty-face" looking back 
 at him, grinning like a little devil, which he really was, 
 and heard him whisper, "Ye'r afeard, Bill, ain't ye? 
 I'd hate t' be a coward." 
 
 Bill wanted to kill him then and there, and the only 
 way he could satisfy his anger was to hurl a spelling 
 book, which hit "Dirty-face" squarely in the back of 
 the head and flew off on the floor.
 
 166 SILAS COBB 
 
 Mr. Weaver saw the whole performance out of the 
 corner of his eye, and heard "Dirty-face" taunt him, 
 but he hoped to pass the day without a fight. If he 
 could have a few days he felt he would be able to 
 handle the boys without the rod. But this was not 
 destined to come to pass. The entire school knew Bill 
 had thrown the book, and as the teacher had said 
 nothing about it, their confidence in him rather weak- 
 ened, and they began to feel a little pride in Bill, and 
 envy him his ability to do as he pleased. Even 
 "Dirty-face" began to feel he wasn't a coward, and 
 his respect for him grew. Bill felt that he had made 
 a reputation for himself, and began to feel the change 
 that was creeping over the school. 'Manda Brown 
 smiled at him, and Henry Sweet looked around with 
 pride. Even "Dirty-face" changed front and began to 
 glory in Bill's courage to do a thing like that in 
 "school-time." Things were going from bad to worse. 
 Insubordination was creeping out all over the school. 
 Things too small to be noticed at first, grew and kept 
 growing until the climax was reached when the teacher 
 called the first spelling class. "Dirty-face" was a 
 member of this class, but he sat insolently in his seat, 
 and when he was asked by the teacher why he didn't 
 come to the class, he replied, "Not goiu' t' spell 
 t'-night." 
 
 "Oh, yes you are, Edward (alias "Dirty-face"). 
 Come on now and take your place. We want to have 
 a good class to-day, and I fear it would not be com- 
 plete without you. Come along now, quickly," said 
 the teacher. 
 
 "Said I'se not goin' t' spell t'-night. So there, 
 now!" replied "Dirty-face."
 
 SILAS COBB 167 
 
 "I hope you won't make me come after you, 
 Edward?" 
 
 ''Ye kin come ef ye want t'. Nobody's holdin' ye 
 back I guess." 
 
 Mr. Weaver got up and walked back to Edward's 
 seat and took hold of his arm to take him out, but 
 Edward commenced to fight and scratch like a cat. In 
 the midst of th scuffle the teacher got him out of his 
 seat, and as he glanced up he saw Bill get out of his 
 seat, and heard him call out, "Let him alone. Ye 
 needn't think ye can run this here school. Ye can't 
 do it." He came forward in anger, with up-lifted 
 hand. As Bill came on two other big boys joined 
 him. Andy stooped down and picked up a small 
 round stick of wood that lay by the stove, and very 
 quietly said: "You boys sit down, at once," and 
 as he talked he held "Dirty-face" by the collar with 
 his left hand, and was ready to meet the boys with the 
 stick of stove wood in his right. But Bill was no 
 coward, either, and had had experience in throwing 
 out teachers larger, or as large as Andy Weaver was, 
 so he came on and struck out viciously at Andy's head. 
 His blow was parried, and the next instant that stick 
 of wood came down across Bill's temple, and he went 
 down in a heap on the floor, but he had scarcely been 
 struck when the other two boys" were raining blows 
 onto the teacher. The children were screaming with 
 fright, and standing in their seats. It took just about 
 three or four seconds for Andy to pound the other 
 boys into submission and into their seats. Both of 
 them had blackened eyes and mashed noses, and blood 
 was flowing freely. It was indeed a "rough house." 
 Bill had not yet revived when Andy had both the boys 
 back in their seats begging for mercy. He ordered the
 
 168 SILAS COBB 
 
 children to get down into their seats and stop scream-, 
 ing. Then he looked at Bill, who had now raised on 
 his elbow. He took him by the arm and said kindly, 
 "Come, Will, old fellow, and let me help you up. Are 
 you hurt much?" Bill made no reply. He helped him 
 up and onto a seat. The blood was running in a stream 
 from a deep cut across the side of his head. Andy 
 took the basin and filled it with cold water and began 
 bathing the wound with his pocket handkerchief. His 
 hands were tender and his voice soothing as he worked 
 and talked to Bill. "It's not bad, Will, only a cut. 
 The skin is cut clean, which accounts for so much 
 blood. You will be all right in a day or so, and then 
 we will get along in good shape." Bill was pale and 
 did not feel like talking, but he started to say some- 
 thing, when some one rapped at the door, and the last 
 visitor on earth whom Andy wanted to come at such a 
 moment stood on the threshold. It was Silas Cobb. 
 
 Andy stood with a basin of water in one hand and 
 his handkerchief in the other. The use he was mak- 
 ing of these articles Silas was not slow in discerning. 
 One boy sat pale and weak, with a cut across his 
 temple, the blood \viped off. The other two boys had 
 blood all over their faces and hands, which Silas 
 reasoned Andy had not yet got around to. 
 
 "Good-afternoon, Mr. Weaver. I am glad to see 
 you." He seemed not in the least surprised, which 
 rather surprised Andy. 
 
 "Good-afternoon, Mr. Cobb. I am sorry you catch 
 me engaged in an occupation I am not exactly iised to, 
 but it can't be helped. Please take my chair, and 
 excuse me a few moments." 
 
 "Oh, just go right on, Mr. Weaver, with your work. 
 Don't mind me. I am a visitor, and like to see things
 
 SILAS COBB 
 
 169 
 
 just as they are. I will amuse myself with these girls 
 over here. How do you do, girls," and at this Andy 
 turned and said, "Pupils, this is Superintendent Cobb, 
 whom we are glad to welcome to our school." [The 
 sign "God Bless Our School," was nailed to the wall 
 
 "Andy stood with a basin of water in one hand and his 
 handkerchief in the other." 
 
 over the teacher's desk.] The pupils had half sus- 
 pected who it was, and his presence relieved the 
 intense excitement, for he at onc set about to distract 
 their attention. He had heard about the trouble the 
 school had been making, so he had come out on pur- 
 pose to examine into it right at the beginning of Mr.
 
 170 SILAS COBB 
 
 Weaver's term. He walked down the aisle, talking to 
 the pupils in a light vein, just as if he had always been 
 there, and when he got to the front at the teacher's 
 desk, he turned around and told them a pretty story 
 that was full of fun, and in a little while the whole 
 school, except the belligerents, were laughing heartily. 
 In the meantime, Andy was bathing bruised heads. 
 When his task was done he came forward and, as it 
 was four o'clock, he dismissed the school, after Super- 
 intendent Cobb had finished his remarks. Nothing, 
 however, was said about the fight. 
 
 After the pupils were gone Andy told Silas all the 
 details, and assured him if he had had another day or 
 so he thought he might have won, but Edward (Dirty- 
 face) had brought the matter to a focus at once, and he 
 had won a victory with a stick of wood, which he 
 hoped would bring about a long reign of peace. 
 
 "Well," said Silas, "I hope it will. If the parents 
 do their duty now, we won't have any more trouble. 
 But if they take the matter up and begin war on you, 
 nothing has been gained. Of course it is very bad and 
 grates on one's feelings to have scenes like these 
 enacted in a schoolroom, but I declare, Mr. Weaver, 
 though I deplore it, I don't know how you could have 
 done differently. This district has had no school to 
 speak of for years. This boy, Green, is a bully and 
 the people have helped to make him so. Some one 
 might have handled them but this is not proven. At 
 any rate, I am sure I would have had to use your 
 method. But I know of a girl, Andy, who I think 
 would manage them without the rod. She is the 
 greatest character I ever saw in a schoolroom. You 
 know her, Josephine Alger, don't you?"
 
 SILAS COBB m 
 
 "Ob, yes," I know Miss Alger well. She is 
 tplendid." 
 
 "I feel it so strongly, Andy, that if there were 
 enough like her to fill all the schools, you and I would 
 do well for our country by turning our attention to 
 something else. Yet you and I need not be discour- 
 aged. We are not the worst by any means. I only 
 know of one Miss Alger, so you see I still have a high 
 opinion of ourselves," he finished, laughing. 
 
 Andy reverted to the Greens. That name had vast 
 possibilities in it. Old Bill Green was a terror. 
 Everybody said young Bill was a chip from the old 
 block. So Andy asked: "Won't old Mr. Green come 
 down to-morrow and attempt to do what his son failed 
 to do to-day?" 
 
 "I think he will," replied Silas seriously. "It is 
 just like him to do that very thing. He is very proud 
 of the family record as fighters." 
 
 "Well then, I am done for if he does," answered 
 Andy, dejectedly. 
 
 "I think, Andy, you had better get in the buggy 
 with me now, and I will take you up to old Mr. 
 Green's place, aud save him a trip down here. If you 
 must be thrashed," he said with a laugh, "I will ref- 
 eree the fight, or act as your second." Andy laughed 
 weakly, and put on his overcoat and hat. They set 
 out for Green's place aud when they got there the old 
 man was feeding the sheep in a little pasture near the 
 barn. Young Bill had been home over an hour, but 
 was not able to do his chores, and his father had to 
 take his place. When he saw the buggy at the barn 
 gate, he came out and as he drew near he saw who it 
 was. 
 
 "Oh, it's you, is it, Mister Cobb, and Mister
 
 if a SILAS COBB 
 
 Weaver, too? Howdy do gentlemen! Won't ye drive 
 in a while? Supper's 'bout ready." 
 
 "No, Mr. Green, we can't stop but a few minutes. 
 I thought you would enjoy a good, hearty laugh with 
 me over the little episode that happened down at the 
 schoolhouse this afternoon, so I couldn't resist driving 
 by and seeing you. Did Bill tell you about what a 
 trouncing he got to-day, he and two or three other 
 boys?" 
 
 "You bet he did, that is, the gal told it. Bill ain't 
 said much 'bout it. He's badly cut up, I kin tell ye. 
 How did ye do that anyhow, Mister Weaver, when 
 ye're so little? I fully 'spected the boys 'ud throw ye 
 out and told that school board so, but ye've shorely 
 spiled Bill fer doin' chores fer a week, which is the 
 only thing I kere fer. Don't think I ever saw Bill 
 'pear so weak as he does to-night. He's feelin' bad, I 
 guess." 
 
 "Well, I am very sorry about it, Mr. Green, and if 
 I could have avoided it I would. But there was no 
 hope for it when they pitched on to me. I had to fight 
 hard or go under, and I felt your school would be 
 ruined unless I mastered those boys at once. I have 
 the boys all right now, and if the parents will keep 
 hands off I can promise you a good school." 
 
 "Ye can bet yer life the parents 'ill keep hands off. 
 Let any of 'em try puttin' hands on ye, an' I'll show 
 'em how it's done. Ye've done right. Ye saved me 
 havia' to lick Bill myself. He's so stuck-up since he 
 throwed out them other two teachers, he thinks he can 
 handle me. Glad ye licked him, Mr. Weaver. Lick 
 him often and ye'll have my blessin's." 
 This point of view was a great surprise to both Silas 
 and Andy, and as they drove away they decided the
 
 SILAS COBB 
 
 war was in fact over. The others would take the cue 
 from old Bill Green and no more trouble need be 
 looked for. 
 
 If Silas Cobb had not referred to the matter as a 
 huge joke in old man Green's presence, there is not 
 the least doubt of his joining hands with Bill to make 
 war on the teacher. The fact that Superintendent 
 Cobb and Weaver took him into the joke, made him a 
 fast friend and supporter of the school. 
 
 Bill did not come to school again for a week, and he 
 came then only after Andy had called three times to 
 visit him. On these visits the teacher made a special 
 poiut of giving the boy new light on the subject of 
 how to meet "Dirty-face's" taunts. He was brought to 
 see the teacher's side of the subject and to see how 
 foolish it was to let a little boy lead him on to doing 
 wrong. It was a weakness and not a strength. A 
 young man with his great physical strength and cour- 
 age should not be afraid of being called a coward. He 
 should fear that as little as he did a physical combat if 
 he would be a good all-around strong man. 
 
 The result of this argument brought Bill to school 
 one morning. He and the teacher walked along to- 
 gether, and often during the term Bill would walk a 
 half mile out of his way in order to have the pleasure 
 of Andy's company. While he was a thick-headed boy> 
 speaking from a mental point, yet the influence of those 
 walks and talks kindled the smallest spark of ambition 
 in him. One thing that especially appealed to him was 
 Andy's wonderful stories of the great West, where 
 young men became prominent and rich if they only 
 used their talents in the right direction. He must first 
 earn to control himself, and get an education, then he 
 would have a show of winning a place.
 
 174 SILAS COBB 
 
 The boys of that school grew up and most of them 
 are now men with families, and while Bill never would 
 nor could be a brilliant man, yet he did learn a great 
 deal from Andy Weaver that winter, and the spark that 
 was struck in his sluggish mind grew in brightness, 
 and it led him out of Brush Creek one fine day and far 
 away to the West to test Andy's stories. And it came 
 to pass that he was chosen deputy sheriff and later sher- 
 iff of a frontier county in Colorado, lie is a fail- 
 sheriff, too, and fills the office creditably. His position 
 is not of much importance in the eye of the average 
 young man, but to Bill it is a mighty altitude of great- 
 ness. He writes back to his parents on Brush Creek 
 many wonderful stories of his operations in the West, 
 and old Bill Green spends his odd moments relating 
 and embellishing the principal events to his neighbors. 
 He is now a hei-o and worshipped as such by all the 
 Creek boys who went to school with him. 
 
 It is only fair to Mr. Weaver to say that Bill gives 
 him due credit for having opened his eyes to the ad- 
 vantages of "eddication." He says any boy can do 
 what he has done if he will take Andy Weaver's advice 
 and "behave hisself." But after all his weakness, he 
 is a great improvement on his immediate ancestry; all 
 of which shows that effort is not wasted, though it be 
 spent on such as Bill Green.
 
 CHAPTEE XXXIII. 
 
 ONE day late in October, Silas got an invitation 
 from Professor Flick, of Terre Haute, to attend 
 a banquet to be given there on the following 
 Saturday night in honor of a visiting educator from 
 some distant state. He accepted the invitation and 
 when he stepped off the train at Terre Haute, Profes- 
 sor Flick was there to meet him and took him to his 
 rooms in a large, rambling brick house, set back from 
 the street among many old trees. After spending a 
 very pleasant hour chatting over current topics of inter- 
 est, they came down to a general discussion of the Nor- 
 mal school, of whose faculty Mr. Flick was a member. 
 
 "By the way, Mr. Cobb, I have just gotten a very 
 bright young lady a place to "wait tables" here in our 
 dining-room to help her along in her work. She was 
 such an aristocratic looking lady that I was amazed 
 when she inquired if I knew where she could get such 
 a place, for she said she couldn't remain the whole year 
 unless she could do something like that to help pay 
 expenses." 
 
 Just then a little bell was rung summoning them to 
 supper. They went down stairs and entered a large 
 dining-room, nicely furnished. None of the other 
 boarders had yet arrived, so Silas and Mr. Flick had 
 the entire room to themselves. They were interested 
 in a discussion of some kind and did not notice the 
 young lady who came in to take their supper order 
 until she was standing at Mr. Flick's elbow. Silas did 
 not glance up, but as soon as she spoke, he pushed back 
 his chair and rose to his feet facing the young lady, 
 who now looked around rather surprised at his move-
 
 if* SILAS COBB 
 
 ment. It was Julia Howe. She stood looking at him 
 in perfect astonishment, and the Professor now became 
 interested as a spectator. Without a particle of surprise 
 showing in his face, Silas held out his hand to her. 
 
 "Why, how do you do, Miss Howe? I am delighted 
 to see you," and his face didn't give him the lie either. 
 She was so surprised she could scarcely control herself 
 to speak, so in order to relieve her embarrassment and 
 the Professor's surprise, he turned to him and said, 
 "This is one of my Brush county teachers, Mr. Flick, 
 and a friend of mine from childhood. I am very glad 
 to know you two are acquainted. This is the young 
 lady you have been telling me about, then?" 
 
 "Yes. Well, isn't this interesting now?" replied 
 the Professor. 
 
 "I surely must say it is," spoke up Julia, now some- 
 what recovered, and she held out both her hands to 
 Silas as of old, but this time in a sincere manner. "I 
 am so glad to see you, Mr. Cobb. It seems like home 
 to see your face here, and I am so homesick it does me 
 good to see some one from there." 
 
 "Had I known you were here, Julia, I would have 
 called on your mother and brought you news of her and 
 your brothers. But I think they are well, and I am 
 glad to note that you are apparently well and happy 
 also." 
 
 Just here some students came in and the conversation 
 necessarily ceased. Miss Howe brought in their sup- 
 pers and then waited on the others, and Silas forgot his 
 and ate it mechanically, as he reflected on what he had 
 discovered. Now and then he watched her movement 
 with a tray of dishes; saw her delicate hands tremble 
 as she set the side dishes around the plates; saw the 
 flush of excitement on her cheeks, and watched the
 
 SILAS COBB m 
 
 sparkle of her eyes. He noticed the pleasure the board- 
 ers felt in having her near them, and his own pleasure 
 in seeing her come and go in her white dress and lace- 
 bordered apron. He forgot Professor Flick, and was 
 only called back to his duty to his friend by the Pro- 
 fessor's question in regard to Miss Howe's past. Silas 
 briefly told him she was a very estimable young lady of 
 his county whom he had advised to go to school and 
 better fit herself for teaching. That was the substance 
 of what he told. He did not say he was surprised to 
 find her in Terre Haute, and doubly so to find her 
 working in a dining-room to help pay her way through 
 school. 
 
 On leaving the dining-room he spoke to Julia, aside, 
 and asked her if she would be at liberty to see him the 
 following afternoon (Sunday). 
 
 "Why, of course I will, Silas, and I shall be so glad 
 too, for you are the first person I have seen since I left 
 home that I knew, and I am so homesick. Do come 
 early for the time will be too short. Oh, I have it, 
 can't excuse me if I am wrong can't you go to 
 church with me in the forenoon, also, or are you en- 
 gaged, and am I asking too much of you?" 
 
 "Not a bit of it, Julia," he said. "I am delighted 
 to accept, and thank you for your kindness in asking 
 me," and he turned to the professor and added, "you 
 will give me over to this young lady, won't you, Pro- 
 fessor? I know you can't resist her demands, now, 
 can you?" 
 
 The Professor's face showed very clearly he couldn't 
 resist anything she might ask him for, and he said so 
 promptly. 
 
 The next morning Silas and Julia walked down the 
 avenue of trees, and in and out of the sunshine and
 
 ns SILAS COBB 
 
 shadow, on their way to church. It was a mild, still 
 day and the church bells were ringing when they 
 started. As they strolled along chatting Julia told him 
 in confidence, just as if he were an old friend or a 
 brother, that she had something to show him and talk 
 about, but she didn't want to begin then. There was 
 not time and she wanted him alone, away from the 
 crowds of people, so they could talk unmolested. But 
 the odd moments of their walk to and from church were 
 filled with her account of the experiences she had met 
 with since she arrived in Terre Haute. Often in the 
 midst of her narrative she would look up into his face 
 to see how he was receiving the story to see if he was 
 approving of her actions. She finished telling him of 
 the battle she had with her pride when it came to work- 
 ing her way through school, and added just as they got 
 to the church steps: "I never could have mastered it, 
 Silas, were it not that when in greatest doubt I always 
 saw your eyes on me, and the shame of it would leave 
 me at once." 
 
 They entered the church and were ushered into a 
 high-backed pew, where they were alone for a few 
 moments. As they sat down the great organ pealed 
 forth its soft melody, and Silas leaned over and quietly 
 pressed the hand next to him and whispered, "You did 
 nobly, Julia; God bless you." She sank back in her 
 seat with a sigh of satisfaction, and gave Silas a grate- 
 ful look and a slight hand-pressure in answer to his en- 
 dorsement of her action. 
 
 "Could it be possible," she thought as ehe gazed out 
 over that vast audience and heard the peals of the 
 organ, "that I could ever be happier?" She was doing 
 something now with her heart in it. It was entering 
 into evei'y act. She had ceased to be a sham, and all
 
 SILAS COBB 119 
 
 that life of sordidness was put back in the past. The 
 man who had helped her to do it sat by her side. He 
 had just said she had done nobly. His voice still rang 
 iu her ears; the pressure on her hand and his honest 
 face before her all of it was perfectly delightful, and 
 her heart beat on furiously as though it were clamoring 
 to be heard. Then gradually the soft music began to 
 quiet her heart's beating, and as she grew quiet, peace 
 came to her soul and new strength came into her life. 
 
 That day the preacher said in his sermon that man 
 did not live in the highest sense until he had mastered 
 his own passions. The peace that comes to those who 
 have crushed pride, anger, hatred, and the thousands 
 of vices that beset us, is too vast and far-reaching to be 
 comprehended by those who have lost the fight. The 
 man who has reached that point has traveled a road 
 beset with danger, and it has taught him to love and 
 pity the weak. Why should he feel bitter toward the 
 man who spitefully uses him? He knows all the grief 
 and trouble that accumulate with the years on his 
 shoulders. Is that not enough in itself to crush him? 
 He looks down from his place of peace, and pities with 
 all his soul those who are afflicted with hideous things, 
 that grow on their hearts and make their lives one 
 long, stormy struggle. The end comes at last and 
 their souls leap forth, freed from the earthly elements, 
 dwarfed and incomplete. 
 
 ' 'Crush out all these things in your hearts, and live 
 so that you can face all the trials of life with a smile, 
 and when death comes, die as you have lived. Your 
 freed spirit will surely be a brave and noble one, fit 
 company for the best." 
 
 As Julia sat listening to this sermon, it seemed to 
 her that it was a dedication of her soul to higher aims.
 
 180 SILAS COBB 
 
 As they left the church Julia turned to Silas and 
 said: "Six months ago I would not have understood 
 that sermon, Silas, but to-day it seemed to tell me all 
 I have learned of late by experience, and it did me so 
 much good to hear it brought out so beautifully. I 
 can just vaguely understand what a grand thing it 
 must be to have a soul so great and good that it could 
 encompass the whole world, and look in love and pity 
 upon the petty strifes and passions of mankind. I say 
 I can just vaguely comprehend it now, and it gives me 
 great hope and courage. But after all, it is you, Silas 
 to whom I owe it all. You first taught me the way, 
 and your silent sympathy I have felt all the time I 
 have been here. Your example of good temperament 
 and usefulness has always been before me as a guide." 
 
 "It is very kind of you, Julia, to credit me with so 
 much, but I fear in your great appreciation of your 
 success, you have over-estimated my help. But I am 
 glad you think so anyway. It encourages me to know 
 you feel that way. I was once in doubt whether I had 
 acted exactly right by you." 
 
 That afternoon they strolled down to the private 
 park attached to the grounds of the property where 
 Julia lived, and took a seat under a maple tree. The 
 autumn leaves were scattered over the ground, making 
 a carpet of many colors. Everything had been bitten 
 by an early frost, and while the day was pleasant, yet 
 there was that crispness in the air that suggests the 
 dying year. The leaves had all fallen from the goose- 
 berry bushes and the flowerbeds were covered with 
 dead stalks of the last summer's beauties. The dying 
 year, the eddying leaves in the corner of the 
 grounds near the grape arbor, together with the Sab- 
 bath stillness made it a day more fit for those whose
 
 SILAS COBB 181 
 
 veins are not filled with the hot blood of youth. Yet 
 it was a very good day for the mood in which Silas 
 and Julia found themselves. 
 
 While they sat on the bench in silence for a few 
 moments, Julia was taking from some secluded place 
 
 "The autumn leaves were scattered over the ground, making a 
 carpet of many colors." 
 
 about her person a letter which she announced was the 
 question at issue. 
 
 "This letter, Silas, has made me very happy. Not 
 for what it has offered me, for I am not going to use it, 
 biit because it has renewed my faith in people in general. 
 But I nmst let you read it first. I have no one to con- 
 sult about it who can advise me intelligently save you."
 
 182 SILAS COBB 
 
 Silas took the letter and as he glanced over it, his 
 face lit up with pleasure and apparent recognition. 
 Julia looked at him with much interest. The letter 
 was written in a cramped, irregular hand, on "Bank 
 of Cowville" stationery. The following is a verbatim 
 copy of what he read: 
 
 COWVILLE, OCT. 22, 188 . 
 To Mis JULIE HOWE, 
 
 Terry Hut, Indiany, 
 
 DEAR Mis I skursly kno how to begin this letter 
 as writen aint my line and reconizen that this is a 
 partickler subject I will jest say that my meanin is 
 good and hopen you will understan me. 
 
 I hev notknowed ye very long but 1 hev lately found 
 that I hev dun ye a great injestice. When I furst 
 seed ye I thot ye had no hart but I seen lately how 
 wrong I was to think so and I beg you to scuse me. 
 I'm an ole man now an I aint never mounted to much 
 not havin any eddication and I aint never looked out 
 any to help any body as I ot to seein that I hev more 
 money than I kin use. So I jest sed to myself theres 
 a young lady who has gone away from hum strugglin 
 fur an eddication with probably little money and heres 
 me with more'n I can ever use ef I live a hundred 
 years. I'll jest send the gal a little bit as a crismus 
 gif an ef she wont except it so she will take it as a loan 
 an pay it back when she kin spare it well. 
 
 Ef ye will tek this money I send ye I will be feelin 
 thet I hev dun somethin to make up fer my indifrencefur 
 all these years to helpen my bruthers on the way. 
 
 I will jest sign myself yer 
 
 OLE FREND. 
 
 P. S. I am not given yer my name thus preventin 
 yer returnen the money. I'm hopen that ye will tek 
 it from an ole man an woman who luves ye like a chile 
 of ther own ef they had eny which they haiut ceptin a 
 young man they hev sorter adopted and he's a doin 
 well God bless him."
 
 SILAS COBB 183 
 
 When Silas read the last lines a new feeling of love 
 came into his heart for the dear old man who had 
 penned those lines, illiterate though they were. He 
 had known from the first glance that it was old Henry 
 Boggs who wrote it, but the last lines referring to him 
 opened a new chamber in his heart. 
 
 "Isn't he a grand old man Silas? Who is he? Do 
 you know? I am so anxious to see him. Do I know 
 him?" 
 
 Silas smiled at her eagerness, and said: "I must 
 say, Julia, that I am not without grave suspicion 
 against a certain old friend of mine, yet I am not men- 
 tioning any names. But seriously, Julia, this letter 
 has greatly affected me. It is his wish that you keep 
 this money, and it would hurt him very much if you 
 wouldn't do it, so I will tell you who wrote this letter 
 if you promise to let him help you. You can pay him 
 back when you get to teaching." 
 
 "I will do as you say, Silas; now who is it? Tell 
 me quickly." 
 
 "Old Henry Boggs," said Silas. 
 
 "You don't mean it?" 
 
 "Yes I do. I am sure of his writing and language." 
 
 "Why, I scarcely know him, Silas." 
 
 "True, but he knows you. He met you in my 
 office. Then I have told him about you how I was 
 afraid I had been too hard on you, and he thought I 
 had, too, when I told him how you had changed. He 
 even asked me one day if I wouldn't try to see you for 
 him and get you to let him loan you some money to 
 help you through school. I told him it was too deli- 
 cate a matter for me to broach, yet I was going to try 
 when I saw you. Just notice, Julia, how he says he 
 has never had a chance to help any one. Why, I know
 
 184 SILAS CORB 
 
 personally of such scores of things he has done to help his 
 friends and neighbors, that this seems little along side 
 of them. Julia, he's the most lovable, kind-hearted 
 man in the world." 
 
 "Oh, I know it," replied Julia, with a slight huski 
 ness in her voice. "If he were here now I should 
 surely throw my arms around his neck and kiss him." 
 
 Silas glanced down at her serious countenance, 
 smiling at this impulsive out-break, and said: "He 
 would die from delight if you did, Julia, and I could 
 hardly blame him for it. It would be worth it." 
 
 "Shame on you, Silas to joke me on such a serious 
 matter. I do feel awfully good toward him. When I 
 think of all the people who have said mean things 
 about me, justly, I suppose, and contrast it with his 
 blind faith in me, and his desire to make me happier, I 
 just can't keep from from crying," and cry she did. 
 
 Silas sat gazing up through the bare apple trees near 
 by feeling rather badly about the matter, thinking his 
 jest had been sadly out of place. 
 
 "I'm sorry I said that Julia, but it wasn't for lack 
 of appreciation for the seriousness of the subject." 
 
 "Oh, that's all right, Silas, I didn't mind your joke 
 I I rather liked it, but I was so happy over this 
 letter, and your visit, and everything. It seems the 
 world is all good now, and a pleasant place in which 
 to live." 
 
 "We measure the world, Julia, by what is in our 
 hearts. When a heart is good the world is good to it; 
 when a heart is bad the world seems bad to it." 
 
 The eddying wind swept a shower of leaves over 
 them and sent a shiver down their backs, calling their 
 attention to the chilly atmosphere. "Let us go in, 
 Silas, I fear we shall catch our death of cold out 
 here."
 
 CHAPTEB XXXIV. 
 
 A FEW days after this incident, Sam Street drove 
 up to Mr. Boggs' place on his way home from 
 Cowville to leave Mr. Boggs' mail. It was a 
 neighborhood custom that whoever went to town would 
 bring out the mail for the neighbors along the road 
 home. 
 
 "Hi there, Henry! here's your mail. Git out uv the 
 house an' git some fresh air." 
 
 In answer to this call Mr. Boggs appeared on the 
 porch, excitedly looking over his spectacles and hold- 
 ing in one hand the Cowville Times which he had been 
 reading. 
 
 "Oh, blame me! ef it ain't Sam Street bellerin' at the 
 gate. I thought my ole bull had bruk through the 
 fence. Howd'y Sam; how air ye t'-day? Can't ye 
 come in? Git out an' hitch." 
 
 "No, hain't got time, Henry; jest brought out yer 
 mail fer ye. Thought maybe ye wouldn't go t' town 
 this week. How air ye feelin' t'-day?" 
 
 "Fair t' middlin', thank ye, Sam. I'm jest readin' 
 what Smith's got t' say 'bout the comin' 'lection. I 
 see he thinks the guvnor ain't goin' t' pull through 
 with the rest uv the republican ticket, an' we may have 
 a chance t' git in our man. What did ye hear 'bout it 
 in town, Sam?" 
 
 "Nothin' perticlar. The fellers air not solid among 
 themselves. Do ye know, Henry, Muddy Crick town- 
 ship's 'bout the only town in the county that stands fer 
 somethin' every year that can be counted on. Here we 
 vote the ticket an' there's no doubt 'bout it. Cowville 
 ain't certain what it'll do one year with t'other.
 
 186 SILAS COBB 
 
 Chances air, now that we have a chance t' 'lect our 
 guvnor, them town fellers will git t' fightin' among 
 theirselves fer some little office, an' defeat the ticket in 
 this county." 
 
 "Did ye see Si Cobb, Sam, an' did he have anything 
 perticlar t' say 'bout it?" 
 
 "Yes, Si told me 'bout what I'm tellin' you. He 
 said some uv them town fellers would actually vote fer 
 the republican guvnor ef they'd git a republican vote 
 in exchange fer sheriff or some other durn little office. 
 It's a durn shame, Henry, that me an' you should live 
 t' see the day wheu Democrats git oiiery 'nough t' trade 
 principles fer office." 
 
 "Consarned whelps! Sam, we jest ort t' go in there 
 t'gether an' learn them fellers some decency. Blame 
 me, ef we orten t' eat 'em raw! I sometimes think the 
 country's goin' t' rack an' ruin. Jest t' think men have 
 souls so small they kin trade 'em fer votes every year, 
 an' still keep the miserly things." 
 
 "They'd laugh at us, Henry, ef we 'tempted t' give 
 them any pinters. They call me an' you ole hayseeds 
 that don't know much 'bout up-to-date politics. No, 
 we wouldn't have no influence with them fellers, I'm 
 'fraid, ouless we jest jine hands an' tell what we'll do 
 t' enforce it when they want our votes we mought kill 
 'em with Muddy Crick, but we'd have t' bolt, Henry, 
 an' it'd feel funny fer me an' you t' bolt a democratic 
 ticket." 
 
 "I kin jest tell ye it would, Sam. It'd come nigh 
 killin' me. Yet I tell ye one thing, ef them town fel- 
 lers think they kin trade a democratic candidate fer 
 guvnor fer a town councilman an' not git punished fer 
 it, they don't know ole Henry Boggs. Sufferin' Moses! 
 T' think I would ever have t' do it; but I would, I
 
 SILAS COBB 187 
 
 would jest jine hands with ye, Sam, an' we'd tell the 
 voters in this township 'bout how they trade our guv- 
 nor an' we can defeat their county nominations." 
 
 "That's jest what Silas Cobb told me. He asked me 
 t' talk it over with you, an' ef me an' you agreed t' 
 back him up he would read the law t' them fellers. He 
 said the candidate for guvnor, Mr. Thompson, had 
 heard 'bout the plot there among the leaders uv the 
 party, whereby he wuz t' be traded by a few sore-headed 
 fellers who got defeated in the state convention, an' 
 the party machinery turned against him. That sort 
 uv a deal would lose him the county ef it ain't stopped. 
 
 4 'Ye kin bet yer life we'll back him up a plenty. I'll 
 jest go right t' town t'-morrow myself, an' Sam, ye'd 
 better go too, an' we'll go an' see Si 'bout it." 
 
 "All right, Henry, I'll come by in my buggy an' we 
 kin go in t'gether." 
 
 "Good 'nough, Sam, my horses is so big we'd not 
 git there quick 'nough with them. I'll be ready airly." 
 
 Sam Street's old wagon rattled off down the hill over 
 cobble stones and under the big mulberry tree at the 
 barn-yard gate wkere it disturbed the notorious crowd 
 of "razor-backs" taking an afternoon snooze, and on 
 over the little raise beyond, and out of sight. 
 
 Old Henry Boggs went back into the house fuming 
 about "them town fellers being so cussed onery," to 
 Mrs. Boggs. 
 
 "Marthy, ef I wuz so gol durned small as t' trade 
 my principles fer an office, I jest think I'd pizen my- 
 self an' have ye feed me t' the shoats. Blame me, ef I 
 wouldn't!" 
 
 "Why, Henry! what on airth is the matter with ye 
 now?" 
 
 Then followed an account of the conversation with
 
 188 SILAS COBB 
 
 Sam Street. He had finished his talk and had taken 
 up the paper again when he remembered his letter. 
 
 "Gosh, Marthy! I got a letter here Sam Street 
 brought out, an' I jest 'bout f ergot it." 
 
 "Well, I guess ye did fergit, Henry. 'Pears t' me 
 yer gittin' mighty fergitful uv late." 
 
 "That's a fact! That's a fact, Marthy, I am shore 
 'nough." 
 
 He tore open the letter very deliberately, saying, 
 "Spose this is some advertisin', ez I don't know who 
 else'd be writin' t' me." 
 
 "Suffering bleedin' Moses! Ef this don't beat the 
 whole world. Marthy, did ye ever hear uv anything 
 like it? How on airth that gal know'd it's us, beats 
 all. Sufferin ," but Mrs. Boggs stopped him. "Henry, 
 I jest believe ye'r gittin' more childish every day. 
 Read it, an' don't excite me so by yer palaveriu'." 
 
 "Bless yer sweet face, Marthy, ef it ain't a wonder! 
 Jest listen t' this, "and Henry read the following letter: 
 
 To MR. HENRY BOGGS, 
 COWVILLE, ILL. 
 
 MY DEAR FRIEND: Your very kind and considerate 
 letter containing a draft for $250.00 came promptly to 
 hand Saturday. You can scarcely appreciate the great 
 happiness your letter has brought to me. Not on ac- 
 count of the money so much, as the loving sympathy 
 and friendship you extend to me. I hope you will 
 understand the gratitude I feel for this encouragement, 
 for I cannot begin to express it in writing. You and 
 your dear wife must have great, noble, loving hearts, to 
 be able to take me in thus an almost total stranger to 
 you. I must come to see you so I can thank you in 
 person for your great kindness to me. 
 
 I will keep the loan, because I know it will make
 
 \ 
 
 * 
 
 SILAS COBB 189 
 
 you happy, and I am glad to tell you it will greatly aid 
 me also. 
 
 May I come to see you some time? 
 
 With love and good wishes to you both, I am your 
 friend forever. JULIA HOWE. 
 
 "Well, bless the gal's heart, Marthy. Ain't that a 
 nice letter, though?" 
 
 "I must say she is a lady, Henry. I'm mighty glad 
 ye sent her the money. Road that part over agin, 
 Henry, where she speaks 'bout our 'lovin' hearts'.!' 
 
 Henry read it over again, but even that was not 
 quite enough, so dear old Mrs. Boggs came over to 
 Henry's side and leaned her arm on his shoulder while 
 they both pored over the letter together for a long 
 time. It was so good to them, they feasted on the 
 thoughts of it for many days. Having no children of 
 their own, the little love and tenderness they had 
 known in their lives had been limited to their 
 affections for each other. This made the letter to 
 them a great treat. 
 
 But it remained a nine-days' wonder to them how 
 Julia knew who sent her the money.
 
 CHAPTER XXXV. 
 
 THE next morning, bright and early, Sam Street 
 and old Henry Boggs drove to Cowville, and 
 called on Silas at his office. There was little 
 time wasted on greetings and the main issue was 
 brought up at once by Mr. Boggs. 
 
 "Well, Silas, Sam an' me come in here t' see ye 
 'bout this guvnor business. Now jest tell us how the 
 land lays an' what ye recommend." 
 
 "It is simply this, gentlemen: John Wilson, whom 
 Thompson defeated for the nomination, is playing the 
 baby act. He has wanted to be governor for years and 
 and has worked every detail to that end among his 
 friends. We went to Springfield for him, as you know 
 and stood by him as long as there was any hope. He 
 was defeated simply because he didn't get enough 
 votes, and fairly, too. He came home sore about it, 
 and has organized a bolt against Thompson, and so far 
 no one has undertaken to stop it. He has Charley 
 Williams, Lafe Young, and one or two other minor 
 politicians here helping him. They are working it 
 with the Republicans and offering their votes for gov- 
 ernor if the Republicans in turn will support their local 
 ticket. As things stand now, though the town is 
 really democratic, they will carry it for the republican 
 candidate for governor. There is one thing I have 
 hopes of doing, and that is this: If you men say the 
 word and stand by me in it, we can make these fellows 
 'back- water,' or else lay them on the shelf next year in 
 the county election. Lafe Young wants to be clerk, 
 and Charley Williams sheriff, and both stand a fair 
 show for getting what they want. I don't think W T il-
 
 SILAS COBB 191 
 
 son wants an office, but he is so far the biggest man in 
 the party and he has promised his influence to these 
 fellows for their dirty work against Thompson. He 
 thinks they can defeat Thompson here without openly 
 fighting him. Wilson is quiet personally. Now we 
 three, Henry Boggs, Sam Street and Si Cobb, can 
 make a combination that will defeat them either in 
 the convention or in the county election. If we can 
 agree to stand together against these fellows, I think I 
 can bring them to support Thompson. What do you 
 say to it?" 
 
 "What do we say?" retorted Mr. Boggs. "Ye have 
 already said the word, Si. Sam an' me have agreed 
 aforehand thet this is the correct policy. We will have 
 to show them fellers that other townships can bolt as 
 well as Cowville when it becomes necessary t' chastise 
 party leaders. I'm fer it strong." 
 
 "So am I," said Sam. 
 
 "So am I," said Silas. 
 
 Accordingly the great triumvirate was formed. 
 
 Candidate Thompson had heard what his opponent 
 in the convention was doing, and had been in corres- 
 pondence with Central Committeeman Smith, but that 
 gentleman had failed to reconcile Wilson, and so re- 
 ported it to Mr. Thompson the very day the triumvi- 
 rate was formed. That same afternoon Silas strolled 
 down to Wilson's law office and sat down for a visit. 
 He and Mr. Wilson were good friends and often 
 chatted with each other, but such a thing as Silas hav- 
 ing any word in the councils of the party had never 
 occurred to Mr. Wilson. "He was a nice, quiet, 
 young fellow, but ." So when Silas bluntly raised 
 the subject he was surprised.
 
 192 SILAS COBB 
 
 "I understand you are against Thompson, Mr. 
 Wilson." 
 
 "Well, I can't say that I am except as some of the 
 boys here urge that we put more effort on our city and 
 county ticket, and that I approve." 
 
 "It's a little extraordinary, isn't it, Mr. Wilson, to 
 treat the head of a ticket in that sort of manner? Be- 
 sides, I understand that you have ordered Charley 
 Williams and Lafe Young to actually trade the head of 
 the ticket for votes for local officers." 
 
 "That's my business, Mr. Cobb, I think." 
 
 "It's not the business of the leader of the party to 
 bolt a regularly nominated ticket, Mr. Wilson, and I 
 think you are doing wrong in doing it." 
 
 "I really don't need your advice, sir. I have been 
 in politics more years than you are old, and you should 
 get your orders from me and not be too officious." 
 
 "That is true, and you ought right now to be giving 
 me advice on how to help Thompson to be elected gov- 
 ernor; instead of that you are doing your best to defeat 
 him. I am young and have much to leai'n, but I have 
 already learned that our leader is not at present doing 
 his exact duty." 
 
 "Oh, is that so? Well, I will not go to you to find 
 out what my duty is." 
 
 "I think you make a mistake, Mr. Wilson, in grow- 
 ing angry and offering offense to me. I assure you of 
 the kindliest feeling on my part. You ought not to 
 sneer at my services because I am young and lack ex- 
 perience. I have much energy which can be utilized to 
 advantage, and you ought, as a party leader, to try to 
 organize such energy as mine for the party's good." 
 
 "I can do very well, I think, Mr. Cobb, so your 
 energy will not be needed yet."
 
 SILAS COBB 193 
 
 "All right, Mr. Wilson, you can send for me or call 
 on me in case you change your mind. Good-day, sir." 
 
 Just outside the door he met Lafe Young and Char- 
 ley Williams coming in, and he stopped them. "Say, 
 you are the men I want to see right this minute. Come 
 this way," and he ushered them into the office of the 
 City Hotel. 
 
 "Now to come to the point bluntly and in a hurry, I 
 will say that I have just had a talk with Wilson, and 
 he has treated me very badly, considering that I am 
 right and he is wrong. You fellows are making a mis- 
 take in toadying to Wilson's revenge on this governor 
 business, and it's going to hurt our future standing in 
 state conventions. Give this county to the republican 
 nominee, and what will the state say about that sort of 
 doll play? I tell you right now it's bad, bad as can 
 be, and I hope yom gentlemen will turn your efforts to 
 holding the party in line for Thompson." 
 
 "Oh, I tell you, Cobb, you'd better let men like 
 Wilson alone, and not be dipping into something you 
 are not used to. Your long suit is with schools and 
 schoolma'ams. On those things we bow to you. Now 
 don't you think so?" This was from Lafe Young. 
 
 "It may be, Mr. Young, that I am not up to your 
 class in politics, but I can tell a square deal when I see 
 it, and you are not engaged in one now." 
 
 "Oh, is that so?" 
 
 "Yes sir, I am sure of it." 
 
 "Well, what are you going to do about it?" 
 
 Silas reflected a moment and coolly replied: 
 
 "I shall do my best to defeat you for nomination 
 next year for clerk, and if I fail in that I shall try 
 equally hard to defeat you for election. This also ap- 
 is plies to Mr. Williams' ambition for sheriff."
 
 i ( .4 SILAS COBB 
 
 "Listen to that, Williams!" 
 
 "I hear," said Williams, smiling. 
 
 "I hope you won't deceive yourselves, gentlemen," 
 replied Silas. 
 
 "Oh no, Mr. Cobb, it only amuses us to think of an 
 office-holder who will want a re-election trying to work 
 off a bluff like that," remarked Mr. Williams. 
 
 Silas got just a little out of patience on account of 
 their failure to understand his motives and sincerity, so 
 he turned to them rather bruskly, and said: 
 
 "I have done my best to talk with you as I would 
 with men, and had a right to expect the same coui'tesy 
 from you. Instead of that I meet with a lack of sin- 
 cerity and with an air of impoi'tauce and arrogance unbe- 
 coming you. Now to make an end of it, I will say this 
 to you frankly and without a particle of enmity toward 
 either of you; that in case you do not carry this town 
 for Thompson, I shall use every effort I can possibly 
 muster to defeat you both next year; and to show you 
 that I am not alone in this, I have just left Sam Street 
 and Henry Boggs who are to back me up in it. I don't 
 think you can carry Brush county without Muddy 
 Creek's vote, do you?" 
 
 At the mention of these names both men became un- 
 easy and began to squirm. 
 
 "You don't mean to say that Muddy Creek would 
 bolt the ticket, do you?" said Lafe Young. 
 
 "Don't you think they would make as good bolters 
 as you do?" replied Silas. 
 
 Neither said a word but looked down at their feet. 
 They knew full well what Muddy Creek vote meant, 
 and besides that, they somehow felt Silas Cobb wasn't 
 to be fooled with, and backed by Sam Street and Henry 
 Bogg8, he would be a big factor.
 
 SILAS COBB 195 
 
 "Please let us understand the proposition I make so 
 there will be no hard feelings in the future," continued 
 Silas. "The town is safely democratic. Thompson 
 has no enemies here except Wilson. If he does not 
 carry the town, then it is his fault. Therefore, I shall 
 charge it to you, and will absolutely spare no effort in 
 defeating you for any office you may apply for. If, on 
 the other hand, Thompson gets the full party vote, I 
 shall keep hands off and will probably support you both 
 in the convention." 
 
 "Well, we will think it over, Silas. We don't want 
 to get into any war with you, and really we are doing 
 this more to please Wilson than anything else, but if 
 you and your friends stood for us, I think we could 
 afford to offend Wilson, but his influence could knock 
 us out of the nominations unless we had other strength 
 to put against it." 
 
 "You are better defeated than to get a nomination by 
 such methods. If my election came up this fall I would 
 act just as I am. Such methods as you are pursuing 
 will ruin any party. Politics, to be successful, in my 
 opinion, ought to be run on business principles. Rot- 
 ten politics will fail as quickly as rotten business 
 principles." 
 
 The result of this interview put a new power into 
 local politics that had not been felt before. Young 
 and Williams went back to Wilson's office and laid the 
 matter before Wilson. That worthy swore a great 
 deal, and ended by sending down town for old Henry 
 Boggs and Sam Street. When these gentlemen ap- 
 peared Wilson was all smiles, and greeted them very 
 cordially. 
 
 "What is this I hear Sam, that you and Henry, two 
 of the oldest and stauncheet Democrats in the county
 
 196 SILAS COBB 
 
 are talking of bolting the ticket unless Thompson car- 
 ries the town? I told the boys there was nothing in it." 
 
 "I guess ye air mistaken this time, Mr. Wilson," 
 said Sam Street. 
 
 "That's what ye air, John. By the bleedin' Moses! 
 You fellers needn't think we airgoin' t' stand by an' see 
 ye cut Thompson an' not resent it. This here town is 
 always f oolin' 'round an' won't play ef ever'thiug don't 
 suit it. We jest told Si Cobb t' do what he thought 
 wuz right by the ticket, an' we would stand by him 
 even ef we had t' vote fer a Republican t' do it. An' 
 blame me ef we don't do it!" This from old Henry 
 Boggs. 
 
 John Wilson saw that the deal was off. He could 
 not carry it without losing prestige, and he could not 
 afford to break with men like these, so he said: 
 
 "Well, I'll tell you, Henry. I am going to see to it 
 myself that Thompson carries this town. I will make 
 it a special point to carry it for him, for 1 don't want 
 people to think I am sore because he defeated me for 
 the nomination." 
 
 "Bully fer you, John. That's the way to talk it," 
 said Boggs. "That's right," said Wilson. Lafe 
 Young and Charley Williams both said with a vim: 
 "You bet yer life, that's the thing." 
 
 Silas had scored. From that day on he surely would 
 be considered in all political moves. He did not be- 
 lieve, as most people do, that to be successful in poli- 
 tics a man must be dishonest. He believed that honesty 
 of purpose, and faithful fulfilment of pledges were as 
 essential to success in politics as in business. He prac- 
 ticed what he believed always. When he exerted him- 
 self for a candidate or principle, he always had a good 
 reason to present for his actions.
 
 SILAS COBB i 97 
 
 As the year progressed he gradually added new 
 friends to his old ones. He soon found that he had an 
 acquaintance among his school officers that would 
 some day prove useful in case he ever had to use it to 
 right some wrong. 
 
 In visiting schools he always made it a point to meet 
 his school directors and talk over the work with them. 
 Each officer became a friend and looked to Silas for 
 advice on all school affairs, and those of his political 
 faith looked to him for their cue at the conventions. 
 
 The campaign waxed warm, and Silas kept one eye 
 on Lafe Young and Charley Williams, and the other 
 on John Wilson. He wanted positive evidence if any 
 treachery was intended toward the head of the ticket. 
 But after much cautious inquiry he was satisfied that 
 there was no intention of carrying out their original 
 program. 
 
 When the votes were counted, the candidate for 
 governor ran even with the other candidates, and both 
 Mr. Young and Mr. Williams called Silas' attention to 
 this fact, and asked him if he were now satisfied. He 
 assured them he was, and that in all probability he and 
 his friends would support them. 
 
 When Silas was left alone he thought to himself: 
 "They might be worse and they might be better. I 
 suppose if a man supports the best men who offer their 
 services, he is to be excused even if they are not extra 
 good men."
 
 CHAPTER XXXVI. 
 
 JUST before the holidays Silas was getting his 
 work in shape so he could attend the state teach- 
 ers' association at Springfield. He had not seen 
 Professor Littleman for a long time and had almost 
 forgotten that such a man existed, when he appeared 
 on the scene one afternoon and asked for some pro- 
 grams of the meeting. Silas treated him cordially and 
 matters passed off between them fairly well, consider- 
 ing their past relations. The Professor was going to 
 attend the meeting and wanted to examine the pro- 
 gram in advance. He glanced over it, as he sat near 
 Silas, without comment until he came to the ''Superin- 
 tendent's Section." He found that Silas Cobb was 
 down for the discussion of a paper on the gradation of 
 schools. 
 
 "Oh," he said, and a cynical smile played over his 
 face, "I see you are going to tell them how to grade 
 schools." 
 
 "No sir, you are mistaken. I am not going to do 
 anything of the kind. I am not responsible for my 
 name being on the program at all, and it is there in 
 spite of my protest. I know very little about the 
 actual practice of grading, but I have my ideas which 
 I shall undoubtedly present to the association for 
 what they are worth. I shall label them properly so 
 no one will misunderstand the amount of experience 
 back of them. Superintendent Ed Smith insisted that 
 I should take this part." 
 
 "Oh, I've no doubt you will do well, Mr. Cobb, but 
 I advise you to keep clear of that Ed Smith. That fel- 
 low is utterly bad. He uses all sorts of slang and he
 
 SILAS COBB 109 
 
 does not show proper respect for the experience of hi 
 superiors. He is too rash and foolhardy. Year before 
 last he was absolutely insulting to Superintendent 
 Blockhead at the state meeting, and he even made a 
 dig at me, too, but I just sat down upon him, figura- 
 tively speaking, so he let me alone after that. But 
 Blockhead was very much offended at Smith's ugly 
 talk." 
 
 Silas laughed heartily. "Yes," he said, "I was 
 there and heard you and Blockhead dress him down. I 
 enjoyed it very much. So did Smith, I think." 
 Another hearty laugh followed this. 
 
 "Oh, you heard that, did you?" asked the Professor, 
 with a sickly smile playing around his thin lips. 
 
 "Yes," said Silas, "I was there and heard it all, and 
 I am frank in saying to you that I like Superin- 
 tendent Ed Smith very much, and if I can do my work 
 here as fearlessly and as well as he is doing his, I shall 
 be pretty well satisfied. He is a man with large ideas 
 and as brave as a lion. These two qualifications 
 make a real big man, Professor, and I am very sorry 
 you do not like Ed. He has often spoken of you to 
 me, and I rather thought you had quite a respect for 
 his ability." 
 
 "I have, in a way, but he is too fresh for me. I 
 don't like these young upstarts who think they know 
 so much. But I must be going. I will see you in 
 Springfield." And, with a good-by, he was gone. 
 
 Silas sat at his desk smiling in quite a reminiscent 
 manner for some time after the Professor had gone. 
 He was going over that scene again in which Ed 
 Smith had metaphorically skinned Superintendents 
 Blockhead and Littleman at Springfield in the debate 
 on grading country schools. No wonder the Pro-
 
 200 SILAS COBB 
 
 fessor didn't feel kindly toward him. The cut smarted 
 yet. 
 
 At Springfield Silas met many acquaintances he had 
 made the year before, and took great pleasure in 
 exchanging experiences with them. Ex-Superintend- 
 ent Littleman was there, too, greeting his friends and 
 acquaintances of sixteen years' standing; also those he 
 had made in more recent years. He felt sad to think 
 he was not a member any more by virtue of his office, 
 but he sat through the sessions as usual, and now and 
 then he would rise and apologize to the president and 
 superintendents for intruding his remarks on them, 
 as he was not a member, etc. 
 
 Matters had gone on for a time in this manner, and 
 Superintendent Cobb had finished his discussion on 
 grading, in which he stated briefly the result of his 
 work. He had introduced a course of study, and was 
 pleased to report that every teacher was following it, 
 and that the results were very satisfactory, and so on 
 and so forth. 
 
 When he had finished, Professor Littleman got up, 
 cleared his throat, smiled sweetly at Mr. Cobb, and 
 apologetically addressed the chairman. "I am very 
 much interested in Superintendent Cobb's remarks, and 
 am in hearty accord with him and his work. He is 
 doing as much as any man could do, and I hope the 
 superintendents will not think I am opposed to Mr. 
 Cobb, but with due apology to that gentleman I must 
 say the result of his efforts are not what they seem 
 to him. I have visited a few schools, myself, where 
 Mr. Cobb thinks the results are splendid, and in those 
 schools the teachers have misled him as to the course 
 of study. They have not followed it at all, but know- 
 ing him to be so earnest about it, they led him to
 
 SILAS COBB 201 
 
 believe they have. On the other hand, those teachers 
 who have followed his advice find themselves so con- 
 fined and shut in that they have no heart in their work. 
 An outsider can see this so much better than the super- 
 intendent can, because teachers will frankly say to 
 outsiders how they feel about it. In my sixteen years 
 in the office I never found it necessary to use a course 
 of study. It was always an interference with the 
 individuality of the teacher." 
 
 "Mr. President," said Superintendent Cobb, "I am 
 greatly surprised and displeased with the course my 
 predecessor has taken on this subject. I remember he 
 took just this position two years ago when Superinten- 
 dent Smith was giving his experiences. I think, no 
 doubt, the gentlemen present then will remember the 
 incident. (Much applause and laughter.) One of these 
 teachers whom Mr. Littleman talked to about the mat- 
 ter was in my office a short time afterwards, and told 
 me that the Professor was greatly opposed to the use of 
 a course of study and tried to get her not to use it. 
 Another one, and still another called and told me the 
 same story. So I am afraid that Mr. Littleman has 
 gotten his own opinion mixed up with that of the 
 teachers. It is not my disposition to argue with Mr. 
 Littleman, but I have had to work against his influence 
 ever since I took up the work in Brush county. One 
 would think that he would be satisfied to let my plans 
 work out their own, destruction, as he has often assured 
 us was the ultimate end of such a policy. But he in- 
 sists on lending a helping hand to the laws of Nature. 
 
 "I would like for Mr. Littleman, or any other gen- 
 tleman present who holds the same views, to tell me 
 how the individuality of a teacher is affected by the use 
 of a course of study. Can she teach history less ca-
 
 202 SILAS COBB 
 
 pably because the course of study lays out the work into 
 years and gives the teachers a consecutive outline to 
 follow through the whole school life of the child? Can 
 she not use any method she chooses in teaching this 
 subject? The course of study simply divides the work 
 into years and months, so the proper amount will be 
 done in all the branches of study. It seems to me that 
 no person, after a single moment's reflection, would 
 advance such an objection." 
 
 "It not only seems so," added Superintendent Ed 
 Smith, "but it is so. You show me a man in this room 
 holding such a theory, and I will attempt to demon- 
 strate to this convention, by examining him on the 
 course of study, that he never gave it even a casual ex- 
 amination, and does not even understand the aim and 
 object of it. For my part I am getting tired of coming 
 up here every year and wasting time with Littleman, 
 Blockhead and others, who are too lazy to learn the 
 a b c's of the work, expecting us fellows to pound it 
 into them." (Much applause and loud laughter.) 
 
 Littleman and Blockhead were both furious, but they 
 were afraid of Ed Smith's examination and sharp words, 
 so they kept still. They knew if they said a word he 
 would proceed to bring out the illustration he promised 
 the audience. 
 
 The discussion on Superintendent Cobb's paper on 
 grading schools was taken up by Superintendent Smith 
 and others. Much stress was placed on the value of 
 making a proper record at the close of each term, of 
 the work done by each class to be left for the inspec- 
 tion of patrons or the superintendent, but the main ob- 
 ject being to enlighten the succeeding teacher on the 
 nature and quantity of work done by her predecessor. 
 Thus a new teacher could proceed without loss of time
 
 SILAS COBB 203 
 
 or confusion with the regular class work of the school 
 every grade being already properly organized. Su- 
 perintendent Smith claimed that in his county hi* peo- 
 ple had not only been greatly benefited by a continuous 
 organization of the schools from year to year, and a 
 corresponding increase in the advancement of the pupils, 
 but thousands of dollars had been saved annually in 
 time usually wasted in organizing the schools, and find- 
 ing out what work the pupils were capable of doing. 
 Thus each teacher, having no former record of classes, 
 would consume about one week's time in getting his 
 school well under way, and a hundred teachers would 
 waste one hundred weeks, an item of great importance 
 to the pupils in time, and the taxpayers in money. He 
 recommended that the superintendents ask their county 
 commissioners for an appropriation of a sufficient sum 
 for providing each school with a proper record for 
 showing the progress of the classes. By this method 
 the superintendent could have reports made to him on 
 the subject, and he would be brought in closer touch 
 with the real work of grading the schools. Any errors 
 could be pointed out, and assistance given the teachers 
 in the work of gradation. It seemed as useless to at- 
 tempt to run a school properly without records as to 
 conduct the business of a bank or any other corporation 
 without them.
 
 CHAPTER XXXVII. 
 
 IN January Silas Cobb started on his rounds of 
 school visiting again, and spent the next two 
 months at it. 
 
 In the course of a long week's work he had not 
 found anything of sufficient interest to note until he 
 reached the last schoolhouse on his trip back to Cow- 
 ville. In fact, he found some schools so exact and 
 monotonous that he felt like taking a nap in the midst 
 of the work. There are teachers you can neither com- 
 mend nor criticize. They are between wind and water 
 and belong to the great average. 
 
 But on Friday afternoon Silas found one sufficiently 
 bad to keep him alive to his duty. The teacher, Miss 
 Winterset, was one of those sharp, irritable, overbear- 
 ing girls who have poor judgment, and no patience. 
 Silas happened in while she was drilling a lad on the 
 word "cat." After her greeting, she went about 
 the task anew. In the first place the boy sat fully half 
 across the room from the teacher and the chart, and 
 Miss Winterset, with a pointer laid on the word "cat," 
 called out in a sharp, penetrating voice calculated to 
 embarrass the boy, "Now, Johnny,. what word is this?" 
 
 Johnny didn't answer. 
 
 "Johnny, what is that word?" 
 
 Johnny didn't say a word. 
 
 "Don't you know what c-a-t spells?" 
 
 He never told if he knew, and it is not supposed that 
 he knew, as he had never seen the word "cat," and this 
 was his first week at school. In a louder and more 
 irritated tone she repeated: 
 
 "What does c-a-t spell?"
 
 SILAS COBB 
 
 205 
 
 Still he sat flushed and silent. 
 
 "Johnny, don't you know what c-a-t spells?" By 
 this time she was angry, and showed every indication 
 of wanting to shake the lad; The whole school was 
 now intently interested in the situation, and the poor 
 
 word spells 'cat.'" 
 
 little fellow, feeling all eyes centered upon him, was on 
 the verge of crying. Now angry and red in the face 
 at the boy's stupidity in not understanding what seemed 
 to her a self-evident fact, she called out again: 
 
 ' ; Johnny, what does c-a-t spell?" 
 
 If the lad had had the courage to say what it really
 
 206 SILAS COBB 
 
 seemed to him to spell, he would probably have replied, 
 "sat," as he knew no other sound of "c" and "a" than 
 their natural ones, as he had learned them in the alpha- 
 bet. But he never said a word and sat there full of 
 fear, or fight, it is a question which. She finally gave 
 up defeated, and impressively said: 
 
 "That word spells 'cat.' " 
 
 She was using the a b c method, BO she now tui-ned 
 to the alphabet and began to test him on his letters. 
 
 Silas heard the same style of recitation until school 
 closed, and he planned to go carefully over the ground 
 with her and see if he could not help her. The work 
 was simply bad and he didn't hesitate to say so. 
 
 "Have you any criticism to offer on my work, Mr. 
 Cobb?" she asked in a manner indicating that she was 
 proud of her independent bearing and the courageous 
 front she always presented to her school. 
 
 "Yes, I have a few suggestions to make, Miss Win- 
 terset." 
 
 "Oh! is that so?" she replied, rather challengingly. 
 
 "Your chart class your method in handling that 
 work is not quite right, I think, and I would suggest 
 that you combine some of the later methods of instruc- 
 tion with your present idea. You jump from nothing 
 to the word "cat," and expect the child to recognize 
 the word as an old friend, when it is really unlike any- 
 thing he has ever seen, and its appearance and spelling 
 does not sound like "cat" to him. This is wrong, and 
 you " 
 
 By this time Miss Winterset was getting angry 
 again, and was taking the criticism very badly, and 
 interrupted Silas by the unreasonable remark, "I don't 
 see why." 
 
 "What do you refer to?" asked Silas.
 
 SILAS COBB 207 
 
 "Why, what you're talkin' about." 
 
 "What is it you don't see why about, Miss Winter- 
 set? I can't do anything with a statement like that?" 
 
 "Well, about my method." 
 
 "Your method is out of date and based on a wrong 
 principle. That is the whole trouble. No advanced 
 teacher uses that method. They use the phonetic word 
 method, or a combination of various methods, but no 
 advanced teacher uses the a b c method, pure and simple, 
 any more." 
 
 "I don't believe it," she retorted. 
 
 "It is immaterial to me, Miss Winterset, whether you 
 believe it or not. You seem to be as deficient in cour- 
 tesy as you are in methods, and I fear you have not the 
 proper elements for a teacher, anyway. A real teacher 
 ought to be kind and persuasive; this you are deficient 
 in, as shown by your method of handling the little boy. 
 She ought to be even and sweet-tempered; you are irrit- 
 able and bring out the bad that is in your school. She 
 ought to be courteous and considerate; this you seem 
 to be short in, also. She ought to be anxious to have 
 help from those in a position to give help; you are 
 weak in this, also, as you even go so far as to deny my 
 statement of facts with which every teacher ought to 
 be conversant. 
 
 "Now, these are a few points in your character, 
 which I see at a glance, that make you unfit to teach 
 school. Your school board told me you showed this 
 same spirit to them when they offered suggestions to 
 you. I wanted to make sure of it, and came to see for 
 myself if their complaints were justified." 
 
 "Oh, you did, did you?" 
 
 "Yes, I did and after you have finished out this term 
 of two weeks, you may consider yourself out of the
 
 208 SILAS COBB 
 
 service. I will not revoke your certificate unless you 
 apply for a school. I have no disposition to do you an 
 injury, and am acting as I am, simply because you are 
 not fitted for school-teaching. You can't help it, I sup- 
 pose, being born that way. Some people are born with 
 a talent for music, others for poetry, and so on around, 
 and it isn't their fault. I am not angry with you in 
 the least. It is true you have acted badly and rudely 
 disputed my word, but that is no affair of mine. You 
 are master of your own conduct, and your acts, for 
 good or ill, will recoil on yourself and not on me, and 
 will bring you much trouble in the end without my 
 added ill-will." 
 
 She stood stolid and ugly, and made no reply. 
 
 "I am sorry to see you feel that way, Miss Winter- 
 set. It is so perfectly useless, and leaves you in a 
 worse state of mind each time you yield to it. Take 
 the world as you find it, and don't bruise your body 
 fighting against everything you are not in harmony 
 with. When you see you are wrong give up frankly, 
 and every time you do you grow stronger and sow seeds 
 of good fellowship, and make people love you. Life is 
 too hard at best for us to go through it jostling each 
 other. Now mark you, Miss Winterset, I don't say 
 you shall never teach under me again. I mean you are 
 not to teach until I give you permission. I must have 
 proof of a decided change in your methods and your 
 disposition. I ask this as no personal favor to me. I 
 am simply doing what I think I ought to do. I owe it 
 to the people no less than you do; so when you show 
 me a different phase of yourself that is desirable in a 
 teacher along the lines I have indicated, we can arrange 
 a place for you then." 
 
 The pupils had all gone, and she and Silas stood all
 
 SILAS COBB 209 
 
 alone in the room, by her desk. She made no reply, 
 and he seemed to have said all that wag necessary. 
 
 "Good-by, Miss Winterset," he said at last, after 
 the silence had grown rather embarrassing, and as he 
 said it he offered his hand to her. She did not see it, 
 but muttered half below her breath something that 
 sounded like "good-by." 
 
 "I am sorry," said Silas, and walked out of the 
 room. Such scenes to him were disagreeable in the 
 extreme, and only extraordinary cases compelled him 
 to act so abruptly, and with apparent harshness. His 
 disposition was to avoid scenes of any kind, and he 
 did always avoid them if possible. As he drove along 
 on his way to town, he brooded over the situation, and 
 tried to find fault with himself and pick flaws in his 
 statements. Couldn't he have done this way or that, 
 and was there any use of stopping her further teach- 
 ing in the county? Wasn't it just a momentary dis- 
 play of temper on her part? It might have been her 
 bad day; we all have them, and a little allowance 
 ought to be made. 
 
 So he fought it out on both sides. For a time Silas 
 Cobb would fight, then the other self would take a 
 turn at it in defense of Miss Winterset. But all to 
 no purpose. 
 
 In the meantime, as Silas was speeding on to Cow- 
 ville behind Blaze-face, Miss Winterset was sitting at 
 her desk wrestling with the old demon. For a long 
 time she sat there and spat fire and brimstone, as it 
 were, at Silas Cobb. No thought came to her excited 
 mind mean enough to satisfy her. Time went on, 
 however, just the same, and the little dollar-and-a- 
 half tin-back clock ticked off the minutes just as though 
 14 Miss Wiuterset were not in a rage. An hour had gone
 
 210 SILAS COBB 
 
 by since Silas left, and still she sat there. Another 
 hour went, and long before it was gone the little 
 schoolhouse was wrapped in the shadows of an early 
 winter night. She didn't seem to know or care. She 
 only sat there and thought and thought. But in time 
 her blood cooled, and the room grew cold also. The 
 silence and the darkness seemed to soothe her irritated 
 mind, and at last she laid her head on her arm that 
 rested on her desk, and cried. Her obstinacy had 
 burned out, and in its place pity for herself had crept 
 in. She began to see how ugly she had been, and to 
 regret that she had not shaken hands with him when 
 he left. She could hear his quiet words yet, "I am 
 sorry," as he walked away. She wished he were back 
 again. Then she felt lonesome, and grew afraid. She 
 got up and put her little clock into a small basket in 
 which she carried her lunch, and closed and locked the 
 door. It was dark, and the night was cold and frosty, 
 so when she got home she was trembling all over from 
 cold and fright. She went straight to her room, and 
 to bed without supper. 
 
 The next morning at school, Jimmy Sanders said to 
 the first boy he met: 
 
 'Say, Sam, d' ye know teacher didn't get home las' 
 night 'till 'way after dark, and she and the superin- 
 tendent must have had a lot t' talk about, I guess." 
 
 "Gee whiz! 'Zat so?" 
 
 "Yes sir, 'tis, and she never eat no supper, aud ma 
 says her eyes was red when she come jist like she'd 
 been a cryiu'." 
 
 "Goodness, gracious! What 'd ye suppose the 
 superintendent did to her?" 
 
 "Golly, I don't know! That's what ina asked, and 
 pa smiled and winked at ma, and ma said she knowed
 
 S/JL4S COBB 
 
 211 
 
 better. Ye can't never tell nothin' about pa. He's 
 alus teasin' ma, but I know the teacher was a cryin' 
 las' night after she went t' bed, cause my bed's just 
 next t' the wall and I could hear her." 
 
 By the close of the day it was understood by all the 
 pupils that the teacher and superintendent had 
 remained at the schoolhouse until long after dark, 
 
 "The silence and the darkness seemed, to soothe her." 
 and that the teacher got a good lecture, but the older 
 heads at home changed the object of the late hour at 
 the house, and made quite a delightful morsel of gossip 
 out of it. From no foundation of fact whatever, a 
 wonderful story was woven, and for a few weeks or 
 months, it found its way into every mouth, and was 
 soon forgotten or replaced, and Silas Cobb and Miss 
 Winterset, wrapped in their own thoughts, never heard 
 of it.
 
 CHAPTER XXXVIII. 
 
 ABOUT ten o'clock one morning, on his next trip 
 to the country, Silas Cobb drove up to Oliver 
 Scotland's school, and hitched Blaze-face to a 
 near-by fence. Oliver spied him coming, and at once 
 pulled down his vest, brushed back his bushy mustache, 
 and stood up among his rubbish and dirty surroundings. 
 
 ''Children," he said, "we now have approaching us 
 the Hon. Silas Cobb, Superintendent of Schools of 
 Brush county." (Oliver was great on display.) "I 
 see him now preparing to enter our school, one of the 
 best, I should say, in this county. I want you to be 
 on your good behavior, and make a special effort to 
 not disgrace us by any untimely acts. Attention, now, 
 to your work." 
 
 Oliver was a negative character, and he was never of 
 one mind, so far as plans and their execution were con- 
 cerned, long at a time. He had begged off from attend- 
 ing the institute in consideration of a solemn pledge to 
 attend the teachers' meetings to make up for it. This 
 Silas believed he had meant to do at the time, but "out 
 of sight, out of mind" was Oliver's style, and he had 
 not attended a single meeting up to the time of Silas' 
 visit in February. 
 
 When Silas entered his schoolroom the first general 
 impression he got (and it proved correct and lasting), 
 was that of carelessness, and a sort of odor filled the 
 air that is common to a lot of dirty boys and girls 
 crowded into a schooh-oom on a cold morning after they 
 have become thoroughly warmed up. Behind the desk 
 Oliver took his stand, and made a speech to the chil- 
 dren for the benefit of the superintendent in the way of
 
 SILAS COBB 213 
 
 an introduction and welcome. His coat collar showed 
 gray around the back of his neck, with grease thor- 
 oughly soaked in and nicely coated with dandruff. The 
 front of his vest, coat and trousers were polka-dotted 
 with dusty grease-spots. In short, he wasn't clean, 
 neither was his school. By his desk was a box of saw- 
 dust not clean sawdust, but the sawdust of ages, 
 measured by the uses made of sawdust in such places. 
 His desk was littered with many things, and the dust 
 of the year had accumulated in plenty upon it between 
 the books and papers. 
 
 The door-casings, desks and furniture were all greasy 
 and dirty. It is safe to say the floor had never been 
 scrubbed, and absolutely certain that the woodwork 
 had never been washed. It was also reasonably certain 
 that the teacher and his pupils had not bathed their 
 bodies during the year. 
 
 After the school had partially recovered from the re- 
 ception of the superintendent, Oliver announced that 
 he would now call his advanced arithmetic class. This 
 class had recited, but he wanted Mr. Cobb to witness 
 the swift work of these particular pupils. 
 
 "What year's work is this class doing, Mr. Scot- 
 land?" inquired Superintendent Cobb. 
 
 "We ain't doin' no particular year, Mr. Cobb. This 
 class is workin' independent from any course of study." 
 
 "Yes, I should judge so," replied Mr. Cobb. 
 
 "Now, boys and girls," continued Oliver, "we want 
 to show the superintendent some rapid calculation in " 
 A boy in the back seat punctured Oliver's remarks with 
 a loud snap of his fingers, and held up a dirty hand. 
 "Well, what is it, Sam?" 
 
 "A-1-l-e-g-h-e-n-y!" drawled out the bo'y, a chocolate
 
 214 SILAS COBB 
 
 colored finger following the letters as he spelled the 
 word. 
 
 "That's Allegheny, Sam. I've told you twice to-day 
 how to pronounce that word." 
 
 "Now, then, class! Quick! Ready! Who can git 
 through first? What's the intrust on $750.50 at 6 per 
 cent for two years, 1 month and 10 days? Now lively 
 there!" And the chalk clattered on the blackboard at 
 a terriffic rate. It was a mad race to see who would 
 finish first. Flushed with pride, Oliver stood at his 
 desk watching the proceedings, and urging them on. 
 The school stopped the preparation of lessons and en- 
 tered into the exercise with avidity. Finally Oliver 
 observed that this exhibition of lightning calculation 
 was interfering with the preparation of lessons. "Git 
 to work there, children; don't be wastin' your time 
 that-a- way . " 
 
 Then seven different children snapped their fingers, 
 and Oliver called out one after another for the ques- 
 tions, and answered them in a loud, pulpit-toned voice. 
 
 In a very short time the class had finished its prob- 
 lem, and one after another of the first ones to finish 
 whirled around with the expression, "I am through, 
 teacher," "Me, too," and so on. 
 
 "Now, Superintendent Cobb," spoke Oliver, in a 
 tone of pride, "you will see that we have learned to do 
 things in a hurry, here. Rapidity is what the business 
 world wants. Would you like to ask the class ques- 
 tions on the work?" 
 
 Silas accepted the invitation, and proceeded to exam- 
 ine the pupils. He discovered, as he expected, that 
 they had been taught a formula of cancellation by rote, 
 and knew absolutely nothing about the principle 
 involved in the subject. He was not long in making
 
 SILAS COB B 
 
 215 
 
 his point apparent to the class. But Oliver declared 
 in a bluster that they knew, but were bothered and 
 embarrassed. While the recitation was in progress, 
 pupils all over the room continued to interrupt it 
 
 "It was a mad race to see who would finish first." 
 with questions, and the teacher, apparently, did not 
 seem to think anything about it. All through the fore- 
 noon he waded through his work in much the same man- 
 ner. His ambition to make a big display drowned out 
 everything that was good in his school, and was devel- 
 oping the same qualities in his pupils.
 
 216 SILAS COBB 
 
 At noon, while the pupils were eating their lunches, 
 Silas began his pruning task. 
 
 "Mr. Scotland, I don't want to be unnecessarily 
 harsh, and what I say to you I want you to consider in 
 a good spirit, for my sole aim is to help the work along. 
 Before we begin I would like to see your register of 
 classes and your course of study. 
 
 "Say, now, I am sorry about that, but I just don't 
 believe I have made out my register yet, but the course 
 let me see where is that? Well, now I come to 
 think of it, I left it at the hotel in Cowville the day 
 you gave it to me at the teachers' institute when you 
 excused me from attendance; and, by the way, Superin- 
 tendent Cobb, that was very kind of you too. I've 
 told several people here about how good you were to 
 me, and every one of them said it was just like you. 
 I tell you I have kept things in good shape out here 
 for you politically." 
 
 "Of course that is well enough for me, Oliver, but 
 this neglect on your part is all wrong, and I am going 
 to hold you to account. for it. Now, look at the situa- 
 tion: I have been preaching a whole year about this 
 course of study. I have demanded its use in every 
 school. You have had no less than five circular letters 
 sent you about its use, and I never thought it possible 
 that any teacher in this county would be guilty of wil- 
 ful neglect. Besides that, when I was here before I 
 told you to make out your register promptly at the 
 beginning of every term, showing the organization of 
 your school. This you have also ignored. Here the 
 year is almost closed, and not a thing done in either 
 case. These alone, Mr. Scotland, are causes sufficient 
 for revoking your certificate, if I had no other reasons." 
 
 "What's the difference about the course of study
 
 SILAS COBB 217 
 
 that don't tell a feller how to teach a school, and as to 
 the register, I know all about the school, and what's 
 the use to write it down?" replied Oliver. 
 
 "Why didn't you say that to me last year, so I could 
 have stopped all this trouble at once, instead of pretend- 
 ing to me you were so enthusiastic over it? The very 
 idea of you presuming to ignore my absolute instruc- 
 tions to you on this matter is provoking, to say the 
 least." 
 
 "Oh, you take the matter too seriously, Superintend- 
 ent Cobb. You ought to concede something to me and 
 take into account my good teachin'. That ought to be 
 the main aim of your supervision, anyway. I've had 
 lots of experience, I can tell you." 
 
 Silas looked at him and his contempt changed into 
 pity for the fellow's ignorance. 
 
 "Oliver Scotland," said Silas impressively, and with 
 great seriousness, "I don't want to hurt your feelings, 
 but you must be disillusioned or you never will amount 
 to anything in your life. Now, listen closely to what 
 I am going to say. You are, to my personal knowledge, 
 the most incompetent teacher in Brush county. In ad- 
 dition to that, you are the most slovenly in your per- 
 sonal appearance, and keep the dirtiest schoolroom, and 
 can show the most untidy pupils of any teacher I ever 
 saw or read about." 
 
 "What what on earth have I done to merit such 
 abuse?" retorted Scotland, now red in the face. 
 
 "Nothing," was Silas' reply. "Nothing but blow 
 and bluster, Mr. Scotland, that is all; and pray keep 
 your voice down. We don't want the school to hear 
 this talk. I am talking to you for your benefit, and if 
 you are sensible you will heed my advice." 
 
 "You are, eh? Well, I can tell you now the people
 
 218 SILAS COBB 
 
 of this district will see whether you can come out here 
 and slander their school. Dirtiest lot of pupils you 
 ever saw, are they? I like that, don't you children?" 
 His voice fairly rang with anger. The pupils heard his 
 statement in full. 
 
 Silas had gone a little too far in his statement, not 
 for truth's sake, but for the sake of diplomacy. Oli- 
 ver's love for display was too strong for him, and he 
 indulged himself before he could help it. It was a 
 grand opportunity to array his little empire against 
 Superintendent Cobb, and it seemed at that moment to 
 him in his anger, that he would need strong backing to 
 save himself. 
 
 Silas leaned over the desk until his face was within a 
 foot of Oliver's, and as he did so he laid his hand on 
 his arm with a grip of iron, and said, in cold, sharp 
 tone, "Shut up." 
 
 The effect was simply electrical. Oliver sank back 
 in his chair white with fear, and the cold perspiration 
 stood on his forehead. What he saw in that look, and 
 what he felt in every sense he had was sufficient to 
 bring him to a state of collapse. 
 
 Silas turned to the pupils and said: 
 
 "Children, I don't want you to be frightened at this 
 little scene here. Mr. Scotland is not feeling well to- 
 day, and he is now sorry for his outbreak of temper. 
 I have decided that he needs a little rest and change 
 from his work, and this being Thursday, the week is 
 about gone anyway, so I will take the liberty of dis- 
 missing you until next Monday. I am not quite sure, 
 but I think there will be a new teacher here Monday. 
 You may take your wraps and go home now. I will 
 come to see you next Monday, when I hope to give you
 
 SILAS COBB 219 
 
 a pleasant talk, and introduce to you one of the best 
 lady-teachers I can find. Good-by to you all." 
 
 They filed out of the room amid great excitement, 
 and hurried home. As they left the room Silas saw the 
 children of the directors and sent word for them to 
 come to the schoolhouse at once. 
 
 Oliver still sat rooted to his chair, scarcely compre- 
 hending what was happening. When the pupils were 
 gone Silas told him to eat his lunch while he took his 
 horse to a near-by house to be fed, aud to get his own 
 dinner. He would return and meet him and the board. 
 
 At two o'clock Silas drove up to the schoolhouse and 
 found all the directors present. Oliver had told his 
 story, leaving out the incriminating part of it. The 
 board was in a rage, and Silas found himself liable to a 
 personal assault from them. Oliver was a favorite 
 among them, and a local politician of some note. On 
 account of their ignorance and simplicity they were not 
 able to see through his veneer of boasting and story- 
 telling. Silas had scarcely cleared the threshold before 
 they were all talking at once. They were German- 
 Americans, and the leader of them was a high-tempered, 
 unreasonable man, and he was shaking his fist in Silas' 
 face before greetings were fairly exchanged. Silas' 
 traditional coolness came near forsaking him here. It 
 was a delicate situation, and whether his act would 
 produce peace or war was a question. He had made 
 one mistake. He would not be hasty this time. He 
 would use argument. That was what he meant to do, 
 but when the leader of the revolt touched his chin with 
 his dirty fist in his wild gesticulations, he caught his 
 wrist in his grip and brought it down with a twist, and 
 in a loud, clear voice he shouted: "Sit down! You
 
 220 SILAS COBB 
 
 don't know what you are talking about. Sit down, all 
 of you." 
 
 They got into their seats, still muttering, and the 
 cold sweat came out on Oliver's brow again. 
 
 "Now, gentlemen, I am ready to explain the situa- 
 tion. You should have saved you-r demonstration until 
 I had finished. It never pays to be hasty as I, myself 
 have learned over and over again. A year or more ago 
 Mr. Scotland here was at our institute when we organ- 
 ized our teachers' association for the year. He opposed 
 the plan vigorously. This, too, in the face of the fact 
 that he needed the help of these meetings, his standings 
 on examination being too low to entitle him to a certif- 
 icate. But on account of his long experience I let him 
 through on probation. I told him then that he must 
 make good his grades before this year's work closed. 
 He knew what to expect. I came out here to see him, 
 and find that he has not complied with a single require- 
 ment made by my office. He does not keep his records, 
 nor does he follow the course of study. These things, 
 however, could be overlooked if he were an excellent 
 teacher, but I want to say to you, gentlemen, that he is 
 the most incompetent teacher I ever saw, anywhere. 
 Your pupils do not understand half the stuff he pre- 
 tends to teach them. I have examined them, and know 
 this to be a fact. Another thing which I dislike to 
 mention to you, but which is a very important matter, 
 is that he is not tidy in his dress and personal appear- 
 ance. He does not keep himself clean, nor does he try 
 to keep his schoolroom or pupils clean. I beg of you 
 to look at this room. Step up here and look at his 
 desk. Is not your barn just as clean? Is a man a 
 true teacher of little children who will live in such 
 filth?
 
 SILAS COBB 221 
 
 "I revoked his certificate an hour ago for general 
 incompetency, and I assumed the responsibility of dis- 
 missing the school because I didn't suppose the mem- 
 bers of the school board would personally want to pay 
 his salary, as no school money can be used to pay his 
 wages from now on. It was not my intention, gentle- 
 men, to act so abruptly in this matter, but to be frank 
 with you, I made the mistake of telling Mr. Scotland 
 the plain truth without due regard as to how it might 
 make him feel. The result of my act was to arouse his 
 anger and his bad breeding led him to raise his voice 
 so the entire school was aware of his trouble. This 
 fact led me to act at once, as no greater damage could 
 be done to the school than for him to continue teach- 
 ing for the remainder of the week. 
 
 "I think I have just about covered the ground so far 
 as Mr. Scotland is concerned. These boys and girls 
 are entitled to as good a teacher as any other school. 
 You pay a good salary, and you ought to have good 
 work. It is absolutely certain that your pupils have 
 been positively damaged by the present teacher, and I 
 feel that I am largely to blame for it. Out of sym- 
 pathy for a few old-time teachers who could not pass 
 the examination last year, I let them teach on proba- 
 tion, which, in Mr. Scotland's case, was a mistake. 
 He did not try to improve. He even seemed not to 
 care. I have no personal grounds for opposing him. 
 If he knows of any defense he can offer you, he can 
 now have the floor." 
 
 But Mr. Oliver Scotland seemed crushed, and only 
 asked the question, "What's the use?" 
 
 "None, particularly, Mr. Scotland," replied Silas. 
 "It is your privilege." 
 
 The school board had little to say. They seemed to
 
 222 SILAS COBB 
 
 lack ground to stand on, and all of them seemed satis- 
 fied that Silas was right about it. It ended by the 
 board asking him to send them another teacher. 
 
 Silas knew that District No. 6, where Josephine 
 Alger taught, would close on Friday, so he drove 
 direct to her schoolhouse. He laid the matter before 
 her in all its disagreeableness, and asked her to take the 
 school. Did she revolt at it, or inquire about her 
 compensation and boarding place? No; these things 
 did not appeal to her in this light. She only said, 
 after Silas had finished: "The poor little dirty things! 
 They need some one to love them, don't they? I would 
 really like to go, but how could I? These people here 
 will want me for the spring term, and I have only two 
 weeks of vacation?" 
 
 "They will have to do without you, Miss Alger. 
 Here is a school that is sadly in need of you. I 
 could not find another teacher to fill that place. You 
 are not needed here now so much. There are many 
 teachers who can teach here, but there are none whom 
 I can get fit to take up that work." 
 
 It ended by Miss Alger taking the school. She went 
 like a soldier, where the fire was the hottest. Silas 
 took her out in his buggy, and when the pupils had all 
 gathered, he said: 
 
 "Children, I told you last week that I would intro- 
 duce to you to-day the nicest and most lovable lady 
 teacher I could find. I had no trouble in finding her, 
 because I knew just where to look. This is Miss 
 Josephine Aiger, and where she came from you can 
 find no one who does not love her. Every boy and 
 girl who ever knew her became her friend for life. 
 I know you need some one to love you, and work with 
 you. Some one whose heart is like yours, and whose
 
 SILAS COBB 
 
 soul is so great, and yet so tender, that little chil- 
 dren who go to school to her are filled with love and 
 high aims. That is why I brought you Miss Alger. 
 I knew you needed a grand, good teacher more than 
 any other school in the county, and because I was 
 anxious to help you I have brought you the best 
 teacher I ever knew. Now I hope you will be good to 
 her and love her as she deserves." 
 
 That was Silas' speech and Miss Alger's heart being 
 tender, her eyes were level full of tears when he fin- 
 ished. It wasn't a day for ceremony, so, after a short 
 talk with Miss Alger, Silas left. He knew a third 
 party would interfere with the work of the school. 
 They would feel freer if left to themselves. 
 
 It was a wonderful thing the way that school 
 shucked itself during that first week. The old, dirty 
 house got its first bath, and the pupils saw a revela- 
 tion. And it was all so jolly! No bluster nor brag 
 now. It was all sunshine and smiles. The work was 
 a pleasure, and in time they began to understand the 
 reasons for what they did. The people at first stood 
 aloof from Miss Alger, but it was only for a short 
 time. The children in the end bore down every 
 barrier, as they always do for those they love.
 
 CHAPTER XXXIX. 
 
 DURING the spring vacation four adjoining coun- 
 ties, including Brush, Hays, Willow and Hitch- 
 cock, had a joint teachers' convention at Cow- 
 ville. It had been planned by Superintendents Cobb 
 and Ed Smith, and proved to be a very successful meet- 
 ing. Superintendent Smith brought over in a body 
 from his county about a hundred teachers; Brush 
 county turned out in full force. Superintendent Slowly, 
 at Sandy Crossing, came over with six of his teachers, 
 while Superintendent Brown, from Oak Bluffs, came 
 with a full dozen. 
 
 At the suggestion of Superintendent Slowly, who was 
 still trying to decide the matter, the convention spent 
 much time on the value of a course of study for coun- 
 try schools. It will be remembered that he had been 
 getting opinions for some years past on the subject pre- 
 paratory to adopting a course of study, and Superin- 
 tendent Smith had told him in pretty strong terms 
 what he thought of his methods. 
 
 After the meeting had closed and it seemed as if 
 everyone had had all the discussion he needed for some 
 time, Superintendent Slowly was still thirsting for 
 more, so he managed to get the other thi-ee superintend- 
 ents cornered in the church where the meeting had been 
 held and, after due deliberation, solemnly asked this 
 question: 
 
 "What do you men do with agents, solicitors for 
 church funds, beggars, peddlers and ticket sellers who 
 prey on you for your money?" 
 
 Ed Smith guffawed, Silas Cobb smiled, Mr. Brown 
 giggled and Superintendent Slowly looked injured.
 
 SILAS COBB 225 
 
 Then they all tried to look serious, and Ed Smith 
 answered first: 
 
 "I have the janitor cremate mine in the furnace." 
 
 They all laughed again, and Mr. Brown, a man of 
 impulses, seriously began to explain his method: 
 
 "For my part I think I have an ideal way of dispos- 
 ing of them all to the best advantage. For instance, I 
 pin a notice on the door casing, 'No book agents 
 admitted,' and whenever one appears I take him by the 
 arm and show him the notice. Then I go to my work 
 without another word, looking very stern. If that 
 doesn't suffice, I use sterner measures. Solicitors of 
 church funds who are all residents of my county I greet 
 cordially, and explain to them I am solicited by every- 
 one, and I have made a universal rule to give twenty- 
 five cents, and give it to all alike. This lets me on* 
 cheaply, and no one's offended. The peddlers I fire 
 right out without ceremony, as they don't belong in the 
 county. The ticket sellers for entertainments I placate 
 by buying one, as a rule. I think it is a pretty good 
 plan. At any rate it works well with me." 
 
 Superintendent Slowly looked amazed. Such sum- 
 mary methods were shocking to him. 
 
 "Why," he said, "you don't lose much time with 
 them, do you? No longer than last week a fellow 
 bothered me all day trying to sell me a patented ink- 
 well and some other stuff. Of course I treated him as 
 well as I knew how and he was going to sell it to me 
 in spite of myself. But after he had spent about a day 
 at it, he went off looking as if he had been defeated. 
 But I never buy anything from anybody nor subscribe 
 to anything. Just can't afford it, but I do waste a lot 
 of time talking with them." 
 15 "Well, I don't agree with either of you gentlemen,"
 
 226 SILAS COBB 
 
 said Superintendent Cobb. "I don't treat any of this 
 class by set rules. I don't have any notices warning 
 any one to keep away from my office. I say this with 
 due respect to you, Mr. Brown, but I take it that my 
 office is of a public character and open to the public. 
 If a book agent comes to me with a book, I am always 
 glad to look at his wares. I am a lover of good books. 
 Should he have anything that suited me, I would 
 encourage him. He is a human being like myself, try- 
 ing to make an honest living. Besides that, I may be 
 greatly benefited by contact with him. To illustrate my 
 point, last week a gentleman called on me selling John- 
 son's Cyclopaedia. His hair was half gray and he 
 looked like a perfect gentleman. He was very gentle- 
 manly in his address, and considerate lest he take my 
 time without first getting my permission. He called at 
 nine o'clock A. M. and at bedtime he left me. It was all 
 my fault; I kept him. He was the most interesting 
 man I ever talked with, and I learned more in that 
 day's talk with him than I ever learned from any dozen 
 men I ever knew. He was a graduate of Harvard, and 
 had held high positions, so much above my poor little 
 job that it must have all seemed mean and small to him, 
 yet nothing of the kind could be detected in his man- 
 ner. Now I want to ask you, Superintendent Brown, 
 what would I have looked like taking that man by the 
 the arm, a total stranger to me, and pointing to a notice 
 on my door, "No book agents admitted.'''''' 
 
 "Well, that's just what I did with that same fellow," 
 replied Brown, looking rather sheepish. 
 
 "You don't mean it," said Slowly. 
 
 "Surely you didn't," said Cobb. 
 
 "Brown, you're a fool," said Ed Smith. 
 
 "Why?" said Brown, now embarrassed.
 
 SILAS COBB 227 
 
 "Nobody but a Democrat would do a thinglike that 
 because he is too ignorant to know any better," laugh 
 ingly retorted Smith. 
 
 "Be careful, Smith," replied Silas Cobb, smiling. 
 "I might invite you outside," and as he said it he 
 closed down on Smith's arm with so much cordiality 
 that the impulsive gentleman screamed with pain. 
 Silas' grip was something marvelous. 
 
 "But tell us what Canfield (that was the agent's name) 
 said to you, Brown," continued Smith. "I am anxious 
 to know if he thrashed you as you deserved?" 
 
 "Thrashed me? Well, I guess not. He bowed to 
 me with an apology when I showed him the notice, aud 
 said he was sixty years old and had never yet thought 
 to look for a warning of that sort on the door casing, 
 and he hoped I would overlook his negligence in not 
 seeing it. It was not his intention to intrude himself 
 where he was not wanted, or something to that effect." 
 
 "And didn't you just now say he didn't thrash you, 
 Brown?" 
 
 "Well, did he?" inquired Brown innocently. 
 
 "Well, all I have to say to that is you don't seem to 
 know when you are licked. For my part, if a man like 
 Canfield ever dealt me a blow like that, I wouldn't be 
 able to manage another obstreperous school teacher for 
 a whole year. I agree with Cobb about these matters 
 exactly. There is only one rule to adopt absolutely 
 only one and that one is this: Be a gentleman at all 
 times and under all circumstances, and assume every 
 other man is a gentleman until you find he isn't. Every 
 agent, peddler, fakir, solicitor, or any other old thing 
 gets courteous treatment when he comes to my office. I 
 let him sing me his song, that is, tell me his business. 
 I give him a respectful hearing and limit the time. I
 
 228 SILAS COBB 
 
 never have any trouble about wasting time. All who 
 call on me are comparatively clever people, and know 
 when I am ready to quit, and they get out." 
 
 "Oh, well," said Brown, "I am going to quit the 
 work anyway. Maybe I was hasty about it, but no 
 use to cry about past mistakes. By the way, I haven't 
 told you yet about my prospects of being elected to the 
 presidency of Hoover College over in Indiana, have I? 
 No? Well, I have every reason to believe I will be 
 elected." 
 
 "What college is that?" asked Cobb. 
 
 "Hoover College at Coif ax." 
 
 "Why, man alive! don't you know Canfield is presi- 
 dent of the board of directors of that college?" 
 
 Brown turned pale and then red, and at last laughed 
 a sickly laugh. "Is that really so?" he asked. 
 
 "Absolutely certain," replied Cobb. 
 
 "It shall be meted back to you measure for measure," 
 quoted Smith, smiling at Brown's discomfiture. 
 
 "Well, say," Brown continued, "that's a good one 
 on me. Do you suppose Canfield will hold that against 
 me? Did he say anything about me to you, Mr. Cobb?" 
 
 "No, nothing disrespectful only mentioned meeting 
 you." 
 
 "Or to you, Smith?" 
 
 "Not a word. Canfield's a gentleman." 
 
 Immediately after the four men separated, Superin- 
 tendents Brown and Slowly left on the first train, while 
 Ed Smith and Silas went arm in arm to the latter's 
 office. As they strolled along Smith broke the silence 
 by saying: "Yes, I think Canfield will know how to 
 vote when his board gets ready to select a president. 
 Wouldn't it be an edifying spectacle to see as president 
 of a college a man who has a mind like Brown's
 
 SILAS COBB 
 
 hemmed in all around with a 'stake and rider' fence?" 
 
 "Yes," said Silas, "and isn't it an apt illustration of 
 that old saying that 'chickens always come home 
 to roost.' How nicely everything adjusts itself to con- 
 ditions. There seems to be a perfect balance in every 
 action. It is utterly impossible to escape this universal 
 law of compensation. Brown is not broad enough for 
 a college president, and his insult to Canfield will cost 
 him the position. If every man could be taught this 
 everlasting truth, that there is no escape possible from 
 the results of his own acts, there would be much more 
 thinking done before acting. Acts, good or bad, ema- 
 nate from within us, and no matter whether committed 
 in silence and alone, or in public, that never-ceasing 
 law of compensation, like gravity, goes on with its lev- 
 eling process, meting out measure for measure. Like 
 death, there is no escape from it. If there happens to 
 be no public act to bring about retribution from the 
 outside at once, the process is going on just the same 
 from within, and sooner or later evens up every account. 
 Some master-characters in cunning and subterfuge live 
 half of a life sometimes before the world discovers the 
 workings of this law in a public exposure, but in the 
 end it comes and the reckoning is made. It's the law 
 of life, and to break it means to suffer." 
 
 "Silas, you are quite a philosopher. Where did you 
 get all that stuff?" 
 
 "Learned it by experience." 
 
 "The only real school," commented Smith. 
 
 By this time they had reached the office, and, going 
 in, comfortably seated themselves for a good visit. 
 They had barely raised a subject for discussion when 
 they heard heavy steps on the stairs, and a great deal
 
 230 SILAS COBB 
 
 of puffing and blowing as if the climber was in distress 
 and found the stairs difficult to ascend. 
 
 "Listen," said Silas. 
 
 "Regular tornado," remarked Smith. 
 
 "No, it isn't," corrected Silas. "It's Henry Boggs 
 or his spook, and I'll wager two to one on it." 
 
 Sure enough. The door burst open and old Henry 
 Boggs stepped in, noisy and elated. 
 
 "Howdy, Silas, my boy! Blame me, ef I ain't glad 
 t' see ye, son. An' be this Ed Smith? Excuse me, 
 sir, % fer speakin' up, but Editor Smith, uv the Herald, 
 told me ye wuz with Silas. I am jest as glad as I kin 
 be t' see ye both." He had Silas' hand in his right and 
 Ed Smith's in his left, shaking them both vigorously. 
 
 "Yes, this is my friend, Ed Smith, and mighty 
 glad I am to see you, Uncle Henry," replied Silas, 
 smiling a real welcome to him. 
 
 "And I, too, Mr. Boggs," said Smith with warmth. 
 "Silas, here, has told me enough about you to make a 
 book, and a good one, too. I consider it a great 
 honor to meet a man like you." 
 
 "Henry Boggs would make a good hero in any 
 book," added Silas. 
 
 The old man swelled up with pride and genuine 
 pleasure at the warmth of his welcome and the appre- 
 ciation these two young, husky men showed him. 
 
 "Ye boys ort t' be ashamed uv yerselves, blowin' up 
 an ole man like that. I'm too ole now t' stand much 
 uv it, blame me ef I ain't! I git so stuck up some- 
 times that Marthy tells me I am likely t' git a fall. 
 She says t' me, 'Henry, them town fellers air ruiniu' 
 ye more an' more every year. They jest make ye think 
 ye're somebody, when ye ain't. Ye're only ole Henry 
 Boggs, an' I'm only ole Marthy Boggs, an' that's all
 
 SILAS COBB 231 
 
 there is t' it. We air jest ole, ignerant people, an' not 
 fit t' go out with them town folks, who air cddicated 
 an' wear nice clothes. We jest don't know how, 
 Henry. We've worked out our time, an' our ways 
 jest growed in us. We caii't change 'em any now'. 
 An' I believed her, too, at the time, but ye young 
 rascals knock it all out uv me, an' I begin t' git 
 proud an' stuck up. So ye've got t' quit blowin' up 
 the ole man. D'ye hear?" 
 
 "The trouble with you, Mr. Boggs," replied Smith, 
 "if you won't object to my mentioning it, is, you are 
 too modest to appreciate your own true value. Man- 
 ners, or forms, and clothes do not make the man, as 
 you know." 
 
 "Well, I should say not," interrupted Silas. 
 "Why, Smith, do you know that it actually makes me 
 feel badly to hear them talk that way. If to-day I had 
 my choice of dining with the governor of this state or 
 old Henry Boggs, I should dine with Boggs, and feel 
 a greater honor, because I would feel that there sat a 
 man who never deserted a friend; whose honor was 
 never questioned; whose life is an open book; whose 
 soul is great and strong; and lastly, whose heart beats 
 warm and true for me. Do you think I would exchange 
 him for a governor, a president, or any one else, no 
 matter what cut of clothes he weai-s or from what 
 school he graduated? Well, I guess not!" ended Silas, 
 with a rap of his ruler on the desk. 
 
 This was balm to Mr. Boggs' soul, and he almost 
 forgot himself in the great emotion he felt. Had he 
 been out in the barn-yard at home he might have 
 diverted attention from his emotion by storming at 
 the stock, but there was no chance for diversion there 
 in that small office.
 
 232 SILAS COBB 
 
 "Thank ye, son, fer yer kind words. Sufferin' 
 Moses! but the wind is bad t'-day. I jest got my eyes 
 full uv dust comin' in." 
 
 He took his handkerchief out and wiped his eyes. 
 No one made any comment on the calmness of the 
 atmosphere outside, and old Henry's embarrassment 
 was passed over without apparent notice. 
 
 Silas soon discovered, however, that Mr. Boggs 
 wanted to say something to him in private, so he said 
 to Smith, "Please excuse us a moment, Ed. I want to 
 send a little message to Mrs. Boggs," and he led the 
 way into his private office. 
 
 "Well, Mr. Boggs, I am very glad to see you. How 
 are you, anyway, and how is Mrs. Boggs?" 
 
 "Well as common, Silas, an' we air as happy as kin 
 be over a little matter we're planniu' now, his face lit 
 up with pleasure as he went on. 
 
 "Ye see, Silas, son, the gal's goin' t' git home on 
 vacation 'bout the middle uv June, an' she has writ the 
 ole woman an' me an' told us she's comin' t' see us." 
 By this time Silas understood whom he meant, so he 
 let him goon without question. "The idee jest struck 
 Marthy and me that it would be mighty nice fer us ole 
 folks ef we could have the gal an' the boy both there 
 at the same time an' we'd have a big dinner fer 'em. 
 Marthy says it's jest the thing, an' we air jest buildin' 
 big on the prospects uv it. She says t' me, 'Henry, 
 it'd seem jest like they wuz our own, wouldn't it? an' 
 we kin jest play they air our own, an' there'll be jest 
 us four at the table ye at that end an' me at this, an' 
 Silas will set there at that side, an' Julie will set here 
 on this side, facin' each other.' An', Silas, do ye 
 know the dear ole thing sat there an' let the tears come 
 out, an' it's been many a day since that happened afore.
 
 SILAS COBB 
 
 It's a sad thing, Silas, not t' have no children t' love 
 ye an' t' love, au' maybe that's why we cling to ye so 
 hard, Silas, an' it may be that's what made the tears 
 come." lie seemed to forget Silas' presence for a 
 moment, and sat in a deep study while he turned back 
 through the years like leaves of a book, hunting for 
 some one back there in the silence among the dead 
 things, and dreaming over it again. Then he remem- 
 bered that he lived in the present, and went on with 
 his talk. 
 
 "The recollection is 'bout all an ole mail has, Silas, 
 
 an' when he's lived so long as I have, it becomes a won- 
 derful thing. The long years help t' make entertain- 
 ment fer many reflections on winter days when ye' 
 can't git out. Ye mought not believe it now, Si, 
 lookin' at me as I am, but when I wuz a lad like ye, 1 
 wuz a mighty good-lookin' feller. An' Marthy! a more 
 likely gal ye never see. I wuz jest a thiukin' uv a time 
 away back there when me an' Marthy wuz like ye an' 
 Julie. It seems t' me more like a dream. This may 
 seem odd t' ye, Silas when I tell ye Marthy rid behind
 
 234 SILAS COBB 
 
 me on a horse ten miles to bear some feller make a big 
 speech fer Andy Jackson. Then's when \ve had our 
 first courtship, Silas, an' I kin remember t' this very 
 day, tho' it's been more'n fifty years, jest how she 
 looked that day as we rode through them big woods. 
 I'd jest like t' feel agin, Silas, jest as I did that fine 
 summer day when I felt Marthy's pretty arm clingin' 
 t' me an' felt her warm breath on my neck. We didn't 
 care much whether we ever got t' the meetin', but in 
 time we did arrive. Ye see in them days the country 
 wuz new, an' there wuz skursly any place fer people t' 
 go fer pleasure, so these speakin's alus brung out the 
 people. Well, sir, Silas, ye mought not believe it 
 now, but Marthy wuz much like the gals air now-a- 
 days. The meetin' wuz held in the woods an' every- 
 body brung their dinners. I mind how her bright 
 eyes danced with delight at the lively scenes at the 
 meetin', an' her pretty face wuz all aglow. Then 
 there wuz Jim Hensley an' Jim Cox, an' two or three 
 more fellers who wanted t' talk t' Marthy all the time. 
 An', Si, atween you an' me, I think Marthy wanted t' 
 make shore I loved her by seein' ef I'd be jealous. So 
 she took a drink uv cider with Jim Hensley, an' Jim 
 Cox he swung her in a big grape-vine swing he fixed 
 up. We didn't listen much t' the speaker. I mind 
 hearin' him say somethin' 'bout the National Bank 
 bein' a menace t' the country, an' ever' now and then 
 he'd wind up a sentence by sayin, Old Hickory would 
 shorely be elected president! Ye see Silas, I wuz busy 
 watchin' Cox an' Hensley an' keepin' atween them an' 
 Marthy much ez I could 'thout show in' it. An' t' 
 think now that them pore fellers died afore ye wuz 
 born, Silas, an' out in the woods where Cox wuz 
 buried, there's a big poplar tree growin' over his grave.
 
 SILAS COBB 235 
 
 Well, as I said, I wuz too absorbed in Martby t' tbink 
 much about who wuz t' be president, so by an' by I 
 managed to git Marthy away 'long after dinner some- 
 time, an' we loitered along the way home under the big 
 shady trees. Fer a long way I jest pouted, kinder 
 wantin' t' be made over a leetle, ye know. By an' by 
 Marthy, she says t' me, 'Henry Boggs, what's the 
 matter with ye, anyway? Air ye pouting about Jim 
 Hensley? 
 
 " 'No,' says I, sad like." 
 
 "'Jim Cox?'" 
 
 " 'No', says I sadder'n ever." 
 
 " 'Well then,' " says she, " 'what is the matter?' " 
 
 "Ye see, Silas, I didn't jest like t' own up that I 
 wuz jealous uv them fellers, so I jest says: 'I don't 
 think ye love me, Marthy. Ye like them fellers 
 better'n ye do me;' an' we rode on in silence, an' she 
 not say in' a word t' me. It finally come t' me that I 
 had offended her by doubtin' her love fer me, yet 
 there'd been nothin' said atween us, an' I felt so mean 
 an' sorry that I jest dropped the bridle rein down on 
 Dollie's neck an' jest put my own big warm hand up 
 over her little plump hand as it lay around my waist 
 and squeezed it affectionate like. Then I felt her face 
 up against my shoulders, an' I kuowed she wuz cryin'. 
 I turned in the saddle, an' tried t' git her face 'round 
 so I could see it, but she kept it hid fer a long time, 
 'bout as near the middle uv my back as she could git 
 it, till we come t' a spring, an' I says, 'we stop here, 
 Marthy, an' git a drink.' Now there wuz a stump jest 
 right fer her t' git off on, but ye know, Si, I had 
 designs in my mind jest like many another young fel- 
 ler has had, so I jest tossed my right leg over Dollie's 
 neck an' dropped t' the ground, an' I says 'come,
 
 236 
 
 Marthy dear, an' we'll rest an' drink by the wayside.' 
 An' do ye know, Silas, as I helped her down, seein' 
 her eyes red from cryin', I jest caught her up in my 
 big arms, an' she afterwards told rne I come moughty 
 nigh smotherin' her, kissin' her so much. Then we 
 set by that spring among the May apples and wild 
 flowers in that wood fer a long time, smilin' an' 
 a-laughin' an' a-kissin' each other. It wuz a grand day, 
 Silas. I recollect now, too, after we got seated an' 
 Marthy's head lay on my shoulder, a doe an' her fawn 
 come t' the spring t' git water, but seein' us they 
 scampered off agin. An' t' think that even them 
 great woods air dead an' gone, an' that spring has been 
 neglected an' lost in the earth, an' only Marthy an' me 
 left uv all that we saw an' kuow'd in that springtime 
 uv our lives." 
 
 He sat for quite a time smiling sadly over it, totally 
 lost to his surroundings. At last he started up in a 
 hurry, happening to think of Ed Smith in the outer 
 office waiting for them. 
 
 "Sufferiu' Moses! Silas, t' think ye'd let me set here 
 an' waste yer time this way, when Mr. Smith's waitin'. 
 Shame on ye, boy!" 
 
 "Oh, that's all right, Mr. Boggs. You needn't 
 worry about that. I have enjoyed your story so well 
 I wouldn't have had it interrupted for a groat deal." 
 
 "Well, ye see, Silas, it wuz all 'cause I wuz thinkin' 
 'bout this dinner we air t' hev, an' how like Marthy an' 
 me ye , well, ye're comin' out, 3i, son, when Julie 
 comes? Ye can bring her out with Blaze-face, an' we 
 will jest kill the fatted calf, I kin tell ye." 
 
 "I'll come, sure, Mr. Boggs, and will bring Miss 
 Howe with me." 
 
 The old man didn't say a word then, but as they
 
 SILAS COBB 237 
 
 walked to the door he put his arm affectionately 
 around Silas and said: "Thank ye, son." 
 
 When the old man was gone, Silas and Ed sat look 
 ing at him from the window as he crossed the street 
 below. In spite of his great age he looked like a per- 
 fect man. 
 
 "He must have been a handsome fellow when he was 
 young," mused Smith, as he watched him. 
 
 "Undoubtedly," replied Cobb. "He has just been 
 telling me a love story, and no one can tell a better 
 one, either. He looks upon me as his son, and has 
 just invited me to a dinner at his house in June 
 myself and a young lady. There are just to be the 
 four of us present, and the dear old things are going 
 to 'make believe' that the young lady and I are their 
 children. Well, this idea made him reminiscent, and 
 he told me his own love story, and I tell you it was 
 just as full of life and tender interest as anybody's." 
 
 "Who is the young lady," asked Smith. 
 
 "Miss Howe." 
 
 Smith gave him a searching glance and asked: 
 "Who's she?" 
 
 "One of my teachers," he answered, looking very 
 innocent. 
 
 "Of course, but which one? What are you blush- 
 ing about, man?" 
 
 Silas wasn't blushing at all, but no sooner was he 
 charged with it than he did blush. 
 
 "Well, I'll give you her history if you like. Let 
 me see, she was born of good parentage, June " 
 
 "That's enough. Just wanted to know the month. 
 It's all clear to me. That's a fatal month to be born 
 in. It's a sad case, Silas. No hope for you now. I 
 have looked forward to many days of your society, but
 
 238 SILAS COBB 
 
 you see fit to transfer your affections to a female this 
 early in the game, which shows you to be a fickle man." 
 
 "Oh, it's not so bad as that. We are only friends." 
 
 "Brother and sister," suggested Smith. 
 
 "Just here the conversation was interrupted by the 
 entrance of "Misther" Mulvany, living in the district 
 where Oliver Scotland taught school, and Silas' late 
 scene of war. 
 
 "Why, how do you do, Mr. Mulvany?" 
 
 "Good-afthurnoon to yersilf, Misther Cobb; an' how 
 is yer health this foine day?" 
 
 "Very good, indeed, Mr. Mulvany. Let me intro- 
 duce you to Superintendent Smith, of Brownville. Mr. 
 Mulvany, Mr. Smith." 
 
 "Oh, an' it's Misther Smith, is it? Yis, I know of 
 ye, sor." 
 
 "Nothing bad, I hope, Mr. Mulvany?" 
 
 "No, indade; ye're loike Misther Cobb." 
 
 "How like him, Mr. Mulvany?" 
 
 "Well, ye're both good foighters. An', Silas, they 
 do tell me ye have declared war on Jarmany?" 
 
 "Why, how is that?" 
 
 "The dommed Dutch of our deestrict say ye air 
 makin' war on 'em by firm' that dirty spalpeen Scot- 
 land, an' I come in to offer ye the sarvice of the royal 
 order of the Mulvany s. The Irish air wid ye, Misther 
 Cobb, to the bloody ind." 
 
 "I hope there won't be any blood-letting, Mr. Mul- 
 vany," replied Silas laughing. 
 
 "The Irish are the greatest people on earth," inter- 
 rupted Smith, "to fight for their friends." 
 
 "Right ye air, Misther Smith. The Irish has been 
 consistent inimies of the Dutch of our deestrict for 
 comin' twinty years now, because the dirty spalpeens
 
 SILAS COBB 239 
 
 discharged Katie Burke because she made the byes 
 wash their faces in the creek ivery marnin'. Yis, sor, 
 the war has been a long an' bloody wan. Oh, ye'll 
 have a toime with thim Dutch, Misther Cobb, an' I 
 prophesoy a war of at least twinty years' dooration." 
 
 "My goodness! Mr. Mulvany, you don't mean the 
 German people of your district are so wrought up over 
 the Scotland matter as that? I cannot understand how 
 any one can consistently defend the action of Mr. 
 Scotland." 
 
 "It's consistency, is it, ye' re afthur findin' in the 
 Dutch? Ye're wrong, Silas. It's inimies ye'll find, 
 good and str-rong. Scotland was wan of thim dirt 
 an' all an' ye mark me worruds, me bye, it'll take 
 twinty years of hard foightin' to subdoo them Dutch, 
 onless ye have the Irish at yer back, which ye will, of 
 coorse." 
 
 It now became necessary to explain the whole situa- 
 tion how Silas found Scotland's school, and his method 
 of dismissal, etc. Superintendent Smith was greatly 
 interested, and after Mulvany had gone, he and Silas 
 went over the whole ground together. Smith was of 
 the opinion that he had acted exactly right, whereas 
 Silas held that he had not been diplomatic enough. He 
 had been too plain in his speech, while he could have 
 attained the same results by having no unpleasant words 
 with Scotland. Still, he did not intend to discharge 
 him to begin with, but only came to that decision after 
 he had shown his ugly disposition. 
 
 After all their arguments, they agreed in the end that 
 every case demanded special action, and the action can 
 never be forecasted. Taking everything into account, 
 Scotland's utter incapacity, his vulgar personality, and
 
 240 SILAS COBB 
 
 general character, aud all the circumstances of Silas' 
 conversation with him, his idea of helping him, etc., it 
 is hard to say whether, after all, he did not act exactly 
 right or at least logically on the subject.
 
 CHAPTKR XL. 
 
 IN the meantime Josephine Alger was getting the 
 upper hand of the people in the Dutch settlement, 
 and Oliver Scotland's influence was gradually los- 
 ing force. Contrary to Mr. Mulvany's prophecy of a 
 "twinty-year war," the patrons of the school began to 
 see and gradually understand the difference between 
 Miss Alger and Mr. Scotland. The pupils became 
 enthusiastic in their work, and the influence was so 
 marked that the parents at home began to feel it. In 
 time, as each one felt the justice of Superintendent 
 Cobb's action, they gradually began to discuss it among 
 themselves, and in the end nearly all of them became 
 enthusiastic supporters of the county superintendent 
 under all circumstances. 
 
 The work of gradation and classification in the 
 county was carried forward by the teachers in a faith- 
 ful and successful manner, and watched by the superin- 
 tendent with as much care as a mother watches the 
 growth of her new-born babe. 
 
 Silas felt the importance of the work sufficiently to 
 warrant his going carefully into the details of the 
 course of study each month, to outline the work for 
 the teachers, and to show them how to do it all, yet 
 keep the number of classes down to the minimum. 
 
 In the spring he asked each teacher to report to him 
 the number of pupils in his school that would be able 
 to finish the course up to and including the eighth year. 
 
 After that he arranged his examinations for each 
 school or township according to conditions and circum- 
 stances, and appointed two or three teachers to con- 
 16 duct the examination in each township or locality. It
 
 242 SILAS COBB 
 
 resulted in forty or fifty pupils passing the desired 
 grade. 
 
 Graduation exercises were then arranged for in each 
 township, and in some instances in two or three places 
 in a single township. It was arranged so no two of 
 the exercises were held on the same night, thus enab- 
 ling Silas to attend them all and award the diplomas to 
 the pupils. Great interest was aroused among the peo- 
 ple. The first exercises of the series were held at a 
 country church, where three schools having ten gradu- 
 ates among them met together. It was a great night, 
 and all the people able to go were present. Some three 
 hundred persons crowded into the little church, eager 
 and enthusiastic. It was in Muddy Creek township, 
 and the schools represented consisted of District No. 8, 
 Silas' old school; District No. 6, Josephine Alger's old 
 school, and District No. 4, Miss Wiuterset's school. 
 It will be remembered by the reader that Miss Winter- 
 set was the teacher Silas had the scene with while visit- 
 ing her school a few weeks previous. 
 
 Great preparation had been made for the occasion, 
 and a formal program was prepared. Each graduate 
 was to speak a piece or read an essay, and several 
 of the leading patrons were on the program for short 
 talks. Miss Josephine Alger had come back from 
 "Dutchland" for this special occasion to help carry out 
 the program, and it had been arranged mainly by her. 
 As Silas glanced over the program and noted that it 
 called for speeches by Henry Boggs, Caleb Fisher, Silas 
 Cobb and Sain Street, he knew well enough that Jose- 
 phine Alger's common sense did that part of it at least. 
 It was a great scheme to get the leading men of the 
 district interested. Silas noted, too, that his name was
 
 SILAS COBB 243 
 
 on the program for awarding the diplomas as well as 
 for making a speech. 
 
 Miss Alger was mistress of the ceremony, and she 
 was in her place at the proper time to begin. The 
 graduates were properly bedecked in ribbons and bou- 
 quets and seated on the rostrum. Old Henry Boggs 
 was the only man on the rostrum, and he sat there, 
 puffed up with pride, by the side of Miss Alger. He 
 seemed so happy, good-natured and true, that it did the 
 people good to look at him. When Miss Alger had 
 led him up from the audience and seated him by her, 
 the audience burst out with applause. Most everybody 
 loved Henry Boggs, and always showed it on the least 
 provocation. 
 
 Caleb Fisher, from District No. 4, Miss Winterset's 
 school, had put on his best clothes, and as a result, was 
 suffering horribly. He sat with Sam Street and Mr. 
 Willoby, from No. 6, on the front row of seats under 
 the pulpit. 
 
 It was a great night for Muddy Creek township. 
 Everybody had on their good clothes, and the idea of 
 having graduates in the township filled the people with 
 pride. Then, too, Superintendent Cobb was to be 
 there and make them a speech; that alone would bring 
 out the people. 
 
 Finally, after an appropriate introduction by Miss 
 Alger, and amid much anxiety on the part of the teach- 
 ers, the oratory of the graduating class was launched. 
 Miss Winterset and Miss Phillips sat demurely back of 
 Henry Boggs, and were completely hidden by that 
 worthy gentleman. The audience listened with much 
 interest to the pupils, and all the little boys and girls 
 envied them with all their hearts, and longed for the 
 day when they, too, would be so honored.
 
 244 SILAS COBB 
 
 Then, when the class had finished, Silas awarded 
 them their diplomas, at the same time making clear to 
 them the object of the work, and how this was only 
 their first step toward a higher education. The high 
 school, or some other school of higher learning should 
 be entered at once. If that were not possible, then 
 continue in their home school, taking up the ninth year 
 of the course of study. 
 
 Old Henry Boggs' turn came next. 
 
 Miss Alger introduced him as the oldest and most 
 honored citizen of the township, which did much in 
 stimulating him to do his position credit. Silas was 
 near him, and could see that the old gentleman was con- 
 siderably wrought up over his responsibility. Silas 
 leaned over and whispered: "I am looking for you to 
 beat that speech you made for me before the county 
 committee, Uncle Henry." 
 
 Everybody was hurrahing for Mr. Boggs, so he was 
 too excited to answer Silas, but he rose up amid the 
 little people around him, and as he rose, both his big 
 long arms went out in a mighty gesture as he declared: 
 "Feller citizens an' friends: This is the biggest thing 
 we ever had in Muddy Crick township." (The audi- 
 ence went wild with applause.) "I've been livin' in 
 these here parts more'n fifty years, an' I never seed any- 
 thing like it afore. (More applause, and Mr. Boggs 
 was warming up to his subject.) Why is it we ain't 
 never had sich doin's afore, feller citizens?" 
 
 "Because we never had a superintendent, Henry," 
 answered a man from the audience. 
 
 "That's it 'zactly, sir. It's because we ain't never 
 had a man at the head uv our schools who wuz gifted 
 with the power an' sense t' do it. (More applause.) 
 An' I'll tell ye another thing, feller citizens, that we
 
 SILAS COBB 
 
 245 
 
 will all agree on, an' that is none uv thi would have 
 been possible 'thout these dear, patient girls here, who 
 teached these schools. (This brought a vigorous 
 applause.) When I look iut' the faces uv ye all, I 
 don't forgit that I wuz a young man afore the oldest 
 
 "Feller citizens an' friends." 
 
 man present wuz born. Sam Street here, my neighbor, 
 wuz born the year I cast my first vote fer Andy Jack- 
 son, an' in them days we didn't have no schools. In 
 the hull uv Brush county there wuz not a single school- 
 house, an' it wuz several years afore we got any. An' 
 friends, ye no doubt will laugh when I tell ye I
 
 246 SILAS COBB 
 
 teached the first school in this county, an' in them 
 days I wuz considered better eddicated than most men. 
 I could read an' write an' spell some, an' that wuz 
 more'n most men could do. So I want t' show ye my 
 intrust in eddication by bein' present t'-night an 
 encouragin' these little boys an' girls t' git a good 
 schoolin'. As ye all know, havin' no children uv my 
 own, I feel I ort t' help eddicate other people's t' 
 make up fer it. So we want t' do all we kin t' help the 
 teachers, pay our taxes, visit the schools, an' give a 
 helpin' hand t' each other. I specially want t' tell 
 these gradeates that what Superintendent Cobb says t' 
 them is true, that they should not neglect t' go on t' 
 school. When I see a hard-workin', faithful boy or 
 girl strugglin' fer learuiu', I alus feel like helpin' 'em 
 along, an' I tell ye, boys an' girls, ef ye ever need a 
 friend an' an ole man like me is fit fer anything, ye 
 jest come t' me. 
 
 "I thank ye all, friends, fer yer kind attention." 
 (Great applause.) 
 
 Caleb Fisher, the supposed philosopher, the silent 
 one, sat in a deep study after Henry Boggs sat down. 
 He did not even hear Miss Alger announce that "Mr. 
 Caleb Fisher, director of District No. 4, would now 
 address the people." Sam Street gouged his elbow 
 into Caleb's ribs, calling him to earth again, but not 
 with a start. No one ever made Caleb start at least 
 in a hurry. As soon as it dawned on him that he had 
 been called on for his speech, he deliberately dropped 
 his cud of tobacco into his hand and transferred it into 
 his outside coat pocket. He had often done this before 
 in a pinch. There were no less than forty people 
 between Caleb and the window, all of which he had 
 observed long before, anticipating this dilemma.
 
 SILAS COBB 247 
 
 "Feller citizens: As director of Deestrict No. 4, I 
 announce that I am middlin' well pleased with this 
 meetin'. I am middlin' well pleased with the chil- 
 dren's speeches, an' am middliu' well pleased with 
 Henry Boggs' speech. I am glad Muddy Crick has at 
 last waked up t' its duty t' the schools. Thank ye fer 
 yer attention." (Great applause.) 
 
 Sam Street simply excused himself, saying he could 
 not make a speech, but everybody knew his heart was 
 in the work of the schools. Others from the audience 
 spoke after frequent urgings from Henry Boggs who, 
 in his enthusiasm, almost assumed control of the meet- 
 ing. He and Miss Alger afforded as great a contrast 
 in appearance, as one could well imagine as they sat 
 there side by side. Never before had there been such 
 interest aroused as on this night. Silas took occasion 
 to tell them about needed repairs on schoolhouses and 
 outbuildings, all of which proved very effective. 
 
 The end of the program came at last, and then fol- 
 lowed a general hand-shaking and exchange of good 
 wishes all around. Everybody felt so good toward 
 everybody that even Caleb Fisher and Mr. Willoby, 
 sworn enemies, were seen greeting each other. Silas 
 almost forgot the little scene he had had with Miss 
 Winterset ouly a few weeks before, in his warm greet- 
 ing of the teachers. 
 
 After exchanging compliments all around, the party 
 began to make ready to start to their respective homes. 
 In the general confusion of hand-shaking at parting 
 Miss Winterset managed to get near Silas again, and 
 in bidding him good-night she held to his hand long 
 enough to say: 
 
 "I am awfully sorry, Mr. Cobb, for my rude manner
 
 248 SILAS COBB 
 
 that day; can you forgive me? I am trying so hard to 
 do as you told me." 
 
 She was flushed aud eager to catch his answer amid 
 the noise and confusion, and he leaned over so she 
 could hear him, and looking straight into her eyes, as 
 if looking for the truth of her words, he instantly 
 answered: 
 
 "It seems to be all right, Miss Winterset, and I 
 heartily forgive you. Come and see me when you can 
 aud we will talk over the future." He gave her hand 
 a good hearty grasp aud was gone. 
 
 There is always something about a reconciliation 
 like this that lingers with us a long time. It may be 
 questioned by some, but it would seem that two equally 
 noble souls, one wrapped in a homely physique, and 
 the other in a handsome one, will exert quite a diffei-ent 
 influence on a woman, in case the two noble souls hap- 
 pen to be men. There was no denying the fact that 
 Silas Cobb was a fine-looking man, and it is a question 
 whether or not this fact did not unconsciously greatly 
 influence Miss Winterset. Had Silas Cobb been a 
 homely man, would Miss Wiuterset have forgotten his 
 severe words? It is quite probable she would not, 
 though conscious that she was wrong. At any rate, 
 Miss Winterset was still trembling from excitement 
 after she had gotten home two hours later, as a result 
 of having been forgiven for her ill-advised words. 
 
 Silas found Mr. Boggs and Miss Alger waiting for 
 him. 
 
 "Silas ye got t' go home with me ferthe night. Miss 
 Alger is goin' an' I'm jest debatin' whether I ort t' 
 take her in my buggy or let ye take her. Course the 
 gal 'd rather go with me, but seein' ye mought feel a
 
 SILAS COBB 249 
 
 little jealous uv the old man, I'll let Josephine ride 
 with ye!" 
 
 "Now I'll tell you, Mr. Boggs, it isn't the first time 
 you have tried to take girls away from me by showing 
 yourself generous enough to give them up to me. 
 Don't you let him work any of his designs on you, 
 Miss Alger. lie fully expects that in the end you will 
 ride with him, and I'll show him you shan't," and 
 straightway he took Miss Alger by the arm, and 
 laughing, called back: "Come on, Uncle Henry; you 
 ride alone this night." 
 
 Everybody laughed, and Mr. Boggs, happy as could 
 be to see others happy, made his way through the 
 crowd, talking and laughing with the young people 
 around him. Outside there were all sorts of vehicles, 
 from two-wheeled carts to heavy farm wagons. The 
 large wagons were drawn up in front of the door, and 
 women and children would pile into them, sometimes 
 as many as a dozen to a wagon. Sounds came from all 
 parts of the yard of the men unhitching teams and sad- 
 dle horses, everybody talking, and quite a little out- 
 pouring of youthful vigor in the way of yells and 
 songs. Now and then among the vehicles would come 
 a man on horseback, and riding up to a block near by, 
 his wife, or a daughter, or probably a sweetheart, 
 would mount behind him, and off they would ride into 
 the darkness, calling good-by to those left behind. In 
 fact there were quite a number "riding double" as the 
 roads were muddy, and it took less work for both man 
 and beast. 
 
 Silas and Josephine were seated in Silas' buggy 
 behind Blaze-face, waiting for Mr. Boggs to get 
 through visiting with Sam Street, so he could lead the 
 way for them. It was a foggy night and the roads
 
 250 SILAS COBB 
 
 were muddy, a typical condition of southern Illinois in 
 March. Old Henry Boggs was a furious driver when the 
 spell was on, and it was usually on when pace-making 
 for some one. He had no sooner started than the idea 
 occurred to him of showing Silas a specimen of his 
 driving, and giving Dollie Boggs the reins, he went 
 down the road at a very swift gait, calling back to 
 Silas and Miss Alger, "I'll wait fer ye t' ketch up ever' 
 now an' then." 
 
 But he didn't have to wait, for Blaze-face fairly tore 
 the mud from the earth with his powerful strides, and 
 sent it against the dashboard with a rattle. The wheels 
 would gather up great gobs of it and throw it forward 
 as if trying to strike Mr. Boggs. No man could hold 
 such a horse to a reasonable gait when his mate, Dollie 
 Boggs, was in front setting the pace at a very unreas- 
 onable gait. She and Blaze-face had grown up to- 
 gether in Mr. Boggs' great pasture, and had spent the 
 evening talking about old times over the hitching rack. 
 So Blaze-face felt it his duty to keep up with her, Silas 
 Cobb notwithstanding. 
 
 Silas pulled on the lines vigorously, and enjoyed the 
 sensation of fast driving, but the horse did not pay 
 the least attention to his pulling. Miss Alger was not 
 used to horses, especially fast horses, so she became 
 frightened. When Silas saw that she was afraid, he 
 made an earnest effort to control the horse's speed, but 
 he could not lessen it. He did not call to Mr. Boggs 
 to lessen his gait, because the noise was so great he 
 could not have been heard. He laughed in a confident 
 manner and tried to console Josephine by telling her 
 that that was just Blaze-face's way. He wouldn't harm 
 a chicken, and was now only anxious to catch up with 
 his sweetheart, Dollie Boggs. By this time they had
 
 SILAS COBB 251 
 
 reached a long, level stretch of road, and Silas faintly 
 made out amid the noise a jovial whoop from Mr. 
 Boggs, and Dollie seemed almost to fly along the lane. 
 The mud was thin and shallow here, so it did not 
 greatly impede their movement, and the buggies both 
 having tops and side curtains, the occupants were 
 sheltered from the mud. 
 
 When Silas and Miss Alger reached the entrance to 
 the lane, Blaze-face took the bit between his teeth and 
 redoubled his efforts. Silas could not hold him and 
 became uneasy for fear of a rut and consequent break- 
 down. Miss Alger in her fright grabbed the lines, and 
 they both hung on to Blaze-face for dear life. At last, 
 after an age it seemed, they came to a hill, and old 
 Henry Boggs could be dimly made out in the darkness. 
 He and Dollie seemed to have had quite enough, and 
 Blaze-face came to a slow trot as though nothing had 
 happened, perfectly satisfied now that he was rubbing 
 his nose against Mr. Boggs' back, which he could feel 
 through the curtain. Silas felt something move in his 
 hands, and realized that he had Miss Alger's poor little 
 hands all crushed up on the lines. 
 
 "Why, you poor girl! Why didn't you tell me I 
 was crushing your hands." He held the lines over his 
 arm and took her hands and rubbed them gently to 
 restore circulation, and as he did so asked if they hurt 
 her much. She began to say something, but fell back 
 against the cushions in a dead faint. Just at this mo- 
 ment the hill was passed, and away the horses went again. 
 
 Now Silas was in a pitable condition. The horse 
 was given the rein and Silas talked to Josephine, shook 
 her, rubbed her face and hands, tried to call to Mr. 
 Boggs, and condemned himself shamefully for his part 
 in bringing her out on such a night after so much
 
 252 SILAS COBB 
 
 excitement, and frightening her to death. Would she 
 never revive? The horse went faster. Would there 
 never be another hill? He put his arm around her to 
 hold her from falling out, and tried to make her posi- 
 tion one of comfort, still rubbing her hands with his 
 free one. Finally he remembered that her collar might 
 be tight, so he unfastened it, and after a few moments 
 she began to recover consciousness. As she did so she 
 recalled the cii'cumstances, and knew they were still 
 riding furiously, and the first thing she said was: "Oh, 
 we shall be killed!" 
 
 "Oh, no, we won't, Josephine. Don't think of such 
 a thing. We are just trotting along nicely. Can't 
 you trust me? Can't you understand that I will take 
 care of you? Listen, now," he said, with a determina- 
 tion to make her believe. "Do you hear me?" and he 
 drew her up tight to him and tried to shut out the noise 
 from the moving avalanche of horse and buggy, with 
 his hand spread out against her face and ear. "Don't 
 you know I have you safe here, and there is no danger? 
 Oh! I am a brute to bring you out here and frighten 
 you this way. Are you hurt? Are you killed? Can 
 you forgive me, and Mr. Boggs, for such foolish- 
 ness? Oh, this is awful!" And Miss Alger lay there 
 in his arms and heard his ravings and self-condemnation. 
 
 The only thing he could see in the darkness was a 
 pale face with closed eyes, and he felt her limp body 
 lying helpless in his arms. As he chafed her hands 
 and talked to her as he would speak to a child to sooth 
 it, he felt her move slightly, and saw her eyes open. 
 "Do you feel better now, Miss Alger?" She nodded 
 her head affirmatively without speaking, and lay still, 
 apparently contented where she was. 
 
 Perhaps it was the great strength of the magnetic
 
 SILAS COBB 253 
 
 current passing from Silas to her that quieted her fear 
 and renewed her faith, and perhaps she felt happy and 
 thrilled, feeling that strong arm around her without 
 being conscious of the cause of it. Perhaps, too, he 
 felt that lithe form in his arms and that head against 
 his shoulder. Perhaps the contact of these two bodies 
 produced a new force. Such things are common 
 enough in nature, and that new force led to greater 
 sympathy. He looked again at her white face and her 
 eyes opened wide and looked up into his. Their faces 
 were close together and their breaths intermingled. 
 His heart overflowed with pity for her and reproach 
 for himself. Again, his thoughts flashed out the his- 
 tory of her life of self-sacrifice and sublimity of soul. 
 He felt the purest sympathy for the poor, frail thing 
 lying there confidently in his arms, and his heart went 
 out to her with tenderness and brotherly affection. 
 
 "Are you afraid now, Josephine?" be asked again 
 gently, looking down into her face. 
 
 "No," she said, faintly, "I am not afraid now." 
 
 This expressed confidence in him at last, and the great 
 relief and happiness he felt at seeing her recover from 
 the swoon led him, on the impulse of the moment, to 
 lean over her upturned face and kiss her lips. This 
 kiss seemed to her to seal their troth, and the love that 
 had slumbered in her heart, restrained for so long, now 
 burst forth in all its fullness, and she put her arm up 
 around his neck and drew his face down to hers in a 
 long lingering kiss, and when Silas looked into her 
 eyes again they sparkled as if her soul was on flre. 
 
 "Oh, Josephine! Josephine!" he cried in a broken 
 voice, "What have I done? What has befallen us?" 
 In a nervous and excited manner, not knowing why or 
 what he was about, and only attracted by the strong,
 
 254 SILAS COBB 
 
 pure love the girl bore him, he was holding her close 
 to his heart, when he was startled by old Henry Boggs' 
 voice. 
 
 "Whoa! Whoa, Dollie!" 
 
 They had arrived at Mr. Boggs' barn-yard gate, and 
 Mr. Boggs was calling them back to earth. 
 
 "Well here we air, children. Drive right in while 
 I hold the gate open. Bless my life, Silas, butDollie's 
 a flyer, ain't she? Just thought I'd see ef she could 
 keep old Blaze-face a-goin' an' blame me ef she didn't! 
 Sufferin' Moses! but the boy'll have a time gittin' 'em 
 cleaned up, won't he?" 
 
 "I should think he would," replied Silas, "and you 
 have just about frightened Miss Alger to death, which 
 will take you a long time to make right too." 
 
 Mr. Boggs laughed till the echo bounded back from 
 the hill to the barn two or three times. Silas let the 
 old man believe he was joking, for Miss Alger touched 
 his arm and said, very softly, "Don't trouble him about 
 it, Silas." 
 
 Silas drove in and up to the yard gate leading to the 
 house, where he got out and literally lifted Miss Alger 
 out in his big, strong arms and set her on the stile- 
 block. 
 
 "Oh, you are so awfully strong, Silas. You must 
 have all my strength now, for I fear I can't walk to the 
 house." She got up to go, and would have fallen had 
 he not caught her again. 
 
 "Oh, I have been a perfect beast with you, Jose- 
 phine." 
 
 "Oh, no, no, you haven't, Silas. I am only weak 
 and trembling, but 1 feel ever so happy so happy I 
 cannot express it all never in all the world can I tell 
 it all if I talked talked always don't you know
 
 SILAS COBB 255 
 
 don't you understand?" and as she stood on the step 
 a foot above the ground, her head was on a level with 
 his. She leaned over against his breast and put her 
 pale, sweet face up to his as the tears of joy rolled 
 down her cheeks. 
 
 "You poor, nerve-broken girl! I am so sorry 
 
 "Is that you, Josephine?" called Mrs. Boggs from 
 the front porch. "Corae right in." 
 
 "Yes, Aunty, it is I am coming right away. We 
 have just arrived," and with an affectionate squeeze of 
 his hand, she left Silas and went slowly up the path to 
 Mrs. Boggs. He stood watching her, and saw Mrs. 
 Boggs take her in her arms and kiss her, and saw Jose- 
 phine return the caress very affectionately. 
 
 Now, as he fumbled with muddy tugs and harness 
 while unhitching, his blood began to cool and Reason 
 came stalking in and was enthroned again. What had 
 possessed him? What had he done? Reason began to 
 question him thus: Don't you understand what has 
 happened to her, and all because you took advantage of 
 the nerve-torn girl while she was recovering from a 
 swoon? Don't you understand now that you have over- 
 powered her by main strength of life and mind and 
 robbed her of her heart? Not deliberately, but in a 
 wild impulse of the moment, while Anarchy reigned 
 instead of me, Reason? And don't you unders'-and that 
 she thinks you love her, and considers your act to-night 
 as that of a plighted troth? And don't you know that 
 your heart is already somewhere else? How are you to 
 excuse the wrong you have done yourself this night 
 and the ruin you will bring to two hearts of the three, 
 the very best you can do? Oh, you, great wild, mad 
 crazy idiot! Why were you ever born? All your life 
 till now you have been noble with women, and I have
 
 256 SILAS COBB 
 
 always ruled you, but to-night I am dethroned and a 
 firebrand is given the crown, while you go wild and 
 follow impulse into a dangerous mire. Fool! fool! 
 You ought to be scourged from the earth!" 
 
 So Silas' reason went on lashing him into a fury. He 
 had never before been utterly torn with remorse for his 
 own acts; never before had he lost all control of him- 
 self. He would explain it all to Josephine and tell her 
 into what utter degradation he had fallen, and that he 
 did not mean it in the sense she had understood him. 
 He must do it at once. He never could live the night 
 through in such a false light. So when he and Mr. 
 Boggs got through stabling the horses, they went up to 
 the house and found Mrs. Boggs and Miss Alger bask- 
 ing in front of a big fire-place full of blazing logs. It 
 was a comfortable scene on such a chilly night. Silas' 
 hands had gotten quite cold unhitching, and rather 
 muddy, too, so he passed through into the kitchen, be- 
 ing perfectly at home, and washed his hands. Miss 
 Alger was looking flushed and happy, and smiled up 
 into his face so tenderly, his heart again became torn 
 between sympathy and ditty. How could he ever tell 
 her if she always looked like that. He sat down by the 
 fire next to her. She looked at his hands and saw they 
 were blue with cold. She reached over and laid her 
 warm hand on his and said: "Silas, your hands are so 
 cold," and she did not hesitate to caress them, though 
 Mr. Boggs was sputtering around, talking and fussing 
 with his gloves and overcoat, trying to get settled. 
 Mrs. Boggs went out to get some apples. Josephine 
 sat looking at Silas, smiling, with the consciousness of 
 a great love. It softened Silas' harshness toward him- 
 self, and he gradually became calmed as he sat there en- 
 joying everything- apples, fire, Josephine, Mr. Boggs,
 
 SILAS COBB 257 
 
 Mrs. Boggs, the old home absolutely everything, and 
 only now and then a pang would shoot through his 
 heart as he recalled his position. 
 
 It was time to retire. Mr. Boggs went out for fuel 
 for the morning tire. Mrs. Boggs went for a lamp 
 and led the way for Miss Alger to her room. ''Good 
 night, Silas," she said, and she came up to him as Mrs. 
 Boggs went on, and took his hand in hers. Her face 
 was turned up to his almost pleading for something, 
 yet too shy to take it, but he pretended not to see. 
 "Good night, Josephine, and I do hope you will be 
 none the worse for this night. I am so sorry 
 
 "Oh why do you say it, Silas, when I am so happy," 
 and, her face radiant with love, she patted his hand 
 and again said "Good night, Silas, and pleasant dreams 
 to you," and slowly followed Mrs. Boggs to her room. 
 
 He sat down by the tire and again Reason began to 
 scourge him. He gazed into the embers for hours 
 long after every one was in bed and asleep, and lived it 
 all over again. His mind went back to the garden in 
 Terre Haute, and went over his little visit with Julia 
 Howe. Did they not understand each other, though 
 no words had been spoken, and did she not love him? 
 Yet to-night he had forgotten her completely and had 
 bound himself for life to another, unless his honor was 
 of such a flimsy character that it would permit him to 
 break her heart instead. He went up to his room, 
 blew out the light, and went to bed. He couldn't 
 sleep, so he got up and sat at the window wrapped in 
 a quilt, resting his head in his hands. The wind came 
 up and blew away the clouds, and the moon shone out 
 dimly over the hills. The bare poplars waved their 
 naked arms frantically and moaned as if heart-broken. 
 17 He sat there all the night through, lost sometimes
 
 258 SILAS COBB 
 
 in the thought that these turbulent, wind-swept trees 
 were human beings, burdened with great sorrows like 
 his own. 
 
 Josephine Alger's frail body was not equal to the 
 continuous strain of teaching. She had been so com- 
 pletely wrapped up in her work that the approaching 
 break in her health came on without warning. The 
 added strain which the Dutch school brought, and the 
 extra work of arranging the program for the graduat- 
 ing exercises, had probably only quickened the 
 approach of a nervous collapse by a few days or weeks. 
 
 On the morning following, Miss Alger was not able 
 to leave her bed. Mrs. Boggs reported her condition 
 to Silas and Mr. Boggs, and a doctor was sent for at 
 once. In the meantime Silas drove to his office and 
 waited nervously for the doctor's return, so he might 
 ascertain her true condition. When he did return it 
 was to be informed that Miss Alger had been stricken 
 with a fatal malady, due to a weakened condition of 
 her system, brought on by over-exertion. 
 
 Silas hastened to her at once, not knowing or reason- 
 ing why he went. Mrs. Boggs was faithfully nursing 
 the sick girl, and her face lighted up with relief when 
 she saw Silas had returned. With tears in her eyes 
 she quietly drew him into the room and led him to the 
 bedside. The afternoon sun, low in the southwest, 
 was shining with a softened glow over a wintry aspect, 
 and through the window on Josephine's bed. Her 
 flushed face told the fatal story without the need of 
 words. She opened her eyes, and there was only a 
 momentary recognition and clasp of the hand to tell 
 Silas that she was for the instance conscious of his 
 presence. 
 
 "Don't you know me, Josephine?" he asked, and as
 
 SILAS COBB 259 
 
 he held her hand in one of his, be laid the other on her 
 forehead, now parched with fever, and her lips moved, 
 but no sound could be heard. From under her closed 
 eyelids the tears rolled out and coursed down her 
 cheeks, telling more plainly than words that she under- 
 stood that her light was burning very low, and that 
 just as life had bloomed to its brightest and best the 
 penalty which old earth exacts from us all was 
 demanded of her. What anguish of heart she suffered 
 no one knew, because she lapsed into unconsciousness 
 while Silas held her hand, and the struggle of life 
 against death was purely one of an involuntary nature. 
 
 But it is not the author's purpose to describe a death- 
 bed scene, except so far as the event affects the life and 
 acts of our chief character. It is now sufficient to 
 relate the simple fact that Josephine Alger died within 
 a week from the time of taking to her bed, and during 
 that time there was not a moment when she could have 
 heard the story Silas had orginally intended to tell her; 
 and be it said to his credit, he had decided instantly on 
 hearing of her hopeless condition that she should not 
 know it. Why should not her conscious moments be 
 filled with a realization of the love that is due every 
 heart in the world, if, in doing so, one added moment's 
 pleasure is gained without a compensating evil? In 
 this case death was to pay the debt in full, regardless 
 of all else, and from whatever cause. So, in her con- 
 scious moments, she felt his presence in the room, and 
 it was in this manner that Josephine Alger passed 
 quietly out of the world, and left it better for having 
 lived in it. 
 
 It is as great a boon as any of us can hope for, if in 
 the end when the lamp of life is burning low, and the
 
 260 SILAS COBB 
 
 oil has been consumed to the last dregs, the ledger will 
 show the sum total of the good to outweigh the evil. 
 
 So Josephine Alger slipped out of the world bearing 
 the secret of her love with her, and left none behind to 
 tell of it, save Silas Cobb, and he never told it. But 
 as the months went by and nothing but the memory of 
 her remained, he bedecked it with beautiful flowers, 
 put it in a frame of the most exquisite design, and hung 
 it away in his heart in the most sacredly kept corner; 
 and often on dull, dark days when alone he would 
 draw aside the curtain and look at it regretfully, and 
 from out its mysterious folds would come the breath of 
 the past, and again that faint, musical voice that 
 wandered only in the tangled paths of his mind, would 
 repeat those burning words, "Oh, lam so happy, Silas. 
 If I could live forever and talk talk always, I never 
 could tell it all to you."
 
 CHAPTER XLI. 
 
 ONE morning in May, Silas sat at his desk very 
 busily engaged in writing. There lay before 
 him a stack of letters to answer and a vast 
 amount of other detail to be cared for. He had just 
 -returned from a long, tiresome trip over the hills of 
 the county, visiting schools, and it was rather annoying 
 to him to think that he must now sit down and spend 
 his valuable time writing simple answers to letters, and 
 doing much work that a child could do equally as well 
 as he could. While thus engaged Mr. James Fox, 
 chairman of the board of supervisors for Brush county, 
 came in. 
 
 "Good-morning, Silas." 
 
 "Good-morning, Mr. Fox, glad to see you. Come 
 in." 
 
 "Where have you been all spring, man? I have 
 wasted $20 worth of time coming in here to see you. 
 This makes four trips I have made to this office. It's a 
 wonder you wouldn't stay and attend to business, my 
 boy; eh?" 
 
 "Nothing pleases me so well, Mr. Fox, as to know I 
 have now a practical illustration of the niggardly man- 
 ner in which this office is treated. In the first place 
 you have lost $20 at your own figure, coming in here to 
 see me. I am sure there have been at least fifty other 
 men in here on the same errand, all of them no doubt 
 losing valuable time. But that is their fault, for Sat- 
 urdays are my office days, and I am not supposed to be 
 here during the week. Yet if I had a clerk in this 
 office, forty of the fifty men who called could have been
 
 262 SILAS COBB 
 
 attended to by the clerk, and the other ten could have 
 called on Saturday to see me." 
 
 ''Then again, you see me sitting here answering let- 
 ters. I'll read you a sample: 'Please advise me when 
 next teachers' meeting is to be held.' Here's another: 
 'What kind of a song book would you recommend me 
 to use,' etc.; and still another: 'Send me a set of 
 blanks for this district.' Now here I sit practically 
 wasting my time, doing something that a cheap clerk 
 could do, when I ought to be giving my attention to 
 the general work of supervision. Aside from the work, 
 this office should be open every day in the week. The 
 people have a right to demand that it should be kept 
 open. Every important office in the county has from 
 one to three clerks except this one. I consider that the 
 proper control and supervision of the schools of Brush 
 county require the services of one good clerk, and I 
 now formally make a request through you to the board 
 for an order to employ one at a salary, say, of $35 a 
 month." 
 
 Mr. Fox smiled, and said: "Littleman has been try- 
 ing to get us to do that for ten years, and we never 
 could see any need of it, but I don't know but we were 
 wrong. Can you get a good clerk for $35.00 a month? 
 Hadn't you better tackle us for $50.00 and give us a 
 chance to split the difference with you, eh, Silas?" 
 
 "That might be a good plan, Mr. Fox. So I raise 
 my demand to $50.00; now when shall I get it?" 
 
 "Well, judging from Littleman's experience 
 
 "But you are not to do that, Mr. Fox. You are to 
 judge from the necessity of the case. Now I tell you 
 what I'll do: I will go right down with you now and 
 tell the board in person what I want, and I will tell 
 them why I want it so plainly there won't be any doubt
 
 SILAS COBB 
 
 about it. You gentlemen are all business men of sense, 
 and I am not wanting anything a business man of sense 
 can't see I need, and if there is no obstacle outside of 
 their control, in the way, I'll get what I ask for." 
 
 Mr. Fox laughed again, and said: "Silas, you know 
 not of what you speak. Littleman has talked to that 
 board till it's got to be a joke, and they'll laugh when 
 you spring the subject on them; mark my words." 
 
 "All right, Mr. Fox, let them laugh; but 1*11 tell you 
 right now this office shall not be made a laughing stock 
 by anybody while I hold it, if I can prevent it, and I 
 say to you right now that that board won't laugh when 
 I am through talking to them, and if they are the men 
 they seem to me to be, they will act along the lines I 
 recommend. Everything depends, Mr. Fox, on the 
 faith and sincerity of the person making the request, 
 provided, of course, he has any reason for making it." 
 
 "Well, so far as I am concerned, Silas, I think you 
 ought to have a clerk, and I'll vote that way, but this 
 board is a stickler for economy, and I doubt your 
 meeting with success." 
 
 They went down to the board room, and Mr. Fox 
 told the board the county superintendent had a state- 
 ment to make to them. 
 
 Silas began by recounting the nature of his corres- 
 pondence, and the amount of printed matter that ought 
 to be mailed each month. He showed how much of his 
 time he was taking for that class of work, and how 
 much it was costing to do it. He then showed them 
 how annoying and inconvenient it was for the office to 
 be closed all week, when the people wanted to transact 
 business with it. By this time there seemed to be no 
 inclination to smile, and when he launched into com- 
 parison, showing the clerk hire of other offices and the
 
 264 SILAS COBB 
 
 work to be done in them as compared with his, giving 
 facts and figures, the board settled down to an honest 
 consideration of the subject. It was not so much the 
 facts that moved the board as it was the firm conviction 
 that they were not being trifled with; that Silas Cobb 
 was eminently a man of acts, sincere and conscientious. 
 They were overwhelmed with his push and enthusi- 
 asm, backed up with a positive knowledge of what was 
 needed, and the courage to make a gentlemanly and 
 vigorous demand for it. None of Littleman's simper- 
 ing, smirking and apologetic manner belonged to him. 
 He looked upon the subject as a duty the board owed 
 the people and not as a favor to him. When he sat 
 down, old Henry Boggs who was a member of the 
 board, got up and made a motion to the effect that the 
 office should have a clerk, and the salary was not to 
 exceed $50 a month. Henry Boggs was also a man of 
 strong convictions, and his speech was not gaiusaid by 
 any one. The motion prevailed, and Silas made another 
 speech in which he thanked the board for its conces- 
 sions to the interests of the schools. 
 
 Thus sincerity, good sense, forcefulness, scored 
 again where quackery, lack of character and trimming 
 to every wind had failed, after repeated efforts. It is 
 always so. Brave men of honest mien forge ahead; 
 weak, simpering, smirking trimmers trail behind 
 repeating, "You can't do it."
 
 CHAPTER XLII. 
 
 DURING the spring mouths following the gradua- 
 tion exercises in Muddy Creek township, Silas 
 attended many similar functions in different 
 parts of the county. Everything went along nicely, on 
 time and according to plans. Nearly all of the pupils 
 finishing had made arrangement for a course in some 
 other school. Brush county had never felt such uni- 
 versal sentiment toward higher education. It was esti- 
 mated that Silas talked to five thousand people at these 
 various meetings. It was truly an era of great progress, 
 educationally, in the county. The oldest citizens had no 
 similar period in mind to compare with it. Professor 
 Littleman had sunk in the estimation of the people to 
 that of a sham and his talk was laughed at even by the 
 children. 
 
 So matters had progressed to the middle of June of 
 Silas' second year in office. This was the time when 
 Julia Howe was to return to Cowville from her year's 
 work at Terre Haute in the Normal school. She had 
 been notified by Henry Boggs of the day dinner was to 
 be served in her honor at his home, and he had come in 
 person to Cowville to remind Silas of his promise to 
 bring her out. "Now don't ye fergit, son, t' have 
 Blaze-face ready bright an' early an' drive carefully 
 over the rough places," was his parting remark. 
 
 So Silas wrote the following letter as soon as Mr. 
 Boggs was gone: 
 
 DEAR Mifs HOWE: You will probably be at home 
 by the time this letter reaches you. I will save my 
 welcoming message and deliver it in person next Sun- 
 day morning. I beg to inform you that I am delegated
 
 266 SILAS COBB 
 
 by Mr. Henry Boggs to deliver your person at his 
 house "bright and early" Sunday without fail. I hope 
 you will submit quietly without making a scene. Be 
 so kind as to advise me whether I may have to use 
 force in carrying out Mr. Boggs' orders. 
 
 Your friend, 
 
 SILAS COBB. 
 
 A fews days later Silas received the following note: 
 
 DEAR MR. COBB: lam in receipt of your note of a 
 few days ago. I can only say that in view of my help- 
 less condition and the overpowering force against me, 
 I shall submit to the conspiracy with as much grace 
 and dignity as possible. You need not bring extra 
 force nor put me in irons. Your friend, 
 
 JULIA HOWE. 
 
 So Sunday morning Silas walked down to Mrs. 
 Howe's residence, first leaving orders for Blaze-face to 
 be brought around a half hour later. 
 
 When near the house he saw Julia out in the yard 
 cutting a bouquet of roses for Mrs. Boggs. It had 
 been a long time since he had seen her, and it seemed 
 to him she had grown taller and more dignified, which 
 greatly enhanced her natural beauty. She was dressed 
 in some sort of dark, shimmering stuif that well be- 
 came her, and her black hair and rosy complexion har- 
 monized nicely with her gown. Silas felt his heart 
 beat faster as he drew near, and the warm blood steal- 
 ing into his cheeks. He had reached the gate before 
 she saw him and was leaning over it smiling down upon 
 the scene when she looked up. 
 
 "Oh, it is you, is it, Silas? Well, here I am, ready 
 to be overcome and carried to Mr. Boggs. How are 
 yoti sir, anyway?" And she came forward looking so 
 lovely and happy, Silas almost lost himself in confu- 
 sion, staring at her.
 
 SILAS COBB 267 
 
 "Julia, I am am awfully glad to see you again and 
 welcome you back to Cowville. How have you been? 
 My, but you are the very picture of health." He was 
 holding both her hands now and smiling down into 
 her face. They made a picture of wholesome, honest, 
 young manhood and womanhood that was good to see. 
 After their first greeting was over she thought of their 
 jesting letters. 
 
 "Oh, here now! where are your bracelets? I have 
 changed my mind a woman's right you know and 
 won't go unless I am forced to. I propose to be deliv- 
 ered to Mr. Boggs in irons." And she held up two 
 pretty white hands for Silas to put on the manacles. 
 
 "All right, Miss, I'll iron you," and he took hold of 
 her hands, bringing them together and holding them 
 tightly in his own. "Will you go now without fur- 
 ther trouble?', 
 
 "Not till I ask mamma. Unhand me villian!" and in 
 mock scorn she led the way into the house, Silas fol- 
 lowing, happy as he could be to see her again. 
 
 In a short time they were ready to start and Blaze- 
 face, in all his Sunday "toggery" and dignity, stood 
 hitched to a light buggy at the gate, waiting for them. 
 He looked at Julia as if he wanted to speak to her, and 
 seemed perfectly delighted to feel her soft, white hand 
 on his nose. 
 
 "Isn't he lovely Silas?" 
 
 "The proudest and noblest of his kind I ever knew. 
 He has never been struck with a whip, and I really 
 believe if I should strike him he would die of shame. 
 Neither is he afraid of anything. I never knew him to 
 shy at unknown objects along the way. Once we met 
 an Italian with a bear. Blaze-face stopped and looked 
 it over thoughtfully, and after a careful examination he
 
 268 SILAS COBB 
 
 decided the bear would not hurt him if it wouldn't 
 hurt a man, besides, he knew he was larger than the 
 bear and " 
 
 "Now, how do you know that Silas? You talk as if 
 Blaze-face had taken you into his confidence," said 
 Julia, laughing. 
 
 "Well, he almost talks to me. Once he got a little 
 careless and let the buggy run out of the track into a 
 ditch and turned me over, buggy and all. Any other 
 horse would have kicked things to pieces and run away. 
 But not so with him. He stopped perfectly still, with 
 a splintered shaft scratching his side, and looked around 
 at me with the most sorrowful countenance I ever saw, 
 and I really expected to see him shed tears. He was 
 not sorry about the splinter, but sorry because he had 
 been so careless that he dumped me out." 
 
 "Why, Silas Cobb, you are just trifling with me, 
 and making that all up." 
 
 "Well, now, I'll tell you, Julia; he did all I said he 
 did, but of course I don't know what the dear old fel- 
 low thought, and as for the tears, I am not sure about 
 them, either; but he has a face that has as much ex- 
 pression to me as some people." 
 
 By this time everything was ready, and away they 
 went over shady roads, along pretty little valleys, and 
 over bills. It was a perfect June day, and the fields 
 were full of the buzz of bees and the fluttering butter- 
 flies. Within an hour they came to Muddy Creek, 
 which name, in fact, is a misnomer at this point, for 
 instead of the water being muddy, it is clear as crystal 
 and babbles over gravel and rocks of many strange for- 
 mations, containing a partial history of old earth for 
 those discerning enough to read it. They drove into a 
 clear, cool water hole near the ford, where every trav-
 
 SILAS COBB 269 
 
 eler draws rein in passing to water his horse. The 
 branches of a great elm spread over the clear water, 
 and the English sparrows were holding some sort of a 
 convention in its vast reach of boughs. A few 
 moments later they assaulted a crow that dared to light 
 on a dead tree near by, and after driving it away, came 
 back in a wave, blustering and bragging over their vic- 
 tory, and began a quarrel among themselves. 
 
 "It's the human family over and over only on a 
 smaller scale, isn't it Julia? Look at the little imps 
 bragging about it! How like a mob of boys! I remem- 
 ber when a little boy my father took me to Cowrille, 
 and when I ventured from his protection the whole 
 mob of street gamins were right on to me, and I had to 
 thrash a lot of them and break a few heads before I got 
 back to the protecting care of my father's coat-tail." 
 
 "I wasn't watching the birds so much as I was those 
 little minnows swimming around Blaze-face's legs. 
 Just look how clear the water is, and how his polished 
 shoes shine in it, and deceive the little fish; see them 
 nibble at them!" 
 
 So they sat leaning over the water watching the 
 little fish in its crystal depths; the reflections of the little 
 birds from the trees overhead; their own reflections 
 dancing on the rippling surface; hearing the lowing of 
 the cattle in the fields; and above all, and better than 
 all, feeling what only strong and vigorous youth can 
 feel the keenest enjoyment in each other's compan- 
 ionship. 
 
 For a long time they sat there in silence, while 
 Blaze-face enjoyed the cool water on his feet and legs. 
 Now and then he took a glance out of the corner of 
 his eye at the occupants of the buggy, but most of the
 
 270 SILAS COBB 
 
 time he seemed absorbed in his own reflections horse- 
 dreams, no doubt. 
 
 "Julia," said Silas, after a long silence, "I don't be- 
 lieve there are many couples like you and me in this 
 matter of likes and dislikes. Here we find ourselves 
 sitting perfectly contented to be still, and drink in all 
 this bubbling life around us. We do not feel as if we 
 must say something to each other to keep away the 
 yawns. We just enjoy it all whether we talk or not, 
 don't we?" 
 
 "I was thinking of that very thing when you spoke, 
 Silas. There are people with whom we can communi- 
 cate mentally without words because we love and 
 understand the same things. You and I seem to have 
 the same love for Nature, so when we contemplate it 
 we need no language we just feel know appreciate 
 it all and" 
 
 "Each other," added Silas. 
 
 "Yes, I think we do." 
 
 "You only think we do?" 
 
 "Well, I know I appreciate you, Silas, but it 
 wouldn't become a young lady to speak for her escort, 
 would it now?" 
 
 "In this case it would be all right, because you 
 know how to tell the whole truth; we understand the 
 birds, the fish, the the everything out here," and he 
 waved his hand to take in everything in sight, "and, 
 forsooth, we understand each other." 
 
 "Yes, I think we do, but you have not said a word 
 about me yet my work and how well I have done, 
 or how badly. Now why is this, sir? I have come 
 home to hear you say I have done well, and you say 
 not a word not even a question is asked, and all this 
 time I have just been burning to tell you. Yet you
 
 SILAS COBB 271 
 
 tell me we understand each other. Oh, blind man! do 
 you think you can ever look into a heart and know all 
 that is there hid away? Not in a thousand years, 
 though you were as wise as as 
 
 "Solomon," added Silas. 
 
 "Yes, sir, as Solomon. You don't know me, Silas 
 CobbP 
 
 "No, but I like you, though, Julia." 
 
 She looked at him, assuming an injured manner, and 
 retorted, "Silas Cobb, you are a trifler." 
 
 "No, seriously, Julia, I was not jesting. It did 
 really seem to me that we read each other's 
 thoughts without need of many words. Now I have 
 not forgotten about your school work, either. I have 
 been listening to your talk, and thinking about it all. 
 You keep me marveling all the time at the wonderful 
 progress you have made since a short two years ago. 
 You come back to us taller by an inch, I know. 
 Whether it is due to actual growth, or whether your 
 dignity and high aims make you look that way, I know 
 not, but it is true, Julia, that I know without your 
 telling me. You have done well; so well that I con- 
 sider it almost marvelous, yet I want you to tell me of 
 it everything. I have just been enjoying you so 
 much I have been afraid to hurry through with it lest 
 I learn it all too soon." 
 
 "Oh, Silas, do you really mean it all? I don't feel 
 vain over it, but if I could only please you and make 
 you feel that I have really done well, it would seem 
 enough. For it was you who set me right, and you 
 alone I have to thank, and I will never be able to 
 thank you enough." 
 
 "You will, Julia " At this point Blaze-face 
 
 deliberately began to move, apparently having decided
 
 272 SILAS COBB 
 
 things had gone far enough, and climbing up the dusty 
 creek bank, sprinkling it with water, laying the dust 
 nicely, he set off in a long, swinging trot toward the 
 Boggs home, some few miles beyond. 
 
 "Now what do you think of that for impudence, 
 Julia? Did you ever see a horse that was any bossier 
 than this same Blaze-face?" 
 
 "No, I never did, and you seem to think it cute in 
 him, just like some parents I know of who encourage 
 their children by laughing at their smart ways. Am I 
 not right, sir?" 
 
 "You are, my lady! I gracefully submit to the 
 rebuke, for I love that horse overmuch to be a good 
 master, I fear. But to get back to our subject, Julia, 
 I am not going to have you give me any more credit 
 for the success you have made in your work. I saw 
 one of your professors not long ago, and I know you 
 will pardon me for dragging all the information from 
 him I could. I did it in the right spirit, and he didn't 
 tell me anything you would not want me to know." 
 
 "What did he say, Silas?" 
 
 "He said your work was splendid in every way." 
 
 "What else did he say?" 
 
 "He said you were a lovely woman." 
 
 "Now, sir, you may hush." 
 
 "No, honestly, Julia, that's what he said." 
 
 "Really and truly?" 
 
 "Yes, really and truly." 
 
 "And what did you say?" 
 
 "I said you were, too." 
 
 Then they both laughed heartily, and Blaze-face 
 pricked up his ears and went a little faster. 
 
 "Julia, look yonder at that old bellflower apple-tree 
 in the field. What does it make you think of?"
 
 SILAS COBB 273 
 
 "Oh, Silas! it is just the same sort of a place, isn't 
 it? Oh that June-time of long ago! It was just 
 such a tree, and just such a fence that we crawled 
 through. Even the clover is there, and it is June-time 
 again, and the bees are humming the same old tune. I 
 can see your face now as it was then let me see, sir, if 
 it is dirty now as it was that day," and taking his chin 
 in her white, soft fingers she turned his face toward her 
 to examine it, but she didn't find any dirt; instead she 
 saw a pair of longing, black eyes bent on hers, and he 
 felt her fingers tremble. "No, sir, your face is clean," 
 and she quickly removed her hand while her cheeks 
 flushed red. 
 
 "Sixteen years ago this June, Julia, since you got 
 the brier in your toe." 
 
 "Yes; isn't it a long time?" 
 
 "And you cried about it." 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 "And I kissed you to get you to hush." 
 
 "Ye-es." 
 
 "I forget now whether you hushed or not. Do you 
 remember, Julia?" 
 
 "Oh I know I must have hushed right away." 
 
 They laughed again. It was so easy to laugh. Eve- 
 rything seemed so bright and happy. The world 
 seemed to be teeming with it. By and by they came 
 out of a bunch of trees on a small hill, and found them- 
 selves in sight of the Boggs farm. Lying below them, 
 flooded with sunlight, and covered with waving grain 
 were hundreds of acres of it along Muddy Creek. 
 Standing at the foot of the hills, surrounded by trees, 
 was the Boggs home. There were a dozen out-build- 
 ings of various kinds, and back of them stretched a 
 
 18
 
 274 SILAS COBB 
 
 large orchard and from the roadside the June apples 
 showed red from the sun's kisses. 
 
 Mr. Boggs was watching for them, and when they 
 drove up to the outside yard gate he was there to greet 
 them and help them out. 
 
 "Howdy do, Silas, my boy, and howdy, Miss ' 
 
 "This is Miss Howe, Uncle Henry," added Silas, 
 "and she knows you all right. No use wasting formal- 
 ities getting you old friends together, is there now?" 
 
 "Well, I should say not. Mr. Boggs, I am so glad 
 to meet you and grasp your hand, and thank you for 
 your kindness to me." She took his big hand in hers 
 and looked up into his honest old face with a genuine 
 affection, and added rather shyly, "you may kiss me if 
 you want to, Mr. Boggs." 
 
 "Well bless my heart, now; will ye jest listen t' the 
 dear gal, Silas?" and he gave her a ringing kiss on 
 each cheek as gallantly as one could wish, holding each 
 of her hands at the same time. Then they all went in, 
 talking and laughing, to meet Mrs. Boggs. 
 
 "Marthy, here they air bless their hearts I got 
 'em right under my wings," and without any introduc- 
 tion she took Julia to her heart just as she did Jose- 
 phine Alger, and then she kissed Silas and wiped her 
 eyes. 
 
 Mr. Boggs was full of emotion and spluttered around 
 all over the house, in the kitchen bothering the girl 
 about the dinner and setting everything in the worst 
 sort of confusion, until Mrs. Boggs led him out, and 
 told Julia to make him stay out. 
 
 "Now Mr. Boggs, what can I do in such a case as 
 this?" asked Julia, laughing. 
 
 "Ye' re the boss uv this house, Miss Howe, ferever
 
 SILAS COBB 275 
 
 ef ye'll jest stay here. Ef I jest had a boy an' gal like 
 ye an' Silas, it would be more'nthe oleman'd deserve." 
 
 "Let's stay, Silas," said Julia, "and just see if Mr. 
 Boggs is joking. It seems to me, Mr. Boggs, that you 
 are rather reckless in your wishes. You can never tell 
 how soon tkey will come true. And then just think 
 of the noise and confusion in the house. The romps, 
 the fights, the breakage, and and " 
 
 "The lickings," added Silas. 
 
 "Yes, the lickings, Silas Cobb, for I am sure you 
 would have to be whipped. You are always helping 
 me to the wrong words. Mr. Boggs, I wish you would 
 send him to the barn." 
 
 Mr. Boggs was now sitting in his easy chair, smiling 
 over the scene before him, enjoying himself very much 
 and exchanging good-natured banter with the "boy an' 
 gal," while Mrs. Boggs supervised the preparation of 
 dinner. The table was set on the latticed porch where 
 the refreshing breezes from the wooded hills near by came 
 rustling through the morning-glory vines that had run 
 riot over the lattice work. It was an ideal place for 
 dinner on a summer day. Out through the vines the 
 orchard was visible, and the row of holly-hocks along 
 the fence was in full bloom. Next to the holly-hocks 
 was the long bed of touch-me-nots, tiger lilies, zinnias, 
 bachelor-buttons, etc.; flitting among them the hum- 
 ming-bird was seeking their sweets. 
 
 It wasn't long till Silas, Julia and Mr. Boggs were 
 all back in the kitchen, on the porch, everywhere their 
 fancy led them, chatting, laughing, and enjoying every- 
 thing in sight. 
 
 In time dinner was ready and all were seated at the 
 table just as Mrs. Boggs had planned it. Mr. Boggs
 
 276 SILAS COBB 
 
 at one end and Mrs. Boggs at the other, while Julia 
 and Silas faced each other from the sides. 
 
 "Face yer pardners," called out Mr. Boggs as they 
 were sitting down. "Marthy, ain't it a wonder how 
 young we air feelin' t'-day? I declare ye seem t' me t' 
 be lookin' nigh as fresh as ye did forty year ago. 
 Silas, jest look at the dear ole thing. Don't ye think 
 she's lookin' younger'n usual, now?" 
 
 "Yes sir, it is a fact. I have noticed it, Mrs. Boggs, 
 and have been on the eve of mentioning it two or three 
 times." 
 
 "Jest listen at them boys, Julia. They are regular 
 blarniers, ain't they?" 
 
 "And there's Julia, too, Mr. Boggs; hadn't you 
 noticed how pretty and bright she is looking?" inter- 
 rupted Silas with a twinkle in his eyes. 
 
 "Yes, and Mr. Boggs, I have been noticing how 
 young and happy you were looking, too," said Julia. 
 "Haven't you noticed it, Mrs. Boggs?" 
 
 "Yes, I have, but him an' Silas air poor matches fer 
 you an' me though, Julia." 
 
 "Marthy," said Mr. Boggs, and he winked his eye, 
 "who does Julie an' Silas mind ye uv, way back yonder 
 say 'bout fifty years ago, eh, cau't ye remember?" Mrs. 
 Boggs remembered, or at least knew that Mr. Boggs 
 referred to their own courting days, and she straightway 
 blushed in spite of her seventy odd years. 
 
 "I can't say as I do, Henry," evasively spoke Mrs. 
 Boggs. 
 
 "Why, Marthy Boggs! I hope ye ain't f ergot our 
 courtin' days, have ye?" Then he looked at Silas, then 
 at Julia to see the effect of his comparison. 
 
 "Yes sir," he continued, "they 'mind me very much
 
 SILAS COBB 
 
 277 
 
 uv me an' you in them days. Sufferin' Moses! Marthy, 
 them days wuz worth liviu' wan't they?" 
 
 "You didn't know, I suppose, Mrs. Boggs, that your 
 worthy husband has told me his love story," said Silas. 
 
 "Why, Henry Boggs, air ye crazy, t' tell all that 
 foolishness to anybody, let alone a young boy like Silas? 
 Henry, I am amazed!" 
 
 Henry Boggs was amused beyond ordinary bounds 
 
 "tiilas, jest look at the dear ole thing.'" 
 
 and he threw up his hands and laughed loudly, Silas 
 and Julia joining him. 
 
 "Oh Silas, my boy, she's afeard I've ruined yeferever. 
 Why Marthy, the boys's older' n I wuz in them days an' 
 a heap sight sharper, ain't he Julie?" It was now Julia's 
 turn to blush. 
 
 "You are right, Mrs. Boggs; Uncle Henry has 
 ruined me in one way, for if I never experience as sweet 
 a love story as the one he told me you helped him 
 weave, I shall die a disappointed man."
 
 278 SILAS COBB 
 
 "There Mother, what ye got t' say now? Don't ye 
 see the boy is benefitted by it an' p'raps p'raps 
 
 "Perhaps what, Henry?" 
 
 He took a sly look at Julia and Silas and replied: 
 "P'raps Silas needed the experience of an ole man t' 
 guide him." 
 
 "Mrs. Boggs, did you notice that humming-bird in 
 the morning glories there?" asked Julia, hiding a smile 
 behind her napkin. And Uncle Henry tramped Silas' 
 toe and winked at Mrs. Boggs. 
 
 "Henry Boggs, I jest know ye air the provokin'est 
 man I ever saw. Julie, don't ye mind him. He's alus 
 teasin' young girls who come here. But ye jest pay no 
 'tention t' him. He's childish." 
 
 "I like him, though, Mrs. Boggs," replied Julia 
 coquetting at Mr. Boggs. "He is naughty at times, 
 but he means well. He only wants to tease Silas." 
 This last with a glance at Silas from the corner of her 
 eye. 
 
 So the banter ran on for two hours while they dis- 
 posed of a dinner that was worthy a king's eating. 
 
 After dinner was over, they all wandered about the 
 old place, every corner of which was hoary with age, 
 and enjoyed themselves discussing and examining things 
 of interest. 
 
 "Silas, ye ain't f ergot the June apples, have ye son? 
 I think ye had better take Julie out an' pick a few. Me 
 an' Marthy's too ole t' tramp around with ye, but we 
 want ye t' make yerselves at home 'bout the place, an' 
 have as good a time as ye can while the sun shines." 
 
 ' 'All right, Mr. Boggs, we will ransack the orchard 
 for the ripest and best, and bring some of them to you 
 and Mrs. Boggs. Take your afternoon nap while we
 
 SILAS COBB 279 
 
 find them." So laughing and calling back to the old 
 folks, Silas and Julia started for the orchard. 
 
 "Silas, I have permission from Mrs. Boggs to pluck 
 any flower that pleases my fancy, and it's this tiger 
 lily. Isn't it gorgeous?" 
 
 The flower was plucked and the stem thrust through 
 her great coil of black hair, contrasting beautifully 
 with its somber background. 
 
 Now Julia, you may sit down there on the grass 
 while I climb this old friendly giant. Many a time 
 have I lost myself in its leafy boughs. This tree is 
 older than we are, and has furnished June apples for a 
 generation to a thankless race. Now do you see those 
 large, red ones on that limb? Well, they are the best 
 on the tree. I have learned just where they grow, and 
 can you catch them? Good! Julia you would have 
 made an athlete with a little training." 
 
 "That's enough, Silas; come down now before you 
 fall, and tell me all that has happened to you since I 
 left home." 
 
 "All right, and glad I am to do it. Do you know 
 what I miss more than anything else in the world." 
 
 "No, what is it?" 
 
 "Some one to tell things to; things you wouldn't 
 want to tell just any ordinary friend. I really need a 
 companion to whom I can go and tell my troubles 
 one who would appreciate and feel enough interest in 
 me to want to hear them. Mr. Boggs is the only man 
 I would trust everything with, and he is too old and 
 not enough in touch with my work to understand it all. 
 Haven't you always felt better when you could talk it 
 over with some trusty friend?" 
 
 "I have never had any one but my mother to talk 
 heart-things with, and there are some things I never
 
 280 SILAS COBB 
 
 have discussed, because there was not a fit person to tell 
 them to," answered Julia, ''and I thoroughly appreciate 
 what you say. So if you will make me your confidant 
 I shall play my part with interest and trustfulness. Say 
 on now, I am ready to take on the whole burden," she 
 finished, smiling. 
 
 "Say, we just get along nicely, don't we, Julia? 
 Both got the same same- what is it to you ," 
 
 "Disease," added Julia. 
 
 "Yes, that's pretty good. I suppose a name cuts no 
 figure in the matter. But I have a lot of office 
 troubles I'd like to pour into your ears, and see what 
 you think about them. Now no longer than last week 
 a young lady called at my office for the purpose of get- 
 ting me to endorse her certificate. She came from 
 Superintendent Ed Smith's county and carried one of 
 his certificates. I have great confidence in his papers, 
 and any one coming from him always has immediate 
 recognition from me. So when this lady handed me 
 her certificate, I took a casual glance at it, and told 
 her I should be delighted to endorse anything my 
 friend Smith had set his approval on, for I considered 
 him of the cream of the earth, and so on. Well she 
 was pleased and I was pleased, till I took a second look 
 at her. Then I said to myself 'she doesn't look right 
 
 there is something wrong with the girl's heart 
 
 principles or whatever you have a mind to call it.' I 
 looked a little straighter, right into her eyes, and she 
 flinched a little bit at that and I felt ashamed of myself 
 for my boldness. I took another look at her certificate. 
 
 I wanted to see if she made a good grade must be 
 
 something extra to make up for that other thing she 
 lacked, whatever it was."
 
 SILAS COBB 281 
 
 "Why what did she look like, Silas? Did she look 
 so horrible, or what?" 
 
 "Oh no, she was good looking in a way, and wore 
 good clothes. Some might say she was attractive, but 
 there was something out of joint, and I couldn't have 
 named it for I didn't know. I only knew that she had 
 a blemish. So I scanned the certificate more closely, 
 aud what think you I saw?" 
 
 "Low grades, I suppose." 
 
 "Not a bit of it. Her grades were splendid, but 
 the first figure on seven different grade marks had been 
 raised from 20 to 30 per cent. Thus a 7 had been 
 changed to a 9 by simply connecting the point of the 
 7 with the stem. I looked at them more closely and 
 then glanced at her; she became red in the face, and 
 told me in act and mind as plainly as if she had spoken 
 that she had raised those figures. Then I asked her if 
 she had had the certificate in her possession ever since 
 it was given her. 
 
 " 'Yes, sir,' she said, 'I have, and if you mean to 
 insinuate I have raised those standings you are wrong, 
 for I didn't.' 
 
 " 'Why Miss ,' I said, you jump at conclusions. 
 
 What have I said about such a thing?' 
 
 " 'Well,' she replied, 'you act that way.' 
 
 "Then I thought I would be justified in asking her 
 a few questions. 
 
 "Then Miss , be so kind as to tell me who raised 
 
 these grades?' 
 
 "She was indignant." 
 
 " 'Sir! you insult me. I am a poor girl and cannot 
 afford to resent it, but there are others who will. I 
 know nothing about those grades being raised.'
 
 282 SILAS COBB 
 
 " 'Are these the grades Superintendent Smith issued 
 you?' I asked. 
 
 " 'Yes sir, they are.' 
 
 "Well, I will have to consult Mr. Smith about it 
 before I can endorse it. You call in to-morrow and I 
 will be able to act on the subject.' 
 
 " 'You won't endorse my certificate, then? My 
 school begins Monday.' 
 
 " 'I will answer you after I have heard from Super- 
 intendent Smith,' I replied. 
 
 "She saw she was in a trap. She knew that he 
 wouldn't verify those grades. She also knew him well 
 enough to know her certificate would be instantly 
 annulled in his county when he learned the facts. So 
 after a moment's reflection she said: 
 
 ' ' 'I really think I had better not accept that school, 
 Mr. Cobb. My mother needs me at home, and I will 
 continue to teach under Mr. Smith. I hope you will 
 not trouble about writing him. I will just let the 
 matter drop.' 
 
 " 'Just as you like,' I replied. 
 
 " 'Well, I think it will be best,' and she grew very 
 cordial, and bidding me good-by, she departed. 
 
 "Now Julia, that is the first part of it. What ought 
 I to have done as soon as she was gone?" 
 
 "You should have written to Superintendent Smith 
 at once, and told him all about it." 
 
 "And let Smith annihilate her without com- 
 punction?" 
 
 "Why shouldn't he? Had she not committed a 
 crime that men are doing time for in penitentiaries? 
 Don't you think it time when a young woman is 
 caught in such a trap to teach her a lesson for life? 
 Is it any less a crime to forge a certificate than a note?"
 
 SILAS COBB 283 
 
 "No, Julia, but would you give the poor girl no 
 show of her life at all; that is, would you cast her 
 down without a chance to repent?" 
 
 "Yes, cast her out, and let her come back when she 
 had repented. That is the best way, Silas. Poor girl! 
 I feel sorry for her, but it takes a great jar to break 
 one loose sometimes from some dangerous habit 
 of thought. Isn't it sad to think she would be so 
 foolish as to do such a dreadful thing as that? What 
 did you really do, Silas? 
 
 "I'll read you my letter to Smith: 
 
 MY DEAR SMITH: I am sorry to report to you that 
 
 one Miss handed me her teacher's certificate issued 
 
 by you with standings, ranging above ninety, showing 
 unmistakable signs of having been raised some thirty 
 per cent on an average. You can verify this, and act 
 as seems best to you. If she were in my county and her 
 work was poor and her heart wrong, I should revoke it. 
 If her heart was right and she lacked a thorough ap- 
 preciation of the crime she had committed, I might 
 undertake to teach her a lesson that would save her. 
 At any rate I would act in a manner that would have a 
 decided effect, etc., etc. 
 
 "Good, Silas, you did just right." 
 
 "Do you really think so." 
 
 "Yes, I do. You put it just right. If her heart is 
 good, try to save her; if her heart is wrong, get her 
 out of the teaching force, where none but honest 
 people at least ought to be, no matter what other im- 
 perfections they may have." 
 
 "That does me a lot of good, Julia. Don't you 
 always feel better when some one tells you you have 
 done well?" 
 
 "Don't I know it, Silas? Have I not cried over the 
 kind and thoughtful encouragement you have always 
 given me, just because it made me so happy? Do you
 
 284 SILAS COBB 
 
 think I have forgotten that Sunday in church after I had 
 told you my trials? You leaned over and pressed my 
 hand and said, 'You did nobly, Julia.' Your heart was 
 in that statement, and in many a dark, lonely hour 
 since, it has cheered me and made me equal to the test. 
 Oh, I understand it, Silas, and I am so glad I do; and 
 it makes me very happy to have you confide your affairs 
 to me, because it shows you have faith and confidence 
 in me." 
 
 "Well, you see I was worried about it for fear I would 
 be the cause of endless trouble to the girl, attaching 
 more importance to her act than it deserved. It is a 
 great responsibility this assuming to judge the moral 
 acts of others, but you can have little idea of the really 
 sad side of this business without going through it. I 
 want to burden you with one more incident. May I?" 
 
 ''Shame on you, sir, for even asking me. Am I not 
 your humble slave?" 
 
 "No, you are not." 
 
 "Why not, my lord?" 
 
 "Because one does not tell his troubles to his slave, 
 so be good now and don't dispute my word. 
 
 "Well, to begin: about six months ago, a sweet little 
 girl, who lives out in the country north of Cowville, 
 took the examination. She was just as nice as she 
 could be. She was everything a young maiden should 
 be so far as personality was concerned. She failed to 
 pass. I talked the matter over with her frankly and 
 took a great deal of pains lest I should discourage her 
 efforts; told her to keep studying and going to school, 
 etc. But her parents were set on her teaching, so she 
 was stuffed with a lot of things and tried again and 
 again, all against my recommendation. The poor little 
 thing would labor and worry all day long and when
 
 SILAS COBB 285 
 
 night came she would hand in her papers wistfully and 
 hopefully. Every time I looked at her I would be 
 tempted to trample right under foot and give her a cer- 
 tificate anyhow. So on the last day she came, I marked 
 her papers as fast as she finished them, and when she 
 handed in her last one she sat meekly by my side, wait- 
 ing for me to finish. She had failed as usual, and I 
 knew it all along. It was the hardest thing of my life 
 to tell her so. I had known her for so long, and had 
 seen her grow up from a mere child of ten she is now 
 eighteen, but small and young-looking for her age. So 
 finally I told her. She looked at me with her sad eyes, 
 and fumbled in her little pocket-book with trembling 
 fingers and took out a five dollar bill and laid it on my 
 knee, and said, 'Mr. Cobb, will you please give me a 
 certificate for that?' 
 
 "You can hardly imagine my surprise and sorrow. 
 The shock was so unexpected, coming from her a 
 poor, innocent, kind-hearted, lovable child who knew 
 nothing of bribery, that I cried out in anguish, 'My 
 God, Nellie, who told you to do such a thing? Do you 
 want to trample on the heart of a friend who has tried 
 to be kind to you and help you along? Oh, why did 
 you do it, child? Who told you to do such a fearful 
 thing as that?' 
 
 "My outburst was from the heart, because I felt BO 
 hurt and disappointed I could not check myself before 
 I had almost broken the girl's heart. She did not 
 understand the force of what she had done. I had been 
 kind to her, and she felt it and appreciated my friend- 
 ship very much, so when she saw that she had mortally 
 offended me, she burst into tears and became almost 
 hysterical. Between her sobs she told me her father 
 and mother had told her to do it, and said they under-
 
 286 SILAS COBB 
 
 stood it was customary to pay money to public officials 
 for favors. If she had been a scheming person I would 
 have expected her to make such a proposal, for I am 
 pained to relate that among certain ignorant, foul-minded 
 persons of this county there is a general impression 
 that public officers are corrupt, and can be bought. I 
 pity them with all my h.eart, Julia, and you cannot 
 imagine the pain and disgust I feel not toward this 
 poor girl but toward those matured, criminally in- 
 clined people who have such deformed and detestable 
 notions that an ordinary man of honor could be tempted 
 to perjure himself for five dollars. It is too revolting 
 and hateful to think about, and doubly so when I think 
 of that poor girl who was misled into doing a thing she 
 will abhor to her dying day." 
 
 "Silas, I am proud that you are my friend. You are 
 true as life, and I don't wonder that everybody likes 
 you. I am glad to be the most ardent among them all." 
 
 "Are you really, Julia?" and he laid his hand on 
 hers as she nervously toyed with a large red apple lying 
 in her lap. 
 
 "Indeed I am, Silas. You are my ideal man. I like 
 you very much." 
 
 "You are my ideal woman, Julia, and I love you 
 very much." 
 
 "And I I love you too, sir." 
 
 "Oh, Silas, you have spilled the apples! There now 
 you bad man, you have crushed my tiger lily!" 
 
 "Isn't that too bad; you looked so pretty with it too." 
 
 "Well, we can get another one, Silas, and the apples 
 we can pick up again. Now sir, if you hadn't been in 
 such a hurry, I should have let you kiss me without 
 upsetting everything." Thinking her jest might be 
 taken seriously, she leaned over against his shoulder
 
 SILAS COBB 
 
 287 
 
 smiling and said: "But I enjoyed it so much, Silas," 
 and then burst out crying from pure joy. 
 
 So this ends the tale, and the end was not the aim of 
 the story either. The getting of a wife is probably the 
 most important step in a man's life, and it has been 
 
 -Or- 
 
 "She nervously toyed with a large red apple lying in her Zap." 
 
 touched upon here, not for the purpose of telling a love 
 story, but simply because the hero needed a wife, and 
 he, out of the nature of the surroundings, got one. 
 Every day such things happen to men deeply absorbed 
 in trade, and whose lives show little sentiment, yet they 
 take a day off, each in his turn, and take unto them-
 
 288 SILAS COBB 
 
 selves wives. It is a part of life, whether it be in the 
 schoolroom or shop; so the author feels justified in 
 mingling this world-wide sentiment into a story told 
 with a purpose. It has put a little bit of the spice of 
 life into a subject that is affected with "dry-rot," and 
 as a result, it is hoped the few lessons taught have 
 reached home. 
 
 AFTERWORD. 
 
 The story of Silas Cobb closes with scarcely a year 
 and a half of his term of office finished; therefore, much 
 valuable experience in his career has yet to be told. 
 Some day the author hopes to tell what befell him as 
 the years went by, and how he conducted himself under 
 the many trying circumstances that confronted him. 
 
 There are yet left among his constituency, the grand 
 old man, Boggs, the supposed philosopher, Caleb 
 Fisher, Sam Street, and others who did not shirk their 
 duty when duty called for action. In the sequel they 
 play their parts well. 
 
 THE END.
 
 Outline for Study of Silas Cobb 
 
 The following excellent outline of Silas Cobb for reading circle 
 work was prepared by a committee of teachers appointed by Supt. 
 W. J. Pack, of Jones county, Mississippi. Mr. Pack has recently 
 made Silas Cobb one of the books of the course to be read by all 
 teachers. 
 
 SERIES I. 
 
 1. State the principal causes of the "Brush county" schools not 
 
 prospering under the supervision of "Prof. Littleman." 
 
 2. Should Silas have told Henry Boggs about his failure on 
 
 examination? 
 
 3. Explain why all "Julias" imperil the public school system of 
 
 our country. 
 
 4. What should a superintendent do when he meets a "Miss Win- 
 
 terset" in his schools? 
 
 5. Do we have "Brush Creek" schools now? 
 
 6. Show why the standard of teaching represented by "Miss 
 
 Josephine Alger" is or is not placed too high for us to reach. 
 
 7. Contrast Silas Cobb and Prof. Littleman as to mode of canvas- 
 
 sing. 
 
 8. What objections had the teachers to Cobb's plans for better 
 
 work? 
 
 9. What prompted Boggs to lend financial aid to Julia? 
 
 10. How would you interest a farmer in this book and induce him 
 to read it? 
 
 SERIES II. 
 
 1. Contrast Silas Cobb and Prof. Littleman. 
 
 2. Contrast Silas Cobb and Supt. Smith. 
 
 3. Contrast Silas Cobb and Supt Slowly. 
 
 4. Contrast Miss Alger and Miss Howe. 
 
 5. Contrast Andy Weaver and Mr. Scotland. 
 
 6. Contrast Caleb Fisher and Henry James. 
 
 7. What points in common had the principal characters of this 
 
 book: Silas Cobb, Miss Josephine Alger, Henry Boggs and 
 Supt. Smith? 
 
 SERIES m. 
 
 1. What characteristics of the true teachers' work are mentioned 
 
 in chapter 2, p. 7? 
 
 2. What is Mr. Stephen's idea of the privileges of pupils during 
 
 school hours? pp. 8 and 19. 
 
 3. How should criticism be received from higher authority? pp. 
 
 9 and 18. 
 
 4. What is the effect of unjust criticism upon: (a) The person 
 
 criticised? pp. Bl, 62. (b) The critic? pp. 61, 62 and 97. (o) 
 The wide-awake hearer? pp. 11, 14, 15 and 17. (d) The cred- 
 ulous hearer? pp. 12, 13 and 16.
 
 5. What is good order In the schoolroom? pp. 18 and 19, 179 and 
 
 183. 
 
 6. In what manner should a teacher do his work? pp. 19, 20 and 
 
 188. 
 
 7. How should the true relation of worker and leader be observed 
 
 by the teacher even when mistreated: (a) In school work? 
 pp. 24, 29 and 30. (b) In assemblies of teachers? pp. 25 and 
 97. (c) In public places? p. 54. 
 
 8. Is It ever proper for the teacher to accept "political influence" 
 
 or "pull?" pp. 31 and 36. 
 
 9. What may a teacher gain by dropping into a superintendent's 
 
 convention? p. 42. 
 
 10. Can the country schools be graded? p. 38 and chapter 36. 
 
 11. What should be the bearing of a teacher if he wishes to gain 
 
 the confidence of the people? pp. 55, 56 and 58. 
 
 12. What is due an incoming teacher or officer from his predeces- 
 
 sor? pp. 64-67. 
 
 13. Why should a teacher be a close student of human nature? 
 
 pp. 71, 72, 78, 108 and 149. 
 
 14. What treatment have we a right to expect from fellow teach- 
 
 era and officers? pp. 82, 96, 126, 127, 161 and 180. 
 
 15. Why should teachers hold frequent and regular meetings? 
 
 p. 89. 
 
 16. Can a teacher afford to make mistakes? p. 90. 
 
 17. How may teachers improve their scholarships while in the 
 
 active work of teaching? pp. 117 and 125. 
 
 18. What double purpose may be accomplished by a skilful per- 
 
 son in shaking people loose from wrong ideas? pp. 149, 150. 
 
 19. What duty does the honest teacher or officer owe to the crafty 
 
 politician? To the gossiper? pp. 151 and 157; also chapter 35. 
 
 20. What effect has the incompetent teacher on: (a) The teaching 
 
 profession? (b) The community? p. 164. 
 
 21. How may a teacher hold his place from year to year and hold 
 
 it honorably? pp. 166, 168. 
 
 22. What should a teacher do for the schoolhouse and grounds? 
 
 pp. 177, 178 and 180. 
 
 23. What influence may a teacher exert over the appearance of 
 
 a community? chapter 31. 
 
 24. What should the teacher give for which she cannot be given a 
 
 salary? p. 185. 
 
 25. Is a "rough house" ever necessary or justifiable? chapter 32. 
 
 26. What treatment is due all persons from officials? pp. 281 and 
 
 288. 
 
 27. Was Josephine Alger a martyr, or did she simply fulfil her 
 
 mission, and live in the highest sense known to mortal na- 
 ture until called to a higher life? 
 
 To THB TEACHERS: Read Silas Cobb carefully. Answers to 
 all questions above are found in the book.
 
 Comments on Silas Cobb 
 
 Z. B. McOLUKB, G R AMD JUNCTION, COLO. 
 
 I am enjoying "Silas Cobb" very much. 
 
 J. T. GIBBS, OKAWVILLB, ILLINOIS. 
 
 I cannot tell you how much I have enjoyed "Silas Cobb," for 
 there are some things that a cold typewriter cannot express. 
 
 M. D. WELTNEK. WESTMORELAND, KANSAS. 
 Your excellent journal has always been eagerly read and has 
 been intensely interesting the past year, because of "Silas Cobb." 
 
 STATE SCPEKINTENDENT ALFRED BATLISS, SPRINGFIELD, ILL. 
 The story of "Silas Cobb" is a happy hit. 
 
 SUPT. MBS. W. P. MTEHS, ALVA, OKLA. 
 
 I have thought for some time that I would tell you how much I 
 appreciate your story, "Silas Cobb," in the COUNTY SUPBRIN- 
 TKNDBNTS' MONTHLY. It is certainly a very entertaining and 
 helpful story. It is so artistic, so real. 
 
 SUPT. GEORGE DBEWBY, WALDO, Wis. 
 
 "Silas Cobb" alone is worth the price of a year's subscription. 
 Can we not secure it in bound form later? We know It's whole- 
 some for the superintendents; why should it not be good food for 
 the teachers? 
 
 SUPT. J. A. TOWNSLEY, MUSCATINB, IOWA. 
 
 Have just finished reading the January number of your 
 MONTHLY containing the story of "Silas Cobb." The story is a 
 daisy and true as life. 
 
 SUPT. J. L. ROBERTSON, PEOBIA, ILL. 
 
 Am much interested in "Silas Cobb." It should be printed in 
 book form. I wish I could send it to every director in this county. 
 
 SUPT. G. M. MONEY, SHELBYVILLE, KY. 
 I like the paper very much, especially the "Silas Cobb" of It. 
 
 SUPT. EDWABD L. PARMBNTEB, IBON MOUNTAIN, MICH. 
 Everything else has to wait when the MONTHLY is laid on my 
 desk, until the part devoted to Silas and his fortunes is absorbed 
 
 SUPT. W. N. STEVENSON, PIERCE, NEB. 
 
 I have received a number of very practical and timely sugges- 
 tions through "Silas Cobb." Mr. Stephens is to be congratulated. 
 
 A. J HESNARD, HERIIOBA, S. D. 
 
 GENTLEMEN: Allow me to thank you for sending me the SUPER- 
 INTENDENTS' MONTHLY so regularly. The MONTBXY is surely a 
 hit "Silas Cobb" is just what we needed and should be in the 
 hands of every teacher and district officer as well.
 
 ELLA A. EVERETT, TRIBUNE, KAN. 
 
 I have been very much interested in the story of 'Silas Cobb" 
 and have gotten many useful hints from it. 
 
 W. GRIFFITH, WILMOT, Wis. 
 
 A real live county superintendent must have written "Silas 
 Cobt>." It is not a creation but an experience. The characters 
 are real, are of flesh and blood and exist Jn every county belonging 
 to Uncle Sam's big estate. 
 
 J.H. GROVKR, FRANKFORT, IND. 
 
 "Silas Cobb", has taught me many valuable lessons in courtesy, 
 self-reliance and stick-to-it-iveness and has doubled the strength 
 of my backbone. 
 
 W. T. DICK, KEOSAUQUA, IOWA. 
 
 Have been very much interested and pleased with "Silas Cobb." 
 The story contains most excellent thoughts and suggestions both 
 for the county superintendents and teachers. 
 
 A. E. WINSHIP, EDITOR JOURNAL EDUCATION, BOSTON, MASS. 
 
 MT DEAR MR. STEPHENS: I read the chapters of "Silas Cobb" 
 so far published, and have enjoyed the story. It is a good por- 
 trayal of the extremes of human nature among school men, each 
 typical class that we all know. 
 
 J. A. COLLIWS, WICHITA, KAN. 
 
 I've just finished "Silas Cobb" and to say that I was delighted 
 with the story expresses it mildly. You have said just the right 
 thing in the right place and at the right time but the most 
 important thing of all, you have said it in the right way. 
 The book gives the whole law of school management in a most 
 readable story. Most books upon the same subject are so dry they 
 tend to drive one to drink. Were the story dramatized it would be 
 a play not unlike "Way Down East," "Shore Acres," "Sag Har- 
 bor," and the "Village Postmaster." 
 
 H. H. SEERLBT, (PRES. OF STATE NORMAL,) CEDAR FALLS, IA. 
 I have taken the time to read Mr. Stephens' book, "Silas Cobb." 
 I can commend it for its instructive and interesting character. It 
 calls attention to many pedagogical lessons in a successful way, 
 and will be found readable by all teachers and people interested 
 in school work. Two of my children who are not yet much inter- 
 ested in school work have read the story and are much pleased 
 with it. So I can say that it would be a public benefit in the com- 
 munities where it may be placed, as a book in pedagogy equivalent 
 to the best we have in the country for instruction of the common 
 
 people. 
 
 J. C. BAHTLETT, DREWSET, ORE. 
 
 I am writing you to-day, acknowledging receipt of your valuable 
 book, "Silas Cobb," and am not going to wait any longer in paying 
 for the same. I have read the book just a little over half through, 
 and can candidly and conscientiously say that I am delighted with 
 it; that "Si Cobb" is all right, and I only wish you had some more 
 books of the same nature.
 
 P. P. NOLAN, PLAHKINTON. S. D. 
 
 I have just finished reading the story of "Silas Cobb," and it has 
 been a revelation to me. It is so realistic that I could almost imag- 
 ine the events which it records transpiring in my own office, and if 
 my future official acts are on a par with those of the progressive 
 Brush county superintendent, I shall consider myself fortunate 
 Indeed. Happy the young superintendent who, at the beginning 
 of his term of office, has placed in his hands a copy of this valu- 
 able book. It shall, henceforth, be as a beacon light to my path. 
 
 FRANK Fox, PASTOB COHG. CHUBCH, KANSAS CITY, KAN. 
 
 I spent Monday with "Silas Cobb," and had a delightful day. I 
 wept and laughed, and was intensely interested to the last page. 
 In my opinion it surpasses "Eben Holden." I certainly think there 
 is a bright future for you in the literary world. You recognize the 
 heroes in homespun. There are multitudes of them. You never 
 know any man until you know the best that's in him. This thought 
 it seems to me, runs through the book. You set a high premium 
 on genuine manhood and womanhood. Too much emphasis cannot 
 be laid on that point. A good heart and a rich endowment of com- 
 mon sense, as you forcefully bring out, are the best equipments 
 any man can have to meet life's battle. I can't commend the book 
 too highly. 
 
 A. M. s A i r."its. ERIE, KANSAS. 
 
 Please send me by express twenty (20) copies of "Silas Cobb" 
 at your earliest convenience. I have had so many calls for the book 
 that I am compelled to order some to supply the demand. 
 
 Several of my teachers have read my copy and pronounce it, 
 with me, the best book of the kind they ever read. It is rich in 
 hidden hints and suggestions, and I am sure HO one can read it and 
 not be benefited thereby. It certainly is a great book. 
 
 Co. SUPT. H. H. THORNTON, ALBION, IDAHO. 
 
 MY DEAR Ma. STBPHEHS: I have read "Silas Cobb." I want 
 to congratulate you on writing such a book. It has helped and 
 encouraged me. Every county superintendent and teacher in 
 Idaho ought to read this book. Hurry the sequel to it for of course 
 there must be one. 
 
 Ex STATE SUPT. HENRY SABIN, DBS MOINES, IOWA. 
 
 DEAR MR. STEPHENS: I have read "Silas Cobb" with interest. 
 It is a good portrayal of certain phases of school teaching which 
 unhappily still exist in some sections of the country. It is pleas- 
 ant to know, however, that there is an improvement all along the 
 line, and that teachers like Prof. Littleman and Oliver Scotland 
 are being dropped from the list of eligibles. 
 
 The book contains many valuable lessons and is well worth read- 
 ing. 
 
 Co. SUPT. ANNIE E. PACKER, MT. PLEASANT, IOWA. 
 
 The copy of "Silas Cobb" was duly and gratefully received, and 
 has been read by a dozen or more people, who pronounce It the 
 best all-round presentation of the subject of school supervision, 
 its possibilities and its responsibilities, yet made. When special 
 libraries are to be selected, I shall call attention to it. 
 ELLA C. CHANTRY, GREENFIELD. IOWA. 
 
 I want to say a few words in praise of "Silas Cobb." I wish every 
 patron, as well as every teacher, could read the book. 
 
 It will help the parents to see the need of cooperation in the 
 school work, while it aids the teacher to steer clear of the "break- 
 ers." I have read the book twice, and have loaned it to not less 
 than a dozen people. When they return it I ask them, "Well, how 
 do you like 'Silas Cobb?' " 
 
 "Just splendid; the best book of the kind I ever read." 
 
 I shall try my best to get the book into at least every township. 
 I hope that you will have abundant success with it.
 
 Phelps and His Teachers 
 
 BY DAN V. STEPHENS 
 
 r I ''HIS book is a story of a boy and his teachers 
 * from a pedagogical standpoint. It has been on 
 the market since September, 1901, and during that 
 time it has passed through three editions with a total 
 sale of sixty-five thousand copies. No educational 
 story of the century has reached such a wide circula- 
 tion. Read what is said of it by some of the most 
 eminent men in America: (Published by Hammond 
 Bros. & Stephens, Fremont, Nebr. ) 
 
 STATB NORMAL SCHOOL, 
 ATHENS, GA., July 9,1902. 
 
 I thank you exceedingly for "Phelps and His Teachers." I have 
 read it with very great interest indeed. Every teacher In America 
 will do well to go through this book. It Is a full-length delinea- 
 tion wart and all of teachers as they come and go. I recognize 
 myself in the gallery of photographs, and did so a little shame- 
 facedly. However, we all make mistakes. The point is, not to be 
 fool enough to make the same mistakes twice. 
 Yours truly, 
 
 E. C. BRANSON, President. 
 
 STATB AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE, 
 AMES, IA., June 21, 1902. 
 
 GENTLEMBN: Your letter of the 20th inst., and copy of "Phelps 
 and His Teachers" are duly received. "Phelps and His Teachers" 
 is a valuable book in presenting helpfully the too frequently 
 neglected side of the pupil in school teaching and management. 
 The endowment of greatest use to home and state is individuality. 
 Successful teaching always honors the individuality of the pupil. 
 This book wholesomely recognizes and encourages the original 
 endowments of a child that are worthy of eternal life. Many 
 thanks for copy of book. Sincerely, 
 
 W. M. BBARDSHEAR, President. 
 
 DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION, 
 SPRINGFIELD, ILLINOIS, June 23, 1902. 
 
 I have your favor of the 20th inst. notifying me that a copy of 
 "Phelps and His Teachers" is on the way. I shall be very glad to 
 have it for our library. I have read it in the magazine and consider 
 it the equal, for graded school teachers, of "Silas Cobb" for county 
 superintendents and that is saying a great deal. In my visits to 
 institutes this summer I shall take occasion to advise our teach- 
 ers to read both books. Yours very truly, 
 
 ALFRED BATLISS, 
 
 State Superintendent.
 
 STATB NORMAL SCHOOL, 
 Plan, NBBK., June 27. 1902. 
 
 I received a few days ago a copy of "Phelps and His Teachers." 
 which I have read with much interest. It is a wonderfully real 
 and concrete presentation of the underlying principles of good 
 teaching. It will do much good. 
 With best wishes I am Cordially yours, 
 
 W. A. CLARK, President. 
 
 JOURNAL OF EDUCATION, 
 BOSTON, MASS., June 28, 1902. 
 
 MY DBAR STEPHENS: Indeed I have found time to read 
 "Phelps and His Teachers," and it is a pleasure to say I greatly 
 enjoy the wit and wisdom which makes a sane view of school life 
 right good reading. I prophesy an even larger usefulness and 
 wider circulation than was won by "Silas Cobb." 
 
 Next time, try your hand on Phelps' sister or some other teacher 
 and her school trustees. Yours sincerely, 
 
 A. E. WlNSHIP. 
 
 DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION, 
 LINCOLN, NEBRASKA, June 19, 1902. 
 
 I am in receipt of a copy of "Phelps and His Teachers," by Dan 
 V. Stephens. Although I read these very entertaining and highly 
 instructive sketches in the COUNTY SUPERINTENDENTS' 
 MONTHLY, I am pleased to have them in this more durable form, 
 and will place the book upon my shelves for reference. I thank you 
 for your courtesy In this matter. Yours very truly, 
 
 W. K. FOWLER, 
 State Superintendent. 
 
 CORNELL COLLEGE, MOUNT VEKNON. IA., June 20, 1902. 
 GENTLEMEN: The copy of "Phelps and His Teachers," which 
 you were so kind as to send me has been received and I thank you 
 for your kindness. I cordially commend the book and trust that 
 it will be read by all grade teachers. 
 
 I placed book on list I made up for Iowa school libraries. With 
 kind regards, I am Very truly yours, 
 
 H. H. FREER. 
 
 STATE DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION. 
 ST. PAUL, MINN., July 8, 1902. 
 
 DEAR MR. STEPHENS: I have read with much pleasure your 
 very entertaining and instructive book, "Phelps and His Teach- 
 ers" and I hope that it may find its way into the handg of a large 
 number of teachers in Minnesota, as it certainly deserves. 
 
 Yours very truly, 
 
 C. G. SCHULZ, 
 
 Asst. State Sup't Public Instruction.
 
 OMAHA NBBR., June 23, 1902. 
 
 I have read the little book, "Phelps and His Teachers," and I 
 feel like congratulating Mr. Stephens on his manner of reaching 
 exactly the point which I think teachers are in need of instruction 
 upon. 
 
 Teaching is a "profession," but it is one of the professions that 
 should never be engaged in by one who is not conscious of a desire 
 to do good to the child and a knowledge that he cannot do good 
 to the child unless he loves it. Love is the greatest, strong- 
 est, and the best power in the world, and next to loving God 
 is the love to a child. And if we cannot respect our God we cannot 
 love Him ; if we cannot respect and love the child, we cannot teach 
 him. And so every teacher, in my judgment, should examine his 
 own heart and his own nature, and if he is incapable of this pro- 
 pelling force or motive, then he should seek another employment, 
 and never seek to be a teacher simply for the money there is in it. 
 He is wasting his own time and doing incalculable damage to the 
 children. I think the book is a very valuable one as instruction 
 and as an aid and will be so appreciated by the order of peda- 
 gogues. Yours truly, 
 
 J. R. BUCHANAN, 
 Gen'l Pass. Agt. F., E. & M. V. R. R. 
 
 ALLISON, IOWA, June 30, 1902. 
 
 Gentlemen: I have carefully read the>copy of "Phelps and His 
 Teachers" which you kindly sent me, and am delighted with it. I 
 wish that every teacher, patron, and school director in Butler 
 county might read it. I am sure that no teacher can read the book 
 without resolving to do more for the children entrusted to her 
 without making a strong determination to reach their hearts as 
 well as their heads. It does us good "to see ourselves as others 
 see us." 
 
 I hope to be able to send in an order for a number of copies soon. 
 Will you please send me a copy of "Silas Cobb?" 
 
 Very truly, 
 
 IDA F. LBTDIO. 
 
 FAULKTON, SOUTH DAKOTA, July 2, 1902. 
 
 GENTLEMEN: I am in receipt of a copy of "Phelps and His 
 Teachers" and have found it a story, touching, and full of truths 
 which should reach the heart of every teacher. I am disposed to 
 put a copy in each of the school libraries of the county, where it 
 will have a permanent place and in most cases will be read by the 
 teacher in charge. Very truly, 
 
 BELL F. McCoY. 
 
 CHABITON, IOWA, February 4, 1902. 
 
 "Silas Cobb" and "Phelps" arrived in fine condition, brimming 
 with helpful suggestions and common sense. They are so pleas- 
 ing that I am completely captivated and am impatient to have 
 every one of my teachers make their acquaintance. Thank you 
 heartily for them. Very truly, 
 
 LAURA FITCH.
 
 A 000 1 27 084 2 
 
 Library or 
 MarK Mullin