Alger, Horatio, 1832-1899 / 2008-11-25 00:00:00
I never knew a Yankee boy who was not
the possessor of a knife of some kind, nor one who could resist the
temptation of using it for such unlawful purposes. Even our hero
shared the common weakness, and his desk was distinguished from
the rest by "H. W." rudely carved in a conspicuous place.
The teacher of the school for the present session was Nathan
Burbank, a country teacher of good repute, who usually taught six
months in a year, and devoted the balance of the year to surveying
land, whenever he could get employment in that line, and the cultivation
of half a dozen acres of land, which kept him in vegetables, and
enabled him to keep a cow. Altogether he succeeded in making a fair
living, though his entire income would seem very small to many
of my readers. He was not deeply learned, but his education was
sufficient to meet the limited requirements of a country school.
This was the summer term, and it is the usual custom in New England
that the summer schools should be taught by females. But in this
particular school the experiment had been tried, and didn't work. It
was found that the scholars were too unruly to be kept in subjection
by a woman, and the school committee had therefore engaged Mr.
Burbank, though, by so doing, the school term was shortened, as he
asked fifty per cent. higher wages than a female teacher would
have done. However, it was better to have a short school than an
unruly school, and so the district acquiesced.
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