The Spelling Bee Episode.

Manawatu Herald, Volume III, 20 May 1890, Page 2

The Spelling Bee Episode.

i » — _ , we were sitting about thefiie in the \ hote , wheu the Story Teller, referring to a yarn publish' d iv a current , paper as to the rough usage of a man . who " spel ed down " a western . country school, said : ♦' That reminds me of a story." At this, of course, every one urged him to tell his tale and he said : It was away back in the early seventies, I was th n trave ling for a Boston school book concern, and one night I brought up in a flourishing litle town in Eastern Ten .essee, I had never b> a en there beiore, but I ? soon made friends with the landlord i of the hotel, and, when I asked him > as to possible means of amusement f.r the evening, he said: " Well, ; st» angi^r, I can't say as there's much s going on, t.ut you might go to the spellin' school." I It seemed that there was a spelling mutch to t>e decided in the town • and I, lull ot foo iah confidence in my own ability, attended and sub- - mitted to the process "choosing • sides." It never occurred to me i that there could possible be any feeling either between sides or between individuals as to the result. 'ihe building in which the contest i occurred was a tumbled-down frame , and log structure, the lines of which outside, suggested an . immiuent i danger of collapse, and within which a great fire in the stack chimney at the end cast th only light upon the bare benches >aye that which was given from the two candles burning upon the desk of the school aster, which was mounted upon a low and rough rostrum. When I reached the building it was reasonably weL filled. Great strappii-g youths in jeans or homespun, girls —many of them veiy pretty -iv the homespun or calico. The only man in the building, myself cxc -pted, who wore a white shirt aud " store clothes ' was the lauky schoolmaster 6tt and a couple "of niches t ill at least, and graceful as a ten u-Oiith's-old calf. Aiind, I n-ver knew how serious a matter 'spelling down" is, and when they asked me to go in I simply went in, sure that there could be no dan.;i r that any of tbe ru«tia crowd could spell me down. The work began, an<* boys and gins, ri<iht and left, sat down on word." of three syllables. Soon there were only twenty of the original forty contestants; then ou'y fifteen; then only ten; at last only five. The words grew harder aud harder, I saw ob» iows si^hs of d scontent. The girls did no like to be spe'led down or the boys to have the girls defeated. The words grew still harder, One, two, three of the five spel'ers fell by the wayaide, and at last, only two of us stood— i he pieltiist girl in a 1 the house and I. At last the schooolmaster cal ed Out to mo " hippoptamous." It was as e-sy as falling from a log until I felt a hot breath at my ear and a voice hissed : " Spell it with one « p,' master, 'nless you wanter get licked. That tbar's my girl ; spell her |down if you dare " I speiled it with one " p " and sat down.