The School-Mistressin Shanty ville. BY ALFRLD REACH.

Waikato Times, Volume XXII, Issue 1845, 3 May 1884, Page 5 (Supplement)

The School -Mistressin Shanty ville. BY ALFRLD REACH.

The astonishment of the men in Shantyville when tlie announcement was made that a school-mistress was coming to the place would have been comic had ib nob been so perfectly uncalled for. The movement which resulted in^ the building of the bchool-house was caused as much by a chanco remark of " Shorty " Davis as by anything else. .Shorty, on returning from a "usit to the neighbouring camp of Buster Gnlch, said tcf thj assembled crowd in Iliggins's saloon — " I'll 'low ez how that place lander lays over this 3 ere. The men hez a respect fo' know lid jc, an' they hez the finest sehulehouse 3011 ever see." Th n ri\alry between Sluntvville a. .d Buster Gulch was bitter 111 the extreme, and men said that when a stranger from Virginia Cily like Shorty Davis could make such remarks, it was time to move. It must be confessed that the raw material for schools was not abundant in Shanbyville. Of childien there wero but three m all ; one belonging to the underground bo&3 of the " Star of the West " — a great qnar^ mme — and two vero tho pride and glory of the Widow Black. Still, though there were not many children to be taught, it could nob bo denied that they i.ceded teaching ; and then, too, there wa3 that disagreeable fact of tho school in Buster Gulch. It being clearly impossible to do anything in such a mutter without a public meeting, and it being as clearly a movement with which it was a respectable thing to bo connected, tho mooting m question wa3 called by no less a person than Squire Hatton — a gentleman about whom 1 could write at great length, had ho any earthly thing to do with my story. As lie has not, it must suffice that I say he was 111 Sliantyvillo the representative of respectability. Under such auspices, the meeting wpat olf beautifully; and as there was absolutely no opposition, it was resolved to build tho school-house and start the School. Tho house being built, the committee— of winch Squire Hatton was chairman — sent to Virginia City for a teacher, and Miss Wary Kennedy arrived in time, duly certified to us being competent. And now you can sco tho unreason of the astonishment. There had been no secret about tho thing ; the vory men who expressed tho greatest amazement had been foremost in the moremeut. Yet the feeling ««■> there, and it was thoroughly genuine. It g.v\e rise in time, to another feeling very much more curious — that the school- mistress was not so much a schoolmistress as t-ho was a public officer, in whoso career all the lav-payers had a personal interest. As I have said, Miss Marj Kenned} arrived in Shanty ville and wont to li\e at the Widow Black's place. This arrangement was felt by all to be thoroughly right, for in view of tho fact that tho widow was not well off, and her husband, Sam Black, had been one of the most popular men in the camp, a part of the money subscribed by tho camp could not be better bestowed than upon hor. Ifc suited Mi*>s Mary \ovy well, bcciuuc tho place was convenient and clean, the food was good, although plain, ,md the widow herself was 0110 of tho cheeriest, mce^b little bodies any one ever saw. Miss Mary haung arrived, took possession of her school-houso, and the opening of the school was naturally made the subject of a celebration. The house was large, much larger than was 1 equired, having been built with an eye to its future use aa a place for public meetings, and was at the opening comfortably well filled. Tho contrast between the thrco pupils and the crowd of visitors wa3 somewhat amusing, but still the incongruity of tho thing did not seem to strike any one. Tho committee of arrangements, probably with the idea of convincing all present that rhcre were some children to bo taught, placed the threo prominently upon the platform, wlioro they sat in high seats, their legs dangling down and exceedingly uncomfortable, ' tho observed of all observers." The opening of the new school passed off beautifully, and Squire Ilatlon received tho cangrat illations of every man in camp. But this story of uiino is not so much about the Shanly^illo school as it is about the Sliantyvillo school-nmti.'es'j. As there would not have been any school-mistross had there been no school, it was necessary perhaps to account for Miss Mary's presence 111 Sliantyvillo, but this having been done, I will go on to the story itself. And perhaps it is unneccsssary to slate that Miss Mary was very pretty. She was small, rather dark, with -large brown eyes and brown hair, and charming. In the latter all men in the camp were agreed, and none were more thoroughly convinced of the fact than Jako Slocum, commonly called Rhody, and hi 3 partner, Tom Freeman. Theso two men were, respectively, superintendent and ass.iyer of the " Rattlesnake," a great quartz mine lying to the north of the " Star of the West." They lived together in ono cabin, they shared what they made, and they had been " parda" for a very long time ; m fact, long before they had arrived in Shantyvillc. It had become a byeword in the camp, "as fast friends as Tom and Rhody." Of the two, Rhody was tho elder, being about forty, while Tom could not claim more than twenty-five ; but in spite of the difference in age they were thoroughly suited to each other. Of the two Tom was perhaps tho more enthusiastic, the more prone to take up a thing strongly, while Tthody was aplr to talk somewhat cynically about Tom's new schemes. When it came to doing, however, there was not much to choose between them. Of course, Tom had been foremost in the school-house scheme, and equally as a matter of conrse;" Rhody had laughed at it at first, but supported it strongly afterwards. When Miss Mary arrived she had met the two men, and — well, it will clear up matters a good deal, and enable me to tell ! this story hotter, if I say they both fell in love with her straightway. As might Jiave boen expected, they manifested their passion in very different ways. 'Tom called constantly upon hey, went out walking or riding with her, and hung upon her words as though, like those of the girl in the old fairy tale, they were pearls. Rhody, when with tho girl, became rather more cynical than ever; and delighted in making caustic l'emarks about her sayings and doings. It was this perhaps that hid his passion from Tom, for the latter never dreamt for a moment that bis pard cared anything about the girl. In fact, Rhody's ago, suddenly recollected by the younger man, made Tom think him wholly out of the race. It must not be supposed that Tom imagined his love as patent to every one in the camp, as I have goodnaturedly made it to you. Nor was it. Despite the fact that lovers, being something like ostriches, think no one can see them if their heads be covered, Tom's admiration, although very open, had not proceeded to such lengths as to attract general notice. This was owing as much to Miss Mary's prudence, care, modesty — call it what you will — as to anything else, for she shrank instinctively from publicity in the matter. That she personally knew that Tom worshipped the ground she trod on, I myself thoroughly believe. Surely she would have been no woman else ! One evening Tom and Rhbdy were sitting over their fire, smoking, after sapper. There had been silence in the room for some time, when Tom, stirring uneasily, suddenly broke it.

' 3iiu>l\ , oi nun !" \\c j.ii i. " Wlir! iiiv up, Tom p> " wi? tho veplr. "Tliav's somethm' I—that1 — that is I thought — you mout like to know — I mc.in ef 3 ou'ra interested, that i 3." "In course, Tom, I'm inlorosled. What's up ?" " I kinder 'sposed you know." '• Knew what? Anything the nmttoi' with the assays, lad ?" "Blame the assays ! TvTo !" " Wa'.al, lad, don't take nr, head of. What's up ? Grease the elides an' lot it iiiokcr !" and Ehody looked at Tom with a smile. "I — cr — thofact air — that ar— l'm inlovG !" "[n love, lad ? Who with— tho widder ? She'll make a good wife, Tom." " The widder ? ~No. Amt ther' no one 'Bides the widder livin' at tli' foot 0' the' liill ?" Ehody started, and his face grew dark. " You don't mean the school-marm, do ye ?" he asked, in a strangely altered roieo. "I mean just her! I love her, Ehody, bctter'n my life. Why, that's tlic matter?" lie continued, glancing up at his partner's face. Ehody got 11]) from Ins sent and walked out of the cabin without speaking. Ab he passed swiftly down tho path, taking by habit the turn towards the widow's house, his breast was full of conflicting feelings. A man of strong passions, nud ono nho was nob apt to lot others take from him that wliicli lie claimed, his first feeling was one of bitter anger. The information he had just received was n shock to him ; he had nerev thought of anything of tho kind. It was little wonder that he should at first dolermino that this tiling should not be. The thought flashed across his mind that he should drive Tom from the camp tho no\t day if he discharged him, because, as superintendent, he had supreme power. And with tiiib idea came another — that if Mary wa3 separated from Tom she might forget him. I think myself h» was wrong in this; still he believed it. He exclaimed against the injustice* of this thing. Ho thought of his loneliness, of Tom's popularity with all men, and his own k';k of it. He felt as though his partner was taking from him tho only lhm» he caivd for, and ho fought against it — loughs fiercely. By-and-by softer feelings began to find a place. Ho roeollocted hew closo Tom had been to him ; how he had nursed Tom through that attack of fet cv, and how dear the lad had grown during thono long hours. He thought of his nobleness and liis courage, his truth and kindnc»s. Tha hours passed swiftly by as Ehody walked, taking little heed of the time. A bitter struggle was fought out that nighfc 111 that man's kreast ; but in the end his better nature conquered, and lie returned to the cafem exhausted mentally and bodily, but with Ins mind made up. When he came in, Tom w.is a«lcep, and he stood there watching his faco by the flickering firelight. In his sleep Tom murmured two names, "Ehod) " and "Alary," and his, partner's faco softened as ho listened. Tho next morning ho said : "Tom, Fac bin thinkin' over whH yon told me last night, an' I dunno but what 'twould bo a good tiling. At any rate, lad, I'll help you." " What made you leave sj sudden like, ol' nun p " " Oh, nothing. I hinder thought I'd like to go over the thing by mjself," was the answer, made lightly enough. Tom did not know thon, nor afterwards, what his partnor had done for him. Having Ehocly'a consent, or, rather, goodwill, Tom had a talk with 21avy. It was in the afternoon, when school was anded for the day, and tho two were strolling along tlu'ough the little valley 311 st beyond the camp. What ho said to her and what she said to him is of little or ho consequence here, because it would be, in the first place, rather stupid if repeated, interesting as it w.is to them ; and, 111 the sacond place, it has nothing to do wihh thej.irn. Besides, Ido not know what was said, as I was not (hero. Tt is enough that Mary allowed' Tom to understand thai she was willing to marry him. This rnuoh was proved by the announcement of the engagement, which was spcjdih r made. But just at this point arose the queerest difficulty. As I haA c said, the men in the camp looked upon the school-unstress 0.3 being ono in whose career thej' all had a personal interest, and they objected strongly to the proposed ma' oh At first Tom and Mary were both rail* 3 r Jispo^ed to laugh at the idea, but they xound in time it was no laughing matter. The question was taken up warmly, and debated with the utmost acrimony on each side ; while Tom found that the number of thoso opposed was decidedly greater than those in las favour. Threats of tar and feathors finally became common, and things began to assume a most disagreeable -aspect. In this condition of affairs, Ehody came nobly to tho front. He had been one of the strongest advocates of the lovers during the whole thing, but Tom had noticed that he was strangely busy with lettcrt. One day, when there were a large number of the men opposed to tho match collected in front of the store discussing tho afiair, Ehody came down the street, and pausing in front of tho crowd, said : " Boys, I want to speak to ye. Thars none on ye oz doesn't know ez how Tom, my pardner, wants to marry the school-marm. Thars many on yo ez is agin any such 'rangemenl, most 'cause they thinks the girl moufc do better. I gin ye all credit fur this feelin', an' I'm glad fur to do so. I dunno ez I've thought myself that the gal wer' dom* the best she could in marryin' Tom." (Murmurs of »pplauso from the crowd.) "So I'Te wrote to the Company, an' wrote agin' an' agin', an' now I'm glad fur-to tell ye all that my pard, Tom Freeman, air the superintendent of th' Eattlesnake, wi six thousand ft year salary. I heiS resigned myself — " " I won't have it, pard," feioke in Tom. " I | aint half as fit as you fur the pla.ee, an' won't hare it." " Yea, you will, lad," said Ehody. " Why shouldn't ye? 'Sides, you aint agoin 1 fur fco make me out a liar," and the man's »tern face lit up with a smile. Tom's protestations were drowned in the cheers which went up from the crowd. Turned completely around by the generosity of ifliody, they were now as eager for tho wedding as they had been betore opposed, and before , many w eeks, Rhody stood up and gare the Bchool-marm away, an admiring crowd filling the school-house to overflowing. — New York Ledger.