OSCAR IN SCHOOL.
The school which Oscar attended was held in a large and lofty brick
building, a short distance from the street on which he lived. His
brothers attended the same school, but his sisters did not, it being
only for boys. The pupils numbered four or five hundred--a good many
boys to be together in one building. But though belonging to one
school, and under the control of one head master, they did not often
meet together in one assembly. They were divided into eight or ten
branches, of about fifty scholars each, and each branch had its own
separate room and teacher. There were however, only four classes in
the whole school; and a this time Oscar was a member of the first, or
highest class. There was a large hall in the upper story of the
building, in which the entire school assembled on exhibition days, and
when they met for the practice of singing or declamation.
There were lively and merry times in the vicinity of the school-house,
I can assure you, for half an hour before the opening of school, and
for about the same length of time after the exercises closed. Four
hundred boys cannot well be brought together, without making some stir.
Every morning and afternoon, as the pupils went to and from school, the
streets in the neighborhood would for a few minutes seem to swarm with
boys, of every imaginable size, shape, manners, dress, and appearance.
Usually, they went back and forth in little knots; and with their books
and slates under their arms, their bright, happy faces, their joyous
laugh, and their animated movements, they presented a most pleasing
sight,--"a sight for sore eyes," as a Scotchman might say. If anybody
disputes this, he must be a sour and crabbed fellow.
Oscar, although not the most prompt and punctual of scholars, used
occasionally to go to school in season to have a little fun with his
mates, before the exercises commenced. One day, entering the
school-room a little before the time, he put on an old coat which his
teacher wore in-doors, stuck a quill behind his ear, and made a pair of
spectacles from some pasteboard, which he perched upon his nose.
Arranged, in this fantastical manner, he seated himself with great
dignity in the teacher's chair, and began to "play school-master," to
the amusement of several other boys. It so happened that the teacher
arrived earlier than usual that day, and he was not a little amused, as
he suddenly entered the room, and witnessed the farce that was going
on. Oscar jumped from his seat, but the master made him take it again,
and remain in it just as he caught him, with his great-coat, pasteboard
spectacles and quill, until all the scholars had assembled, and it was
time to commence the studies of the day. This afforded fine sport to
the other boys, but Oscar did not much relish the fun, and he never
attempted to amuse himself in that way again.
[Illustration: Playing Schoolmaster]
I am sorry that this harmless piece of roguery is not the most serious
charge that candor obliges me to bring against Oscar. But to tell the
truth, he was not noted either for his studious habits or his correct
deportment; and there was very little prospect that he would be
considered a candidate for the "Franklin medals," which were to be
distributed to the most deserving members of his class, when they
graduated, the ensuing July. And yet Oscar was naturally a bright and
intelligent boy. He was quick to learn, when he applied himself; but
he was indolent, and did not like to take the trouble of studying his
lessons. Whenever he could be made to take hold of a lesson in
earnest, he soon mastered it; but the consciousness of this power often
led him to put off his lessons to the last minute, and then perhaps
something would happen to prevent his preparing himself at all.
A day or two after the "kitchen scene" described in the preceding
chapter, Oscar was sitting at his desk in the school-room, with an open
book before him, but with his eyes idly staring at a blackboard affixed
to one of the walls. The teacher watched him a moment, and then spoke
to him.
"Oscar," he said, "what do you find so very fascinating about that
blackboard? You have been looking at it very intently for several
minutes--what do you see that interests you so!"
Oscar hung his head, but made no reply.
"Are you ready to recite your geography lesson?" continued the master.
"No, sir."
"Why do you not study it, then'"
"I don't feel like studying," replied Oscar.
"Very well," said the teacher, quite pleasantly; "if you don't feel
like it, you need n't study. You may come here."
Oscar stepped out to the platform on which the teacher's desk was
placed.
"There," continued the master, pointing to a blackboard facing the
school, "you may stand there and look at that board just as long as you
please. But you must not look at anything else, and I would advise you
not to let me catch your eyes turning either to the right or the left.
Now mind and keep your eyes on the board, and when you feel like
studying let me know."
Oscar took the position pointed out to him, with his back towards the
boys, and with his face so near the blackboard, that he could see
nothing else without turning his head--an operation that would be sure
to attract the attention of the master. At first he thought it would
be good fun to stand there, and for awhile the novelty of the thing did
amuse him a little. When he began to grow weary, he contrived to
interest himself by tracing out the faint chalk-marks of long-forgotten
problems, that had not been entirely obliterated from the blackboard.
This afforded employment for his mind for a time; but by-and-bye he
began to grow tired and uneasy. His eyes longed to see something else,
and his legs were weary of standing so long in one position. He
wondered, too, whether the boys were looking at him, and whether they
smiled at his strange employment. At last, after doing penance about
an hour, his exhaustion got the better of his stubbornness, and on
informing the master that he thought ho could study now, he was
permitted to take his seat.
After returning to his desk, Oscar had but little time to finish
learning his geography lesson, before the class was called out to
recite. As was too often the case, he was but half prepared. The
subject of the lesson was New York State. Several of the questions put
to Oscar were answered wrong, either wholly or in part. When asked
what great lakes bordered on New York, he replied:
"Lake Erie and Lake Superior."
When the question was given to another, and correctly answered, Oscar
exclaimed:
"That's what I meant--Erie and Ontario; but I was n't thinking what I
said."
This was somewhat of a habit with Oscar. When he "missed" a question,
he was very apt to say, after the next boy had answered it, "I knew,
only I could n't think," or, "I was just going to say so."
Another question put to him was, whether the water of the great New
York lakes was fresh or salt. Oscar replied that it was salt. It is
but justice to add, how ever, that nothing was said in the lesson of
the day, on this point, although the question had occurred in a
previous lesson. Noticing that several of the boys laughed at Oscar's
blunder, the teacher remarked:
"That was a very foolish answer, Oscar, but you are not the first nor
the wisest person that has made the same mistake. When the British
went to war with us, in 1812, it is said that all their war vessels
intended to navigate the lakes, were furnished with tanks and casks for
carrying a full supply of freshwater; and I have been told that an
apparatus is still in existence in one of the Canadian navy yards,
which the English government sent over, some years ago, for distilling
fresh water from Lake Erie. But an American school-boy of your age
ought to know better than this, if an English lord of the admiralty
does not. These great lakes are among the remarkable features of our
own country, and every American child should know something about them.
I should suppose," continued the teacher, "that a boy who could afford
to look steadily at nothing for an hour, might take a little pains to
inform himself about so common a matter as this, so as not to appear so
ridiculous, when a simple question is asked him."
Before the lesson was concluded, Oscar made still another mistake.
There was an allusion in the lesson to the great fire of 1885, by which
an immense amount of property in New York city was destroyed. When the
teacher asked him how many buildings were said to have been consumed,
he replied:
"Three hundred and fifty--five hundred and thirty--no, three hundred
and fifty."
"Which number do you mean?" inquired the master.
"I aint sure which it is," replied Oscar, after a moment's hesitation;
"it's one or the other, I don't know which."
"You are about as definite," said the teacher, "as the Irish recruit,
who said his height was five feet ten or ten feet five, he was n't
certain which. But are you _sure_ that the number of buildings burnt
was either three hundred and fifty, or five hundred and thirty?"
"Why--yes--I--believe--it was one or the other," replied Oscar,
hesitatingly.
"You _believe_ it was, do you? Well, I believe you know just nothing
about the lesson. You may go to your seat, and study it until you can
answer every question; and after school I will hear you recite it, and
remember, you will not go home until you _can_ recite it."
The class continued their recitation, and Oscar returned to his seat,
and commenced studying the lesson anew. It was already late in the
afternoon, and as he did not like the idea of stopping after school, he
gave pretty close attention to his book during the rest of the session.
About fifteen minutes after the school was dismissed, he told the
teacher he was prepared to recite, and he succeeded in getting through
the lesson with tolerable accuracy. When he had finished, the teacher
talked with him very plainly about his indolent habits in school, and
the consequences that would hereafter result from them.
"I would advise you," he said, "to do one of two things,--either commit
your lessons perfectly, hereafter, or else give up study entirely, and
ask your father to take you from school and put you to some business.
You can learn as fast as any boy in school, if you will only give your
attention to it; but I despise this half-way system that you have
fallen into. It is only wasting time to half learn a thing, as you did
your geography lesson this afternoon. You studied it just enough to
get a few indistinct impressions, and what little you did learn you
were not sure of. It would be better for you to master but one single
question a day, and then _know_ that you know it, than to fill your
head with a thousand half-learned, indefinite, and uncertain ideas. I
have told you all this before, but you do not seem to pay any attention
to it. I am sorry that it is so, for you might easily stand at the
head of the school, if you would try."
Oscar _had_ received such advice before, but, as his teacher intimated,
he had not profited much by it. If anything, he had grown more
indolent and negligent, within a few months. On going home that night,
Ralph accosted him with the inquiry:
"What did you think of the blackboard, Oscar? Do you suppose you
should know it again, if you should happen to see it?"
"What do you mean?" he inquired, feigning ignorance.
"O, you 've forgotten it a'ready, have you?" continued Ralph. "You
don't remember seeing anything of a blackboard this afternoon, do you?"
"But who told you about it?" inquired Oscar; for though both attended
the same school, their places were in different rooms.
"O, I know what's going on," said Ralph; "you need n't try to be so
secret about it."
"Well, I know who told you about it--'t was Bill Davenport, was n't
it?" inquired Oscar.
Willie and Ralph were such great cronies, that Oscar's supposition was
a very natural one. Indeed, Ralph could not deny it without telling a
falsehood, and so he made no reply. Oscar, perceiving he had guessed
right, added, in a contemptuous tone:
"The little, sneaking tell-tale--I 'll give him a good pounding for
that, the first time I catch him."
"You 're too bad, Oscar," interposed his brother; "Willie did n't
suppose you cared anything about standing before the blackboard--he
only spoke of it because he thought it was something queer."
Seeing Oscar was in so unamiable a mood, Ralph said nothing more about
the subject, at that time.