There was a dramatic arrival at the Whittier School one Monday
morning.
The children were gathered in their class-rooms, looking particularly
good and hopeful just after their morning exercises, and Miss Doane
was on the platform in the Assembly Room, when she became aware of a
slight confusion in the outside hall. But, since visitors of
distinction always came in from that particular hall, Miss Doane
merely waited for whatever special form of distinction this might be.
There was a thump on the door, and then, after some slight parleying
and continued confusion on the other side, it opened and two visitors
made their entrance. One was a very large and rather ancient-looking
colored man, the other was a very small colored boy. They both looked
somewhat spent and breathless, and when the man had deposited the boy
before him, with a threatening wave of the stick, he took out a large
bandana and wiped the sweat of honest toil from his brow. Miss Doane,
somewhat uneasy, approached her visitor.
"Yer see, Miss," he explained, with a gesture of triumph toward the
small heap on the floor, "he's ser bad, I'se jes 'blige whup 'im all
de way ter school ter git 'im yere fer sho!"
Miss Doane made some response to the effect that it certainly was an
unusual way of making sure that a child came to school, to which he
joined in:
"Ya-as, Miss, ya-as, _Miss_! Cert'nly is so! Jes 'blige drap all my
wuk 'n' run 'im clean yere. Now, ain't yer 'shame, boy, fer de lady
ter see yer ser bad 'n' hard-haided?"
He was not too ashamed to grumble out an unintelligible answer; but he
looked quite disgusted with life in general, and twisted his head
around in all sorts of directions, and sniffed, and rubbed his
coat-sleeve across his face, and appeared generally ill at ease.
"What is his name?" questioned Miss Doane.
"Trusty--Trusty 'is name," explained the parent. "Trusty Miles. W'y
doan't yer speak up, boy, an' tell de lady yer name?"
Trusty grunted.
"He doesn't seem very glad to be here," suggested Miss Doane mildly.
"No, Miss, dat's de trufe," agreed the parent cordially, "dat's de
trufe! Yer see, he ain't r'ally used ter w'ite folks' school, 'counten
allays gwine ter Miss Pauline Smiff's. Yas'm. He ain't r'ally used ter
w'ite folks, an' he jes seem ter natchelly balk at de idea fum de
fus."
"I see," returned Miss Doane modestly, producing a reader by way of
tactful diversion.
Miss Pauline Smith's ex-pupil looked at it a bit askance, and Miss
Doane proceeded in a somewhat harrowing attempt to discover and lay
bare anything in the least suggestive of knowledge--as such.
"I see," she concluded finally, when there was positively nothing
more left to discover; "I see. Will you follow me, please?"
With unexpected docility, Trusty turned and, with his eyes fixed on a
closed door toward which Miss Doane led the way, followed, he knew not
where.
"Miss North," began Miss Doane, when the door had opened and closed
again, "Miss North, I have a new pupil for you."
Miss North tried to look as if this were the most unexpected bit of
good fortune which could possibly come to her, and glanced around for
an appropriate seat. The children looked pleased at the slight
diversion, and Ezekiel, sitting in a corner seat of the front row,
looked both pleased and intelligent.
"Dat's Trusty," he began smilingly in a low voice to Miss North,
"dat's Trusty Miles, Miss No'th"; and, feeling the cheerful
superiority of former acquaintance, he beamed delightedly on Trusty.
"Yes; and I think you may sit right here," explained Miss North, after
brief consideration.
In lack of anything else to do, Trusty accepted the offered seat.
"And now," continued Miss North, when the children had once more
settled themselves and Miss Doane had gone back to her waiting
visitor, "we will go on with the lesson. Yes, we had just decided that
we all had _bodies_."
Ezekiel glanced at the new pupil, who seemed to be somewhat taken by
surprise at this unexpected development, and was looking curiously
around the room with evident hope of disputing the statement.
"Yes, that is true, is it not, that we all have _bodies?_"
They _all_ looked around rather doubtfully, as if they did not feel
quite so sure on this point; but, as no disembodied spirit spoke up in
denial of the assertion, it was gradually accepted.
"Yes; and these bodies have a great many different _parts_, haven't
they?"
"Yas'm," came, rather faintly.
"Why, yes, indeed," went on Miss North, quite gaily, "a great many
different _parts_. Now, what are some of these parts, children? Who
can think?"
There was a moment of tremendous concentration, and then a dozen hands
went up.
"Well, Alphonso Jones--and make a nice sentence, Alphonso."
"Yer haid is part uv yer body," stated Alphonso, as though he were not
in the habit of being contradicted.
"Yes, very true. Your head is part of your body. And now, as different
parts of the head, we have--" putting her fingers suggestively to her
ears----
"Ears!" shouted a tremendous chorus.
[Illustration: "'I'SE JUS 'BLIGE WHUP 'IM ALL DE WAY TER SCHOOL'"]
"Yes; and--" closing her eyes, and just touching the lids lightly, as
the most delicate hint possible----
"Eyes!" shouted a yet more tremendous chorus.
"Yes; and now, since the eyes are such a very important part of the
head, let us think how we can take very good _care_ of the eyes."
This sounded rather complicated, and there was another moment of awful
concentration. Even Trusty appeared to be thinking warmly on the
subject.
"Well, Ezekiel, what do you say?"
"Not pick no holes in 'em wid no pin," suggested Ezekiel pleasantly.
"Why, Ezekiel, certainly not! Of course we shouldn't want to pick
holes in them with a pin; but--well, what do you say, Tommy?"
"Not pick no holes in 'em wid no needle!" explained Tommy, his face
all aglow with enthusiasm.
"Why, no, indeed! Of course not--why, of course _not_. But that isn't
just what I mean, because of course you would never think of doing
that anyway, would you, Tommy?"
Hands were waving madly in all directions now; but when young Charles
Sumner Scott raised his with its usual effect of poise and precision,
Miss North considered the situation saved. Charles usually saved the
situation.
"How must we treat the eyes if we want to keep them nice and strong,
Charles?"
"Not pick no holes in 'em wid no _hat_-pin!" announced Charles.
"Hands down!" ordered Miss North.
Hands down, indeed!
"Hezzy Cones, did you hear what I said?"
"Yath'm! Not pick no holthe in 'em wid no _hair_-pin!" shouted Hezzy,
not to be walked over so easily, and jubilant at this slight
variation.
The new pupil had waked up, too.
"Not pick no holes in 'em wid no _knittin'-needle_!" he sang loudly,
in a perfect burst of inspiration.
This was a stroke of genius, and they all looked around on the
new-comer admiringly, and looked a little doubtful, for a moment, as
to whether anything more could be said on the subject.
Ezekiel fairly radiated at his friend's success.
[Illustration: "I KIN GET 'EM YERE, EF YER WANTS."]
"Now, wait, children!" said Miss North, with emphasis amounting almost
to severity. "Our answers are getting wild--very wild. And I do not
wish to hear anything more about _pins_ or _needles_ or _hat-pins_ or
_knitting-needles_. I should like to see you all _very straight_ in
your seats."
There was a tremendous effort at straightening up, whereupon Miss
North proceeded to make a few valuable suggestions in regard to the
treatment of the eyes.
"Now," said Miss North, as if she were propounding a theory of rare
and striking originality, "_who_ can tell me another part of the
body?"
The pause was long; they were evidently feeling somewhat sore over
their last setback.
"Well?" encouraged Miss North.
"Yer laigs," mumbled a stuffy voice from the back of the room.
"Yes, your legs, Samuel; that is quite right. And perhaps you can tell
me what your legs are for, Samuel. But wait; we will _think_ before
answering."
"Ter se' down with," answered Samuel comfortably.
"No, Samuel; you evidently did _not_ think; they are for nothing of
the kind," returned Miss North shortly.
Trusty's hand was waving with unmistakable interest. Miss North was
painfully aware that he must be encouraged.
"Well, Trusty," she ventured, "what are your legs for?"
"_Ter hole yer feet on!_" shouted Trusty, in a perfect spasm of joyous
interest.
Miss North essayed to collect her thoughts.
"Well, hardly, hardly for--_that alone_, are they, Trusty? Tell me
what else they are for."
But Trusty failed to find any other use to which he could put the
legs, and Miss North again took the floor; whereupon Trusty's interest
immediately subsided.
Later on, she attempted, somewhat cautiously, to draw him out once
more; but the day went on, and not once again did Trusty deign to come
to the front.
* * * * *
The next morning Miss Doane was at school early. She had been working
for some moments at her desk in the Assembly Room, when she became
aware that again an unusual sort of demonstration was taking place in
the outside hall. To the hall Miss Doane went; and there, once more,
she was met by the large colored man and the small colored boy.
"Jes 'blige ter 'ply de same kine o' coaxin', Miss! Whup 'im all de
way yere! Ain't I, Trusty?"
Poor Trusty appeared almost too spent even to reply; and Miss Doane
looked at him and suggested that he go to his seat and rest.
"M-m-m--ain' gwine no seat 'n' res'!" he growled.
His father intervened: "Yer see, Miss? Yer see? He's de hard-haidedes'
chile I'se got, an' dat's de trufe. Come 'long, now, boy; jes come
'long, now!" And, without ceremony, Trusty was lifted with a firm hand
and transported through the Assembly Room to his seat, where he was
deposited with a thump.
Miss North looked up in mild surprise.
"Why, Trusty! Good morning!"
Trusty's response was a thing of conjecture.
"And so you are back at school again; and aren't you glad, after all,
to come back to this nice school?"
"M-m-m--school nuthin'!" was the unexpectedly prompt response.
"Yer'll fine 'im mighty wearisome, I 'spec', Miss," put in the parent.
"But whup 'im! Dat's all I kin say. Whup 'im _all_ de time; an' me 'n'
'Mandy'll wuk on 'im nights 'n' mawnin's."
Miss North looked at the diminutive object but half filling his seat,
and caught her breath.
Another day of alternate gloom and occasional spasmodic interest on
Trusty's part, another day of doubts and fears in his behalf on the
part of Miss North.
That night, just as he was about to scuffle disconsolately behind the
others from the room, picturing, no doubt, some of the joys which were
awaiting him at home, she called him back. Ezekiel stood by her desk,
wondering why she had called him, too.
"Trusty," she began, "wouldn't you like to come to school to-morrow
morning with Ezekiel?"
Trusty looked up doubtfully, and Ezekiel looked up, not just
comprehending.
"You live near each other, don't you?"
"No'm," Ezekiel's tone wavered anxiously. "No'm, we don't live nare
each udder, Miss No'th; Trusty he live clare way _down_ de road."
He stopped, meditating; then his face seemed to clear somewhat of its
burden of thought. "But I reckon--I kin _git_ 'im yere, ef yer wants,
Miss No'th; yas'm, I--I kin git 'im yere, ef yer wants, 'cuz I kin go
af' 'im an' git 'im. Yas'm, I kin ca'y 'im ter school, Miss No'th!"
Trusty looked a bit doubtful as to whether he should entirely fall in
with the plan, and Miss North made haste to readjust herself.
"No'm, 'tain' no trouble, Miss No'th; no'm. I kin ca'y 'im ter school
ter-morrer, cyan't I, Trusty?"
Trusty still appeared to be doubting heavily; but Ezekiel's assurances
continued to ring warmly, as they moved on toward the door and
disappeared into the hall.
* * * * *
It was still early the next morning when Miss North worked alone in
the school-room. Slowly the door opened. Slowly two small figures
pushed their way awkwardly into the room. Miss North looked up.
"Why, Ezekiel! And Trusty!"
They came in softly, hand in hand, and stood before her desk, Trusty
passive, Ezekiel glowing shyly with pride and pleasure.
"Hyeah's Trusty, Miss No'th," he explained briefly.
"I see. Why, how--how very nice! And so nice and early! Why, Trusty,
aren't you glad you could get here so early?"
Trusty seemed hardly ready to commit himself just yet, but began to
look shyly pleased, too. Ezekiel, still holding him by the hand,
looked down protectingly.
[Illustration: "TWO SMALL FIGURES PUSHED THEIR WAY INTO THE ROOM"]
"Yas'm, he--he likes ter git yere early; doan't yer, Trusty?"
"Yes, I'm sure he does," put in Miss North tactfully. "And now,
perhaps he would like to help by getting some of the dust out of these
erasers; they aren't very clean this morning."