[Sidenote: Dissecting Typewriter]
Carl Lampey and George Coffman were two sixth grade boys who found an
old typewriter in a small store-room opening off the principal’s office.
They went to their teacher to ask her if they might have this old
machine.
“Whose is it?” she asked.
“We don’t know. Mr. Shorey (the janitor) said he thought it used to
belong to Mr. Taney. Mr. Taney’s been gone three years, and never has
sent for it. We want to take it apart to see how it’s made.”
“That’s a good idea,” Miss Moore replied. “But I can’t give you
permission to do it until we find that Mr. Taney really doesn’t want
it.”
“But, Miss Moore, if he did want it, don’t you suppose he’d have sent
for it by this time? It’s too old to be of any use, or he’d have sold it
second-hand. And we want to see how a typewriter’s constructed. Please,
Miss Moore.”
“The fact remains that it is not our property, and we have no right to
take it. I’ll tell you what to do, though. Write to Mr. Taney and ask
him. If he says he’s done with it, take it with my blessing.”
“But we don’t know Mr. Taney’s address.”
“Then hunt it up; you can. I think he knew the Wallaces very well, and
doubtless they have it.”
So Carl and George went to the Wallace home, secured Mr. Taney’s
address, and wrote to him. Mr. Taney was a busy principal in a large
town, who laid the letter aside and forgot to answer it for weeks. Carl
and George teased Miss Moore to let them take the old machine, saying
that Mr. Taney’s silence gave consent. Miss Moore told them they must
wait until the owner gave up his property definitely. Finally, a letter
came from Mr. Taney, saying he had forgotten all about the machine and
that they were welcome to it; and two happy boys, who had learned a
valuable lesson in self-restraint and honor, began to satisfy their
healthy curiosity as to the construction of a typewriter.
(3) _Curiosity stimulated by fear of not “passing.”_ Curiosity may be
stimulated by almost any interest that seizes a child’s mind. The
disciplinarian is often so offended with the expression of curiosity
that the underlying interest is lost sight of.