TEACHER AMY.
IT was a pleasant sight for Amy when poor little Edwin Smithers's pale
face brightened up, as she opened his door.
He was not like the rough little monkey she had known at the infant
school, who had only seemed to want to learn as little, and to play as
many tricks, as he could. In the hospital, the attention kind people had
paid him had quickened up his understanding, and mended his manners. He
had been petted and amused there, and the being left alone in the dull
cottage was a sad trial to him. His mother had regular work, and so had
his elder brother, but this kept them out all day from eight till five,
except that Mrs. Smithers kept Friday to do her own washing in. She was
obliged to be away even at dinner time, as her work lay far from home,
and she gave her next-door neighbour, Mrs. Rowe, a shilling a week to
keep up the fire, look in on the sick boy, and give him his dinner.
She was unlucky in her neighbour. Many women would have gladly given far
more kind service for no pay at all, but they were too far off, and Mrs.
Rowe made it a rule to "do nothing for nothing."
His brother and sisters came in for a little while at twelve, their
dinner time, but they wanted to go out to play, and had no notion of
amusing him; indeed he was glad when they went away; Charlie clumped
about so, and made such a noise, and little Jenny would take away his
picture books or the toys that had been given him in the hospital.
Then Polly would call her a naughty girl, and snatch them from her, and
so his little wooden horse lost its head, and his railway train was
uncoupled, and one wheel pulled off; and when old Mrs. Rowe found him
crying, all she said was, "Dear! dear! don't ye fret now, don't ye!" and
when that did not make him stop crying, she said he was a bad boy to
make such a work about nothing. When she was a girl, nobody had frail
trade like that, all painted and gaudy, to play with; a bit of an
oyster-shell or a crab's claw was enow for them. He had got into such a
caddle as never was too!
So she began to shake up his couch, not in the least guessing how she
was hurting and jarring his poor hip; and when he cried out and tried to
drive her away, she thought it was all naughtiness, and declared that he
was such a bad boy that she should go away and leave him to himself.
The Lees dined at one, and work did not begin till two; so Amy had a
good half-hour to spend on the little boy before she was wanted again.
"Going to see Ted, be ye?" said Mrs. Rowe, as she stood at her door,
while Amy opened the wicket. "A proper fractious little to-ad he be,
upon my word an' honour! They do spile children in them hospitals, so as
one can't do nothing with 'em."
Amy looked at Mrs. Rowe, a very clean woman, but with a face and fists
that looked as if they had been cut out of the toughest part of an old
pollard ash, and a mouth that shut up like the snap of a gin. "Poor
little fellow!" said Amy, and in she went.
She was on her knees at once by the poor little boy, coaxing him and
comforting him, and feeding him with some of the stew that Aunt
Charlotte had kept warm for him. Then he told how Polly had taken away
his horse and his train and broken them. Amy looked about, and
presently found the wheel. A little hooking together was all the repair
the train wanted, and Edwin was soon happy with it; while, as to the
horse, he was past Amy's present mending, but she would take it home,
and next time father had out the glue-pot she would put on the head.
Then Amy brought out a little book with the early Bible history in
pictures. She showed Edwin one every day when she came, and told him
about it whenever he did not know the story before, or helped him to
enter a little more into it. She was surprised sometimes to find that he
had carried notions away from school even when she had thought him only
dull and giddy. Then he was pleased to say over the hymns he had learnt
in the infant school, and to talk a little about it. Amy was quite
surprised to find how his mind had grown since he had been ill, and how
pleased he was to be taught a little verse of prayer to say when he was
in pain.
She made him quite comfortable, filled up his mug of water, which the
other children had upset, put some primroses in a cup where he could
look at them, wrote a copy on his slate, and ruled some lines, caught
the cat and put her before him, found the place in his easy story-book,
and left him with a kiss, promising to come again to-morrow.
It was very pleasant to be the bright spot in that poor little life; and
Amy that afternoon stitched into little Miss Hilda's tucks, to the whirr
of her machine, a whole pensive castle in the air about the dear little
fellow who was not long for this world, and whose pillow was cheered and
his soul trained for Paradise by his dear teacher, who came day by day
to lead him in the path to Heaven. The tears came into her eyes at the
thought of how beautiful and touching it would all be--how she would
lay a wreath of white roses on his coffin, and----
"What are you winking about, Amy? Go nearer the window if you want more
light," said Aunt Rose, in a brisk, business-like voice, not at all like
her dreams.
Amy was glad to move, feeling a little ashamed of being detected in
crying beforehand about her own good works; and as she approached the
window, she looked out over the lemon-plant and exclaimed--"There's Miss
Manners!"
Miss Manners was really coming into the shop, and her little Skye
terrier was already running on into the work-room, for he was great
friends with Amy; he sniffed about, sat up, and gave his paw, and let
her show off his tricks while his mistress was talking to Aunt
Charlotte.
Then she came on, nodded kindly a little greeting to each as they all
rose, and said that she had been thinking that it would be a good thing
for all the teachers to meet for half an hour before evensong on Fridays
and look over their Sunday work together, so as to make it chime
together. She said she found it was done at Ellerby, and was very
helpful to all; and perhaps, when he had time, Mr. Somers would come in
and help them. If they looked over the subjects beforehand, they could
note the difficulties, and then she could refer to books, or ask Mr.
Somers.
Amy and Jessie both uttered some thanks, and Aunt Rose observed that it
was very kind in Miss Dora, and that it would be very nice for the
girls. Florence did not speak, but they saw her face and the gesture of
her foot, and when Miss Lee walked out with the lady through the garden,
Florence broke out--
"Well, how fond some folks are of being put to school, to be sure!"
"'Tisn't school," said Amy, "it is reading with Miss Manners in her
drawing-room."
"O yes; she makes you think yourselves ladies just to keep on grinding
you at the teaching for ever; but I likes my fun when my work's done. I
don't wonder at Amy Lee--she knows nothing better than sitting poked up
and prim in Miss Manners's room; but for you, Jessie Hollis, who have
seen a bit of the world, I should have thought you'd have more spirit
than not even to be let to teach half a dozen dirty children without
having your instructions."
Here Miss Lee returned, and Florence applied herself to tacking in the
lining again, while Jessie muttered to herself, "If I'm to teach them at
all, I'd rather do it properly."
Jessie really wished it. Perhaps the notion of seeing the inside of Miss
Manners's drawing-room made it doubly pleasant, for Jessie had eyes that
really could not help taking note of everything, though there was no
harm in that when she kept them in due control. She had been in the
dining-room before, and she hoped much that the class would be in the
other room, though she was half ashamed of caring.
Grace came home better satisfied on Tuesday, because her patterns had
been much appreciated, though she still said the reading worrited her,
and Naomi Norris gave herself airs.
Jessie and Amy, however, went together on Friday, and found Margaret
Roller, the pupil teacher, and Miss Pemberton, an elderly farmer's
daughter, who always taught the little ones on Sunday, were ready there,
and in the drawing-room.
How pretty it was, with fresh delicate soft pink and white cretonne
covers, and curtains worked with--was it really a series of old nursery
tales? And coloured tiles, with Aesop's fables round the fireplace,
pictures, books, and pretty things that all looked as if they had a
history. Jessie's bright eyes took note of all in a flash, and then she
tried to command them. Miss Manners gave them all their greeting,
settled them all comfortably, and then began by reading to them a short
paper in a little book upon the spirit of the whole Sunday, asking them
in turn to look out and read the texts referred to, which Margaret and
Amy did with a rapidity that astonished Jessie.
Once she lost the thread in wondering what was looking out of a
half-opened basket; but she caught herself up, and found that there was
infinitely more connection and meaning in the passages appointed for the
Sunday than she had ever guessed.
Then Miss Manners asked whether they had any questions to ask; Margaret
had one or two, which sounded very hard to Jessie, and she would never
have thought of. It was the Fifth Sunday in Lent for which they were
preparing, and they were respecting the unusually long and difficult
Gospel for the day. Margaret wanted to know whether the words "By whom
do your sons cast them out?" really meant that devils were actually cast
out by the Jews. Miss Manners thought they were, and she looked out, and
showed Margaret, a very curious account of the seal and sacred words of
exorcism which were supposed to come from Solomon; but she advised the
teachers not to dwell much on this branch of the subject, but to draw
out most the portion about the strong man armed, and the warning against
the return of Satan to the soul whence he had been once driven out.
Then Jessie observed that she had not thought such things happened in
these days, and Miss Manners had to explain to her how the possession
then permitted was here treated as an allegory to all times, of the
evil once cast off returning again if not resolutely excluded by prayer
and a strong purpose blessed by the grace of God.
It soon became plain to Jessie that she was ignorant of much which the
others knew quite well, and when the Church bell began to chime, and all
rose to go, she obtained a moment in which to say, with something like a
tear in her eye--
"Indeed, Miss Manners, I ought not to have undertaken it. I see I am not
fit to teach."
"I do not think you can tell without a longer trial," was the answer,
kindly given.
"But I am so ignorant!" said Jessie. "There is so much in these things
that I never thought of, and the others seem to know all about it."
"It has been their regular Sunday school round for years," said Miss
Manners, "so it would be strange if they did not. But perhaps you will
do all the better for coming to it fresh; and I am sure you are willing
to take pains and prepare."
"Yes," said Jessie, slowly, "if----You'll excuse me, Miss Manners,
but----"
"Please say it, Jessie," said the lady; "or shall I say it for you? This
asking idle children very simple questions does not seem to you to be
spiritual enough to be doing much good?"
"Yes, ma'am, if you will excuse me. I thought there was to be more
expounding of Scripture."
"We must do what we can to get the children to attend to," said Miss
Manners. "Even if we could get them to sit still while we expounded, I
am afraid they would not attend or take in what we said. Nothing is of
use with such young things but keeping them on the alert with
questions, and trying to keep up their attention by being alive with
them ourselves. We must try to put into them the sense of God's love to
them, of their own duty, and so on; but rather by the tone of our
questions about the lessons they learn than by discoursing long to them.
You can only fill a little narrow-mouthed pitcher with a few drops at a
time put right in. If you pour a great stream over it, most will splash
over, and very little go in. I am afraid the children were tiresome last
Sunday. It is their nature always to try their strength with a new
teacher; but if you are firm and gentle, and show them that you _will_
be minded, and keep them interested, they will soon be manageable. Then,
Jessie, there is good hope that you may be sowing good seed, though you
and I may not always see the fruit here, and it is nearly sure to be
long before we can even trace the green blade."