A New Study
It was a hot September afternoon; our gingham handkerchiefs, which
matched our shirts, were wet with mopping our faces. We all felt cross;
Gray-beard was cross, and everything we did went wrong.
Warren, who had been sent to the spring for a pail of cold water,
leaned over his desk to Brush, and whispered loud enough for the boys
around us to hear, "A big black carriage came up to the gate just now,
and the Agent and three other big fat men got out. The super'tendent
shook hands with them, and they went to his room."
While Gray-beard was shaking a boy to make him read correctly, the news
of the black carriage and the fat men went from boy to boy. The girls
were dying to know what word it was the boys were passing around; but
the aisle that separated them from us was too wide to whisper across.
Warren's girl made signs to him which he at first did not understand;
when he caught her meaning, he tore a fly-leaf out of his book, wrote
on it, rolled it into a ball and threw it to the girl, who deftly
caught it; these two were adepts at such transmission of messages. The
girl unfolded the paper, read it, and passed it on; then the girls felt
better and resumed their work.
The class in mental arithmetic took the floor. Not one of the boys
knew his lesson. As the recitation went on Gray-beard's face darkened
and his forehead wrinkled; he came to a timid youngster with a hard
question. I knew there was going to be trouble for the little chap; so,
to save him pain and distress, I thought of a plan by which to distract
Gray-beard's attention. I reached under my desk and took hold of a
thread which I carefully drew until my thumb and finger touched the
stiff paper to which it was attached, then, as the boy stammered out
the wrong answer and Gray-beard made an impatient movement toward him,
I gave the thread a gentle pull, "Biz-z-z-z-z!" it went.
"Who's making that noise?" asked Gray-beard, turning toward our end of
the school-room.
I loosened the pressure, and the noise ceased. When Gray-beard returned
to the boy, I again pulled the thread, "Biz-z-z-z-z!" Something was
wrong this time; the buzzing did not cease, it became louder and
angrier.
"Who's doing that?" exclaimed Gray-beard.
Every boy and girl looked up to him as though to say, "I did not do
it." The buzzing went on; I alone kept my eyes on my book, and so
aroused suspicion. I did not dare to put my hand under the desk again
to stop the buzzing, for I had lost the thread. Gray-beard came towards
me and asked, "What have you there?" I did not answer.
"Stand up and let me see!" he exclaimed. Before I could give him any
warning, he put his hand in the desk and felt about; he sprang back
with a cry, "Ah! I'm bitten! Is it a snake?"
"No, it isn't," I answered; and, peering carefully into the desk, I
drew out the buzzing thing and showed it to him; it was only a wasp
fastened by its slender waist to a sheet of paper.
Although he felt relieved of his fright, the pain of the sting was
arousing his anger, and I saw that there was trouble coming to me; but
at that moment, the door opened and in walked the superintendent and
the four fat men. Gray-beard went forward and was introduced to them.
There was a scramble by three of the large boys to get chairs from
the dining-room for the visitors. When the gentlemen had made a quiet
survey of our faces, they sat down and questioned Gray-beard about the
branches taught at the school, and the progress made by the pupils. In
the meantime I had released my prisoner; it went buzzing around the
room, and then manoeuvred over the bald head of one of the visitors,
who beat the air with his hands to ward it off.
"Frank, catch that wasp," said Gray-beard.
I caught the troublesome creature in my hat and turned it out of doors.
When the questioning of the visitors was over, Gray-beard turned to us
and said, "Now, children, pay strict attention; these gentlemen want
to see what you have learned. I will put some questions to you."
We became so silent that we could hear a pin drop. The visitors smiled
upon us pleasantly, as though to encourage us.
"Who discovered America?" asked Gray-beard. Dozens of hands went up.
"Abraham, you may answer."
An expression of amusement spread over the faces of the scholars as the
great awkward boy stood up. Gray-beard must have been bewildered by the
sting of the wasp and the sudden appearance of visitors, else he would
not have made such a blunder; for he knew very well what every boy and
girl of the school could do; however there was no help for it now;
Abraham Lincoln, standing with his hands in his pockets, had the floor;
he put his weight on one foot and then on the other, the very picture
of embarrassment; he cleared his throat, looked helplessly at me, and
then at Brush,--"Come," said Gray-beard, "we are waiting."
"George Washington!" answered Abraham.
A titter ran around among the pupils. Gray-beard's face turned red,
then white, as he said, "Abraham, take your seat. Brush, can you tell
us who discovered America?"
"Columbus," promptly answered the boy. Then a series of questions were
asked, which the children answered voluntarily, and did credit to
their teacher. The visitors nodded approvingly to each other. When the
examination was over, the Agent arose and, addressing the school, said:
"You have acquitted yourselves well in this sudden and unexpected test;
I will now ask you to spell for me. Here is a book," said he, turning
the leaves of a pretty gilt edged volume, "which I will give to the
scholar who can spell best."
Taking a spelling book, he gave out the words himself. We all stood up,
and those who misspelled a word sat down. One by one the pupils dropped
to their seats, until only Brush, a big girl, and I remained on the
floor; finally I went down, and the girl and Brush went on; they were
now in the midst of the hard words. At last Brush failed; the girl also
misspelled the word; but as the prize book could not be divided, it
was given to her.
"Are the children taught music?" asked one of the strangers.
"No," replied the superintendent; "but they can sing nearly all of the
Sunday-school hymns."
"They should be taught music as well as reading and spelling," remarked
one of the gentlemen, then, addressing the children, he asked:
"Have your people music, and do they sing?"
"They do," answered one of the large boys.
"I wish you would sing an Indian song for me," continued the man. "I
never heard one."
There was some hesitancy, but suddenly a loud clear voice close to me
broke into a Victory song; before a bar was sung another voice took up
the song from the beginning, as is the custom among the Indians, then
the whole school fell in, and we made the room ring. We understood the
song, and knew the emotion of which it was the expression. We felt, as
we sang, the patriotic thrill of a victorious people who had vanquished
their enemies; but the men shook their heads, and one of them said,
"That's savage, that's savage! They must be taught music."
So it came about that every afternoon after this visit we spent an
hour on a singing lesson. We learned quite a number of songs, but we
sang them by ear, as it was difficult for us to understand the written
music. We liked some of the songs we learned very much, and enjoyed
singing them almost as well as our own native melodies. Although there
were boys with richer voices, Brush was fond of hearing me sing a
certain song we had been taught; we always had to give it when visitors
came to the Mission. I can remember only the chorus:
"Laura, Laura, still we love thee,
Though we see thy form no more,
And we know thou'lt come to meet us,
When we reach that mystic shore."
One day the teacher said that we must learn to sing in parts; hitherto
we had been singing in unison as the Indians do; so he assigned the
different parts to those scholars whom he thought could carry them. He
met with no difficulty in selecting the soprano, contralto, and the
tenor; but he could not find any boy who was willing to try the bass.
He had given me the tenor, but as he could not find a bass, he said I
must take that part as I was less timid about singing. I protested, but
there was no escape for me. We learned fairly well to sing in parts
a few pieces, but one day the teacher gave us a new song in which,
at certain places in the chorus, the bass was unsupported. Our first
attempt to render this song resulted in a failure, on account of my
embarrassment. The teacher threatened and coaxed before I consented
to make another trial. We sang very well together until we came to
the chorus; when the leader indicated to me to remain silent, while
the others drawled out the first two bars and came to a rest; then he
motioned quickly to me, and I croaked, "Daisy Lee!" very much like a
bull-frog. A smile rippled over the school, but the leader went on
waving his arms and nodding to the others, who again drawled out, "My
dar-ling Dai-sy Lee-e-e-e." This time I knew when to come in; so as
soon as they reached the rest, from the very depths of my chest I again
croaked, "Daisy Lee!" This time the whole school went into convulsions;
the teacher himself could not control his laughter; it was fun for
everybody but me. For weeks afterwards whenever the boys saw me, they
would mischievously shout in a bass voice, "Daisy Lee!"
This was not my only singing experience at the school. One afternoon
the superintendent, Gray-beard, and all the rest of the men at the
Mission were called away on some urgent business, and were not expected
to be home for supper. At the table one of the ladies presided and
asked the blessing over the evening meal. It being warm, the windows
were thrown wide open while we ate. When supper was over, the children
shifted their positions and waited as usual for the announcement of
the hymn. The lady made the selection, but there was no one to lead; a
hasty consultation was held at the first table, then she came over to
me with her hymn-book, "Frank, you must lead the singing," she said;
"none of us can do it."
I could not understand why I should be selected to lead the singing;
but I took the book and looked over the hymn that was chosen. I knew
it by heart, and could sing it; but I was embarrassed by the prominent
position given me; however, my pride would not permit me to make an
excuse, so I struck an attitude, and thinking it the proper thing to
do, I imitated the music teacher as well as I could, and searched
for the pitch by making a sound like the whinnying of a horse. I was
half-conscious that I had provoked some amusement at the teachers'
table by this performance, but I boldly struck out, in a clear, loud
voice. All joined in, and with an effort sang the first line. The
second line began with two or three very high notes, difficult to
reach even when the tune was sung at the proper pitch; I struck at
them bravely, and just managed to reach them, only one voice, that of
a girl, was with me; no one else had ventured. We two went on and
finished the line; at the beginning of the next we were joined by a
third voice; but it sang a very different tune. I turned to see who
it was, and there, with his paws on the window-sill, was Edwin's dog
howling with all his might!