TRANSITION
The change from the road to the school-room was not without many a
struggle on Sandy's part. The new life, the new customs, and the
strange language, were baffling.
The day after the accident in the road, Mrs. Hollis had sent him to
inquire how old Mrs. Nelson was, and he had returned with the
astonishing report that she was sixty-one.
"But you didn't ask her age?" cried Mrs. Hollis, horrified.
Sandy looked perplexed. "I said what ye bid me," he declared.
Everything he did, in fact, seemed to be wrong; and everything he
said, to bring a smile. He confided many a woe to Aunt Melvy as he
sat on the kitchen steps in the evenings.
"Hit's de green rubbin' off," she assured him sympathetically. "De
same ones dat laugh at you now will be takin' off dey hats to you some
day."
"Oh, it ain't the guyin' I mind," said Sandy; "it's me wooden head.
Them little shavers that can't see a hole in a ladder can beat me
figurin'."
"You jus' keep on axin' questions," advised Aunt Melvy. "Dat's what I
always tole Rachael. Rachael's dat yaller gal up to Mrs. Nelson's. I
done raise her, an' she ain't a bit o'count. I use' ter say, 'You fool
nigger, how you ebber gwine learn nothin' effen you don't ax
questions?' An' she'd stick out her mouth an' say, 'Umph, umph; you
don't ketch me lettin' de white folks know how much sense I ain't
got.' Den she'd put on a white dress an' a white sunbonnet an' go
switchin' up de street, lookin' jus' lak a fly in a glass ob
buttermilk."
"It's the mixed-up things that bother me," said Sandy. "Mr. Moseley
was telling of us to-day how ye lost a day out of the week when ye
went round the world one way, and gained a day when ye went round the
other."
Aunt Melvy paused with the tea-towel in her hand. "Lost a day outen de
week? Where'd he say you lost it at?"
Sandy shook his head in perplexity.
"Dat's plumb foolishness," said Aunt Melvy, indignantly. "I'se
s'prised at Mr. Moseley, I sholy is. Dey sorter gits notions, dem
teachers does. When dey tells you stuff lak dat, honey, don't you pay
'em no mind."
But Sandy did "pay 'em mind." He followed Aunt Melvy's advice about
asking questions, and wrestled with each new proposition until he
mastered it. It did not take him long, moreover, to distinguish the
difference between himself and those about him. The words and phrases
that had passed current on the street seemed to ring false here. He
watched the judge covertly and took notes.
His progress at the academy was a singular succession of triumphs and
failures. His natural quickness, together with an enthusiastic
ambition to get on, enabled him soon to take his place among the boys
of his own age. But a superabundance of high spirits and an inordinate
love of fun caused many a dark entry on the debit side of his school
ledger. There were many times when he exasperated the judge to the
limit of endurance, for he was reckless and impulsive, charged to the
exploding-point with vitality, and ever and always the victim of his
last caprice; but when it came to the final issue, and the judge put a
question fairly before him, the boy was always on the side of right,
even though it proved him guilty.
At first Mrs. Hollis had been strongly opposed to his remaining on the
farm, but she soon became silent on the subject. It was a heretofore
unknown luxury to have the outside work promptly and efficiently
attended to. He possessed "the easy grace that makes a joke of toil";
and when he despatched his various chores and did even more than was
required of him, Mrs. Hollis capitulated.
It was something more, however, than his ability and service that won
her. The affection of the world, which seemed to eddy around her, as a
rule, found an exception in Sandy. His big, exuberant nature made no
distinction: he swept over her, sharp edges and all; he teased her,
coaxed her, petted her, laughed at her, turned her tirades with a bit
of blarney, and in the end won her in spite of herself.
"He's ketchin' on," reported Aunt Melvy, confidently. "I heared him
puttin' on airs in his talk. When dey stops talkin' nachel, den I
knows dey are learnin' somethin'."