Harry kept on his way to school, and arrived just the bell rang. Many of
my readers have seen a country schoolhouse, and will not be surprised to
learn that the one in which our hero obtained his education was far
from stately or ornamental, architecturally speaking. It was a one-story
structure, about thirty feet square, showing traces of having been
painted once, but standing greatly in need of another coat. Within were
sixty desks, ranged in pairs, with aisles running between them. On one
side sat the girls, on the other the boys. These were of all ages from
five to sixteen. The boys' desks had suffered bad usage, having been
whittled and hacked, and marked with the initials of the temporary
occupants, with scarcely an exception. I never knew a Yankee boy who was
not the possessor of a knife of some kind, nor one who could resist the
temptation of using it for such unlawful purposes. Even our hero shared
the common weakness, and his desk was distinguished from the rest by "H.
W." rudely carved in a conspicuous place.
The teacher of the school for the present session was Nathan Burbank, a
country teacher of good repute, who usually taught six months in a year,
and devoted the balance of the year to surveying land, whenever he could
get employment in that line, and the cultivation of half a dozen acres
of land, which kept him in vegetables, and enabled him to keep a cow.
Altogether he succeeded in making a fair living, though his entire
income would seem very small to many of my readers. He was not
deeply learned, but his education was sufficient to meet the limited
requirements of a country school.
This was the summer term, and it is the usual custom in New England that
the summer schools should be taught by females. But in this particular
school the experiment had been tried, and didn't work. It was found that
the scholars were too unruly to be kept in subjection by a woman, and
the school committee had therefore engaged Mr. Burbank, though, by so
doing, the school term was shortened, as he asked fifty per cent. higher
wages than a female teacher would have done. However, it was better
to have a short school than an unruly school, and so the district
acquiesced.
Eight weeks had not yet passed since the term commenced, and yet this
was the last day but one. To-morrow would be examination day. To
this Mr. Burbank made reference in a few remarks which he made at the
commencement of the exercises.
He was rather a tall, spare man, and had a habit of brushing his hair
upward, thus making the most of a moderate forehead. Probably he thought
it made him look more intellectual.
"Boys and girls," he said, "to-morrow is our examination day. I've tried
to bring you along as far as possible toward the temple of learning,
but some of you have held back, and have not done as well as I should
like--John Plympton, if you don't stop whispering I'll keep you after
school--I want you all to remember that knowledge is better than land or
gold. What would you think of a man who was worth a great fortune, and
couldn't spell his name?--Mary Jones, can't you sit still till I get
through?--It will be well for you to improve your opportunities while
you are young, for by and by you will grow up, and have families to
support, and will have no chance to learn--Jane Quimby, I wish you would
stop giggling, I see nothing to laugh at--There are some of you who have
studied well this term, and done the best you could. At the beginning
of the term I determined to give a book to the most deserving scholar
at the end of the term. I have picked out the boy, who, in my opinion,
deserves it--Ephraim Higgins, you needn't move round in your seat. You
are not the one."
There was a general laugh here, for Ephraim was distinguished chiefly
for his laziness.
The teacher proceeded:
"I do not mean to tell you to-day who it is. To-morrow I shall call out
his name before the school committee, and present him the prize. I want
you to do as well as you can to-morrow. I want you to do yourselves
credit, and to do me credit, for I do not want to be ashamed of you.
Peter Shelby, put back that knife into your pocket, and keep it there
till I call up the class in whittling."
There was another laugh here at the teacher's joke, and Peter himself
displayed a broad grin on his large, good-humored face.
"We will now proceed to the regular lessons," said Mr. Burbank, in
conclusion. "First class in arithmetic will take their places."
The first class ranked as the highest class, and in it was Harry Walton.
"What was your lesson to-day?" asked the teacher.
"Square root," answered Harry.
"I will give you out a very simple sum to begin with. Now, attention
all! Find the square root of 625. Whoever gets the answer first may hold
up his hand."
The first to hold up his hand was Ephraim Higgins.
"Have you got the answer?" asked Mr. Burbank in some surprise. "Yes,
sir."
"State it."
"Forty-five."
"How did you get it?"
Ephraim scratched his head, and looked confused. The fact was, he was
entirely ignorant of the method of extracting the square root, but had
slyly looked at the slate of his neighbor, Harry Walton, and mistaken
the 25 for 45, and hurriedly announced the answer, in the hope of
obtaining credit for the same.
"How did you get it?" asked the teacher again.
Ephraim looked foolish.
"Bring me your slate."
Ephraim reluctantly left his place, and went up to Mr. Burbank.
"What have we here?" said the teacher. "Why, you have got down the 625,
and nothing else, except 45. Where did you get that answer?"
"I guessed at it," answered Ephraim, hard pressed for an answer, and
not liking to confess the truth--namely, that he had copied from Harry
Walton.
"So I supposed. The next time you'd better guess a little nearer right,
or else give up guessing altogether. Harry Walton, I see your hand up.
What is your answer?"
"Twenty-five, sir."
"That is right."
Ephraim looked up suddenly. He now saw the explanation of his mistake.
"Will you explain how you did it? You may go to the blackboard, and
perform the operation once more, explaining as you go along, for the
benefit of Ephraim Higgins, and any others who guessed at the answer.
Ephraim, I want you to give particular attention, so that you can do
yourself more credit next time. Now Harry, proceed."
Our hero explained the sum in a plain, straightforward way, for he
thoroughly understood it.
"Very well," said the schoolmaster, for this, rather than teacher, is
the country name of the office. "Now, Ephraim, do you think you can
explain it?"
"I don't know, sir," said Ephraim, dubiously.
"Suppose you try. You may take the same sum."
Ephraim advanced to the board with reluctance, for he was not ambitious,
and had strong doubts about his competence for the task.
"Put down 625."
Ephraim did so.
"Now extract the square root. What do you do first?"
"Divide it into two figures each."
"Divide it into periods of two figures each, I suppose you mean. Well,
what will be the first period?"
"Sixty-two," answered Ephraim.
"And what will be the second?"
"I don't see but one other figure."
"Nor I. You have made a mistake. Harry, show to point it off."
Harry Walton did so.
"Now what do you do next?"
"Divide the first figure by three."
"What do you do that for?"
Ephraim didn't know. It was only a guess of his, because he knew that
the first figure of the answer was two, and this would result from
dividing the first figure by three.
"To bring the answer," he replied.
"And I suppose you divide the next period by five, for the same reason,
don't you?"
"Yes, sir."
"You may take your seat, sir. You are an ornament to the class, and you
may become a great mathematician, if you live to the age of Methuselah.
I rather think it will take about nine hundred years for you to reach
that, point."
The boys laughed. They always relish a joke at the expense of a
companion, especially when perpetrated by the teacher.
"Your method of extracting the square root is very original. You didn't
find it in any arithmetic, did you?"
"No, sir."
"So I thought. You'd better take out a patent for it. The next boy may
go to the board."
I have given a specimen of Mr. Burbank's method of conducting the
school, but do not propose to enter into further details at present. It
will doubtless recall to some of my readers experiences of their own,
as the school I am describing is very similar to hundreds of country
schools now in existence, and Mr. Burbank is the representative of a
large class.