The Normal Record. March 1898

              THE NORMAL RECORD.
There now followed a ride that few can ever
have so much as an idea of ! Down lanes,
out into the country, past farm houses, over
bridges, through villages, across streams,
horse and rider galloped, the silence broken
only by the sound of the horse's hoofs and by
Paul's cries of alarm. Through all the night
we rushed on. In the earliest dawn, as we
reached  a  small town, Benedict, almost ex
hausted from  the ride,
a way as  to  cast me
horse nor rider again.
Here  1 lie, content
quietly  now  that  my
formeJ.    Even  L have
cause my master loved
ward—the satisfaction
done   his  best.    I am
with that.
struck a rock in such
off,   and  I  never saw
to end my existence
mission  in life is per-
done my little for the
And I have my re-
one feels when he has
more than contented
A True Story.
DEBORAH   ROBSON.
=TUST two years ago next June I was on an
GJ outing trip in the mountains, and had tha
pleasure of visiting a district school at Er
beck. As I entered the school I comprehended the fact that the teacher was not a
graduate of the Chico Normal School, for the
pupils seemed to be brought up by the " hair
of the head," and cultivated as wild turnips.
The teacher, having seated me, proceeded
with her primary lesson. She called upon a
child—a trembling little shadow, who seemed
hopelessly, eternally stupid. The child for
half an hour stumbled helplessly through a
recitation with little aid from the teacher,
excepting a sharp word now and then.
The surroundings made me think of another
teacher I had known under similar circumstances. This t?acher was an enthusiastic
young professional, who had put her impetuous nature under a rigid and dignified course
of training. The child, .just such another as
this one before me, was afraid of her and she
was rather afraid of the child, but clearly
doing her best.
The child could make and say her letters,
and write, grotesquely, her name, Perle.
From these accomplishments the teacher
drew the conclusion that Perle was not quite
the idiot that she looked, and began in a
scientific way to teach her to read.
The first attempt to comb the tangled hair
and wash the dirty face caused such a spasm
of trembling terror that improvement in that
line had been indefinitely postponed.
The teacher showed pictures, flowers, bugs
and toys, and told and wrote stories that
called forth volcanic bursts of words and applause from the other children, but Perle
stood   mute   and   motionless,  save  for   her
trembling eyelids, which  were never raised.
In vain were the soft voice and firm face of
the teacher.    In vain were the proud, patient
efforts repeated ;day after day.    Perle would
not speak, nor look, nor move.
The term was drawing to a close ; lines of
weariness had gathered and deepened around
the teacher's handsome mouth,'and little
Perle could write*,the single ".story,;" "I s?e
a pig," which was the result of the teacher's
having grasped.'her hand and traced the
words over many times, each time repeating
the words and showing a picture of a pig.     :
At last the teacher became vexed with the
child's slowness, and, giving Perle a shake,
she commanded her to go to the board and>
write three "stories" ail .by,-herself. The
short, sharp tones and angry movement
caused a thrill of surprise in the school, but
in one minute the impatience, .was subdued
and she was working with her usual hard,
clear earnestness, and little Perle was forgotten. When it was time for dismissal the
child was trembling by her board in the
corner, with her little face .flushed by her
mental exertions. This is what she had
written: "lam a pig ", "I seen".; "ura
pig", " u. lae down." The teacher translated this at a glance into: " I see a pig",
"I see you", "You are a pig", "You lie
down," and, when she realized.the strong
effort the child must have made to reason
this out with her scant knowledge of spelling
and the sound of letters, she forgot her
dignity again and caught the littld one up in
her arms. She told the children, in the
passionate, enthusiastic way she used to
have when she was at school, all about inductive and deductive reasoning. She pointed