The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, March 11, 1906, Page 6

THE SAN FRANCISCO SUNDAY CAL Phillips & Co.) LY in January e report that m Shoe Tim' s on the warpath might be ‘ex- interpre- € icense to teach gdom e warn good depends principal in the asso- upon the reports c ge of the superintenden whose district After three be he school chances to such renewals the license becomes per- nent, bu iley was, as a teacher, barel hs old. The essocta perinte for her vi- he ' Hon. Timothy O'Shea d dreaded Gum Shoe Tim,” owing to s ehgaging way of creeping soft back stairs and ap- pearing eraldegd and unwel- ome, uF e esh of his ended vic Miss Be end room f the beginners, ne as the § was T Mog bow glowed sun ewsky Morris wrought the go nie ¢ vedls window boxes. al sw . therefore, concerned oe led charming presence ways en liked the hea guest st of Shis the asts; he 10ok- ast term and he he looked he . bber heels and the The co to his love of power sense of ‘humor L in the ch an sing, Miss Baile P @ sing very prettily ‘and - Very nice, indeed,” said the voice of siting 2 Very nice. Their music s e good. And are ¢ wil you march 4 did. Patrick = line in time and triumph e aisles 1o the evident of the “comp'ny the class through Swedish move- and bodies were end aightening at Teac door e d and, example, the pened and a breathless boy rushed i ve 1 ote, and, as eacher had pare, the boy placed the 3 e desk under the ftening eves o° the Honorable Tim- hy, who glanced down idly and then ced upon the note and read its ery w For Miss Bailey,” he said in e voice before which even the school been known to quail. “Your riend was thoughtful, though a little . And . poor, palpitating Miss Ba read ch o ‘Gum Shoe Tim’ is.in The principal caught him back stairs and they're golng round together. He's as cross as a bear. Greene In Gead faint in dressing-room. Says he's going to fire her. Watch out r him and send the news on. His lay s reading and diseipline.’ iss Bailey grew cold with sick and reasoning fear. 'As she gazed wide- eyed st the living confirmation of the statement that “Gum Shoe Tim" was “cross as a bear.”' the gentle-hearted principal took the paper -from her nerveless grasp. . “It’s all right,” the he assured her.” “Mr. O'Shea un@erstands :that vou had no part in’this.. It's all right. You =mre not responsibje.” But Teacher .had no . ears for his soothing. - She'could .only watch with fascinated eves as the Honorable Tim- othy reclaimed the . note and wrote across it's damning face: “Miss Greene may come to. .She is'not fired. —T. 0'S.” “Here, .boy,” he. galled, “take this to your; teacher.” . The. puzzled messenger turned to obey, and the associate super- intendent saw that though his dignity had suffered his power had Increased. To the list of those whom he might, If so dis- posed, devour, he had now added the name of the principal, who was qujck, to understand that an unpleasant fnvestiga- tion lay before him. If Miss Bailey could not, be held responsible -for this system ;2 of inter-classroom communication, it was clear. that the principal could. Every trace of interest had left Mr. O’Shea’s voice as he asked: “Can they read?” “Oh, yes, they read,” responded Teach- er, but her spirit was crushed and the children reflected her depression. Still, they were marvelously good, and that blundering note had said, “‘Discipline is his lay.” Well, here he had it. There was one spectator of this drama, ‘who, understanding no word nor incident therein, yet missed no shade of the many emotions which had stirred the light face of his lady. Toward the front of the room sat Mor- ris Mogilewsky with every nerve tuned to Teacher’s, and with an appreciation of the situation fn which the other children ’ B OcLET had no share. ' On the afternoon of one of those dreary days Of waiting for the evil which had, now come, Teacher had endeavored to explain the, nature and possible result of this ordeal to' her f vorite. -1t was clear to’him now that she was troubled, and he held the large and ' unaccustomed presenice of the: “‘comp'ny mit whiskers’ responsible. Countless generations of ancestor followed. and fostered the Instinct now led Morrls. to propitiate an angry power. Luckily, .he was with an offering of a suitable nature. He had meaunt to enjoy it for yet a few daye, and then to bllve it to Teacher. She' was' such a sensible person about presents. might give her one's most ehe":zhnd g sesgjons with a brave and. ell'fl‘l heart,’ tor on gach Friday aftemonn’ ot M“"" ed.the. gifts she had received during the week. - And this with no abatement of gratitude. Morris Tose stealthily, crept forward and placed a bright blue bromo-seltzer bottle in the fat hand which hung over thé back of the chair of state. The hard closed instinetively as. with dawning curiosity, the Honorable Tim- othy studied the small figure at his side. It began in a wealth of loosely curling hair which shaded a delicate face, very pointed as té chin and mo- nopolized by a pair of dark eyes, sad, and deep and beautiful. A faded blue “jumper” was buttoned tightly across the narrow chest; frayed trousers were precariously attached to the “jumper,” and - impossible shoes and stockings supplemented the trousers. Glancing from_boy to bottle, the “comp'ny mit whiskers” asked: “What's_this for?” “For you." “What's in it?" “A present.” Mr., O'Shea removed the cork and proceeded to draw out incredible quan- titles of absorbeént cotton. When there was - no ‘more to tome, a faint tinkle sounded - within the blue depths and Mr. O'Shea, reversing the bottle, found himself possessed of a trampled and disfigured sleeve link of most palpable brass. “It's trom gold,” Morris assured him. You puts. it in your use me— shirt. - Wish you health to wear it.” Thank you,” said the Honorable Tim, and there was a tiny break in the gloom which had enveloped him. And then, with a quick memory of the note and of his anger: “Miss Bailey, man?? ‘ And Teacher, of whose hobbies Mor- ris was one, answered warmly: “That is Morris Mogilewsky, the best of boys. He takes care of the goldfish and does all sorts of things for me. Don't you, dear?” . “Teacher, yiss ma'an,” Morris an- swered. “I'm 1évin' much mit you. I gives presents on the comp'ny over you.” “Ain’t ‘he rather big to speak such broken English?" asked Mr. O'Shea. “I hope wou remember that it Is part of .your duty to stamp out the dialect.” “Yes, I know,” Miss Bailey answered. “But Morris has been in America for so short a time. Nine months, is It pot?” “Teacher, yiss ma'an. 1 come out of Russia,” responded Morris, on the verge of tears and with his face buried in Teacher’s dress. é Now ‘Mr. O'Shea had his prejudices— strong and deep. He had been given jurisdiction over -that particular dis- trict -because it was his native heath, and thé Board of Educatioy considered thathe wwould ‘be more in sympathy with the irhahitants than a s‘ranger. The truth was absolutely the reverse. Because he had spent his early years in a large old house in East Broadway, because he now saw his birthplace cuanged to.a squalid tenement and “.the'happy bunting grounds of his youth -grown .ragged and foreign—swarming with strdnge faces and noisy with strange tongues—Mr. O'Shea bore a .sullén grudge against the usurping ‘race. He resented the caressing air with _which ; Teacher held the little hand placed: 80/ confidently within her own and he welcomed the opportunity of . gratifying’ his still rufiéd temper. and _his racial antagonism it the same time. He would uke a rise out of this young woman abéut her little Jew.. She would be bomlt:'tefl later on. Mr. G'Shea rntber fancied himself in the role of comforter when the sufterer ‘was néither’old nor Wl-favored. And so he‘set about creating fhe distress which he " cha joy. ' Al urédly” (heflHO orable Timothy who is this young rom‘rke& the volce of authority, and it was not'an English volce nor is O'Shea d!ltlncfly an English name. - “Dreadful. And, by ‘the’way, 1'hope you are not spolling these youngsters. You must remember that you are fitting them for the battle of life. Don't coddle your sol- dlers. &m you reconcile your present '.}mula wit fl-éltmn-w “With Morris—yes.” Teacher an- swered. “He is gentle and tractable be- yond words.” “Well, I hope you're right,” grunted Mr. O'Shea, “but don’t coddle them.” Apd so the incident olosed. The sleeve link was tucked, before Morris’ yearning eyes, into the reluctant pock- et of the wide, white waistcoat, and Morris returned to his place. He found his reader and the proper page, and the lesson went on with brisk serenity: real on the children’s part, but bravely as- sumed on Teacher’s. Child after child stood up, read, sat down again; and it came to be the duty of Bertha Binder- witz to read the entire page of which the others had each read a line. She began juhilantly, -but soon stumbled, hesitated and wailed: a fierce word. I don't know " and Teacher turned to write the puzzling word upon the black- board. Morris’ heart stopped with a sicken- enness and ther rushed madly on ag: ke had a new and dreadful duty to perform. All his mother's counsel, all his father's precepts told him that it was his duty. Yet fear held him in his little seat behind his little desk, while his conscience insisted on this upalterable decree of the social code: somebody’s clothes is wrong it’s polite you says ‘scuse’ und tells it out.” And here was Teacher, whom he dear- Iy loved, whose ideals of perSonal adcrnmient extended to full sets of but- tons on jumpers and to laces in both shoes. Here was this immaculate lady fair in urgent neced of assistance and advice, and all because she had on that day ous exercise for inangurated a delightfully vigor- which architecturally ghe was not designed. There was yet room for hope that would see the breach and rethe danger. But no. The visitor sat stolidly in the chair of state. the principal sat screnely beside him, the children sat each in his own little place behind his own little desk, keeping his own little eyes on his own little book Up into the quiet air went his timid hand. Teacher, knowing him in his more garrulous moods, ignored the threatened interruption | of Bertha's spirited resume, but the windmill action of the little arm attracted the Honor- able Tim's attention. ““The best of boys wants you,” he sug- gested, and Teacher perforce asked: “Well, Morris, what is it?” Not “until he was on his-feet did the Monitor of the Gold-Fish Bowl appreciate the enormity of the mission he had. un- dertaken. The other children began to understand, and watched his struggle for words and breath with sympathy or de- rision, as their natures prompted. But there are no words in which one may politely mention ineffective safety-pins to one’s glass of fashion. Morris’ -knees trembled queerly, his breathing grew difficult, and Teacher seemed a very great way off as she asked again: “Well, what is it, dear?” Morris panted a little, smiled weakly, and then sat down. Teacher was evi- dently puzzled, the “‘comp’'ny” alert, the principal r Teacher remonstrated, you must tell me what you want.” But Morris had deserted his etiquette and his veracity -and murmured only: othings.” . “Just wanted to be noticed,” said the Honorable Tim. .“It is edsy to spoil them.”” And he watched the best of boys rather closely, for a habit of interrupt- ing reading lessons wantonly and with- out reason was a trait in the young of which he disupproved. When this disapprobation manifested itself in Mr. O'Shea’s countenance the loyal heart of Morris interpreted as a new menace to his sovereign. No later than yesterday she had “#varned them of the vital importance of coher- ence. ery one knows,” she had said, “that only ‘commen little boys and girls come apart. No one ever likes them,” and the big stranger was even now mis- judging her. Again his short arm agitated the quiet air. Again his trembling legs upheld a trembling boy. Again authority urged. Again Teacher asked: “Well, Morris, what is it, dear? All this was as before, but not as be- fore was poor harassed Miss Bailey's swoop -down the aisle. her sudden tak- ing of Morris’ troubled little face Ee- tween her soft hands, the quick :ear meeting with her kind eyes, the note of pleading in her repetition: “What do you want, Morris?” He was beginning to answer when it occurred to him that the truth might make her cry. There was an unsteadi- ness abotit her upper lip which seemed to indlcate the peossibility. Suddenly he found that he no longer yearned for words In which to tell her of her dis- jointment, 'but for something’ else— anything else—to say. His miserable eyes escaped from hers and wandered to the wall in desperate search for conversation. There was no help in the pictures, no inspiration in the plu!ler casts, but on the blackboard He read, “Tuesday, January 21, 1902.” Only. the date, but he must make it serve. With Teacher close beside him, with the hostile eve of the Hon. Tim upon him, hedged roundabout by the frightened or admiring regard of the First Reader class, Morris blinked rap- idly, swallowed resolutely. and re- marked: “Teacher. this year's Nineteen hun- dred and two,” and knew that all was over. The. caressing clasp of Teacher's hands grew into a grip of anger. The countenance of Mr. O'Shea took on the beatified expression of the prophet who has found honor and verification In his own country. “The best of boys has his off days, and this is one of them.,” he remarked. “Morris,” sald Teacher, “did you stop a reading lesson to tell me that? Do you think I don't know what the year is? I'm ashamed _of you.” Never had she spoken thus. If the telling had been difficult to Morris when she was “glad on him.” it was Impossible now that she s a prey to such evident “mad feelings.” And yet he must make some explanation. So he murmured, “Teacher, I tells you "scuse. I know you Kknows what year stands, on'y it's polite I tells you something, und I had a fraid.” “And so you bothered your teacher it with that nensense,” said Tim. “You're a nice boy Morris’ eyes were hardly more ap- pealing ti-an Teacher's as the two cul- prits, for so they felt themselves, turned to their judge. “Morris is'a strange boy.” Miss Bailey explained. “He can't be managed by or- dinary methods—" “And extraordinary seem to work to-day Jected “—and I think.” Teacher continued. “that it might be better not to press the point.” “Oh, if' you him—" Mr. pleasantly, when gested: “You'd better let us hear what he has to say, Miss Bailey; make him under stand that you are master here.” And methods don’t Mr. O'Shea imter- control over beginning sug have O'Shea the no was principal Teacher. with a heart-sick laugh at the irony of this advice in the presence of to the associate superintendent, turned obey. But Morris would utter no words bu | 4 these, dozens of times repeated have a fraid.” . Miss Bailey coaxed, bribed, threatened and cajoled; shook him sur reptitiously, petted him openly. The re- sult was always the same. tells you something out, on’y I had a fratd.” “But, Morris, dear. of what?" cried Teacher. *“Are you afraid of me? Stop crying now and answer. -Are you afraid of Miss Bailey? N-0-0-oh m an Are you afraid of the principal?” “N-0-0-0h m-a-a-an “Are you afraid"—with a slight pause, Guring which a native hue of honesty was foully done to death—“of the kind gentleman we are all so slad to ©0-0-oh m-a-a-an Well, then, what is the matter with you? Are you sick? Don't you think you would like to go home to your mother oh m-a-a-an; I ain't sick. I scus The ted imitation of a sorrow- ful goat was too much for the Honor- able Tim “Bring tha * he com- manded I ow to man- age refractor ous children.” With much difficulty and many assur- ances that the gentleman was not go- ing to hurt him, Miss Bailey succeeded in untwining Morris s from the sup- ports of the desk and in half carrying half leading him up to the chair of state. An ominous silence had settled over the room. orowsky was ping softl redoubtable STe Applebaum stiffened in a en calm. “Morris,” began t super intendent in his me tones, “w you tell me why you raised your ha Come here, sir.” Teacher urged him’ gently, and, 1 dog to heel, he went. He halted with- in a pace or two of Mr. O'Shea an lifted a beseeching face toward him “I eouldn’t te tell nothiag out,” sal he. “I tells you 'seuse. I'm got fraid.” The Honorable Tim lunged quickly and caught the terrified b prepara- ry to shaking him, but Morris escaped and fled to his haven of safety—his When Miss Bailey felt he thin little hands g of the overtried » convulsive sobs she Honorable Timothy teacher’'s a the quick ¢ the heavy heart an ned hea on and spo must ask you to leave this room at * ghe announced. The principal started, and t sat back. Teacher's eyes were dangerous, and the Honorable Tim might profit by a lesson. “You've frightened the child until he can't 1 can do nothing with him while The examination is ended. breathe. you remain You may go.” Now Mr. O’'Shea saw he had gone a lit tle too far his effort to create the proper dramatie setting for his clemency. He had not expeeted the young woman to “rige” quite so far and high. His de- precating half-apology. half-eulogy, gave Morris the opportunity he craved. “Teacher, he panted;: “I wants to whisper mit you ‘in the ear.” With a dexterous movement he kneit his solitary her tightly lap and tore out He then ciasped upon her safety-pin. and made his explanation. He began in the softest of whispers, which increased in volume as it did in interest, so that he reached the ¢ ax at the full power of hl: boy , 1 know you know what yes 'y it's polite I tells you sometking, and I had a fraid the while the comp'ny mit the whiskers sets und rubbers. But, Teacher, it's like this your ing out und you could to take mine safety*pin.” He had und:rstood so little of all that had passed that he was beyond being surprised by the result of this communi catiod. - Miss, Bailey had gathered him into her arms and had cried in a queer, helpless way. And as she cried she had said over and over again: “Morris, how could you? Oh, how could you, dear? How could you?" The principal and “the comp'ny whiskers” bad looked solemnly at one another for a struggling moment, and bhad them broken into laughter, long and loud, until the visiting authority was limp and moist. The children waited in polite uncertainty. but when Miss Bailey, after some indecision, had contributed a wan smile, which later grew into a Shaky Jaugh, the First-Reader Class went wild Then Honorable 1 othy arose to say good-by. He reiterated his praise of the singing and reading, the black- board work and moral tone. An awkward pause ued, during which the principal engaged the young Gono- rowskys in impromptu convefsation. The Homorable Tim - crossed over to Miss Bailey's side and steadied himself for a great effort “Teacher,” he began meekly, “T tells you 'scuse. This sort of thing makes a man feel like a bull in a china shop. Do you think the little fellow will shake hands with me? I was really only joking.” “But surely he will,” said Miss Bai- ley, as she glanced down at the tangle of dark curis resting against her breast. “Morris, dear, aren’t you going to sa &ood-by to the gentleman?” Morris relaxed one hand from its grasp on his lady and bestowed it on mit Mr. O'Sh —_— “Good- he ‘said gently. “T gives you présents, from gold presents, the while you're friends mit Teacher. I'm loving much mit her too.” At this. moment the printipal turned, and Mr. O'Shea, in a desperate . tempt fo rétrfeve his dignity, bega: “As to class management and’ discip- "5t the prinetpal t the - pri 1 was n ceived. e sy “Pon't you think. Mr. O'Shea,” g he, “that.you and I had better T:'.“',‘.’.‘: management of the little ones to the women? You have noticed, %perhaps, that this is nature’s method.”