CHAPTER XX
THINK OF IT
Ames was an inspiration. Jim Irwin received from the great agriculturalcollege more real education in this one trip than many students get from afour years' course in its halls; for he had spent ten years in gettingready for the experience. The great farm of hundreds of acres, all underthe management of experts, the beautiful campus, the commodious classroomsand laboratories, and especially the barns, the greenhouses, gardens,herds and flocks filled him with a sort of apostolic joy.
"Every school," said he to Professor Withers, "ought to be doing a gooddeal of the work you have to do here."
"I'll admit," said the professor, "that much of our work in agriculture ispretty elementary."
"It's intermediate school work," said Jim. "It's a wrong to force boys andgirls to leave their homes and live in a college to get so much of whatthey should have before they're ten years old."
"There's something in what you say," said the professor, "but someexperiment station men seem to think that agriculture in the commonschools will take from the young men and women the felt need, andtherefore the desire to come to the college."
"If you can't give them anything better than high-school work," said Jim,"that will be so; but if the science and art of agriculture is what Ithink it is, it would make them hungry for the advanced work that reallycan't be done at home. To make the children wait until they're twenty isto deny them more than half what the college ought to give them--and makethem pay for what they don't get."
"I think you're right," said the professor.
"Give us the kind of schools I ask for," cried Jim, "and I'll fill acollege like this in every congressional district in Iowa, or I'll forceyou to tear this down and build larger."
The professor laughed at his enthusiasm.
More nearly happy, and rather shorter of money than he had recently been,Jim journeyed home among the companions from his own neighborhood, in afrenzy of plans for the future. Mr. Hofmyer had dropped from his mind,until Con Bonner, his old enemy, drew him aside in the vestibule of thetrain and spoke to him in the mysterious manner peculiar to politicians.
"What kind of a proposition did that man Hofmeister make you?" heinquired. "He asked me about you, and I told him you're a crackerjack."
"I'm much obliged," replied Jim.
"No use in back-cappin' a fellow that's tryin' to make somethin' ofhimself," said Bonner. "That ain't good politics, nor good sense. Anythingto him?"
"He offered me a salary of seventy-five dollars a month to take charge ofhis school," said Jim.
"Well," said Con, "we'll be sorry to lose yeh, but you can't turn downanything like that."
"I don't know," said Jim. "I haven't decided."
Bonner scrutinized his face sharply, as if to find out what sort of gamehe was playing.
"Well," said he, at last, "I hope you can stay with us, o' course. I'mlicked, and I never squeal. If the rist of the district can stand yourkind of thricks, I can. And say, Jim"--here he grew still moremysterious--"if you do stay, some of us would like to have you beenough of a Dimmycrat to go into the next con'vintion f'r countysuperintendent."
"Why," replied Jim, "I never thought of such a thing!"
"Well, think of it," said Con. "The county's close, and wid a pop'laryoung educator--an' a farmer, too, it might be done. Think of it."
It must be confessed that Jim was almost dazed at the number of"propositions" of which he was now required to "think"--and that Bonner'sdid not at first impress him as having anything back of it but blarney. Hewas to find out later, however, that the wily Con had made up his mindthat the ambition of Jim to serve the rural schools in a larger spheremight be used for the purpose of bringing to earth what he regarded as thesoaring political ambitions of the Woodruff family.
To defeat the colonel in the defeat of his daughter when running for hertraditionally-granted second term; to get Jim Irwin out of the WoodruffDistrict by kicking him up-stairs into a county office; to split theforces which had defeated Mr. Bonner in his own school district; and to dothese things with the very instrument used by the colonel on that sad butglorious day of the last school election--these, to Mr. Bonner, would bediabolically fine things to do--things worthy of those Tammany politicianswho from afar off had won his admiration.
Jim had scarcely taken his seat in the car, facing Jennie Woodruff andBettina Hansen in the Pullman, when Columbus Brown, pathmaster of the roaddistrict and only across the way from residence in the school district,came down the aisle and called Jim to the smoking-room.
"Did an old fellow named Hoffman from Pottawatomie County ask you to leaveus and take his school?" he asked.
"Mr. Hofmyer," said Jim, "--yes, he did."
"Well," said Columbus, "I don't want to ask you to stand in your ownlight, but I hope you won't let him toll you off there among strangers.We're proud of you, Jim, and we don't want to lose you."
Proud of him! Sweet music to the underling's ears! Jim blushed andstammered.
"The fact is," said Columbus, "I know that Woodruff District job hain'tbig enough for you any more; but we can make it bigger. If you'll stay, Ibelieve we can pull off a deal to consolidate some of them districts, andmake you boss of the whole shooting match."
"I appreciate this, Clumb," said Jim, "but I don't believe you can doit."
"Well, think of it," said Columbus. "And don't do anything till you talkwith me and a few of the rest of the boys."
"Think of it" again!
A fine home-coming it was for Jim, with the colonel waiting at the stationwith a double sleigh, and the chance to ride into the snowy country in thesame seat with Jennie--a chance which was blighted by the colonel'splacing of Jennie, Bettina and Nils Hansen in the broad rear seat, and Jimin front with himself. A fine ride, just the same, over fine roads, andpast fine farmsteads snuggled into their rectangular wrappages of treesset out in the old pioneer days. The colonel would not allow him to getout and walk when he could really have reached home more quickly by doingso; no, he set the Hansens down at their door, took Jennie home, and thendrove the lightened sleigh merrily to the humble cabin of the ratherexcited young schoolmaster.
"Did you make any deal with those people down in the western part of thestate?" asked the colonel. "Jennie wrote me that you've got an offer."
"No," said Jim, and he told the colonel about the proposal of Mr.Hofmyer.
"Well," said the colonel, "in my capacity of wild-eyed reformer, I've madeup my mind that the first four miles in the trip is to make the ruralteacher's job a bigger job. It's got to be a man's size, woman's size job,or we can't get real men and real women to stay in the work."
"I think that's a statesmanlike formulation of it," said Jim.
"Well," said the colonel, "don't turn down the Pottawatomie County jobuntil we have a chance to see what we can do. I'll get some kind of ameeting together, and what I want you to do is to use this offer as a clubover this helpless school district. What we need is to be held up. Do theJesse James act, Jim!"
"I can't, Colonel!"
"Yes, you can, too. Will you try it?"
"I want to treat everybody fairly," said Jim, "including Mr. Hofmyer. Idon't know what to do, hardly."
"Well, I'll get the meeting together," said the colonel, "and in themeantime, think of what I've said."
Another thing to think of! Jim rushed into the house and surprised hismother, who had expected him to arrive after a slow walk from town throughthe snow. Jim caught her in his arms, from which she was released a momentlater, quite flustered and blushing.
"Why, James," said she, "you seem excited. What's happened?"
"Nothing, mother," he replied, "except that I believe there's just apossibility of my being a success in the world!"
"My boy, my boy!" said she, laying her hand on his arm, "if you were todie to-night, you'd die the greatest success any boy ever was--if yourmother is any judge."
Jim kissed her, and went up to his attic to change his clothes. Inside thew
aistcoat was a worn envelope, which he carefully opened, and took from ita letter much creased from many foldings. It was the old letter fromJennie, written when the comical mistake had been made of making him theteacher of the Woodruff school. It still contained her rather fussycautions about being "too original," and the sage statement that "thewheel runs easiest in the beaten track." It was written before thevexation and trouble he had caused her; but he did not read the advice,nor think of the coolness which had come between them--he read only thesentence in which Jennie had told of her father's interest in Jim'ssuccess, ending with the underscored words, "_I'm for you, too._"
"I wonder," said Jim, as he went out to do the evening's tasks, "I wonderif she _is_ for me!"