CHAPTER XXII
AN EMBASSY FROM DIXIE
Superintendent Jennie sat at her desk in no very satisfactory frame ofmind. In the first place court was to convene on the following Monday, andboth grand jury and petit juries would be in session, so that her one-roomoffice was not to be hers for a few days. Her desk was even now ready tobe moved into the hall by the janitor. To Wilbur Smythe, who did her thehonor of calling occasionally as the exigencies of his law practise tookhim past the office of the pretty country girl on whose shapely shouldersrested the burden of the welfare of the schools, she remarked that if theydidn't soon build the new court-house so as to give her suchaccommodations as her office really needed, "they might take their oldoffice--so there!"
"Fair woman," said Wilbur, as he creased his Prince Albert in a partingbow, "should adorn the home!"
"Bosh!" sneered Jennie, rather pleased, all the same, "suppose she isn'tfair, and hasn't any home!"
This question of adorning a home was no nearer settlement with Jennie thanit had ever been, though increasingly a matter of speculation.
There were two or three men--rather good catches, too--who, if they wereencouraged--but what was there to any of them? Take Wilbur Smythe, now; hewould by sheer force of persistent assurance and fair abilities eventuallyget a good practise for a country lawyer--three or four thousand ayear--serve in the legislature or the state senate, and finally become abank director with a goodly standing as a safe business man; but what wasthere to him? This is what Jennie asked her paper-weight as she placed iton a pile of unfinished examination papers. And the paper-weight echoed,"Not a thing out of the ordinary!" And then, said Jennie, "Well, youlittle simpleton, who and what are _you_ so out of the ordinary that youshould sneer at Wilbur Smythe and Beckman Fifield and such men?" And echoanswered, "What?"--and then the mail-carrier came in.
Down near the bottom of the pile she found this letter, signed by asouthern state superintendent of schools, but dated at Kirksville,Missouri:
"I am a member of a party of southern educators--state superintendents in the main," the letter ran, "_en tour_ of the country to see what we can find of an instructive nature in rural school work. I assure you that we are being richly repaid for the time and expense. There are things going on in the schools here in northeastern Missouri, for instance, which merit much study. We have met Professor Withers, of Ames, who suggests that we visit your schools, and especially the rural school taught by a young man named Irwin, and I wonder if you will be free on next Monday morning, if we come to your office, to direct us to the place? If you could accompany us on the trip, and perhaps show us some of your other excellent schools, we should be honored and pleased. The South is recreating her rural schools, and we are coming to believe that we shall be better workmen if we create a new kind rather than an improvement of the old kind."
There was more of this courteous and deferential letter, all giving Jenniea sense of being saluted by a fine gentleman in satin and ruffles, andwith a plume on his hat. And then came the shock--a party of stateofficials were coming into the county to study Jim Irwin's school! Theywould never come to study Wilbur Smythe's law practise--never in theworld--or her work as county superintendent--never!--and Jim was gettingseventy-five dollars a month, and had a mother to support. Moreover, hewas getting more than he had asked when the colonel had told him to "holdthe district up!" But there could be no doubt that there was something_to_ Jim--the man was out of the ordinary. And wasn't that just what shehad been looking for in her mind?
Jennie wired to her southerner for the number of his party, and securedautomobiles for the trip. She sent a note to Jim Irwin telling of theprospective visitation. She would show all concerned that she could dosome things, anyhow, and she would send these people on with a goodimpression of her county.
She was glad of the automobiles the next Monday morning, when atnine-thirty the train discharged upon her a dozen very alert, veryup-to-date, very inquisitive southerners, male and female, most of whomseemed to have left their "r's" in the gulf region. It was eleven when theparty parked their machines before the schoolhouse door.
"There are visitors here before us," said Jennie.
"Seems rather like an educational shrine," said Doctor Brathwayt, ofMississippi. "How does he accommodate so many visitors in that smalledifice?"
"I am not aware," said Jennie, "that he has been in the habit of receivingso very many from outside the district. Well, shall we go in?"
Once inside, Jennie felt a queer return of her old aversion to Jim'smethods--the aversion which had caused her to criticize him so sharply onthe occasion of her first visit. The reason for the return of the feelinglay in the fact that the work going on was of the same sort, but of a moreintense character. It was so utterly unlike a school as Jennie understoodthe word, that she glanced back at the group of educators with a littleblush. The school was in a sort of uproar. Not that uproar of boredom andmischief of which most of us have familiar memories, but a sort of eageruproar, in which every child was intensely interested in the same thing;and did little rustling things because of this interest; something likethe hum at a football game or a dog-fight.
On one side of the desk stood Jim Irwin, and facing him was a smoothstranger of the old-fashioned lightning-rod-agent type--the shallower andlaxer sort of salesman of the kind whose sole business is to getsignatures on the dotted line, and let some one else do the rest. Inshort, he was a "closer."
Standing back of him in evident distress was Mr. Cornelius Bonner, andgrouped about were Columbus Brown, B. B. Hamm, Ezra Bronson, A. B. Talcottand two or three others from outside the Woodruff District. With envelopesin their hands and the light of battle in their eyes stood Newton Bronson,Raymond Simms, Bettina Hansen, Mary Smith and Angie Talcott, the boysfilled with delight, the girls rather frightened at being engaged insomething like a debate with the salesman.
As the latest-coming visitors moved forward, they heard the schoolmasterfinishing his passage at arms with the salesman.
"You should not feel exasperated at us, Mr. Carmichael," said he in tonesof the most complete respect, "for what our figures show. You areunfortunate in the business proposition you offer this community. That isall. Even these children have the facts to prove that the creamery outfityou offer is not worth within two thousand dollars of what you ask for it,and that it is very doubtful if it is the sort of outfit we should need."
"I'll bet you a thousand dollars--" began Carmichael hotly, when Jim wavedhim down.
"Not with me," said Jim. "Your friend, Mr. Bonner, there, knows whatchance there is for you to bet even a thousand cents with me. Besides, weknow our facts, in this school. We've been working on them for a longtime."
"Bet your life we have!" interpolated Newton Bronson.
"Before we finish," said Jim, "I want to thank you gentlemen for bringingin Mr. Carmichael. We have been reading up on the literature of thecreamery promoter, and it is a very fine thing to have one in the fleshwith whom to--to--demonstrate, if Mr. Carmichael will allow me to sayso."
Carmichael looked at Bonner, made an expressive motion with his headtoward the door, and turned as if to leave.
"Well," said he, "I can do plenty of business with _men_. If you _men_want to make the deal I offer you, and I can show you from the statisticsI've got at the hotel that it's a special deal just to get started in thispart of the state, and carries a thousand dollars of cut in price to you.Let's leave these children and this he school-ma'am and get somethingdone."
"I can't allow you to depart," said Jim more gently than before, "withoutthanking you for the very excellent talk you gave us on the advantage ofthe cooperative creamery over the centralizer. We in this school believein the cooperative creamery, and if we can get rid of you, Mr. Carmichael,without buying your equipment, I think your work here may be productive ofgood."
"He's off three or four points on the average overrun in the Wisconsinco-ops," said Newton.
"And we thought," said
Mary Smith, "that we'd need more cows than he saidto keep up a creamery of our own."
"Oh," replied Jim, "but we mustn't expect Mr. Carmichael to know thesubject as well as we do, children. He makes a practise of talking mostlyto people who know nothing about it--and he talks very well. All in favorof thanking Mr. Carmichael please say 'Aye.'"
There was a rousing chorus of "Aye!" in which Mr. Carmichael, followedclosely by Mr. Bonner, made his exit. B. B. Hamm went forward and shookJim's hand slowly and contemplatively, as if trying to remember just whathe should say.
"James E. Irwin," said he, "you've saved us from being skinned by thesmoothest grafter that I ever seen."
"Not I," said Jim; "the kind of school I stand for, Mr. Hamm, will saveyou more than that--and give you the broadest culture any school evergave. A culture based on life. We've been studying life, in thisschool--the life we all live here in this district."
"He had a smooth partner, too," said Columbus Brown. Jim looked atBonner's little boy in one of the front seats and shook his head atColumbus warningly.
"If I hadn't herded 'em in here to ask you a few questions aboutcooperative creameries," said Mr. Talcott, "we'd have been stuck--theypretty near had our names. And then the whole neighborhood would have beensucked in for about fifty dollars a name."
"I'd have gone in for two hundred," said B. B. Hamm.
"May I call a little meeting here for a minute, Jim?" asked Ezra Bronson."Why, where's he gone?"
"They's some other visitors come in," said a little girl, pulling herapron in embarrassment at the teacher's absence.
Jim had, after what seemed to Jennie an interminable while, seen thecounty superintendent and her distinguished party, and was now engaged inwelcoming them and endeavoring to find them seats,--quite an impossiblething at that particular moment, by the way.
"Don't mind us, Mr. Irwin," said Doctor Brathwayt. "This is the best thingwe've seen on our journeyings. Please go on with the proceedin's. Thatgentleman seems to have in mind the perfectin' of some so't oforganization. I'm intensely interested."
"I'd like to call a little meetin' here," said Ezra to the teacher."Seein' we've busted up your program so far, may we take a little whilelonger?"
"Certainly," said Jim. "The school will please come to order."
The pupils took their seats, straightened their books and papers, and wereat attention. Doctor Brathwayt nodded approvingly as if at the answer tosome question in his mind.
"Children," said Mr. Irwin, "you may or may not be interested in whatthese gentlemen are about to do--but I hope you are. Those who wish may bemembers of Mr. Bronson's meeting. Those who do not prefer to do so maytake up their regular work."
"Gentlemen," said Mr. Bronson to the remains of Mr. Carmichael's creameryparty, "we've been cutting bait in this neighborhood about long enough.I'm in favor of fishing, now. It would have been the biggest disgrace everput on this district to have been swindled by that sharper, when the manthat could have set us right on the subject was right here working for us,and we never let him have a chance. And yet that's what we pretty neardid. How many here favor building a cooperative creamery if we can get thefarmers in with cows enough to make it profitable, and the equipment atthe right price?"
Each man held up a hand.
"Here's one of our best farmers not voting," said Mr. Bronson, indicatingRaymond Simms. "How about you, Raymond?"
"Ah reckon paw'll come in," said Raymond blushingly.
"He will if you say so," said Mr. Bronson.
Raymond's hand went up amid a ripple of applause from the pupils, whoseemed glad to have a voter in their ranks.
"Unanimous!" said Mr. Bronson. "It is a vote! Now I'd like to hear amotion to perfect a permanent organization to build a creamery."
"I think we ought to have a secretary first," said Mr. Talcott, "and Inominate Mr. James E. Irwin for the post."
"Quite correct," said Mr. Bronson, "thankee, A. B. I was about to forgitthe secretary. Any other nominations? No 'bjections, Mr. Irwin will bedeclared unanimously elected. Mr. Irwin's elected. Mr. Irwin, will youplease assume the duties?"
Jim sat down at the desk and began making notes.
"I think we ought to call this the Anti-Carmichael ProtectiveAssociation," said Columbus Brown, but Mr. Bronson interrupted him, ratherfrowningly.
"All in good time, Clumb," said he, "but this is serious work." Soadmonished, the meeting appointed committees, fixed upon a time for afuture meeting, threw a collection of half-dollars on the desk to start apetty cash fund, made the usual joke about putting the secretary underbond, adjourned and dispersed.
"It's a go this time!" said Newton to Jim.
"I think so," said Jim, "with those men interested. Well, our study ofcreameries has given a great deal of language work, a good deal ofarithmetic, some geography, and finally saved the people from a swindle.Rather good work, Raymond!"
"My mother has a delayed luncheon ready for the party," said Jennie toJim. "Please come with us--please!"
But Jim demurred. Getting off at this time of day was really out of thequestion if he was to be ready to show the real work of the school in theafternoon session.
"This has been rather extraordinary," said Jim, "but I am very glad youwere here. It shows the utility of the right sort of work inletter-writing, language, geography and arithmetic--in learning thingsabout farming."
"It certainly does," said Doctor Brathwayt. "I wouldn't have missed itunder any consideration; but I'm certainly sorry for that creamery sharkand his accomplice--to be routed by the Fifth Reader grade in farming!"
The luncheon was rather a wonderful affair--and its success wasunqualified after everybody discovered that the majority of those inattendance felt much more at home when calling it dinner. Colonel Woodruffhad fought against the regiment of the father of Professor Gray, ofGeorgia, in at least one engagement, and tentative plans were laid for themeeting of the two old veterans "some winter in the future."
"What d'ye think of our school?" asked the colonel.
"Well," said Professor Gray, "it's not fair to judge, Colonel, on whatmust have been rather an extraordinary moment in the school's history. Itake it that you don't put on a representation of 'The Knave Unmasked'every morning."
"It was more like a caucus than I've ever seen it, daddy," said Jennie,"and less like a school."
"Don't you think," said Doctor Brathwayt, "that it was less like a schoolbecause it was more like life? It _was_ life. If I am not mistaken,history for this community was making in that schoolroom as we entered."
"You're perfectly right, Doctor," said the colonel. "Columbus Brown andabout a dozen others living outside the district are calling Wilbur Smythein counsel to perfect plans for an election to consolidate a few of theselittle independent districts, for the express purpose of giving Jim Irwina plant that he can do something with. Jim's got too big for the district,and so we're going to enlarge the district, and the schoolhouse, and theteaching force, and the means of educational grace generally. That's assure as can be--after what took place this morning."
"He's rather a wonderful person, to be found in such a position," saidProfessor Gray, "or would be in any region I have visited."
"He's a native product," said the colonel, "but a wonder all the same.He's a Brown Mouse, you know."
"A--a--?" Doctor Brathwayt was plainly astonished. And so the colonel wasallowed to tell again the story of the Darbishire brown mice, and why hecalled Jim Irwin one. Doctor Brathwayt said it was an interestingMendelian explanation of the appearance of such a character as Jim. "Andif you are right, Colonel, you'll lose him one of these days. You can'texpect to retain a Caesar, a Napoleon, or a Lincoln in a rural school, canyou?"
"I don't know about that," said the colonel. "The great opportunity forsuch a Brown Mouse may be in this very school, right now. He'd have as bigan army right here as Socrates ever had. The Brown Mouse is the only judgeof his own proper place."
"I think," said Mrs. Brathwayt, as they motor
ed back to the school, "thatyour country schoolmaster is rather terrible. The way he crushed that Mr.Carmichael was positively merciless. Did he know how cruel he was?"
"I think not," said Jennie. "It was the truth that crushed Mr.Carmichael."
"But that vote of thanks," said Mrs. Brathwayt. "Surely that was thebitterest irony."
"I wonder if it was," said Jennie. "No, I am sure it wasn't. He wanted toleave the children thinking as well as possible of their victim, andespecially of Mr. Bonner; and there was really something in Mr.Carmichael's talk which could be praised. I have known Jim Irwin since wewere both children, and I feel sure that if he had had any idea that histreatment of this man had been unnecessarily cruel, it would have givenhim a lot of pain."
"My dear," said Mrs. Brathwayt, "I think you are to be congratulated forhaving known for a long time a genius."
"Thank you," said Jennie. And Mrs. Brathwayt gave her a glance whichbrought to her cheek another blush; but of a different sort from the oneprovoked by the uproar in the Woodruff school.
There could be no doubt now that Jim was thoroughly wonderful--nor thatshe, the county superintendent, was quite as thoroughly a little fool. Sheto be put in authority over him! It was too absurd for laughter.Fortunately, she hadn't hindered him much--but who was to be thanked forthat? Was it owing to any wisdom of hers? Well, she had decided in hisfavor, in those first proceedings to revoke his certificate. Perhaps thatwas as good a thing to remember as was to be found in the record.