1
prize and h:id 1c n stii.lylnjr his fpellci
for weeks.
"Elet'tn inlssod 'etnnn.ito.' She
spelled It wl'li mi T instei-! .( nil 'n.'
"I'liuly l'aich missed 'tiMliiii.lli" ' I
think fhe V'y.-'v l"-.v t; spell it. hut she j
CTrtakly Asa, rk Im m4
.kakiis fouhti evam or aije. tomm jjtd btabm
! wns rX' iied h.-enibe seven ' '-i'-lit j
I h:ij imss.vl It hefele her The I I k
! nuk sdnMars l.x-Ue.l w-.-y si.Ikm' vv I: -n !
j Omly h.i'l to sit th'v. ii
1 "It'll yon o'-.ihi l.:!v. ' "M j
' S'l'il;'" lletier' twii-:::s'l
rrtiii I'uee t;k !-:m:.i-r w.t-'n Ai.'.a.e
ee; Al.el's. tile I.t Ii -I I law '' iv ;
. n.N-.M -' hyte, .n..l 1 1 ,i r:-: ' m-.1-
j "I ! Wl'lee;' !,-:;!' -i i ' '1
: r-enlii-ed t i ; ; ' : -1 1 1 1 !l,e:.i: ft-
j 1 or V Hn e us to. id if "y ' I
mm
Tliyilriana ndorwe P. P.P.ui (le-
dU nmbtaatton, ul praaertba It wttil
nl nUafectlaa Aw ttaa anna af i
furru and vtityefl Prlm&rf, iiwimaMj
aod ThrUarj- Syphilis. BjphUlM Bfcatv
mat lata, Barafalooa Ehuiri km,
OlanduUrBweUiags, BhTmMara. Xid
gj CrmpltlnU. aid CtuaBio Clout that
"Wrlti...
, woflin
i$w4a III k
ill
i Frank ELSwxbt
jjy jjP' j eowrmoHT.wotBTrnAriKH.iwiiT I
Srr, aile?y.
ex c i O -C
Y
'IIS. my denr," said Aunt Su
san roiuiiiiseently. "1 re'
liu'iiiher my school chiys at
thoiwli 'twas only yesterday.!
And the spelling matches we used to!
have! There was'old Squire Hepner,
who nhvnys took a great interest In ourj
school. lie was a peculiar kind of
man. 1'olks would call him cranliy iu1
these days, I suppose, lie was so!
gruff and sul'eu that you'd think he'd'
snap your head off.
"lMiiealioii w as the old imai's hoMiyJ
lie had no learniiv himself and used
to tell us how he felt the need of it.;
He thought that people could not lie;
educated unless they could spoil clean J
from I'-a. ha. to lneomiuuuiealii'.ity lu
the speller. j
"Well, Squire Ilepner had heard that!
the lied Haw district folks were mak
ing their boasts that they could out-
spell ours, ninf It angered him. 1 1 is
daughter Harriet was the best speller
In our school, ami they said her father
offered her any cow on Ids place tf
she'd spell the lied H.iw school down.
"One Friday afternoon the old squire
tame stamping Into the schoolhouse
w hen our school was havlns a spoiling
match. He w as the dir v tor of our dis
trict, and the boldest scholar would be
mute and nieeU when he appeared. He
had two little jet black eyes that seem
ed to see riuht through yoq. lie could
make almost any scholar wiggle lu his
sent by fastening his eyes upon him.
"The squire was ilie richest man in
Four Mile, but he never gave any
money away, and that made it all the
more sun-Ning v?!ien, just before
school let out !'at li'.-ht. he g .t up and
in his short, jerky, srruff way said:
"'You've spelt pretty well this after-
n":i, scholars, ar.d I'm ! 'd
to my il. a'.
in Us place. I ui ' ordin' i
Fpellin' belts 'elll all.
" 'An' now. to eticournge you in being
pood Vpellers an' to stop the braggin'
if sumo ilistriets not far from here,
I'm goin" to make it an object for you
to study your spellers like sixty for the
next few weeks.
"'In six wei'ks from tonight, an'
that will be Christmas eve, we'll have
a spellin match in this house, an' I
want it oirkilated round that airy
school in this township Is free to come
an' spell for the prize I'll offer, which
Is fk'.") in gold to the one that spells
down everybody.
" 'Now, take your spellers home with
yon tonight an' do somcthin' else with
'em besides a-chawin' the corners off.'
And with that th squire made one of
his stiff bows to the teacher and walk
ed out.
"I tell you, $2! was a large sum of
money In those days, and when It was
known that the prize had been offered
there was more studying of our old
blue backed spellers than there had
ever been before. We used to lake
them home every night, and our fa
thers and mothers would give us all the
hard words, like 'daguerreotype and!
phthisic' and 'receipt' and those witlii
6ilent letters in them, and we would
spell them over and over again. j
I "The offering of that prize eet the!
whole township iu a commotion, and
little else was thought of or talked
about The Ited Haw and Jack Oak
districts let it be known that they
would try for the prize, and they had
some good spellers In those schools,
especially In the Ked Haw.
1 "But none of them had a better rec
ord than Harriet Hepnor, and they said
that In tlTose six weeks she studied her
speller night and day. Folks who pass
ed the Tlepner house at midnight de
clared that through the windows from
the road they had seen Harriet sitting
on a stool up near the fireplace, lean
ing her bead against the wall, and the
Squire sitting in bis old hickory chair,
spelling book In one hand ai.d a tallow
dip In the other, giving out word9 to
her. and everybody else In bed. No
wonder the girl became thin and
peaked.
"You see, the squire fairly hated the
fied Haw district and about everybody
to It The Red Haw and ours had for
"fcerly been one district, and he opposed
their being divided, because 09 owned
litnd In both, and be knew that tf the
re divided there would be so eitro
tax for a new schoolbDuse and new
school fund.
. 'The squire hid a sister living la tat
i..-:!:Vs the mo-t Im- : .v.. ... Kfa ' -ArxWl f sSrTCOX i
r,,:lt ,ng a bo,v ,-, I'an,. Iu .-J : f : M V, U ft'ST &3 H.
Red Haw district, but he had not spo
ken to her for yeurs and would not al
low his folks to look at or speak to her
or her children.
"The poor woman had, In the first
place, married against the squire's I
wishes. That nngvred him. Still, he!
spoLj to her when they met, though!
they did not visit back and forth any. !
"Mr. Waitoly, the squire's irother-iii-law,
was the one that lirst siiggevcd
the dividing of the district and did
more to bring It about than any oiher
man, which was natural, for the dis
trict w as so big and the schoolhonse su
far off that the- Waiiely children could '
not ci to school in the winter lime i
T.'lt t'i; t .j'dn'l lii.iko fie .cast dif ;
fere:,, c to Squire H ; . r :.. vas fu- j
rlously 'ingry with Waite!;. . ai.d on1
tow n r..i eting day he and Waiiciy had
s.ci.e diea,li,;l w.ei!-
"(If coi'l- e M.'s. li'el.V si. le, with
her lu:-! a'i '. and from that day the
squire iu.'i'.ci from his own kin. lie
HE STOOD WITHIN A FOOT
never spoke to them again, not even
after Mr. Waitely died. The poor man
got caught under a falling tree and
was killed, lenviug his widow with
four children and nothing but a shabby
roof over their heads and three or four
acres of scrubby laud.
"She had a fearfully bard time sup
porting herself and the children, but
the squire never helped her. And, to
make matters worse, her oldest child,
little Sam, was a cripple, humpbacked
and lame la one le. so that he had
to walk with a crutch. Of course he
wasn't any help to his mother on the
place, but she was trying to educate
him, knowing that he never could do
any physical work.
"Well, the spelling bee excitement
became more and more intense as the
time drew near, and when Christmas
eve at last came the old Four Mil"
Bchoolhouse was a sight to see.
"The night was oue of the coldest I
ever remember. The stars shone ,ike
bright lamps in the sky The sleighing
was good and the air sharp enough to
stir the blood and, if possible, still more
to stimulate the boys aud girls. A lot
of the boys had borrowed a pair of
sled runners and put a big wagoti on
them. Then plenty of straw was put
in the box, and about twenty of us
boys and girls piled in, with lots o.'
quilts aud buffalo robes and warm
shawls.
"I had my Erst beau That night, nis
name was Azralel Whitehead, and of
all awkward boys be was thL. nwk
wardest. I think I was the first girl he
had ever asked to go wi'h him. Any
how, I know- he fell flat on his back
trying to heip me out of the sled, and
he let me go head first luto a snow
bank.
"I remember that his handkerchief
was wet with cinnamon drops and thit
he gave me a handful of peppermint
and cloves. I remember. to-, how we
II of us went up and down hill sing i
Ing and laughing at the top o' our
voices. We made the old woods and)
r.w no'ion wsrzm -i t37-fiy !
air j v1'.
r
Harriet Ucpner,
the vn'.leys ring. Yes, and the sled up
set, too, and we were all thrown into a
ditch The edge of the wagon bow
caught my U-au's big feet under it. and
I thought I should cry from mortltica
tlon when he lay there and actually
bawled and snlilled. I was so put out
about It that I wouldn't sit by hhn
after we got Into the sled or speak to
him afterward.
When we reached the sehooluouse
we found it packed so full that we
could but Just crowd in Most every
body had brought a candle to stick up
on the logs and some sprigs of ever
green iiml berries to make the room
look Christnuisy. There were four dif
ferent teachers and well known spell
ers from all over the township.
"lA'cta l'lunib and I 'chose up.' 1
pot first choiee and took Harriet Hep
ner. She was pale as death and looked
nervous and frightened. I.ecta took
Ablmelech Abers, the lending speller
from the Kcd Haw school, and I took
OF HIS UNCLE HEFNER.
Cindy l'atcfi. the best speller from .lack
Ouk.
"Then we chose everyliojy In the
room win, could siell at all. I think we
sad more than lifty on a side. We
stood In long rows ou liotu tides of tin
bouse against the wall, and, niueh to
my disgust, I got my hair full of tal
low from a dripping caudle.
"We were iiliout ready to commence
spelling and everybody had become
quiet when the people who sat near
the door made w ay for some one who
had come late, and in came little Sain
Waitely on his crnr-h. with his mother
Behind him iu n poor, thiu, patched old
faded calico dress and u thin cotton
shawl, with a f i led old red hood on
her head I coind see a hole worn In
her shoe as she put her foot up on the
stove hearth.
"Sam was then about fifteen years
old. but not ns tall as some boys of
nine He was very thinly dressed for
such a sharp night, and they hail walk
ed fully two miles.
"I felt sorry for thi-in ni)d spoke up
nt once anil tool; Sa n en my side It
happened to lie my (urn to choose,
nud I was bound ilio poor fellow
should not be slighted, whether he
could spell or not,
"He had half n mind not to try, but
I saw his i o', . reach out her hand
and gently push l.,m. and (hen he hob
bled down to t (. ( nd of the line and
stood within a foot of his Ftiele Hep.
ner.
"Then the t-pelllng commenced. I
blush to tell ii. but I actually missed
the very first word given i,ie. and that
w-as 'mermaid.' 1 sp -lied It 'mur
mer.' I kuew better, but I was so
nervous I could not collect my
thoughts. So I had to take my sent,
and of course I had a 111 lie cry all to
thyself. '
"Rut I nearly lanrherl so ns to be
henrd nil n-or 'ie 'com b u .- '
V hileheiid i.ils.cii ooo,' jjp '.j
It 'guse,' ami li. li.d o'd no !' '
dence that hv haLr expected n
a. Jfiix
T
; "Th lie-1 II iw p v . 1: 1 .
tied 'Hid -he V'v.ir MI.e fo
ughly pleased and showed :'
a.: 'he best !-pel.ers were o r
sides, and onlv Il.irri ! lie
i wer"
I'll tl'ltil i
MT 'IM'l !
live or six others were tell Four of
them missed 'micaceous,' an I Harriet
was just going to spell It when Mis'
Waitely, In a seared, timid voice that
could just lie heard, said:
'"If you please, teacher, Sammy
hasn't spelled yet.'
"Sammy stood down at the end of
the line, nnd they had overlooked him
Hut the teacher replied:
" 'Oh. Indeed: I thought he was done
long ago.'
"I thought he said It sneeringly, and
he gave Sammy the word in a tone
that said plainly, "You can't spell It
auyway.
"Hut what did Sammy do but spell
it correctly without the slightest hesi
tation. "Then the others who were standing
missed 'droinednry,' and that left Har
riet and Sammy ulone. I tell you, you
might have henrd n pin drop then. F.v
ery body was half crazy with excite
meut. "Old Squire Hepper did not move a
muscle. He had the money, live gold
live dollar pieces, and a fancy purse
and was to give them himself to the
winner.
"It seemed to me thnt that pxr
crippled boy got help from on high
(hat night. I never saw anything like
it. At first ha was so shy that his
voice almost trembled, but when he
and the cousin he had never spoken
to stood up there ulone and his fierce
oid uncle glared so contemptuously ut
him the little fellow raised himself to
his full height nnd from that moment
never flinched.
"His large eyes glistened, and he
threw back bis bead and looked boldly
at his uncle and spelled the words in
a loud, clear tone that fairly took peo
ple's breath away.
"His mother had quietly slipped
through the crowd and taken her seat
behind him. and those that sat near
said she got one of his hands In hers
and held it, while the tears strea: I
ilowii her face. j
"The two spelled against each . "icr j
for a full half hour, and all thi ti-.e!
poor Harriet was as while as a sheet,
iin.l 1 could see (hat siie was trem
bling from head to foot.
"At 1 1 T the teacher gave (he word
'tyranfoi!ly.' Harriet spelle.l the tirsl
syh il-'e. ihcn she..,,, ;.n,l siamnn re 1. !
looked ii.iplorii-.-ly at her father nnd
then trend. liruly went on a-al spelled !
It .with cue ';i.'
'How did you spell Ii. Harriet? 1
1!,1 .ion h ,ve only'
"Squire liojinor bad hewn locking on
a spelling book too. Now be turned
sharply round to the master and in
his hardest, coldest voice said:
" 'She missed It, sir. Pass It to the
aest.'
"Sam spelled It without hesitating an
Instant.
"You could have heard a pin drop In
that room. It was still as death. Har
riet dropped lnts her seat and burled
her face In her hands. Squire Hepner's
face never changed. Without a word
he rose, reached out his long arm, beck
oned to Sam to come to him and then
dropped Into the lad's utstretched
hand the purse. Turning and facing
the breathless people, he said:
" 'I want you all to kaow that I think
this has been a fair and square match,
and my nephew deserves the price.
"Without further words he took bis
hat and marched out of the hstise.
"Well, th Ited Haw people actually
carried Sam home oa their shoulders,
with Mis' Waitely dose behind, crying
as If her heart would break with Joy
and nervousness. But she had on a
long, warm, plaid shawl that I saw
Mis' Squire Hepner throw over her as
Bhe stepped out of the door.
"One of my sisters went home with
the Hepoers that night, and she said
Harriet cried all the way home and
was In mortal terror at the thought of
meeting her father. She stopped on tile
doorstep a long while, and when she
did finally step Into the room, trem
bling and fairly mourning, her father,
who was sitting with his head lietween
his bands before the fire, got up nnd
walked over to her and actually kissed
her there before them all. Then he
went o.T to Pe l w ithout a word.
. "Hut what followed was lxtter still.
Christmas day the squire took his big
sled, put In lots of hay and blankets
and drove off like N'imshl himself to
bis sister'. No one ever knew what
happened there, but It ended In Mis'
Waitely and all the children going
home with the squire. And a big
Christmas day they had. folks said.
"The sqnlre declared It whs an honor
to know a boy who could spell like
Sain They say he had that boy spell
the dictionary half through that win
ter nnd nonr'y hugged hiiif when he
spelled correctly the longest word In It.
"The squire was the stran-rest man
on the subject of spelling that I ever
beard of Nrthlng but Sam's knowing
t-o-e to sriell so w ell evr so'tcned his
lifir tow ard It' sl'or and her chll
r" .' n. enp. r I 'eai-i' him more
i a ::d lianlet spell
' 'r for hours at a
CATARRH
Wnnisa4 tTitrattait,0faurrik,BUa
PI Comm. Cfcraal faMlt
CompklM Mniiutil Nm,
P. P. T. to s pnntfUtoaai sa4 as
jifcm nvr If yoa sis vrwk a
Mbfeind m1 Udly tor . t. aa
IKJIEyrvOATDSEvll
SOLD I f
Q-ATE CITY
A school that enables yn ei.s nen and wrmen to make thrir own wuy it; Uh
world Prepare it- gr d.in & copers and the duuea of biwiums life
Slmrtesi, chaperf, an I .,iB-t way V.i .u Ineve sucoesx. Trained heads, bkilled
bands, are always in b-ni..ii,'."
Scholarships Sold Without Limit.
Positions Guaranteed to Graduates.
Scholarships May Be Transferred.
Students enter any time. No vsca'ioa. Piy ,v night choot the year 'round.
All Branches Taught Successfully by Mail.
TENM VNSHIP is a len linn api-eiiltv. S' uhing more important to the bnsj.
nsa jto... Taught hy mail Sml lor R.uiiple
Bookkwping, Shorthand , Typ'.cvrir.inp, l'iiiii:tnliin. Tds?niphv, Gunnm-rci-d
Law nud Civil Service, together with all lileriry lriincli Unght iiy experienced
erperu. Wiitn today fur chliIh io mid f i, t!i r xirueuUrs. u
Gate City Business College,
Greensboro. N. C.
OPPOSITE
GOOD
15 Gents
!'i r : u (!; ' ; vr!I title this
:.ivn ! vii'.'.-i i U-v i5 lonis when
t u i iiipl iit vxi to u.i i:i puy
iin iit '!. Tli:ichr's LiyJi- Kpu
lati)' . '1 hiu lu'i 's Liver and Illooii
Syiuii. H) cents ea-li and this
ad it.vs fer a L' iack;tt Ke;;u
latt'P there is none better.
Standard Drug
Company.
Capital Stock $30,000.00
RALEIGH. N.C. ( CHARLOTTE. N. C.
Pullen Building. I 1 IPUdmont Ins. Bldg.
THISKBeHOOI.SOIVKUia worlV bmt In modaro BminMB MaoaMoo. OMcat Ruitnti
. !..!'" North eanillna. ftwitinn iruanintard, harkot by a ll contract. No vaoailna
Individual Itunrui'tmu. aJ tuach Bik-k.irfn, ehnnhanfl. Pmrauolilp, by mall. Sen
for Home u'1y ma Write lonajr for our Calalmrins f)8em aiiit Htvh InnrwmmM. TnT it
we. Addrw KING'S VS!I COLLRQE.
NOW IS
To huv
Mowing Machine at a low flirure
stock of them and will dispose
any other haidware that you may want. Come to see us.
We are just beginning to receive our Fall Fertilizers.
McCrary - Redding
CONTRACT given, backed by S300.000.00 capital ani 1 8 years' 6UCCK8S
DRAUGHOrj'S'.V..'.COLLECES
tS Colleges la 1 ftes. Indorsed by business mm. Ko Tacatton
LUtiifl 01 WAIL ha Ta ahlpJ Study or-Catak P.n a atiMdlaC CUt
L, Latter Writing, KnalM.. , M Ana, Iilua-1 pboa, call oa, or addrMa Jko. T. D"5"2
ratin, sic. Utoav back II aU aaiated sitae 1 PraSiat Draujboo'a Fiactisal Umtam CaUej,
Raleigh, colt, rat Is, Knoxvil e, Jacksonville or .Nasiiville. We teach
Telgraphy at VN aahlnj-ton. Li. C, and Atlanta, Oa.
F I a alii . a ffZiJmmtm bu. U
SCROFULA
PV. LIPPMAM
' '"oprt.tot'
Savannah, - ca.
l',r, DRIGG1, A.
W. II. Price. A. B.. Principal
POSTOFFICE.
FOR
THE TIME
a McCormick or Deerine
McCormick or Deerinf
We have on hand a good
thftn rpasnnahlv. Also
of them
Hardware Company.
C7J