The Undoing of David Lemwell [pp. 206-213]

The Utidoiig of Daz!id Leniwell.
that had taken possession of every other
feature. She tiptoed up to the desk with
elaborate stillness. " Miss Dean, shall
I stay?" she whispered.
Miss Dean felt a treacherous grip at
her throat. Very likely the little attention was prompted by curiosity, or a desire to astonish her classmates; but it
touched the teacher as she had been
touched once before that day, when, on
looking out of the window she met the
anxious, enquiring face of Old Dave's
daughter. She had smiled and shaken
her head at that one, and received an
answering smile, as, relieved, it disappeared among the bushes; but this face
she took between her hands and kissed.
"No, dear. Goodnight,- I think Mr.
Lemwell wants to talk to me alone," and
Louise, with a virtuous glow, departed.
Miss Dean turned to her remaining
pupil. "You wish to speak to me?"
"Wall,- I've got considerable to say
and I reckon I better say it now. Now
these here books,-I studied'em faithful
all day, but it don't seem zif I know any
more'n I did this mornin'.'Pears like
a man ought to have somethin' to show
for't when he works all day. You ain't
heard me say any of'em, though I
ain't findin' no fault with that,- bein'
only a play scholar, so to speak."
"No, I did not call on you. I thought
it would distract the children. But I
will hear you recite now. Take the
reader please, and turn to the lesson."
"I don't like to not mind what I'm
told, being as I'm a sort of scholar; but
if you ain't particular, we'11 let the books
go, fur I've got another lesson to recite.
I own them books is too deep for me,
but there's lessons books don't teach,
an' I learnt one of'em while I was a
sittin' here today; an' I reckon when
we go you'd better lock up, an' give
me the key, for we won't have no more
school here, —not till fall, we won't.
Winter's the time for studyin', when
you can't do nothin' else, an' three
months is enough.
"When we hired yuh, we agreed to
dismiss yuh whenever we had any call
to, an' though one of my lessons today
was that I ain't got anything agin you, I
guess it's time fur school to stop. I'd
plum forgot how I used to feel, but
while I was a-sittin' here it all come
back to me. I could hear them birds
a singin', an' the little breezes a shakin'
the leaves, an' I knew just how the
brook that I've looked at every day
without seein', was a-swingin' along
kind of easy by itself, just chock full of
fishes a-needin' to be caught, and then I
looked at them little children, an''t was
all I could do to keep from jumping up,
and yelling to them to go out an' stay
out among the trees an' shadders where
they belong.
"An' you ain't where you belong, no
more'n them. When I come in this
mornin' you were as bright an' sassy as
a bantam pullet, an' yuh just been a
tonin' down all day, till now yuh ain't
got spunk enough left to give me a piece
of your mind. Yuh ain't got no business to do it.'T ain't nature to have
school in summer, no way. What you
ought to do is to get married. It may
be yuh ain't never had no chance. They
do say there's more women than men,
an' so some of'em's got to get left, but
you ain't got no call to,-not yet, you
ain't. I been sitin' thinkin' this thing
out, an' I about made up my mind that
there wa'n't no sort of reason why I
should n't marry yuh myself. I've got
a house-an' I've got money. My girl's
likely, an' I'm just expectin' to see her
step off any day, then I'd have to rustle
around lively. An' there's Dave a
needin' a mother,-no, don't say nothin'
yit,'cause right here I want to say I
won't have no objections at all to your
makin' Dave mind, an' handlin' him
lively when he needs it. I said no
teacher wa' n't goin' to lick him, but I
ain't said his ma shouldn't.'Cose I
expect yuh to train him up,-an' if yuh
need any help, I'm with yuh. An' now
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