what might happen if books and bells could talk

the little schoolhouse was painted white, with green shutters. over the front gable was a little old-fashioned belfry. in it swung a little old-fashioned school bell, for this was a country district school, with scarcely a house in sight.

one bright september morning, the opening day of school, forty or fifty noisy children were drawn up in line, waiting for the bell to stop ringing.

when the bell stopped, the children marched[43] inside and took their seats facing the teacher’s desk.

“order!” tapped the desk bell, and the room was suddenly still.

the pupils looked to see who had tapped the bell, for the teacher was nowhere to be seen.

they saw the new school-books piled on the platform and on the teacher’s desk—but where was the teacher?

“i am the new spelling book, full of hard words,” said the top book of the pile of spellers on the right-hand side of the platform.

“i am the new reader, full of good stories,” announced the top one of a stack of readers on the left-hand side of the platform.

the pupils were startled. it was so quiet you could hear the clock tick.

“i am the new arithmetic, full of problems harder to crack than the hickory nuts in the woods,” spoke up a book on the teacher’s desk; “but why don’t you find your teacher?”

no one answered. the children only sat half-frightened, wondering what would happen next.

“i am the new language book,” declared another book in the row on the teacher’s desk; “but who will teach you your mother tongue?”

everyone was still. only the clock ticked on.

[44]

“i am the geography; in my pages are maps of all countries. who will give you permission to look?” it was the largest book of all that asked this question.

the pupils stared opened-eyed over the desk at the teacher’s empty chair. they saw nothing but a sunbeam coming in through the window—full of particles of shining dust.

“there must be somebody hiding,” spoke up one boy who could stand the strain no longer.

“i am going to see,” said another boy braver than the rest.

getting up, he looked behind the desk and in the closet, but nothing was to be seen, not even a mouse.

“let us go out and look for the teacher,” he cried. with one accord they ran pell-mell out the door into the playground.

an automobile was coming up the road at top speed.

“good morning, boys and girls,” the new teacher called, as the machine pulled up.

“good morning, teacher,” they answered crowding about her.

“i am sorry to be late the first day of school. there was some trouble at rockland and the train was delayed. mr. jones drove me over.”

[45]

“we are glad you are here,” said an older girl as the machine drove off. “we went in and took our seats at nine o’clock, thinking you would come at any minute. all at once something began to talk. ‘i am the speller full of hard words; i am the arithmetic; i am the reader; i am the geography; where is your teacher?’ the voices said. at first we thought somebody was hiding, but we could not find anyone. then we got frightened and ran out.”

“well, isn’t that strange?” said the teacher laughing. “we will go in and see.”

together they trooped into the schoolroom. they looked everywhere; nothing had been moved; everything was just as usual.

the teacher tapped the bell and everyone took a seat.

“well, children,” she said smiling, “we have already learned a very important lesson this morning, and that is that every school must have a teacher!”

questions

what should a school have?— teachers

pupils

books

schoolhouse

what other persons or things should a school have?

[46]

can you have a school without a teacher?

why is the teacher so important?

what should the pupils be?— obedient

clean

orderly

courteous

helpful

punctual

anxious to learn.

what else should the pupils be?— respectful to all connected with school.

respectful to principal, to teacher, to janitor, to other children.

memory gems

one rule to guide us in our life

is always good and true;

’tis, do to others as you would

that they should do to you.

if wisdom’s ways you’d wisely seek,

five things observe with care;

of whom you speak, to whom to speak,

and how, and when, and where.

prize your friend for her own true heart,

though her dress be poor and mean;

the years, like a fairy wand, may change

cinderella to a queen.