It was a frolic, rather than a task. All had come with a perfect understanding that this early attendance was quite illegal, and not to be required of them—but they came.
“Newt,” suggested Jim, “get busy on the percentage problems for that second class in arithmetic.”
“Sure,” said Newt. “Let’s see.... Good seed is the base, and bad seed and dead seed the percentage—find the rate....”
“Oh, you know!” said Jim. “Make them easy and plain and as many as you can get out—and be sure that you name the farm every pop!”
“Got you!” answered Newton, and in a fine frenzy went at the job of creating a text-book in arithmetic.
“Buddy,” said Jim, patting the youngest Simms on the head, “you and Virginia can print the reading lessons this morning, can’t you?”
“Yes, Mr. Jim,” answered both McGeehee Simms and his sister cheerily. “Where’s the copy?”
“Here,” answered the teacher, handing each a typewritten sheet for use as the original from which the young mountaineers were to make hectograph copies, “and mind you make good copies! Bettina Hansen pretty nearly cried last night because she had to write them over so many times on the typewriter before she got them all right.”
The reading lesson was an article on corn condensed from a farm paper, and a selection from Hiawatha—the Indian-corn myth.
“We’ll be careful, Mr. Jim,” said Buddy.