Madeline Clyde

"If I could only help," Madeline had said one evening when they sat
talking over their troubles; "but there's nothing I can do, unless I
apply for our school this summer. Mr. Green is committeeman; he likes
us, and I don't believe but what he'll let me have it. I mean to go
and see;" and, ere the old people had recovered from their
astonishment, Madeline had caught her bonnet and shawl, and was flying
down the road.

Madeline was a favorite with all, especially with Mr. Green, and as
the school would be small that summer, the plan struck him favorably.
Her age, however, was an objection, and he must take time to see what
others thought of a child like her becoming a schoolmistress. Others
thought well of it, and so before the close of the next day it was
generally known through Honedale, as the southern part of Devonshire
was called, that pretty little Madge Clyde had been engaged as
teacher, she receiving three dollars a week, with the understanding
that she must board herself. It did not take Madeline long to
calculate that twelve times three were thirty-six, more than a tenth
of what her grandfather must borrow. It seemed like a little fortune,
and blithe as a singing bird she flitted about the house, now stopping
a moment to fondle her pet kitten, while she whispered the good news
in its very appreciative ear, and then stroking her grandfather's
silvery hair, as she said: "You can tell them that you are sure of paying thirty-six dollars in
the fall, and if I do well, maybe they'll hire me longer. I mean to
try my very best. I wonder if ever anybody before me taught a school
when they were only fourteen and a half. Do I look as young as that?"
and for an instant the bright; childish face scanned itself eagerly in
the old-fashioned mirror, with the figure of an eagle on the top.