Show y rut SYNOPSIS I 1 jennio jennie woodruff contemptuously refuses to marry jim ir win young oung farm hand because of his hl financial condition and poor prospects he it Is intellectually above his i station i ta on and lias has advanced ideas idea con concerning P 0 o rn 1 n or t the he PO possibilities of ex expert e rt scho school 1 n r for which he la is ad ridiculed louled tor by many CHAP chantell TEll II 11 more aloro an a a loke joke than oth otherwise erwiNe jim is ie selected as teacher of the tha woodruff district school CHAPTER III jim in hl his new post poal ill alon on se aeta to out to make atanos fr friend en I 1 a of hla his pupils especially two boys boya now newton bronnon Itro naon and auddy simms the iatter the son bon oi of a ah tan farmer colonel colon I 1 woodruff Je jennie nales father has ha HMO faith alth in jims jim ideas ot of improving ampro i n rural educational methods methode me thoda lie nj nick 0 1 jamea hini him the brown mouse moue tn in 11 lur burtion tion pt of an anecdote CHAPTER IV jims conduct 0 of the ac act I 1 ool where lie ho ende endeavors avora to toe macd e h t the ta 0 children adren tho the wonders of natu nature re and some of the ee lentino tillo methods method of farming on as aa well au am book learning IB I 1 condemned coagan e ined CHAPTER V jennie woodruff is minted tor for tho the position of county superintendent of schools the school board grows growa bitter in lla its opposition to jim and hla his innovate innovations ono CHAPTER VI at a public meeting jim roundly condemns the tha methods oll of deac teaching ling in the rural schools school and i makes no friends thereby 1 CHAPTER VIL VII A delegation of pro prominent eminent women condemn jims method oda 11 0 f teaching but he to Is stoutly do defended fe de d by his pupils especially newton dronson Uro naon CHAPTER aeten vin jim has christmas dinner at colonel woodruffs and lip to him jennie begins to do some mom I 1 chinking concerning his ability and a his prospects IX in tho evening jim BB as is he knovs how courts jennie ac wi without phout however making much Ero progress pro gresi grest though she in I 1 quickly losing her er poo opinion of him charann CHATT Mt X jennia elected county of schools receives so 10 many complaints from people of the dis dietric concerning jims methods of toach that she finds herself corn com lir d ari all to ask a sk for his hid resignation vatar ter x tho ahas has left jim Is 1 visited by clonel woodruff Wood who strongly etron gly urge shim hani to refuse to resign and i offe to back him jim agrees to alf stick for or a while at least cl XI A meeting of the achal board which had been gathered to et t jim la Is confronted by jennie wh c him lie he conducts an ex ani agitation tation of hla his pupils at the meet ingato prove that lie he la in not neglecting fj lit ita tuf book learning by the introduce hi tl tj 4 of other subjects subject a which he con th ar of importance the splendid acil 1 ing made by the children hl dren converts convert i 51 lily who had doubted to his views I 1 malt ac I 1 fra XII the novel ideas idea lh oil jim has introduced have been bi d 1 d about b ut outside thi tha bounty and I 1 visited tied by professor withers ex V 1 n fion on lecturer at the state university 1 t invites him to deliver an address che next annual meeting of the ithiers Ith mers k institute I 1 XIII professor withers by many of the I 1 sinnova p me ag made bar by irwin iraln and so informs lonel W woodruff oo 00 and jennie some cat to the astonishment of both the anol jono 1 suggests to jim that he the monel one jubik election to the ara replacing cornelius bonner im lacabue enemy of jim irwin arim XIV Hron Bon on youngster youngs fr whom irwin hits redeemed from Idle anil and jolly and sot on the right path and who worships the teacher keeps lila his father from at the school board election bronson Is it a friend of bonner and would have voted for him As aa it Is Is colonel woodruff Is in chosen for tho the position owing to B Dron ron sons absence chapton XV jim convinces the farmers of the district of the ad advantages van to be derived from a operative cooperative co creamery crenin pry and it Is agreed to one llin ill rise to n position nf loader lender alp in the tha community and herh re pan ability has haa arnado a distinct di differ er once in jennies feelings feeling s toward jim which she ahe to Is forced to acknowledge to herself XVI in him address ril at the partners farmers institute jim makes a distinctly disable favorable vo r able impression after the he Is offered a position no AH teacher in another n I 1 or dietr I 1 et wish with it a con 0 ilde rahle advance bitic e in salary and to consider it it was a crisis no doubt of that and the responsibility of tile situation rather sickened jim of tho the task of teaching only one thing kept him from lodging the whole issue anil and re inal ning nt lit home the colonels nit ter of fact assumption that jim had become master of the situation how could ho he flee when this old soldier was so valiantly for him tn in the trenches so jim went to the meeting how could he impose conditions on tie the whole school district ilow how could tile lie colonel expect such ouch a thing of lilma and how could anyone look for anything but scorn for the upstart flold annd from these men who had for so many years made him the butt of their good natured but none the less contemptuous ridicule who wils was ile he anyway to lay down rules for t these I 1 lose substantial and successful men he who lind had been for all the years of his life at their command subservient to their heir demands fur labor their under langl tha season reason was n spring and it was a mild night the windows of the schoolhouse were filled mth kith heads evidencing the presence of a crowd of almost unprecedented bize and the had been thrown up for ventilation and coolness cool nesa As jim climbed the back fence of the schoolyard lie he hoard a burst of lags e from which jie be judged that some speaker had bad just finished tilt alif re F marks there was silence lie he came alongside the window at the right of the ch airmans desk a silance broken by the voice of old man slums saying baying AtI stall chairman I 1 tho rho chair said the voice of ezra bronson nr onson recognizes mr slinda jim halted in indecision iia was not expected while the debate visten progress there Is no rule of or morals however forbidding ayes dropping during the proceedings proceeding of a public meeting therefore he be to the first and last public spahl of ol oil man simms ah t th aint no speaker Bp enker sold said old ann simms but ali ah cahnt act set here liere and bo ba quiet an go s home an imy olo ole woman an my boys an sayin it a word to tto tin best friend any family evah had ah irim binl irwin it win Appl applause maybe III 1 bo be thought to hy aMeln as 13 all ah aint no learnan lear nial an sora bormay fmay think ah dont pay no but cecin as how weve took the banch ord ard farm a hundred an sixty acres for an move in a wet from Sat day we pay taxes in our rea rei ah reckon nn an that mr be aeve come to feel that you yon all allmont aront think hard of me if ah speak what wo uns feel so strong about mi jim I 1 i old man alan simms finished exordium with the rising inflection lich alch denoted a direct question as t lis his status in the meeting go in ml ill youve got as aa good it a right altany onell onel youre all right old nial such exclamations as these can to jims ears with scarcely less leas armful ness than to those of old man alan teams who stammered and went on ali ah thank you all kindly genemon nn ladles when mr tim jim irwin gearn dmd u us s we was wag sc scandalous andRIOUS pore we was wag pore we was low ayn cries of no nol no I 1 tes we was aecus when man gets in n now new place hes got lift himself up to what folks boet tore ere hes come to or hell malie make lace 11 ter fer himself lowern anybody in the mountings we nye was good pie die bertiz we done the best we can the best any one done but I 1 we was lowdown low down people b becca erub ted bcd the people that had roo m 0 leal lea mo land nio me money R an n mo friem lan an what we had my little cynt lilt in their cloth cl othea es 23 2 3 11 dern was an tri grinj 11 nj t I 1 was the most tri flin of all te it to colonel woodruff if I 1 I 1 od for fer a n plug of ter backer 0 oh in of flour at any sto in I 1 n the t th e co 88 I 1 colonel I 1 herft ng th ta less an 4 lost there was a ripple of I 1 lifter after fter A d in D the midst of which the col in 11 tcp CP was wag heard saying 1 I re e mr simms I 1 gums you W wead ed Than keo said old ma M it as if the colonel had given R aay ive about ile p able testimonial to hla his cl cli il orji flo I 1 W was I 1 kin I 1 03 sv what am I 1 good ter fer crittl calit I 1 get anything I 1 wart want at the store stor cahnt I 1 git it little money at th bank it if I 1 got to lave have ltv it youre just as good arany man in the district said the conel yon dont on t asli ash for more than ou can pay and you can get all you lask ask said mr air slams gra graverly Tilly what all ali tell douall Is right ladles we wa owe ow it all to jim irwin and gentlemen an ail that has mule mittle the change in we uns ladles and gentlemen its the ank of mr jim irwin with my boy nay raymonl moni the best beat boy any man efah hed andley and my oa 0 lista an buddy an annle an with tile me an v T ole woman lie ile us ua how to get a toe toc holt into this new kentry lie he teamed tile the children what orto be b did by a farmer fanner in loway ill n taime is ne lifted us ns up an made people of 0 us lie ile done showed us ua that you allis all la good people an not what wo we thought you was what ho he learned in school my boy raymond on an nit me made BO au good crops 11 as wo VO could last qt summer immer tin nn aasc doffe muce iw uk we jo got t the namo of bela bein good farmers orn ni nix good kers abal an when mr moved to town he h said he b was hind to give us ua hla fine farm for five years now see ace what ur mr jim irwin hn has done for a pack os 0 outlaws and outcasts ol 01 0 aidin out from the unit that was us ua la in the mountings well be livin in a house with two chimneys chim leys an a tub made crock well be in debt a whole lot an n wo we awo it to te mr hir jim irwin that we cot tile tho credit to git fit lu in debt with an all tho the courage to go CO on and git out agin ill applause all ali could afford to pay mr air jim ir wins kabiry masef if ali al could AW aa theres enough men hyah tonight tonly lit that say eny been money ceped by his ten benchin chin the school to make up mol mo than hla his wages lets not lot let mr air jim irwin go neighbors I 1 lots lets not lot let him go eel I 1 jims heart warmed there ian a man in that meeting suld said ho he to him self na as he walked to tile the schoolhouse door poss possessed eased of tile the greatness ef c spirit of old man alan simms if lies hes a fair sample of the veople odthe moun bains they are of the stuff of which great nations are made if they only are given a chaum chance CHAPTER A school Distri olt hold up colonel woodruff was on hw bis feet jim made his way through the crowd about the ho door sir mr irwin la Is here ladles and gentlemen bald ho he and I 1 move that wa hear bear from him as aa to what wo we can do to meet the offer of our friends in pot tawa county kut but before I 1 yield tho the floor I 1 want to t say that this meeting has haa been worth while lust just to have been the occasion of our nil all becoming better acquainted with our friend and neighbor mr simms whatever may have been the lack of understanding on our part of his qualities they were nil all cleared up by that speech of his the alie best beat I 1 have ever heard in this neighborhood moro more applause in the midst of which old man alan simms slunk away bwy down in his bis seat to escape ob serTa lion then the chairman said that if there was no obJect objection lon they would henr hear from their well known citizen whose growing fame was more remarkable for the fact that it had been gained as a country schoolmaster be he need not add that ho he referred to mr mir james il irwin more and louder it ap Tri friends ends and neighbors said jim yon ask roo me to say to you yon what I 1 went want you yon to do I 1 want you to do whit what you want to do nothing more or less baat year I 1 was glad to be tolerated here and the only change in the situation lies in the fact that I 1 have another place offered roc me unless there has been it a change in your feelings toward me and my work I 1 hope there ham been for I 1 know my work la Is good now I 1 only believed it then sure it lal Is I 1 shouted con bonner from a front seat scat thus signalizing signal izing that astute ers definite choice I 1 I 1 I 1 V oz roll Us U what you want jim of ft a place in the bandwagon tell rell BS as what you want jim 1 what do I 1 want asked JI jim more than anything else elec I 1 want lucli meetings as this often tind and a place to hold them lf if I 1 stay in the wood rut raff district I 1 want this meeting to effect a permanent organization to tc work with me I 1 cant teach this district anything nobody can teach any one anything all any teacher can do Is to direct peoples activities in teaching themselves you yon are gathered here to decide what do about the small matter of keeping we me at work as your hired man it if im to be your hired man I 1 want it boss in the shape of a civic lion which will take in every man and woman in the district heres the place and the time to make that organization an organization the object of which shall be to put the whole district at school and to boss me in my work tor for the whole district dat sounds good cried haakon peterson vell do catl then I 1 want you to work out a bulldog build ng scheme for the school jim went on we want a place where girls can learn to cook keep house tako take care of babies sew and learn to be wives and mothers theres somebody right in this neighborhood able to ebach anything the young peo i pie want to learn and I 1 wint B R physician here on one in a while to examine the children as to their health and a dentist to look their teeth and teach them how to care for them also an to examine thear ejea and when bettina hansen comes home from the hospital a trained nurse I 1 want her to have a job as visiting nurse right here in the woodruff district 1 I want a counting room for the keeping of tile farm accounts and the record 0 our ob observation in forming I 1 wont want co operation in letting us as hare theme accounts 1 1 I I want some training anent for world and metal working and a blacksmith and wagon shop in which the boys boy may learn to ro shoe horses repair tools design build ings ines and practice the best agricultural engineering I 1 want to do work ta poultry according to the most meet modern modem breeding discoveries and I 1 want conr operation cooperation co in that and a poultry plant somewhere in the district 1 1 I want a laboratory in which we can work on seeds pests pesta soils sails feeds and the like for the education of your children must come out ont of these things 1 I want these things because they are necessary it if we are arc to get the cul ture tore out of life we should get and nobody gets culture out of any am sort of school they get it out of life or they dont get it it at all so I 1 want you to build as freely for your school as for your cuttle cattle and horses and hogs flags the school will make tor to r you th 3 new kind of rural school i a 3 social oc in I 1 I 1 11 a which will be the social center b cause it will he be the educational education nl cente and the business center of the con try alde side 1 I want all these things and mor mon but I 1 dont expect them all at onci anc I 1 know that this district Is in too smal scalf to |