Show i M OUSE zy bawit f lr r I 1 fill SYNOPSIS CHAPTER I 1 jennie woodruff contemptuously refuses to marry jim irwin young tarm farm hand because of 0 his bis financial condition and poor prospects he Is 13 intellectually above his bis station elation and has advanced ide ideas a con concerning cornin the possibilities of elpe expert ra t a chool teaching te act I 1 for which he la is ra ridiculed dicel od by ma many ny CHAPTER II 11 more as a joke than of otherwise jim la is selected as teacher ot of tile the woodruff district school CHAPTER III jim in his new position sets out to make stanch friends of his pupils especially two boys newton bronson and buddy simms the th latter the son ot of a shirtless farmer colonel woodruff jennies jennie lather father has little faith in jims ideas ot of improving rural educational methods ile he nicknames him the brown mouse in illustration of 0 an anecdote CHAPTER IV jims conduct of 0 th the a school where he endeavors to teach the children the wonders ot of nature and some of 0 the scientific methods ot of farming as well as book learning Is condemned CHAPTER V jennie woodruff Is no mInted for the position ot of county superintendent of tho the school board grows bitter in its opposition to jim and his innovations CHAPTER VL NIL at a public mooting jim roundly condemns tho the methods or of teaching in the rural schools and makes no friends thereby CHAPTER VII A delegation of prominent women condemn jims methods ot of teaching but ho be Is stoutly defended by his pupils especially newton nawton bronson i CHAPTER VIII jim has christmas dinner at colonel woodruffs and listening to him jennie begins to do some thinking concerning his bis ability and his prospects IX in the evening jim AS well as he knows how courts jonnie jennie without however making much progress though she Is quickly losing her er poor opinion of him CHAPTER X jennie elected county I 1 superintendent of schools receives so many complaints irom from people of the i district concerning jims methods of teaching that she rinds finds herself compelled formally to ask for or his resigns lion alter after she eho lias is left jim Is visited by colonel woodruff who strona ly urges him to refuse to resign and offers to back him jim agrees to stick tor for a while at least CHAPTER XIA XI A meeting of the school board which had bad been gathered boget to get jim Is confronted by jennie who upholds bi him m ho he conducts an ex atthe al meet 1 ing to prove that he Is not neglecting their book learning by the introduction ot of other subjects which he be con alders of 0 importance the splendid snowing made by the children converts many who had doubted to his views CHAPTER XII the novel ideas which jim has introduced have been talked about outside the county and he be Is visited by professor withers extension lecturer at the state university unive relly who invites him to deliver dalier an address at the next annual meeting of the th farmers institute CHAPTER XIII protessor professor withers Is impressed by many of the innovations made by irwin and so informs colonel woodruff and jennie somewhat to the astonishment ol of both th the colonel suggests to jim that he h th the colonel sek election to the school board replacing cornelius bonner implacable enemy ol of jim irwin CHAPTER c XIV feigning P v brewton bronson youngster whom IT ir win has rede erred from idleness and ana oily folly and ana set on tho the right path and who almost vor worships ships the teacher keeps his father from voting at the school board election eronson bronson Is a tripod of bonner and ami would have voted tor for him As it Is colonel woodruff Is 1 chosen chose lor for the position owing to bronsoon Brona Bron sown ons 5 absence CHAPTER X XV jim convince the farmers of the district ot of the th advantages to be derived from a co operative creamery and it Is agreed to establish one ills rise to it a position of leider chip in the community and ana high responsibility has made a distinct difference inJen in jennies nias feelings toward jim which sho she to Is forced to acknowledge to hertelt hersell CHAPTER XVI rn in his address eSS ress at the farmers institute jim makes 11 distinctly favorable impression after the meeting he Is offered a position n Is teacher in another district with a ca con n tlde vid rable erable advance in salary and acree to t consider it arii iu grunted equated mr Ilof myer 1 I 1 lit been able abe lo 10 see liow how lutia latin connects up with will a school kills life unless lie he can find a latin settlement sor acres neres and ami git a job clerkin cler klu in a bhore hut but it used to relate to lle life sail jim the life of the people ali who maile made greek and latin apart or of everybody elbes education as well as their own j lutin and greek were the only languages in which anything worth liuch waa written you know hut but now jim serend pr roil out his arins as if to take in the whole world science the mar literature of 0 our tongue in the last three and to make a child learn levirn latin all that a thousand times richer than all tile the literature ol of latin lying unused before him I 1 i know any latin asked str mr bof jim blushed as one caught in con ts t S damning what be inow nothing about 1 1 I I 1 halle stud kindled icil tile the grammar and read lend caesar ar be falter ed but that pi augh uli ilind no xi teacher and I 1 had to cork pretty hard and it covery well ive had nil all uie the they gave eave in the coll colleges ages or of roy my time said mr ilof hot nyer myer if I 1 do talk dialect and III agree with you so ira tar far as to 10 say that it would have beli ebuen a crime for or me to neglect the he chemistry bacteriology 2 physics and otter scie sciences n tf cS J wf f v thai pertain to to faiT tan nh it e d been any such sciences when I 1 was gettin my school schoolen ln and yet jet said jim some people want us its to guide ourselves by the courses of study made before these sciences existed 1 I dont by said Ilof myer ill be dag boned it you ulet aint right I 1 a said so before I 1 heard that speech but I 1 say so now jims face lighted up at this the first convincing evidence that he had scored 1 I hilleve bl lil leve too went avent on mr not myer that your idee would please our folks ive been the standpatter in our parts mostly on english and say german what dye say to comin down and teach te achin ln our school weve got a two room affair and I 1 was made a committee of one to find a teacher 4 1 I 1 1 I dont see how jim stammered all taken aback by this new breeze of recognition we cant pay much said Ilof myer you have charge of the als elp line in the ilia whole school and teach in number two room seventy five dollars a month does it appeal to ye appeal to him I 1 and yet how about the Simm ses colonel woodruff the and nekton dronson bronson now just getting a firm start on the upward path to usefulness and real happiness how could he be leave the little crude puny structure on which he had been working on which he be had been merely practicing for a year and remove to the new field 1 tm rm afraid I 1 cant said jim irwin but it if youre only grald you cant said mr hoffmyer Hof myer think it over ive ire I 1 got your post office address on tills this program and well write you a formal offer we may spring them figures a little think it over you think said J jim im that weve done all the things I 1 mentioned in my talk or that I 1 made any mistakes or failures lal lures your i county superintendent mention any failures said mr hof myer did you talk alth her about my work inquired jim suddenly very curious ahm in then I 1 dont donat see why you want me 1 jim went on why asked mr 1 I had not supposed sur posed said jim that the she had a very high opinion of my work 1 I ask her about that said mr though I 1 guess she thinks well of it I 1 asked lier her what you are tryan to do and nhat tk lint sort of a fellow you are I 1 was favorably impressed but she mention any failures we succeeded in adopting a successful system of selling our cream sold jim 1 I believe we can do it but we wall wal said sir air Ilof myer 1 I danow is as id call that a failure the tact fact that youre bryin of it shows youve got the right edees well write ye and febbe pay your way down to look us over were a pretty good crowd the neighbors think blunk CHAPTER think of it ames was an inspiration jim invin received from the great agricultural college more real education in this one trip than many stu students Tents get from a four years course in its halls for he had spent ten years in getting ready for or the experience the great far farraf ruf hundreds of acres aci as all under the nian management of experts the beautiful caul cam pus the commodious classrooms and laboratories and especially the hams barns I 1 the he greenhouses gardens herds find and hocks filled him with a sort eort of apostolic joy every school said lie he to professor withers ought to be doing a good deal of the work you have to do here ill admit said the professor p ro ressor that much of our work in agriculture Is pretty elementary its ita intermediate school work sail said jim its wrong to force boys and girls to leave their homes and live in I a college to get so much of what they should have before ten years old theres something in what you say gay said the professor but experiment station men seem to thlin that hat agriculture in the common schools hlll take from the young men and women the felt need and ami therefore the desire to couie come to the college collage it if tou ou cant give them anything better than high school work said jim that thai will be so but it if the science and art of agriculture Is ahat I 1 think it Is it would make them hungry for the advanced work that really cant be done at home bome to make the children wait until twenty Is to deny them more than half what the college ought to give them and make them pv pay for what th they dont set get v a v A 6 a r t 1 I 1 think youre your right fT adl said addie the professor give us the kind hind of schools I 1 ask tor for cried jim and ill dil n college like this in every congressional district in iowa or ill force you to tear car this down and build larger more nearly happy and rather shorter of money than he had recently been jim journeyed home among the companions from his own neighborhood in a frenzy of plans tor for the future mr hohmyer had bad dropped from ills his mind until con bonner his old enemy drew him aside in the vestibule of the train and spoke to him in the mysterious manner peculiar to politicians cinns what kind of a proposition did that man Hof hofmeister melster make your you he inquired ite ile asked me about you and I 1 told him youre a crackerjack im much obliged replied jim no use in back calpin a fellow bryin to make so methin of himself said bonner that aint good politics nor good sense anything to him ire he offered me a salary of seventy five dollars a month to take charge of his school said jim well said con well be sorry to lose yeh but you bennt turn down anything like that 1 I dont know said eald jim 1 I decided bonner scrutinized his face sharply as if to find out what sort of game lie he was playing well said be at last 1 I hope you can stay with us oc 0 course ourse im licked and I 1 never squeal it if tho the rist of the can stand your kind of tt th iricks ricks I 1 can and say jim here he grow grew still more mysterious lous if you do stay some of us would like to have bare you be enough of a democrat io to go into the next convention fr county superintendent why replied jim 1 I never thought of such a thing 1 well think of it said con the county clour itys close and wad it a poplar young educator san an a farmer too it might be done think of it jim was almost dazed at the number of propositions of which he was now required to think and conners did not at first impresa imps him as having anything back of it but blarney lie ile was to find fand out later however that tile the wily con had made up his mind that the ambition of jim to serve the rural schools in a larger sphere ml might ht be used forthe purpose of bringing to earth what he regarded as the soaring political ambitions of the woodruff family to split the forces which had bad defeated sir mr bonner in his own school district with the very instrument used by the colonel at the last school election that to sir mr conner bonner would be a line thing jim had scarcely taken his seat in the car facing jennie woo woodruff druff and bettena hamm in the pullman when columbus brown path master naster of the road district and only across the way from residence in the school district camo caino down the aisle and called jim to the smoking room did an old fellow hoffman offman II from pottawatomie county ask you to leave us and take his school he naked clr Ilof oyer myerl said jim yes lie he did well said columbus 1 I dont want wa ut to fisk you to stand in your own light but I 1 hope you wont let him toll you all were proud of you jim ot oft there among adiong strangers wort were proud of you iiii ant and ille u dont want to lose you proud of blin I 1 sweet music to the earsl jim blushed and the fact Is said columbus 1 I 1 know that woodruff district job halat big enough for aou ou any more I 1 but we can make it bigger if I 1 stay I 1 believe we can pull off a deal to consolidate some ot of them districts and make you boss df ar the whole match 1 I appreciate this dumb clumb said jim but I 1 dont believe you can do it well think of 0 it said columbus anil and dont do anything till you talk with we me and a few of the other boys think of it again 1 A fine homecoming home coming it was wag tor for jim v the colonel waiting tit at the station with a double sleigh anu and the chance to ride into tile the snowy country in the HIP same sent seat with jennie jennic a chance which was blighted by the colonels placing bettina and nils hansen in the broad rear seat and finlin in front with himself the colonel novy oil ki not allow liliu IV hi jet get out and walk enert he could bially have bare reached home more quickly by doing so no he set the hansom hansens down at their door took jennie jean I 1 home and then drove the lightened sleigh merrily to the humble bumble cabin of the ruther rather excited young schoolmaster did you mate make any deal with those people down in the western part of the st state atell asked the colonel jennie wrote me that youve got an offer no said jim and he told the colonel about the proposal ot of mr hoffmyer Hot Hof myer well said the colonel in my capacity of wild eyed reformer ive inside up my mind that the first four miles in the trip la is to make the rural teachers job a bigger job its got tu to be a mans manis slie size wO gomaras womans marAs size job or we cant get real men and real women to stay in the work 1 IT I think a statesmanlike formulation of it said jim well sald said the colonel dont t turn down the pottawatomie county job dutu we ne how it i chance to see what we can do ill get some kind of a niec meeting ting together and what I 1 want you to do 10 Is to use this offer its as a club over this helpless school district what we need Is to be held up do the jesse james net act jim I 1 1 I cant colonell colonel 1 yes you can too will you try it itt 1 I want to treat everybody fairly said jim including mr hoffmyer Hot Hof myer I 1 dont know what to do hardly well ill get the meeting together said the colonel and in the mean time think of what pro said another thing to think off jim rushed into the house and surprised his mother who had expected him to arrive after a slow walk from town through the snow jim caught her in ills his arms arins from which she was released a moment later quite flustered and blushing I 1 why james said site she you seem excited happened nothing mother he replied aex ex capt that I 1 believe theres just a |