"the sniffling hypocrites," knelt his gray-haired, praying mother. At his other side knelt his saintly old father, and at the end of those prayers, Manly Wixon arose a man. Manly Wixon has stood the test of time. Since that night he has not only led an upright life, and borne a good reputation among his fellowmen, but he has worked his way through college and has preached the gospel and has been a power for good in the church.

"Old Jack," as he was lovingly called, couldn't sing and wouldn't pray, but he stood for decency, and had his reward, for he himself became the object of Manly Wixon's affections, and later walked in his footsteps. But how about Simeon Nayson! On this night he knelt unattended and unprayed. Not unprayed entirely, either. Just at the close of this eventful night,—the night when they back-fired on the devil,-when all was still, and the benediction was about to be pronounced, the minister passed to the kneeling Sim-Sim, who had boasted of the great benefits of an every-day religion-whole suit, and cap, overcoat and shoes, plus a Holy Bible.

The minister laid his hand on Simeon's head and in clear tones pronounced the following, which sounded like a malediction:

"Oh, Lord, Thou knowest if this man be in earnest. If he be, Oh, Lord, bless him.

If not, smite him. AMEN.

The work of the rural church is peculiar in the sense that every efficient organization must be peculiar-it must meet conditions as they are found. The rural church to be efficient must, in its own way, do its particular work. It would be as great a mistake to try to "citify" a rural church as it would be to try to ruralize" a city school. Each must render service to its own constituency and by its own peculiar methods.

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CHAPTER XI

MANAGING Boys

GENERALLY considered, boys make the real problems of discipline. In the Crossing School the boy problem was an ever-present one, due to several

causes.

Probably the first which presented itself was that caused by irregular entrance to school. The new boy always seemed to feel the obligation of affording a certain amount of entertainment to the school, and the boys who were already in school, in turn felt impelled to show the newcomer their accomplishments, which usually involved "a putting" of a few things "over on the teacher. In one or two instances, notably one, the late arrival had been somewhat notorious for his misdoings in the school of former years. Since reformation is not looked upon by a boy in the teens as being a particularly manly undertaking, he was expected by all, and by himself especially, to live up to the enviable reputation already established.

There is nothing more unfortunate that can come into the life of a large overgrown boy than to have him acquire the reputation for being tough. He is certain to live up to that reputation. The compelling

forces are so great that he can't resist them. He hears of his greatness everywhere. Sometimes he is admonished, but usually the admonition is administered in such a way as to urge him on and frequently with the express design of urging him on.

My ability as disciplinarian was always mentioned with "But Sam Morris has not started yet. Sam says school will last but three days after he starts. He expects to enter school on a Wednesday so as not to cause any loss of time on the teacher's part. He will make it even time."

The teachers in city schools, who have superintendents, backed by boards of education, who in turn are backed by the police, may look lightly upon such cases as the rural teacher has to face-face squarely too; but such teachers have not had the real experience. A man or woman can live a lifetime in almost any other vocation without meeting a proposition more trying.

To begin with, the teacher is a non-resident. To close with, the community is composed of residents, and they want to live peaceably among themselves, and very often the feeling is that the teacher is receiving much more than the common laborer, and if he can't handle his job without outside help, he should let someone else try it.

It is not altogether unreasonable that neighbors in rural districts should cultivate each other's friend

ship more than do people in the towns and cities. The farmer is the most dependent person, socially speaking, in the world. He cannot change his residence if he does not like his.neighbors. He must live where his business is and he must live in peace, or life is not worth living.

Many of the most intolerable social conditions in the state have grown out of school troubles. Except the line fence trouble, school trouble is second to none, and over it many lives have been lost, and in the immediate neighborhood of which I write the line fence had but a few months before exacted its death toll, and within twelve months an adjoining neighborhood had paid the price in human life of religious excitement.

With these conditions, with which I was already quite familiar, the approach of the day when the self-announced adversary of public schools was to enroll was looked forward to with no very noticeable enjoyment on my part.

He came, and as announced, he came on Wednesday. He had all the marks of a bully, and he showed his bluff in every movement. He swaggered, he talked loud, he threw his overcoat over his shoulders, presumably for the purpose of clearing for action. He chewed tobacco, and he did a good job of it. He had other frailties, but you have heard enough. The school, which had settled down to good behavior