Little Citizens: The Humours of School LifeKelly, Myra
General
Little Citizens: The Humours of School Life
Kelly, Myra
Short stories; Students -- New York (State) -- New York -- Fiction; United States -- Social life and customs -- 20th century -- Fiction
But Yetta could think of nothing until one afternoon when she was
sitting at Teacher's desk during a Swedish drill. All about her were
Teacher's things. Her large green blotter, her "from gold" inkstand
and pens, her books where Fairies lived. Miss Bailey was standing
directly in front of the desk and encouraging the First Reader Class--by
command and example--to strenuous waving of arms and bending of bodies.
"Forward bend!" commanded, and bent, Miss Bailey and her
buttoned-in-back-waist followed the example of less fashionable models,
shed its pearl buttons in a shower upon the smooth blotter and gave
Yetta the inspiration for which she had been waiting. She gathered the
buttons, extracted numerous pins from posts of trust in her attire,
and when Miss Bailey had returned to her chair, gently set about
repairing the breach.
"What is it?" asked Miss Bailey. Yetta, her mouth full of pins,
exhibited the buttons.
"Dear me! All those off!" exclaimed Teacher. "It was good of you to
arrange it for me. And now will you watch it? You'll tell me if it
should open again?"
Yetta had then disposed the pins to the best advantage and was free
to voice her triumphant:
"Oh, I knows _now_ how I wants I should be monitors! Teacher,
mine dear Teacher, could I be monitors off of the back of your dress?"
"But surely, you may," laughed Teacher, and Yetta entered straightway
into the heaven of fulfilled desire.
None of Eva's descriptions of the joys of monitorship had done justice
to the glad reality. After common mortals had gone home at three
o'clock, Room 18 was transformed into a land where only monitors and
love abounded. And the new monitor was welcomed by the existing staff,
for she had supplanted no one, and was so palpitatingly happy that
Patrick Brennan forgave her earlier usurpation of his office and Nathan
Spiderwitz bestowed upon her the freedom of the window boxes.
"Ever when you likes you should have a crawley bug from off of the
flowers; you tell me und I'll catch one fer you. I got lots. I don't
need 'em all."
"I likes I shall have one now," ventured Yetta, and Nathan ensnared
one and put it in her hand where it "crawlied" most pleasingly until
Morris Mogilewsky begged it for his Gold-Fish in their gleaming "fish
theaytre." Then Eva shared with her friend and protege the delight of
sharpening countless blunted and bitten pencils upon a piece of
sand-paper.
"Say," whispered Yetta as they worked busily and dirtily, "Say, I'm
monitors now. On'y I ain't got no papers."
"You ask her. She'll give you one."
"I'd have a shamed the while she gives me und my mamma whole bunches
of things already. She could to think, maybe, I'm a greedy. But I needs
that paper awful much. I needs I shall go on the country for see mine
papa."
"No, she don't thinks you is greedy. Ain't you monitors on the back
of her waist? You should come up here 'fore the childrens comes for
see how her buttons stands. You go und tell her you needs that paper."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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