"I never heard of a good county superintendent," said Jim. "Never heard of one--why, Jim Irwin!" "I don't believe there is any such thing," persisted Jim, "and if you do no more than you say, you'll be off the same piece as the rest. Your system won't give us any better schools than we have--of the old sort--and we need a new kind." "Oh, Jim, Jim! Dreaming as of yore! Why can't you be practical! What do you mean by a new kind of rural school?" "A truly-rural rural school," said Jim. "I can't pronounce it," smiled Jennie, "to say nothing of understanding it. What would your tralalooral rural school do?" "It would be correlated with rural life," said Jim. "How?" "It would get education out of the things the farmers and farmers' wives are interested in as a part of their lives." "What, for instance?" "Dairying, for instance, in this district; and soil management; and corn-growing; and farm manual training for boys; and sewing, cooking and housekeeping for the girls--and caring for babies!" Jennie looked serious, after smothering a laugh. "Jim," said she, "you're going to have a hard enough time to succeed in the Woodruff school, if you confine yourself to methods that have been tested, and found good." "But the old methods," urged Jim, "have been tested and found bad. Shall I keep to them?" "They have made the American people what they are," said Jennie. "Don't be unpatriotic, Jim." "They have educated our farm children for the cities," said Jim. "This county is losing population--and it's the best county in the world." "Pessimism never wins," said Jennie. "Neither does blindness," answered Jim. "It is losing the farms their dwellers, and swelling the cities with a proletariat." For some time, now, Jim had ceased to hold Jennie's hand; and their sweetheart days had never seemed farther away. "Jim," said Jennie, "I may be elected to a position in which I shall be obliged to pass on your acts as teacher--in an official way, I mean. I hope they will be justifiable." Jim smiled his slowest and saddest smile. "If they're not, I'll not ask you to condone them," said he. "But first, they must be justifiable to me, Jennie." "Good night," said Jennie curtly, and left him.