THE SCHOOLMASTER’S TRUNK CONTAINING _Papers on Home-Life in Tweenit_ BY MRS. A. M. DIAZ _ILLUSTRATED_ [Illustration] BOSTON JAMES R. OSGOOD AND COMPANY (LATE TICKNOR & FIELDS, AND FIELDS OSGOOD & CO.) 1875 Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1874, by JAMES R. OSGOOD & CO., In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. BOSTON: RAND, AVERY, & CO., STEREOTYPERS AND PRINTERS. NOTE. The papers here collected were originally published in “Hearth and Home,” under the title of “Papers found in the Schoolmaster’s Trunk.” They embody observations made from actual life by a teacher residing in a country village. In reproducing them, it was thought best to retain at least a portion of the original title. A. M. D. CONTENTS. CHAPTER I. PAGE THE SLAVES OF THE ROLLING-PIN 5 CHAPTER II. A WORD TO THE MEN-FOLKS 13 CHAPTER III. CONCERNING COMMON THINGS 21 CHAPTER IV. THE SEWING-CIRCLE, HOW IT WAS STARTED 29 CHAPTER V. NOTES TAKEN AT THE SEWING-CIRCLE 36 CHAPTER VI. PEBBLES, OR DIAMONDS? 42 CHAPTER VII. KINDLING-WOOD 49 CHAPTER VIII. MR. MCKIMBER RISES TO EXPLAIN 57 CHAPTER IX. “TURN ’EM OFF!” 63 CHAPTER X. A LOOK AHEAD 70 CHAPTER XI. FENNEL PAYNE AND ADELINE 78 CHAPTER XII. NEW INVENTION WANTED 86 CHAPTER XIII. A TALK IN THE SCHOOLHOUSE 94 CHAPTER XIV. AN ENTERTAINING MEETING 102 CHAPTER XV. THE WRITER FACES HIS OWN MUSIC 110 THE SCHOOLMASTER’S TRUNK. I. THE SLAVES OF THE ROLLING-PIN. Pies again! Always pies! One, two, three, four, this is the fifth time, within, say, ten days or a fortnight, that, to my knowledge, pies have stood in the way of better things.