"I'm going to keep my sense of humor and my faith in things in spite of
anything that comes to me," she promised herself, "even if they do have
to give me boneset tea to jerk me up a bit!" She laughed at Millie's
faith in the boneset tea. "I hope it also takes the meanness and hate
out of my heart. Why, just now I hate Lyman! If he really cared for me
I'd feel sorry for him, but he doesn't love me, he just wants to marry
me because long ago he decided he would do so some day."
In spite of her determination to be philosophical and cheerful, the
memory of Lyman's threat returned to her at times in a baffling way.
What could he mean? How could he harm her? His father was a director of
the Crow Hill school, but pshaw! One director couldn't put her out of
her place in the school!
Lyman Mertzheimer had only a few days to carry out the plan formulated
in his angry mind as he walked home after the tilt with Amanda.
"I'll show her," he snorted, "the disagreeable thing! I'll show her
what can happen when she turns down a Mertzheimer! The very name
Mertzheimer means wealth and high standing! And she puts up her nose
and tosses her red head at me and tells me she won't have me! She'll
see what a Mertzheimer can do!"
The elder Mertzheimer, school director, was not unlike his son. When
the young man came to him with an exaggerated tale of the contemptible
way Amanda had treated him, thrown him over as though he were nobody,
Mr. Mertzheimer, Senior, sympathized with his aggrieved son and stormed
and vowed he'd see if he'd vote for that red-headed snip of a teacher
next year. The Reists thought they were somebody, anyhow, and they had
no more money than he had, perhaps not so much. What right had she to
be ugly to Lyman when he did her the honor to ask her to marry him? The
snip! He'd show her!
"But one vote won't keep her out of the school," said Lyman with
diplomatic unconcern.
"Leave it to me, boy! I'll talk a few of them over. There was some
complaint last year about her not doing things like other school-
teachers round here, and her not being a strict enough teacher. She
teaches geography with a lot of dirt and water. She has the young ones
scurrying round the woods and fields with nets to catch butterflies.
And she lugs in a lot of corn husk and shows them how to make a few
dinky baskets and thinks she's doing some wonderful thing. For all that
she draws her salary and gets away with all that tomfoolery--guess
because she can smile and humbug some people--them red-headed women are
all like that, boy. She's not the right teacher for Crow Hill school
and I'm going to make several people see it. Then let her twiddle her
thumbs till she gets a place so near home and as nice as the Crow Hill
school!"