"Yes--I see." Amanda's face was troubled. "That's Lyman's work." The
injustice of the thing hurt her. "Of course, I can get another school,
but I like Crow Hill, I know the children and we get along so well, and
it's near home----"
"Well," came Millie's spirited question, "surely you ain't goin' to let
Mertzheimers do like they want? I don't believe in this foldin' hands
and lookin' meek and leavin' people use you for a shoe mat! Here, come
in once till I tell you somethin'," she called as Mrs. Reist, Philip
and Uncle Amos came through the yard. She repeated her account of the
news the strangers had unwittingly imparted to her at market.
"The skunk," said Philip.
"Skunk?" repeated Uncle Amos. "I wouldn't insult the little black and
white furry fellow like that! A skunk'll trot off and mind his own
business if you leave him alone, and, anyhow, he'll put up his tail for
a danger signal so you know what's comin' if you hang around."
"Well, then," said the boy, "call him a snake, a rattlesnake."
"And that's not quite hittin' the mark, either. A rattlesnake rattles
before he strikes. I say mean people are more like the copperhead, that
hides in the grass and leaves that are like its own color, and when you
ain't expectin' it and without any warnin', he'll up and strike you
with his poison fangs. What are you goin' to do about it, Amanda?"
"Do? I'll do nothing. What can I do?"
"You might go round and see the directors and ask them to vote for
you," suggested Millie. "I wouldn't let them people get the best of me
--just for spite now I wouldn't!"
"I won't ask for one vote!" Amanda was decided in that. "The men on the
board have had a chance to see how the school is run, and if it doesn't
please them, or if they are going to have one man rule them and tell
them how to vote--let them go! I'll hand in my application, that's all
I'll do."
"What for need you be so stiff-headed?" asked Millie sadly. "It'll
spite us all if they put you out and you go off somewheres to teach.
Ach, abody wonders sometimes why some people got to be so mean in this
world."
"It is always that way," said Mrs. Reist gently. "There are weeds
everywhere, even in this Garden Spot. Why, I found a stalk of deadly
nightshade in my rose-bed last summer."
"Wheat and chaff, I guess," was Uncle Amos's comment.
"But, Amanda," asked Millie, "ain't there some person over the
directors, boss over them?"
"Just the County Superintendent, and he's not really boss over them. He
comes round to the schools every year and the directors come with him
and, of course, if he blames a teacher they hear it, and if he praises
one they hear it."