ll felt outraged, but did not dare to say much. I
begged my parents, with good reasoning, to let me go to another school,
where I had many friends; and I went to Dr. Winchell's, in Salem street,
where Mr. John Gear was superintendent.

What lessons I did get! Whole chapters were recited from the New
Testament, because so many verses brought me a reward, so many rewards a
mark, and so many marks _a book_! We had no libraries then. Well, the
annual meeting came round, and one evening the school met and marched
down to Dr. Baldwin's church. I remember the children did the singing,
and while they were singing, of course, I sung; and I have not forgotten
how crest-fallen I felt when Mr. Gear came along, and whispered to me,
"Don't sing _so loud_;" but he might just as well have said, "Don't
sing," because I knew he did not want me to sing, for I could not keep
time. But it was festival-night, and he was extremely good-natured, and
did not wish to cut short the privileges of any. A prayer was offered,
and then we sung again. A big man, in a large black silk gown, got up,
and delivered a sermon; but we did not heed it as we ought to have done,
because some _tea-chests_ were ranged along at the base of the pulpit.
It was not the _tea-chests_ that attracted our attention, but the sweets
that we knew were _in_ them.

After the sermon was over, and the scholars were ranged in order, in
single file, they marched up to the table near the chests, and each one
received _a quarter of a sheet of gingerbread!_ How rich we were! How
sweet the cake tasted! We were in perfect ecstasies at the "great piece"
given to each of us! Such rows of happy children are seldom seen, and
all because two cents worth of gingerbread was given to them all alike!
We had thought of it for weeks, and it was delightful to anticipate the
occasion. We felt paid for all the trouble we had met in learning
lessons, in getting to school on rainy days, and keeping still and
orderly when we got there. And why all this happiness from so slight a
cause? Because we all felt loving and happy; we loved our teachers and
our school; and it seemed _so odd_ to get gingerbread in the church and
from the Sabbath school superintendent.

But how is it now? A long ride or sail; swings, music, cakes, pies,
fruit, lemonade, and a vast variety of "good things," must be had, or
else the Sabbath school children do not have "a good time!" After all
this is had and enjoyed, I do not beli