hool teachers in general that was
not at all flattering. I fancied them all to be old, sour and cross--a
mere walking bundle of rules and regulations, and I was quite unprepared
to see the sweet-looking young lady who answered to my mother's summons
at the door. Surely, thought I, this young lady cannot be Miss Edmonds;
and when my mother enquired if such were her name and she replied in the
affirmative, I thought going to school might not be so bad after all.
After giving Miss Edmonds my name and age, my mother held some
conversation with her regarding my studies, and left me with an
encouraging smile. I felt all my timidity return when I thought of
entering the school-room with Miss Edmonds, but her kind and friendly
manner reassured me. The school consisted of about thirty girls, many of
them older than myself. I had feared that my attainments would be
inferior to those of the youngest of the pupils, and I was equally
pleased and surprised when Miss Edmonds, after a long and careful
examination in regard to my acquirements, placed me in one of the higher
classes. There was to me an irresistible attraction in the countenance
and manner of my teacher; and, from the first moment I saw her I loved
her. Although her home is now far distant from mine, and we have not met
for many years, I love her as dearly now as when she took me by the hand
when a child of eleven years. She conducted her school in a very
systematic and orderly manner, and was very particular to require
perfect recitations from her pupils; but as I possessed a retentive
memory, I found my tasks much lighter than did many of my classmates.

When I had been about a year at school, Miss Edmonds offered a prize,
in the class to which I belonged, to the young lady who should write the
most able composition upon a given subject. The prize was to be a small
gold pencil-case, and was to be awarded at the close of the summer term.
The closing day at length came; there was much suppressed excitement
when we were called to order that morning. As we expected no visitors
till the afternoon, we spent the morning mostly in reviewing our various
studies. By two o'clock our school-room was crowded. We first passed a
very searching examination in the different studies we had pursued
during the past year. I believe we passed our examination in a manner
creditable both to our teacher and to ourselves.

The reading of our compositions was reserved, as the closing exercise.
T