I wished we lived in the woods the way it was when father and mother were married and moved to Ohio.The nearest neighbours were nine miles,and there wasn't a dollar for school funds,so of course the children didn't have to go,and what their fathers and mothers taught them was all they knew.That would not have helped me much though,for we never had one single teacher who knew anything to compare with what father and mother did,and we never had one who was forever reading books,papers,and learning more things that help,to teach other people.I wished father had time to take our school.It would have been some fun to go to him,because I just knew he would use the woods for the room,and teach us things it would do some good to know about.
I began debating whether it was a big enough thing to bother the Lord with:this being penned up in the schoolhouse droning over spelling and numbers,when you could smell tree bloom,flower bloom,dozens of birds were nesting,and everything was beginning to hum with life.I couldn't think for that piece about "Spring"going over in my head:
"I am coming,I am coming:
Hark!the little bee is humming:
See!the lark is soaring high,In the bright and sunny sky;All the birds are on the wing:
Little maiden,now is spring."
I made up my mind that it was of enough importance to call for the biggest prayer I could think of and that I would go up in the barn to the top window,stand on a beam,and turn my face to the east,where Jesus used to be,and I'd wrestle with the Lord for freedom,as Jacob wrestled with the Angel on the banks of the Jabbok in the land of Ammon.I was just getting up steam to pray as hard as ever I could;for days I'd been thinking of it,and I was nearly to the point where one more killdeer crying across the sky would have sent me headlong from the schoolhouse anywhere that my feet were on earth,and the air didn't smell of fried potatoes,kraut,sweat,and dogs,like it did whenever you sat beside Clarissa Polk.When I went to supper one night;father had been to Groveville,and he was busy over his papers.After he finished the blessing,he seemed worried,at last he said the funds were all out,and the county would make no appropriation so school would have to close next week.
Well that beats me!I had faith in that prayer I was going to make,and here the very thing I intended to ask for happened before I prayed.I decided I would save the prayer until the next time I couldn't stand anything another minute,and then I would try it with all my might,and see if it really did any good.After supper I went out the back door,spread my arms wide,and ran down the orchard to the fence in great bounds,the fastest I ever went in my life.I climbed my pulpit in the corner and tried to see how much air my lungs would hold without bursting,while I waved my arms and shouted at the top of my voice:"Praise ye the Lord!Praised be His holy name!""Ker-awk!"cried an old blue heron among the cowslips below me.
I had almost scared it to death,and it arose on flapping wings and paid me back by frightening me so I screamed as I dodged its shadow.
"What is all this?"asked father behind me.
"Come up and take a seat,and I'll try to tell you,"I said.
So he stepped on my pulpit and sat on the top rail,while I stood between his knees,put my arms around his neck,took off his hat and loosened his hair so the wind could wave it,and make his head feel cool and good.His hair curled a little and it was black and fine.His cheeks were pink and his eyes the brightest blue,with long lashes,and heavier brows than any other man I ever have seen.He was the best looking--always so clean and fresh,and you never had to be afraid of him,unless you had been a bad,sinful child.If you were all right,you would walk into his arms,play with his hair,kiss him all you pleased,and there wasn't a thing on earth you couldn't tell him,excepting a secret you had promised to keep.
So I explained all this,and more too.About how I wanted to hunt for the flowers,to see which bloomed first,and watch in what order the birds came,and now it was a splendid time to locate nests,because there were no leaves,so I could see easily,and how glad mother would be to know where the blue goose nested,and her white turkey hen;because she wanted her geese all blue,and the turkeys all white,as fast as she could manage.
Every little thing that troubled me or that I wanted,I told him.
He sat there and he couldn't have listened with more interest or been quieter if I had been a bishop,which is the biggest thing that ever happened at our house;his name was Ninde and he came from Chicago to dedicate our church when it was new.So father listened and thought and held his arms around me,and--"And you think the Lord was at the bottom of the thing that makes you happy?""Well,you always go to Him about what concerns you,and you say,`Praise the Lord,'when things go to please you.""I do indeed!"said father."But I had thought of this running short of school funds as a calamity.If I had been praying about it,I would have asked Him to show me a way to raise money to continue until middle May at least.""Oh father!"
I just crumpled up in his arms and began to cry;to save me I couldn't help it.He held me tight.At last he said:"I think you are a little overstrained this spring.Maybe you were sicker than we knew,or are growing too fast.Don't worry any more about school.Possibly father can fix it."Next morning when I wakened,my everyday clothes lay across the foot of the bed,so I called mother and asked if I should put them on;she took me in her arms,and said father thought I had better be in the open,and I needn't go to school any more that spring.I told her I thought I could bear it a few more days,now it was going to be over so soon;but she said I might stay at home,father and Laddie would hear me at night,and I could take my books anywhere I pleased and study when I chose,if I had my spelling and reading learned at evening.NOW,say the Lord doesn't help those who call on Him in faith believing!
