-although one astute Parliamentary candidate did secure an
overwhelming majority of votes in Waddy after declaring the schoolhouse
to be an ornament to the township. The public-spirited persons who
contributed windows, it was tacitly agreed, were quite justified in
putting in those windows according to the dictates of their own fancy,
even if the result was somewhat bizarre. Jock Summers gave a bell hung in
a small gilded dome, and this was fixed on the roof right in the centre
of the building, mainly for picturesque effect; but as there was no rope
attached and no means of reaching the bell--and it never occurred to
anybody to rectify the deficiency--Jock's gift remained to the end merely
an ornamental adjunct. So also with Sam Brierly's Gothic portico. Sam
expended much time and ingenuity in constructing the portico, and it was
built on to the street end of the schoolhouse, although there was no door
there, the only entrance being at the back.

The building was opened with a tea-fight and a dance, and answered its
purpose very well up to the time of the first heavy rains; then studies
had to be postponed indefinitely, for the floor was a foot under water. A
call was made upon the united strength of the township, and the building
was lifted bodily and set down again on piles. When the open space
between the ground and the floor was boarded up, the residents were
delighted to find that the increased height had given the structure quite
an imposing appearance. Alas! before six months had passed the place was
found to be going over on one side. Waddy watched this failing with
growing uneasiness. When the collapse seemed inevitable, the male adults
were again bidden to an onerous public duty; they rolled up like
patriots, and with a mighty effort pushed the school up into the
perpendicular propping it there with stout stays. That answered
excellently for a time, but eventually the wretched house began to slant
in the opposite direction. Once more the men of Waddy attended in force,
and spent an arduous half-day hoisting it into an upright position, and
securing it there with more stays. It took the eccentric building a long
time to decide upon its next move; then it suddenly lurched forward a
foot or more, and after that slipped an inch or two farther out of plumb
every day. But the ingenuity of Waddy was not exhausted: a few hundred
feet of rope and a winch were borrowed from the Peep o' Day; the rope was
run round the sch