ed Jennie; "but father says I must go about and let
the people see me. He believes in working just as if we didn't have a big
majority for the ticket."

"A woman has an advantage of a man in such a contest," said Jim; "she can
work just as hard as he can, and at the same time profit by the fact that
it's supposed she can't."

"I need all the advantage I possess," said Jennie, "and all the votes. Say
a word for me when on your pastoral rounds."

"All right," said Jim, "what shall I say you'll do for the schools?"

"Why," said Jennie, rather perplexed, "I'll be fair in my examinations of
teachers, try to keep the unfit teachers out of the schools, visit schools
as often as I can, and--why, what does any good superintendent do?"

"I never heard of a good county superintendent," said Jim.

"Never heard of one--why, Jim Irwin!"

"I don't believe there is any such thing," persisted Jim, "and if you do
no more than you say, you'll be off the same piece as the rest. Your
system won't give us any better schools than we have--of the old sort--and
we need a new kind."

"Oh, Jim, Jim! Dreaming as of yore! Why can't you be practical! What do
you mean by a new kind of rural school?"

"A truly-rural rural school," said Jim.

"I can't pronounce it," smiled Jennie, "to say nothing of understanding
it. What would your tralalooral rural school do?"

"It would be correlated with rural life," said Jim.

"How?"

"It would get education out of the things the farmers and farmers' wives
are interested in as a part of their lives."

"What, for instance?"

"Dairying, for instance, in this district; and soil management; and
corn-growing; and farm manual training for boys; and sewing, cooking and
housekeeping for the girls--and caring for babies!"

Jennie looked serious, after smothering a laugh.

"Jim," said she, "you're going to have a hard enough time to succeed in
the Woodruff school, if you confine yourself to methods that have been
tested, and found good."

"But the old methods," urged Jim, "have been tested and found bad. Shall I
keep to them?"

"They have made the American people what they are," said Jennie. "Don't be
unpatriotic, Jim."

"They have educated our farm children for the cities," said Jim. "This
county is losing population--and it's the best county in the world."

"Pessimism never wins," said Jennie.

"Neither does blindness," answered Jim. "It is losing the farms their
dwellers, and swelling the citi