TO THE
SOHOOLTEACHER.]

"Hurray!" "Bully!" "Good!" "Sound!" "Them's the talk!" and other
sympathetic expressions, were heard from the members of the late
anti-school party.

The judge, who, by virtue of age, was the master of ceremonies and
general moderator of the camp, very promptly appointed a committee,
consisting of Toledo and two miners, whose attire appeared the most
respectable in the place, and instructed them to wait on the schoolmarm,
and tender her the cordial support of the miners.

Early the next morning the committee called at the schoolhouse, attached
to which were two small rooms in which teachers were expected to keep
house.

The committee found the teacher "putting to rights" the schoolroom. Her
dress was tucked up, her sleeves rolled, her neck hidden by a bright
handkerchief, and her hair "a-blowin' all to glory," as Toledo afterward
expressed it. Between the exertion, the bracing air, and the excitement
caused by the newness of everything, Miss Brown's pleasant face was
almost handsome.

"Mornin', marm," said Toledo, raising a most shocking hat, while the
remaining committee-men expeditiously ranged themselves behind him, so
that the teacher might by no chance look into their eyes.

"Good-morning, gentlemen," said Miss Brown, with a cheerful smile,
"please be seated. I suppose you wish to speak of your children?"

Toledo, who was a very young man, blushed, and the whole committee was
as uneasy on its feet as if its boots had been soled with fly-blisters.
Finally, Toledo answered:

"Not much, marm, seein' we ain't got none. Me an' these gentlemen's a
committee from the boys."

"From the boys?" echoed Miss Brown. She had heard so many wonderful
things about the Golden State, that now she soberly wondered whether
bearded men called themselves boys, and went to school.

"From the miners, washin' along the crick, marm--they want to know what
they ken do fur yer," continued Toledo.

"I am very grateful," said Miss Brown; "but I suppose the local school
committee--"

"Don't count on them, marm," interrupted Toledo; "they're livin' five
miles away, and they're only the preacher, an' doctor, an' a feller
that's j'ined the church lately. None uv 'em but the doctor ever shows
themselves at the saloon, an' _he_ only comes when there's a diffikilty,
an' he's called in to officiate. But the boys--the boys hez got the
dust, marm, an' they've got the will. One uv us'll be in often to see
what can