Through Forest and Fire | Page 4

great facility. His teacher liked him, as did all the boys and girls, and
when he was occasionally absent he was missed more than half a dozen
other lads would have been.
The next year Nick brought his sister Nellie to school. He came down
the road, holding her fat little hand in his, while her bright eyes peered
out from under her plain but odd-looking hat in a timid way, which
showed at the same time how great her confidence was in her big
brother.
Nellie looked as much like Nick as a sister can look like a brother.
There were the same ruddy cheeks, bright eyes, sturdy health, and
cleanly appearance. Her gingham pantalettes came a little nearer the
tops of her shoes, perhaps than was necessary, but the dress, with the
waist directly under the arms, would have been considered in the height
of fashion in late years.
One daring lad ventured to laugh at Nellie, and ask her whether she had
on her father's or mother's shoes, but when Nick heard of it he told the
boy that he would "sit down" on any one that said anything wrong to
Nellie. Nothing of the kind was ever hinted to the girl again. No one
wished to be "sat down" on by the Pennsylvania Hollander who banged
the breath so utterly from the body of the city youth who had aroused
his wrath.
The common sense, sturdy frame, sound health, and mental strength of
the parents were inherited in as marked a degree by the daughter Nellie
as by Nick. She showed a quickness of perception greater than that of
her brother; but, as is generally the case, the boy was more profound
and far-reaching in his thoughts.
After Nick had done his chores in the evening and Nellie was through
helping her mother, Gustav, the father, was accustomed to light his
long-handled pipe, and, as he slowly puffed it while sitting in his chair
by the hearth, he looked across to his boy, who sat with his slate and
pencil in hand, preparing for the morrow. Carefully watching the

studious lad for a few minutes, he generally asked a series of questions:
"Nicholas, did you knowed your lessons to-day?"
"Yes, sir."
"Did you know efery one dot you knowed?"
"Yes, sir,--every one," answered Nick respectfully, with a quiet smile
over his father's odd questions and sentences. The old gentleman could
never correct or improve his accent, while Nick, at the age of ten, spoke
so accurately that his looks were all that showed he was the child of
German parents.
"Did nopody gif you helps on der lessons?"
"Nobody at all."
"Dot is right; did you help anypodies?"
"Yes, sir,--three or four of the girls and some of the boys asked me to
give them a lift--"
"Gif dem _vat_?"
"A lift--that is, I helped them."
"Dot ish all right, but don't let me hears dot nopody vos efer helping
_you_; if I does--"
And taking his pipe from his mouth, Mr. Ribsam shook his head in a
way which threatened dreadful things.
Then the old gentleman would continue smoking a while longer, and
more than likely, just as Nick was in the midst of some intricate
problem, he would suddenly pronounce his name. The boy would look
up instantly, all attention.
"Hef you been into any fights mit nopodies to-day?"

"I have not, sir; I have not had any trouble like that for a long while."
"Dot is right--dot is right; but, Nick, if you does get into such bad tings
as fightin', don't ax nopodies to help you; _takes care mit yorself!_"
The lad modestly answered that he did not remember when he had
failed to take care of himself under such circumstances, and the father
resumed his pipe and brown study.
The honest German may not have been right in every point of his creed,
but in the main he was correct, his purpose being to implant in his
children a sturdy self-reliance. They could not hope to get along at all
times without leaning upon others, but that boy who never forgets that
God has given him a mind, a body, certain faculties and infinite powers,
with the intention that he should cultivate and use them to the highest
point, is the one who is sure to win in the great battle of life.
Then, too, every person is liable to be overtaken by some great
emergency which calls out all the capacities of his nature, and it is then
that false teaching and training prove fatal, while he who has learned to
develop the divine capacities within him comes off more than
conqueror.
CHAPTER III.
A MATHEMATICAL DISCUSSION.
The elder Ribsam took several puffs from his pipe, his eyes fixed
dreamily on the