Chapter IV. A Sum in Arithmetic

by Horatio Alger

　　Harry kept on his way to school, and arrived just the bell rang.Many of my readers have seen a country schoolhouse, and willnot be surprised to learn that the one in which our hero obtainedhis education was far from stately or ornamental, architecturallyspeaking. It was a one-story structure, about thirty feet square,showing traces of having been painted once, but standing greatlyin need of another coat. Within were sixty desks, ranged in pairs,with aisles running between them. On one side sat the girls, onthe other the boys. These were of all ages from five to sixteen.The boys' desks had suffered bad usage, having been whittled andhacked, and marked with the initials of the temporary occupants,with scarcely an exception. I never knew a Yankee boy who was notthe possessor of a knife of some kind, nor one who could resist thetemptation of using it for such unlawful purposes. Even our heroshared the common weakness, and his desk was distinguished fromthe rest by "H. W." rudely carved in a conspicuous place.The teacher of the school for the present session was NathanBurbank, a country teacher of good repute, who usually taught sixmonths in a year, and devoted the balance of the year to surveyingland, whenever he could get employment in that line, and the cultivationof half a dozen acres of land, which kept him in vegetables, andenabled him to keep a cow. Altogether he succeeded in making a fairliving, though his entire income would seem very small to manyof my readers. He was not deeply learned, but his education wassufficient to meet the limited requirements of a country school.This was the summer term, and it is the usual custom in New Englandthat the summer schools should be taught by females. But in thisparticular school the experiment had been tried, and didn't work. Itwas found that the scholars were too unruly to be kept in subjectionby a woman, and the school committee had therefore engaged Mr.Burbank, though, by so doing, the school term was shortened, as heasked fifty per cent. higher wages than a female teacher wouldhave done. However, it was better to have a short school than anunruly school, and so the district acquiesced.Eight weeks had not yet passed since the term commenced, and yetthis was the last day but one. To-morrow would be examination day.To this Mr. Burbank made reference in a few remarks which he madeat the commencement of the exercises.He was rather a tall, spare man, and had a habit of brushing hishair upward, thus making the most of a moderate forehead. Probablyhe thought it made him look more intellectual."Boys and girls," he said, "to-morrow is our examination day. I'vetried to bring you along as far as possible toward the temple oflearning, but some of you have held back, and have not done as wellas I should like--John Plympton, if you don't stop whispering I'llkeep you after school--I want you all to remember that knowledgeis better than land or gold. What would you think of a man who wasworth a great fortune, and couldn't spell his name?--Mary Jones,can't you sit still till I get through?--It will be well for youto improve your opportunities while you are young, for by and byyou will grow up, and have families to support, and will have nochance to learn--Jane Quimby, I wish you would stop giggling, I seenothing to laugh at--There are some of you who have studied wellthis term, and done the best you could. At the beginning of theterm I determined to give a book to the most deserving scholar atthe end of the term. I have picked out the boy, who, in my opinion,deserves it--Ephraim Higgins, you needn't move round in your seat.You are not the one."There was a general laugh here, for Ephraim was distinguishedchiefly for his laziness.The teacher proceeded:"I do not mean to tell you to-day who it is. To-morrow I shallcall out his name before the school committee, and present him theprize. I want you to do as well as you can to-morrow. I want youto do yourselves credit, and to do me credit, for I do not want tobe ashamed of you. Peter Shelby, put back that knife into your pocket,and keep it there till I call up the class in whittling."There was another laugh here at the teacher's joke, and Peterhimself displayed a broad grin on his large, good-humored face."We will now proceed to the regular lessons," said Mr. Burbank, inconclusion. "First class in arithmetic will take their places."The first class ranked as the highest class, and in it was HarryWalton."What was your lesson to-day?" asked the teacher."Square root," answered Harry."I will give you out a very simple sum to begin with. Now, attentionall! Find the square root of 625. Whoever gets the answer firstmay hold up his hand."The first to hold up his hand was Ephraim Higgins."Have you got the answer?" asked Mr. Burbank in some surprise."Yes, sir.""State it.""Forty-five.""How did you get it?"Ephraim scratched his head, and looked confused. The fact was, hewas entirely ignorant of the method of extracting the square root,but had slyly looked at the slate of his neighbor, Harry Walton,and mistaken the 25 for 45, and hurriedly announced the answer, inthe hope of obtaining credit for the same."How did you get it?" asked the teacher again.Ephraim looked foolish."Bring me your slate."Ephraim reluctantly left his place, and went up to Mr. Burbank."What have we here?" said the teacher. "Why, you have got down the625, and nothing else, except 45. Where did you get that answer?""I guessed at it," answered Ephraim, hard pressed for an answer,and not liking to confess the truth--namely, that he had copiedfrom Harry Walton."So I supposed. The next time you'd better guess a little nearerright, or else give up guessing altogether. Harry Walton, I seeyour hand up. What is your answer?""Twenty-five, sir.""That is right."Ephraim looked up suddenly. He now saw the explanation of hismistake."Will you explain how you did it? You may go to the blackboard,and perform the operation once more, explaining as you go along,for the benefit of Ephraim Higgins, and any others who guessed atthe answer. Ephraim, I want you to give particular attention, sothat you can do yourself more credit next time. Now Harry, proceed."Our hero explained the sum in a plain, straightforward way, for hethoroughly understood it."Very well," said the schoolmaster, for this, rather than teacher,is the country name of the office. "Now, Ephraim, do you think youcan explain it?""I don't know, sir," said Ephraim, dubiously.""Suppose you try. You may take the same sum."Ephraim advanced to the board with reluctance, for he was notambitious, and had strong doubts about his competence for the task.""Put down 625."Ephraim did so."Now extract the square root. What do you do first?""Divide it into two figures each.""Divide it into periods of two figures each, I suppose you mean.Well, what will be the first period?""Sixty-two," answered Ephraim."And what will be the second?""I don't see but one other figure.""Nor I. You have made a mistake. Harry, show to point it off."Harry Walton did so."Now what do you do next?""Divide the first figure by three.""What do you do that for?"Ephraim didn't know. It was only a guess of his, because he knewthat the first figure of the answer was two, and this would resultfrom dividing the first figure by three."To bring the answer," he replied."And I suppose you divide the next period by five, for the samereason, don't you?""Yes, sir.""You may take your seat, sir. You are an ornament to the class,and you may become a great mathematician, if you live to the ageof Methuselah. I rather think it will take about nine hundred yearsfor you to reach that, point."The boys laughed. They always relish a joke at the expense of acompanion, especially when perpetrated by the teacher."Your method of extracting the square root is very original. Youdidn't find it in any arithmetic, did you?""No, sir.""So I thought. You'd better take out a patent for it. The next boymay go to the board."I have given a specimen of Mr. Burbank's method of conducting theschool, but do not propose to enter into further details at present.It will doubtless recall to some of my readers experiences of theirown, as the school I am describing is very similar to hundreds ofcountry schools now in existence, and Mr. Burbank is the representativeof a large class.