THE EXAMINING COMMITTEE



trio, who, as the breeze blew harder, quietly re-
signed their office, and Devonshire was without
a school committee.
  In this emergency something must be done,
and, as the two belligerent parties could only
unite on a stranger, it seemed a matter of special
providence that only two months before, young
Dr. Holbrook, a native of the modern Athens, had
rented the pleasant little office on the village com-
mon, formerly occupied by old Dr. Carey, now
lying in the graveyard by the side of some whose
days he had prolonged, and others whose days he
had surely shortened. Besides being handsome,
and skillful, and quite as familiar with the poor
as the rich, the young doctor was descended from
the aristocratic line of Boston Holbrooks, facts
which tended to make him a favorite with both
classes; and, greatly to his surprise, he found
himself unanimously elected to the responsible
office of sole Inspector of Common Schools in
Devonshire. It was in vain that he remonstrated,
saying he knew nothing whatever of the qualifica-
tions requisite for a teacher; that he could not
talk to girls, young ones especially; that he should
make a miserable failure, and so forth. The peo-
ple would not listen. Somebody must examine
the teachers, and that somebody might as well
be Dr. Holbrook as anybody.
  " Only be strict with 'em, draw the reins tight,
find out to your satisfaction whether a gal knows



3