Democratic Sentinel, Volume 14, Number 25, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 11 July 1890 — SHAKEY’S PIECE. [ARTICLE]

SHAKEY’S PIECE.

A very fat and good natured but extremely dull German boy, writes a correspondent of the Companion, was a pupil in a school I tiught in a country neighborhood some years ago. The lad’s name was Jakey Seifert, but his mother, who came with him on the first day, called him “Shakey,” and (as “Shakey” ht was known from that time forward. He proved to be as dull as he was good-natured; in fact, although he was ten ye&rs old, be was still unable to read. He would come to me with his finger on a letter in his old blue spelling book, and ask: “Vot letter vos dot?” “Why, Jak-iy,” I would say, ‘you surely know your letters. “Think a moment.” Scratching his shock of mousecolored hair, while his round, red assumed an air of comical perplexity, Jakey would reply: “Yes, I know ’em, und I do dink, butdey gets so meexed in my mind, und de more I dink und dink, de more meexed dey va^.” Poor little J akey! Wk at could Ido but pity his mental capacity and patiently try to bring order into the “meexed” candition of his mind?

He was grateful for my kindness and one day, when I had told him for perhats the twentieth time that “s” was not ‘ q, ’ he gave his head a whack with his spelling book and seid, savagely: “I bet I vill make you mind dot dis time!” We were goiug to close the term with a little exhibition at the school bouse in the evening. Nearly all the boys and girls were to have short recitations or parts in dialogues, while others would sing or read essays. Jakey had not been able to attend school the last week of the term, but he appeared at the exhibition, and early in the evening came up to me, his round face ail aglow with excit' ment. “Teacher, O teacher,” he said, “I has a pi°ice I vould like to speak, too. I has been a veek learning it.” “Very well, Jakey,” I said, “you shall speak your piece,” and when several boys of about his own age had spoken, I called: “Jakey Seifert.”

He came quickly forward and stepped upon the stage, a comical picture of overgrown boyhood and childish excitement His fat body was clad in a bright pink calico waist and round his neck was a huge embroidered white collar, such as used to be worn by our great-grandmothers. His face was as shiny as soap and water could make it. After a jerky little bow, Jakey commenced: “Mary had von leedle lamb.” Then he stopped short, and be* gan twitching at his trouser legs with the thumb and finger of either hand. “Mary had von leedle lamb.” He stopped again, and fell to twisting around on one leg. His lips moved rapidly, but no sound came from them. Some of the older boys began to laugh. Then Jakey cried out: . ‘‘You need not geegle like dot It vas ;o —Mary d’d has von leedle lamb! It Mays so in de book I” Everybody laughed at this, and Jakey, recovering his good nature,

said, in a comically loud and shrill voice: “1 cannot dink how it vas In boetry. It vas meexed in my mind, but it vas like dis: Mary had a leedle lamb. It vent io school mit her, vich de teacher did not like. De children dey did all holler and yell. Dot made de teacher mad. He yoost got after dot lamb. I bet you dotvas gootfun. I vish I vas dere to see it. He made de lamb get oud. I vould laugh to see dot. “Ven de lamb vas oud it vould not go avay. it stfiy.'d ’round going ‘ba-a-a-a!” dill Mary did come oud, und den it run up to her yoost so glad as never vas De lamb did love Mary because she vas shentle mid it. 1 like dot lamb story. Good-by!” Jakey’s recitation was the success of the evening, and his face shone with pride as he took his seat amid shouts of laughter and applause. —Youth’s Companion. A good qualify of binding twine, prices reasonable, at C. A. Roberts’. Cll and inspect jt.