A School in the Country
By Mrs. Eunice Briggs
THE school was in the country. The house was small, but grand old trees grew on all sides of it, and the ground was covered with soft green grass. Not far away was a beautiful stream of water, where the teacher and the children would go to study nature. There they studied water in its liquid and solid conditions. Springs were found along its banks, and these were studied in connection with Ps. 104:10. In the dark, cool, shady places of the stream, little minnows were watched, and an old frog was occasionally seen to go “plunk” into the water. Another time some crawfish were caught and brought to the house, where they were carefully observed for a few days, and then taken back to their home in the stream. After this, in their Bible study, the children came to the story of the flood and the building of the ark. That they might get some idea of the size of the ark, they first found its dimensions in feet, then trees were climbed until they reached the height of the ark. The next thing they did was to measure and lay out a rectangle just the size of the ark. This took them outside the school ground into the woods, where at another time they had wandered along a little ravine, studying the roots and vines they found there. In the latter part of the spring some low swampy land had been cleared, and planted to cucumbers. When these were being gathered, one day the teacher brought a leaf to the drawing class, and before it was drawn, guesses were made as to what kind of leaf it was. Finally some one announced that it was a cucumber leaf. However, such a close study was made of the leaf, while drawing it, that they were sure of that leaf ever after.