David And Goliath by, Lillian G. MERKLE HEBERT I was very small for my age, only about as big as the third graders in our country school, even though I was in the seventh. There was an older boy, quite large, eighth grade, who liked to tease me, mostly about being a runt, midget, or anything else he could think of and it didn't bother me too much as a rule. However at Christmas I received a new fountain pen and, of course, I took it to school to show it off. "You're too little to have a fountain pen," he glared at me, not teasing, but with outright animosity. He didn't have one and his jealousy ate at him throughout the rest of the term. His teasing became more than teasing, almost viciousness. If he could trip me he would, or if I fell down innocently in one of out games of dare base, ani-i-over or green light, he would pretend to fall, too, and manage to kick me in the process. I didn't want to be a tattle-tale but I was getting fed up. However, I guess Teacher had been watching us, because one day near the end of the term when he had made a particularly insulting remark with an elbow in my upper arm as he passed me in the schoolyard, I turned and kicked him in the shin as hard as I could. As he grimaced and reached down to rub his leg, I came up with an uppercut to his nose, starting it bleeding, and he ran screaming for Teacher. Unknown to us, she had seen and heard the whole thing and she answered from a few steps behind us, "Lillian, you should be ashamed of yourself. A great big bully like you picking on this itty-bitty boy. For shame." I thought he might try to get even, but he treated me with a little more respect those last few days before summer vacation. The Lily Man by, Lilian G. MERKLE HEBERT If you have ever noticed orange lilies growing wild along the roads, railroad tracks, ditch banks, and farm corners you are enjoying the fruits of the work of the Lily Man. Genevieve [MERKLE FRUIN] tells me that Mama [Anna Genevieve WALLACE MERKLE] told her that when she was a little girl (she was born in 1883 so that would have been in the early nineties) a man came through the area of Iroquois county, and I don<t know where else, saying that all schools should have flowerbeds and, since lilites would reproduce themselves every year, he planted the orange lilies in the corners by the country schools. As time went on they spread and with animals, probably squirrels and chipmunks, moving the bulbs, within a few years there were "Schoolhouse lilies" growing all over the area and they are still growing and spreading. Mama didn't have any knowledge of who the man was, but said that through the years he was remembered as the Lily Man. This type of lily is very sturdy and shouldn't be planted where you don't want it to spread, because it will crowd all other flowers in a matter of two or three years. They look a bit like a tiger lily but don't have the black spots and little strips that the tiger lily has. [contributor's note: Lillian G. MERKLE was born 1 Jan 1915 in Danforth, Iroquois County, to Christian Albert MERKLE & Anna Genevieve WALLACE. In November, 1934 she married Edward Joseph HEBERT of Kankakee, Kankakee County. In April, 1997 she passed away at the age of 82 years after fighting lung cancer.]