It was his by divine right, and it
involved on its holder duties sometimes onerous, often dangerous; but for
him to abate one iota of his privileges would be a reflection on his
predecessors, an injustice to his heirs. It would mean scholastic
revolution. He knew that I must yell at him. My position also was
hemmed about by tradition. To appear not to fear the biggest boy was one
of the chief duties of a successful pedagogue. We understood each other.
So I yelled once more and closed the window. The moment my back was
turned he ran for the door.
"It is," Daniel Arker was shouting.
"It ain't," Samuel Carter retorted, sticking out his tongue.
"Boys, be quiet!" I commanded.
"He said his eye was swole worse 'an mine oncet," cried Daniel.
His good eye was blazing, his shoulders were squared back, and his fists
were clenched. There was no sign of a snuffle about him now. Heaven,
but he looked fine! All this time I had wronged Daniel. I had only
known him as he crawled to me broken and bruised after the conflict.
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