students gathered in groups and chuckled almost silently.

Clatter! By an unintentional move of one arm Mr. Cantwell swept
fully a hundred pennies off on to the floor. He leaped up, flushed
and angry.

"Will the young---gentlemen---aid me in recovering the coins that
went on the floor?" he asked.

There was promptly a great scurrying and searching. The principal
surely felt harassed that morning. It was ten minutes of nine
when the last student had paid and had had his name checked off.
Mr. Cantwell was at the boiling point of wrath.

Just as the principal was putting the last of the coins into his
satchel Mr. Drake leaned over to whisper:

"May I make a suggestion, sir?"

"Certainly," replied the principal coldly. "Yet I trust, Mr. Drake,
that it won't be a suggestion for an easy way of accumulating
more pennies than I already have."

"I think, if I were you, sir, I should pay no heed to this joke-----"

"Joke?" hissed the principal under his breath. "It's an outrage!"

"But intended only as a piece of pleasantry, sir. So I think
it will pass off much better if you don't allow the students
to see that they have annoyed you."