"Do you see that tree, away down the road?" said Amy, pointing to a
large maple that was more than a quarter of a mile away.

"Dodd" said that he saw the object pointed out.

"Well, now, I want you to start here and run to that tree just as fast
as you can, and then turn right around and run back again, and I'll
stand right here all the time and watch you, and see how long it takes
you to go and come;" and she drew out her watch as she spoke.

"Dodd" looked at her for an instant, but the next moment he was off
with a bound and ran his best, both going and coming. He returned
presently, having made most excellent time. Amy told him how many
minutes he had been gone, and bade him take his seat. The boy was a
little in doubt as to just why he was called on to perform this feat;
but, between pondering over the affair and being tired from his race,
he was a good boy all the rest of the morning! The girl had simply
given the child a chance to work off his superfluous animal spirits,
and, with this quantity reduced to a safety limit, he was himself again.

What a pity there are not more teachers who appreciate the value of a
safety-valve!

The incident is but one of a score that illustrate the resources of Amy
Kelly in the management of "Dodd" Weaver. She was always taking the
boy by surprise. He was wayward and wilful at times, but her genius
was equal to the emergency. She won him by her divine power to do just
that thing, as her class always does, and as none others can. She was
born to teach, or with the teaching faculty--with a genius for that