bulged one cheek out, while stains of tobacco juice made the corners of
his mouth filthy. He wore no collar, one coat sleeve was half gone,
his vest was on wrong side outwards, his pantaloons were ragged, he had
a shoe on one foot and a boot on the other, the former unlaced, and the
latter smeared to the top of the boot-leg with yellow clay; a leg of
his pantaloons bagged down over this, being held up on the inside of
his leg by hanging it over the boot-strap!

You who have not taught school, and are not familiar with boyhood at
this stage of its evolution, may insist that I have made "Dodd" up like
a crazy creature for his grand entry into Mr. Bright's school room.
Perhaps I have. But I have presented him to you as he presented
himself to the school, for all of that. I am myself inclined to think
that his mental state, at this time, bordered close upon insanity! The
Book remarks about a young man at this stage of his existence, that he
had to "come to himself" before his reformation, as though he had been
away from himself during his lawless and outrageous career. I am
inclined to think that boys are often a good deal nearer insane than
they get credit for being, at this period of their lives.

There is a psychological condition just here that it is worth while for
teachers seriously to consider.

So, tricked out in this disgusting fashion, "Dodd" slouched into Mr.
Bright's school room about ten o'clock in the forenoon, and flung
himself into a seat. The pupils looked up as he entered, and their
first impulse was to laugh---a result which, would have suited "Dodd"
exactly. But a glance at the school from Mr. Bright's quick eye
checked the risibilities of his pupils, and, this emotion dying out,
there came instantly in its place a disgust and almost a horror of the