down again. He was vexed at the result, and his face drew on an air of
injured vexation, after the manner of his kind.

Then Mr. Bright said, stepping down to "Dodd's" desk, and speaking in a
low tone, to the boy only:

"The picture was very good; very much better than I could have made. I
see you have a good deal of ability with the chalk; I am glad to know
it. If you care to try your hand on the board, you are welcome to do
so at any time; only please do not try to take the attention of the
pupils from their studies by your pictures, as you did just now," and
without another word he resumed the point under consideration when the
interruption took place.

"Dodd" tried to look defiant, but to little purpose. There was nothing
left to defy.

I have seen men strike so hard at nothing at all that they have fallen
headlong themselves, dragged down by the force of the blow they had
intended for another. "Dodd" was down, and it was his own hand that
had put him there.

And it is so much better that way!

Yet two points had been gained by this encounter. Mr. Bright had
discovered that "Dodd" had a genius for one thing at least, for the
sketch was really a remarkably strong one--so strong that the subject
of it would have been glad to have preserved it; and "Dodd" was fully
convinced that he had no ordinary man to deal with in the person of Mr.
Charles Bright. With these two new points developed, the party at the