And this was all there ever was of this episode. Mr. Bright never once
mentioned the occurrence to "Dodd" afterwards. He did not even
reprimand him before the school nor did he speak to any pupil of what
had happened. He had won, and yet the odds were so nearly against him
that be felt it best to be silent. This might not have been your way,
beloved, but it was Mr. Bright's way, and he was able to manage it.

Some months thereafter, he had occasion one day to reprove a rough
pupil for profanity on the play-ground, and the pupil came back at him
with: "You'd better talk to 'Dodd' Weaver about swearing if you are so
anxious about it. He cursed you to your face and you didn't say a
word." But Mr. Bright only replied: "That is my affair, but you must
not swear on the play-ground. Do you understand?"

The young man concluded that he understood, and said so.

And that is how this teacher was perhaps logically inconsistent, but
nevertheless just, and able to take care of his school according to the
individual needs of his pupils. Happy is that teacher who can do so
much!

But the machine cannot do so much, nor can the men who run the machine.
The machine is logically correct and consistent, according to the laws
of the Medes and Persians. It "treats all pupils alike." Allah be
praised! Yet a single man like Mr. Bright is worth whole battalions of
machines. Thank God!

I must take space, just here, too, to explain a phrase quoted by Mr.
Bright, just above, namely, the "Other-Fellow."