On the Monday following the Sunday night previously indicated, Belton
walked into the general assembly room to take his seat with the other
three hundred and sixty pupils. It was the custom for the school to
thus assemble for devotional exercises. The teachers sat in a row
across the platform, facing the pupils. The president sat immediately
in front of the desk, in the center of the platform, and the teachers
sat on either side of him.

To Belton's surprise, he saw a colored man sitting on the right
side of and next to the president. He was sitting there calmly,
self-possessed, exactly like the rest. He crossed his legs and stroked
his beard in a most matter of fact way. Belton stared at this colored
man, with his lips apart and his body bent forward. He let his eyes
scan the faces of all the white teachers, male and female, but would
end up with a stare at the colored man sitting there. Finally, he
hunched his seat-mate with his elbow and asked what man that was. He
was told that it was the colored teacher of the faculty.

Belton knew that there was a colored teacher in the school but he had
no idea that he would be thus honored with a seat with the rest of
the teachers. A broad, happy smile spread over his face, and his
eyes danced with delight. He had, in his boyish heart, dreamed of the
equality of the races and sighed and hoped for it; but here, he beheld
it in reality. Though he, as a rule, shut his eyes when prayer was
being offered, he kept them open that morning, and peeped through his
fingers at that thrilling sight,--a colored man on equal terms with
the white college professors.

Just before the classes were dismissed to their respective class
rooms, the teachers came together in a group to discuss some matter,