An hour passed and Dick had received no hint of the trouble in store.
Then Joel Ham, prowling along the desks, inspecting a task, stopped
before the boy and stood eyeing him with the curiosity with which an
entomologist might regard a rare grub, clawing his thin whiskers the
while. The interest he felt was apparently of the most friendly
description.

'Ah, Ginger,' he said, 'I had almost forgotten that I am still your
debtor. This way, Ginger, please.'

He stood Dick on his high stool, carefully tied the boy's ankles with a
strap, and gave him a large slate, on which his faults were emblazoned in
chalk, to hold up for the inspection of the classes; and so he left him
for the remainder of the afternoon, every now and again pausing in his
vicinity to deliver some incomprehensible sentiment or a sarcastic
homily. This performance affected all the scholars, but it excited Gable
so much that the little old man could do nothing but sit and stare at
Dick with round eyes and open mouth, and mutter 'Oh, crickie!' in a
frightened way. The little dark-eyed girl in the Third Class bore the
ordeal badly, too, and every speech of the master's started a large tear
rolling down her dimpled brown cheek.

When the rest of the youngsters marched out, Dick Haddon remained on his
high perch. Kitty Grey, who brought up the tail of the procession, turned
at the door and walked back to the master timorously and with downcast
eyes; and Dick felt that a plea was to be made on his behalf, but could
not hear what followed.

'Please, sir, if you won't cane him very much I'll give you this,' said