way.

Tommy Tolliver came to school that morning in a chastened spirit. He
had been lectured by his father, and cried over by his mother, and in
the darkness of the night he had resolved many things.

But it is not easy to preserve an attitude of humility when one becomes
suddenly the center of adoring interest to twenty-five children in a
district school. From the babies of the A, B, C, class to the big boys
in algebra, Tommy's return was an exciting event, and he was received
with acclaim.

Hence he boasted and swaggered for them as on Saturday he had boasted
and swaggered for Judy's admiration.

"You ought to go," he was saying to a small boy, as Anne came up, but
when he caught her reproachful eye on him, he backed down, "but not
until you are a man, Jimmie," he temporized.

During the morning session he was a worry and an aggravation to Miss
Mary. The little girls could look at nothing else, for had not Tommy
been a sailor, and had he not had experiences which would set him apart
from the commonplace boys of Fairfax? And the boys, a little jealous,
perhaps, were yet burning with a desire to be the bosom friend of this
bold, bad boy, while the luster of his daring lasted.

And so they were all restless and inattentive, until finally Miss Mary,
who had a headache, lost patience.

"You are very noisy," she said, "and I am ashamed of you. I am going