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The Wit and Humor of America, Volume III. (of X.) by Various
page 108 of 202 (53%)
read, sat down again, and it came to be the duty of Bertha Binderwitz to
read the entire page of which the others had each read a line. She began
jubilantly, but soon stumbled, hesitated, and wailed:

"Stands a fierce word. I don't know what it is," and Teacher turned to
write the puzzling word upon the blackboard.

Morris's heart stopped with a sickening suddenness and then rushed madly
on again. He had a new and dreadful duty to perform. All his mother's
counsel, all his father's precepts told him that it was his duty. Yet
fear held him in his little seat behind his little desk, while his
conscience insisted on this unalterable decree of the social code: "So
somebody's clothes is wrong it's polite you says ''scuse' and tells it
out."

And here was Teacher whom he dearly loved, whose ideals of personal
adornment extended to full sets of buttons on jumpers and to laces in
both shoes, here was his immaculate lady fair in urgent need of
assistance and advice, and all because she had on that day inaugurated a
delightfully vigorous exercise for which, architecturally, she was not
designed.

There was yet room for hope that some one else would see the breach and
brave the danger. But no. The visitor sat stolidly in the chair of
state, the Principal sat serenely beside him, the children sat each in
his own little place, behind his own little desk, keeping his own little
eyes on his own little book. No. Morris's soul cried with Hamlet's:

"The time is out of joint;--O cursed spite,
That ever I was born to set it right!"
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