return of the young lady was consequently a matter of some significance.
Had the master's protest been accepted, or had the engagement itself
been broken off?

Either was not improbable. His momentary loss of attention was Johnny
Filgee's great gain.

"Tige," said Johnny, with sudden and alarming distinctness, "ith got
thix pupths--mothly yaller."

In the laugh which followed this long withheld announcement of an
increase in the family of Johnny's yellow and disreputable setter
"Tiger," who usually accompanied him to school and howled outside,
the master joined with marked distinctness. Then he said, with equally
marked severity, "Books!" The little levee was ended, and school began.

It continued for two hours with short sighs, corrugations of small
foreheads, the complaining cries and scratchings of slate pencils over
slates, and other signs of minor anguish among the more youthful of the
flock; and with more or less whisperings, movements of the lips, and
unconscious soliloquy among the older pupils. The master moved slowly up
and down the aisle with a word of encouragement or explanation here and
there, stopping with his hands behind him to gaze abstractedly out of
the windows to the wondering envy of the little ones. A faint hum, as
of invisible insects, gradually pervaded the school; the more persistent
droning of a large bee had become dangerously soporific. The hot breath
of the pines without had invaded the doors and windows; the warped
shingles and weather-boarding at times creaked and snapped under the
rays of the vertical and unclouded sun. A gentle perspiration broke
out like a mild epidemic in the infant class; little curls became damp,