kisses to prove that she loved him; but Miss Spence kept jumping between
him and Marjorie, incessantly calling his name.

He grew more and more irritated with her; he was the most important
person in the world and was engaged in proving it to Marjorie Jones and
the whole city, and yet Miss Spence seemed to feel she still had the
right to order him about as she did in the old days when he was an
ordinary schoolboy. He was furious; he was sure she wanted him to do
something disagreeable. It seemed to him that she had screamed "Penrod
Schofield!" thousands of times.

From the beginning of his aerial experiments in his own schoolroom, he
had not opened his lips, knowing somehow that one of the requirements
for air floating is perfect silence on the part of the floater; but,
finally, irritated beyond measure by Miss Spence's clamorous insistence,
he was unable to restrain an indignant rebuke and immediately came to
earth with a frightful bump.

Miss Spence--in the flesh--had directed toward the physical body of the
absent Penrod an inquiry as to the fractional consequences of dividing
seventeen apples, fairly, among three boys, and she was surprised and
displeased to receive no answer although to the best of her knowledge
and belief, he was looking fixedly at her. She repeated her question
crisply, without visible effect; then summoned him by name with
increasing asperity. Twice she called him, while all his fellow
pupils turned to stare at the gazing boy. She advanced a step from the
platform.

"Penrod Schofield!"