"I hope no boy will use a translation," said the usher; "it will
make his work easier for the time being, but in the end it will
embarrass him. Roscoe, as you have commenced, you may continue.
Translate the remainder of the passage."

Hector did so, exhibiting equal readiness.

The other boys took their turns, and then words were given out to
parse. Here Jim Smith showed himself quite at sea; though the usher,
as it was evident, selected the easiest words for him, he made a
mistake in every one. Apparently he was by no means certain which of
the words were nouns, and which verbs, and as to the relations which
they sustained to other words in the sentence he appeared to have
very little conception.

At length the recitation was over. It had demonstrated one thing,
that in Latin scholarship Hector was far more accurate and
proficient than any of his classmates, while Jim Smith stood far
below all the rest.

"What in the world can the teacher be thinking of, to keep such an
ignoramus in the class?" thought Hector. "He doesn't know enough to
join a class in the Latin Reader."

The fact was, that Jim Smith was unwilling to give up his place as a
member of the highest class in Latin, because he knew it would
detract from his rank in the school. Mr. Crabb, to whom every
recitation was a torture, had one day ventured to suggest that it
would be better to drop into the Caesar class; but he never ventured
to make the suggestion again, so unfavorably was it received by his