"Excellent! Mac, you're a wonder! You're a brave man!"
"I don't feel brave," he said nervously. "It's going to be a very
difficult job."
"It is," I said grimly, "and the most difficult part is for you to keep
out of it."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean that you have been an authority for so long that you'll find
yourself issuing orders unthinkingly. More than that the kiddies are
so much dependent on you that they will wait to see how you vote."
"What's the best way to begin it?" he asked.
"Simply walk in to-morrow and say: 'Look here, you are going to govern
yourselves. I have no power; I won't order anyone to do anything; I
won't punish anyone. Now, do what you like'."
Mac looked frightened.
"But, good Lord, man, they'll--they'll wreck the school!"
"Funk!" I laughed.
His eyes were full of excitement.
"It'll be an awful job to keep my hands off them," he said half to
himself.
"Funk!" I said again.
"It's all very well, but . . . well, I'm rather strict you know."
"So much the better! All the better a row!"
"You Bolshevist!" he laughed. He was like a boy divided between two
desires--to steal the apples and to escape the policeman. I half
feared that his courage would desert him.
"Here," he said, "why not come over to school?"
The temptation was great and I wavered.
"No," I said at last, "I can't do it. My presence would distract the
children, and . . . they won't smash all the windows in front of a
stranger. You want my support, you dodger!"
But I would give ten pounds to be in Mac's schoolroom to-morrow morning.
* * * * *
I went out this morning and sat on the school wall and smoked my pipe.
I strained my ears for the first murmur of the approaching storm. Not
a sound came from the schoolroom.
"Mac has funked it after all," I groaned, and went in to help Mrs.
Macdonald to pare the potatoes.
When Mac came over at dinner-time his face wore a thoughtful look.
"You coward!" I cried.
"Coward!" he laughed. "Why, man, the scheme is in full swing!"
Then I asked him to tell me all about it.
"Your knowledge of children is all bunkum," he began. "You said there
would be a row when I announced that I gave up authority."
"And wasn't there?"
"Not a vestige of one. The kids stared at me with open mouth,
and . . ."
"And what?"
"Oh, they simply got out their books and began their reading lesson.
As quiet as mice too."
"And do you mean to tell me that it made no difference?" I asked.
"None whatever. I tell you they just went on with the timetable as
usual."
"But didn't they talk to each other more?"
"There wasn't a whisper."