[Sidenote: “Board Work”]
“Edmund, you may come to the front board for your arithmetic,” said Mr.
Spangler as he assigned places to his class of fifteen. Edmund had been
in school just long enough to decide where he might begin to test out
the new teacher.
“It’s dark up there. I’d rather go here by the window.”
“It’s not too dark for good work up here. Come up at once.”
Edmund did not feel the force of this urgency. So he loitered along
looking this way and that. His teacher hastened over to him and said,
“See here, young man, I don’t want to wait so long for you.”
“But I don’t want to go up front. I want to work here.”
“Edmund, no more back-talk if you please. You’ve said too much already.”
“You don’t make the other big boys go up front.”
This was too much for the patience of Mr. Spangler, so, quick as a flash
up flew his hand and struck Edmund a smart blow on the side of the head.
In a moment the boy’s nose began to bleed a trifle. This did not last
for long and the battle reopened as soon as the crying was hushed up.
“Will you go up to the board now as I told you to?” was the next thing
for the worried teacher to say.
Edmund drew back a little as he said, “I don’t feel like it now. I’d
rather stay down here.”
After this long parley, Mr. Spangler did the act heroic, seizing Edmund
by the right arm, he dragged him by successive jerks to his desk and in
the presence of the school gave him a sound whipping. Then he shoved him
to his place at the blackboard. Of course school work was sadly
interrupted. The success of the teacher’s method may be inferred from
the fact that at the end of three days essentially the same performance
was repeated almost literally.