[Sidenote: Pencil]
Horace Brock had a new, red lead pencil. Even Miss Culver, the teacher,
had noticed its brightness as he wrote his morning spelling lesson. But
when the arithmetic preparation period arrived, his pencil was gone. He
searched through his desk carefully, then put up his hand, when Miss
Culver said, “What is it, Horace?”
“My new pencil is gone.”
“It must be about your desk,” she said, as she went to help him look for
it. They failed to find it.
Two days passed and nothing was seen of the missing pencil. In the
meantime several other pupils had bought new pencils just like it from
the new assortment at the drug store.
On the third day Lettie Crandall, who sat just in front of Horace, had a
shining red pencil.
At recess words were passed between Horace and Lettie somewhat as
follows:
“That’s my pencil you had this morning.”
“It is not.”
“I know it is; I marked mine.”
“I marked mine, too.”
Miss Culver stepped up and said:
“How did you mark yours, Lettie?”
Confused and surprised, Lettie hesitated and then said, “I sharpened it
long.”
“How did you mark yours, Horace?” Miss Culver asked.
“It had three little tacks to hold the tin that the rubber is fastened
in, onto the wood. Well, I took mother’s hammered brass punch and made
little dents all around there just for fun. She’s got my pencil. I saw
the dents in it.”
“Let me see the pencil,” said Miss Culver.
She compared it with other pencils and saw at once that it was
unmistakably marked just as Horace had said. She therefore felt sure it
belonged to him, and said:
“I’ll punish Lettie for stealing and lying.”
Lettie was whipped after school, not only in order to deter her from
stealing, but also as an example to other children. She was ostracised
by the girls for over a week, and in fact lost forever the intimate
association she had had with one little classmate. Miss Culver
understood this and believed it was just punishment for Lettie.