stly or
unkindly?"
"No, sir;" "No, sir."
"Then why should any boy or girl wish to give me trouble or pain?"
There was a pause. The guilty individual expected that the next thing
would be to call him out for punishment.
"Now what do you think I ought to do with such a boy?"
No answer.
"Perhaps I ought to punish him, but I am very unwilling to do that. I
concluded to try another plan--to treat him with kindness and
forbearance. So I called your attention to it this afternoon, to let him
know that I was observing it, and to give him an opportunity to remove
the string. And he did. He went, in the recess, and cut off the string.
I shall not tell you his name, for I do not wish to injure his
character. All I want is to have him a good boy."
A pause.
"I think I shall try this plan, for he must have some feelings of honor
and gratitude, and if he has, he certainly will not try to give me pain
or trouble again after this. And now I shall say no more about it, nor
think any more about it; only, to prove that it is all as I say, if you
look there under that window after school, you will see the lath with
the end of the string round it, and, by pulling it, you can make it
snap."
Another case, a little more serious in its character, is the following:
A teacher, having had some trouble with a rude and savage-looking boy,
made some inquiry respecting him out of school, and incidentally learned
that he had once or twice before openly rebelled against the authority
of the school, and that he was now, in the recesses, actually preparing
a club, with which he was threatening to defend himself if the teacher
should attempt to punish him.
The next day, soon after the boys had gone out, he took his hat and
followed them, and, turning round a corner of the school-house, found
the boys standing around the young rebel, who was sitting upon a log,
shaving the handle of the club smooth with his pocket-knife. He was
startled at the unexpected appearance of the teacher, and the first
impulse was to hide his club behind him; but it was too late, and,
supposing that the teacher was ignorant of his designs, he went on
sullenly with his work, feeling, however, greatly embarrassed.
"Pleasant day, boys," said the teacher. "This is a fine sunny nook for
you to talk in.
"Seems to me, however, you ought to have a better seat than this old
log," continued he, taking his seat at the same time by the side of the
boy.
"Not so
|