. Everyone, from old Granny Teeter in the
front row to little Jamie Gordon down in the primary class, sang with
all his might. Then there was an equally hearty reading of the Lesson.
This was a short extract from the Scriptures printed on their little
leaflets. Noah Clegg read one verse, while the school responded with
the next in rumbling unison, after which each teacher turned to his
class. This was simply done by reversing the seat ahead, the back of
which turned over in the most accommodating manner, enabling the
instructor to sit facing his pupils.

The Lesson was read again in class, verses were recited, and then the
teacher asked questions or expounded the passage. A pleasant buzz and
hum arose. Now and then a voice would rise above the general rumble,
for old Silas Pratt was deaf, and Charles Stuart MacAllister and Wully
Johnstone's Johnny, and John Gordon and all the other bad boys in his
class, shouted their memory verses into his ear louder than even
necessity demanded. Then Wully Johnstone had a powerful and
penetrating voice and taught so loud that everyone in the church heard
him even better than he heard his own teacher.

The little girls in Martha Ellen Robertson's class were always quiet
and well-behaved, partly because it was the nature of all except
Elizabeth, but mostly because they were very much in love with their
teacher and intensely proud of her. They felt they had good reason to
be, for was it not known all over the countryside that Martha Ellen was
the best-dressed young lady outside Cheemaun. Every Sunday, Elizabeth
and Rosie, squeezed up against the wall to avoid the drip from the
coal-oil lamp above, sat waiting for her arrival and whispering eager
speculations as to what new things she would wear. They were seldom
disappointed, and to-day their teacher had never looked finer. She
wore a brand new white hat, with a huge bunch of luscious red cherries
nodding over the wide brim. To be sure, the white embroidered dress
was last summer's freshly starched and ironed, but she had a new, broad
blue satin ribbon round her slim waist and tied in a big bow at her
side. Then Martha Ellen always wore gold bracelets and rings; and,
what was her most attractive ornament to her class, a beautiful gold
watch in her belt, attached to a long gold chain about her neck. The
girls often saw the watch, much to their joy, for several times during
Sunday school Martha Ellen would pull it out and sa