before long a subtle spirit of insubordination began to make
itself felt in the school. Esther found herself powerless to cope with
it. The Croppers never openly defied her, but they did precisely as
they pleased. The other pupils thought themselves at liberty to follow
this example, and in a month's time poor Esther had completely lost
control of her little kingdom. Some complaints were heard among the
ratepayers and even Mr. Baxter looked dubious. She knew that unless
she could regain her authority she would be requested to hand in her
resignation, but she was baffled by the elusive system of defiance
which the Cropper boys had organized.

One day she resolved to go to Mr. Cropper himself and appeal to his
sense of justice, if he had any. It had been an especially hard day in
school. When she had been absent at the noon hour all the desks in the
schoolroom had been piled in a pyramid on the floor, books and slates
interchanged, and various other pranks played. When questioned every
pupil denied having done or helped to do it. Alfred and Bob Cropper
looked her squarely in the eyes and declared their innocence in their
usual gentlemanly fashion, yet Esther felt sure that they were the
guilty ones. She also knew what exaggerated accounts of the affair
would be taken home to Maitland tea tables, and she felt like sitting
down to cry. But she did not. Instead she set her mouth firmly, helped
the children restore the room to order, and after school went up to
Isaac Cropper's house.

That gentleman himself came in from the harvest field looking as
courtly as usual, even in his rough working clothes. He shook hands
heartily, told her he was glad to see her, and began talking about the
weather. Esther was not to be turned from her object thus, although
she felt her courage ebbing away from her as it always did in the
presence of the Cropper imperviousness.

"I have come up to see you about Alfred and Robert, Mr. Cropper," she
said. "They are not behaving well in school."

"Indeed!" Mr. Cropper's voice expressed bland surprise. "That is
strange. As a rule I do not think Alfred and Robert have been
troublesome to their teachers. What have they been doing now?"

"They refuse to obey my orders," said Esther faintly.

"Ah, well, Miss Maxwell, perhaps you will pardon my saying that a
teacher should be able to enforce her orders. My boys are
high-spirited fellows and need a strong, firm hand to restrain them. I
have always sai