u're right. Young James should be advanced." He looked down at Jimmy
Holden. "James," he said, "we're going to place you in the Second Grade
for a tryout. Unless we're wrong, you'll stay and go up with them."

Jimmy's entry into Second Grade brought a different attitude. He had
entered school quietly just for the sake of getting away from Paul
Brennan. Now he was beginning to form a plan. If he could go from First
to Second in a matter of three weeks, then, by carefully disclosing his
store of knowledge bit-by-bit at the proper moment, he might be able to
go through school in a short time. Moreover, he had tasted the first
fruits of recognition. He craved more.

Somewhere was born the quaint notion that getting through school would
automatically make him an adult, with all attendant privileges.

So Jimmy Holden dropped all pretense. His answers were as right as he
could make them. He dropped the covering mimickry of childish speech
and took personal pride in using grammar as good as that of his teacher.

This got him nothing. The Second Grade teacher was of the "progressive"
school; she firmly believed that everybody, having been created equal,
had to stay that way. She pointedly avoided giving Jimmy any opportunity
to show his capability.

He bided his time with little grace.

He found his opportunity during the visit of a school superintendent.
During this session Jimmy hooted when one of his fellows said that
Columbus proved the world was round.

Angrily she demanded that Jimmy tell her who did prove it, and Jimmy
Holden replied that he didn't know whether it was Pythagoras or one of
his followers, but he did know that it was one of the few things that
Aristotle ever got right. This touched her on a sore spot. She admired
Aristotle and couldn't bear to hear the great man accused of error.

She started baiting Jimmy with loaded questions and stopped when
Jimmy stated that Napoleon Bonaparte was responsible for the invention
of canned food, the adoption of the metric system, and the development
of the semaphore telegraph. This stopped all proceedings until Jimmy
himself found the references in the Britannica. That little feat of
research-reference impressed the visiting superintendent. Jimmy Holden
was jumped into Third Grade.

Convinced that he was on the right trolley, Jimmy proceeded to plunge in
with both feet. Third Grade Teacher helped. Within a week he was being
called upon to aid the laggards. He stood