master of anybody else. When evening came,
there were symptoms of insubordination through the whole school. Poor
Ralph was sick at heart. He felt that if there had ever been the shadow
of an alliance between himself and Bud, it was all "off" now. It seemed
to Hartsook that even Bull had lost his respect for the teacher. Half
that night the young man lay awake. At last comfort came to him. A
reminiscence of the death of the raccoon flashed on him like a vision.
He remembered that quiet and annihilating bite which Bull gave. He
remembered Bud's certificate, that "Ef Bull once takes a holt, heaven
and yarth can't make him let go." He thought that what Flat Creek needed
was a bulldog. He would be a bulldog, quiet, but invincible. He would
take hold in such a way that nothing should make him let go. And then he
went to sleep.

In the morning Ralph got out of bed slowly. He put his clothes on
slowly. He pulled on his boots in a bulldog mood. He tried to move as he
thought Bull would move if he were a man. He ate with deliberation, and
looked everybody in the eyes with a manner that made Bud watch him
curiously. He found himself continually comparing himself with Bull. He
found Bull possessing a strange fascination for him. He walked to school
alone, the rest having gone on before. He entered the school-room
preserving a cool and dogged manner. He saw in the eyes of the boys that
there was mischief brewing. He did not dare sit down in his chair for
fear of a pin. Everybody looked solemn. Ralph lifted the lid of his
desk. "Bow-wow! wow-wow!" It was the voice of an imprisoned puppy, and
the school giggled and then roared. Then everything was quiet.

The scholars expected an outburst of wrath from the teacher. For they
had come to regard the whole world as divided into two classes, the
teacher on the one side representing lawful authority, and the pupils on
the other in a state of chronic rebellion. To play a trick on the master
was an evidence of spirit; to "lick" the master was to be the crowned
hero of Flat Creek district. Such a hero was Bud Means; and Bill, who
had less muscle, saw a chance to distinguish himself on a teacher of
slender frame. Hence the puppy in the desk.

Ralph Hartsook grew red in the face when he saw the puppy. But the cool,
repressed, bulldog mood in which he had kept himself saved him. He
lifted the dog into his arms and stroked him until the laughter
subsided. Then, in a solemn and set way, he began