m sorry I
couldn't be here this recess, but we had an important conference. Now,
Margaret, you may read the first paragraph of the third lesson."

Rufus Hornbeck was the name of the committeeman, and all the children
who had been to school before knew him as the head of the school
committee and a man who could, if he wished, scold even Mr. Carter,
the primary and grammar school principal. Some of the boys said that
"old Hornbeck," as they disrespectfully called him, had the right to
tell Mr. Fredericks, the high-school principal, what to do. But the
high-school was too far away for the majority of the boys to think
about.

"Come up here on the platform, and face the class," said Mr.
Hornbeck to Meg. "Read clearly now, and let your classmates enjoy the
story."

Poor Meg was very shy as she went up to the platform, for reading
aloud was an ordeal for her, though at home she always had her "nose
in a book," as Norah said. She reached the platform, grasped her
reading book tightly in both hands, and began to read hurriedly.

"That's enough," announced Miss Mason, as Meg came to the end of a
long paragraph.

Meg closed her book, stepped to one side to avoid the waste basket,
and put her foot squarely into Mr. Hornbeck's high silk hat which he
had placed carefully on the floor beside his chair.

"Tut! tut!" said Mr. Hornbeck reprovingly. "Don't be so clumsy, child.
Don't kick--lift your foot out."

Meg was crimson with embarrassment, and the class was snickering in
spite of Miss Mason's frown. Meg was glad to escape to her seat, and
the committeeman moved his hat further back before the next unlucky
reader came to the platform.

It did seem as though the noon bell would never ring, but at quarter
of twelve it did, and Meg and Bobby hurried home to lunch.

"What did you do all morning?" asked Meg of the twins, who as usual
were waiting for them at the gate.

"Played school," answered Dot.

That was the usual answer. The twins never tired of playing school,
and whatever Meg and Bobby told them one day they were pretty sure to
"pretend" the next. Always and always, too, they wished that they
might go to "regular" school.

That afternoon, as soon as she had given the first grade pupils seat
work to keep them busy, Miss Mason remembered her promise to show the
higher class her book. Tim Roon, who had been secretly relieved that
Mr. Hornbeck's visit had delayed the discovery of his trick, now began
to be uneasy. He