rest the
schoolhouse, and couldn't tell which was whipping, so you had to sit
there and wonder; and worst of all you must stand Miss Amelia calmly
telling you to pay attention to your books or you would be kept in, and
all the time you were forced to bear torments, while you watched her
walk from window to window to see every speck of the fight. One day
they had thumped and fought for half an hour; she had looked from every
window in the room, and at last there was an awful whacking, and then
silence. It grew so exciting I raised my hand, and almost before she
nodded permission, "Which whipped?" I asked.

Miss Amelia turned red as a beet. Gee, but she was mad!

"I did!" she said. "Or at least I will. You may remain for it after
school is dismissed."

Now if you are going to be switched, they never do it until they are
just so angry anyway, and then they always make it as hard as they dare
not to stripe you, so it isn't much difference HOW provoked they are,
it will be the same old thrashing, and it's sure to sting for an hour
at least, so you might as well be beaten for a little more as hardly
anything at all. At that instant from the fence not far from my window
came a triumphant crow that fairly ripped across the room.

"Oh, it was the Dorking!" I said. "No wonder you followed clear around
the room to see him thrash a Shanghai three times his size! I bet a
dollar it was great!"

Usually, I wouldn't have put up more than five cents, but at that time
I had over six dollars from my Easter eggs, and no girl of my age at
our school ever had half that much. Miss Amelia started toward me, and
I braced my feet so she'd get a good jolt herself, when she went to
shake me; she never struck us over the head since Laddie talked to her
that first day; but John Hood's foot was in the aisle. I thought maybe
I'd have him for my beau when we grew up, because I bet he knew she was
coming, and stuck out his foot on purpose; anyway, she pitched, and had
to catch a desk to keep off the floor, and that made her so mad at him,
that she forgot me, while he got his scolding; so when my turn came at
last, she had cooled down enough that she only marched past to her
desk, saying I was to remain after school. I had to be careful after
that to be mighty good to May and Leon.

When school was out they sat on the steps before the door and waited.
Miss Amelia fussed around and there they sat. Then her face grew more
gobblerish than