"Will you try it, Earle?"
And Earle went. Silence in the class-room. All eyes on the blackboard, and
the quick fingers of one boy handling the crayon. How fast he worked! Had
be multiplied right?--No. Yes, that was right. O, but he had blundered in
subtraction! No, he had not; every figure was right. Ah! now he had reached
the place where none of them knew what to do next. But he knew! Without
pause or confusion, he moved on, through to the very last figure, which he
made with a flourish. Moreover, he knew how to explain his work, just what
he did, and why he did it. As he turned to take his seat, the admiring
class, whose honor he had saved, broke into applause, which the smiling
teacher did not attempt to check.
"I think we owe Earle a vote of thanks," she said. "I confess my surprise
as well as pleasure in his work; I did not expect any of you to succeed. In
truth, I gave you the example rather as a trial of patience than in the
hope that you could conquer it. You remember, however, that I gave you
permission to secure help if you utterly failed. Will you tell us, Earle,
if you had any help?"
"Yes'm," said Earle.
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