One day he came to school in the afternoon, and found the room filled
with smoke; the doors and windows were all closed, though, as soon as he
came in, some of the boys opened them. He knew by this circumstance that
it was roguery, not accident, which caused the smoke. He appeared not to
notice it, however, said he was sorry it smoked, and asked the
mischievous boy--for he was sure to be always near in such a case--to
assist him in putting up the wood of the fire more compactly. The boy
supposed that the smoke was understood to be accidental, and perhaps
secretly laughed at the dullness of his master.
In the course of the afternoon, the teacher ascertained by private
inquiries that his suspicions were correct as to the author of the
mischief. At the close of school, when the studies were ended, and the
books laid away, he said to the scholars that he wanted to tell them a
story.
He then, with a pleasant tone and manner, gave a very minute, and, to
the boys, a very interesting narrative of his adventure two or three
weeks before, when he rescued this boy from his danger. He called him,
however, simply _a boy_, without mentioning his name, or even hinting
that he was a member of the school. No narrative could excite a stronger
interest among an audience of school-boys than such a one as this, and
no act of kindness from a teacher would make as vivid an impression as
interfering to rescue a trembling captive from such a situation as the
one this boy had been in.
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