up an astronomy
class--the whole school mostly was in it--and he was teachin' us general
things about the stars and what they was made of. So one day the
professor called out quick as a test of what he had told us before:
"What element is found on the planet Mars that is not found anywhere
else in the universe?" And George Heigold who was sittin' way back
yelled out "Sapolio"--and the whole school went wild, into a roar of
laugh. While the professor marched up and down flippin' his coat tails
with his hands and sayin', "Who said Sapolio? Who said Sapolio?" But no
one told and he couldn't find out.

So on this day when George Heigold got a hundred in geometry, somethin'
else happened. It was a warm day and you could hear bees outside, and
the trees was beginnin' to show green. All of us was so sleepy we could
hardly stay awake, and I could look out of the window and see the river
and the hills on the other side, and I could even see people fishin'.
Well, near noon we all began to smell somethin' like onions, and it got
worse and worse, and seemed to come up from the registers, for Jas.
Walker, the janitor, was keepin' a little fire yet, or had for early
mornin'. And the professor got over the register and smelt and he says,
"Who put asoefetida in the furnace--who did such a cowherd thing as
that?" Nobody said nothin'. It was a surprise to me, and to Mitch, but
we were tickled for we could see what was comin'. The smell got worse
and worse, and Jas. Walker came runnin' through the room and lookin' in
registers. Then everybody began to cough in earnest, only George Heigold
coughed louder than a cow, and Bertha Whitney, bein' delicate, fainted
and there was a lot of runnin' to her, pickin' her up and fetchin' her
water. And the schoolroom went wild. The professor lost hold of
everything and got white and walked back and forth flappin' his coat
tails with his hands. Till finally he said, "School's dismissed for the
day." Then we all got up and busted out, singing and laughing. So Mitch
and me went to dinner and then hurried off to Old Salem to dig for
treasure.

[Illustration: Looking for Asafetida]

When we got to the mill, Jim Lally was already there and was fishin' and
had caught a big cat. They was bitin' good. And he says: "How did you
boys like the asoefetida?" We said "pretty well." And then he said, "If
anybody says I did that and you tell it, I'll lick you both, so you
can't stand up." Jim was 16 or 17 and big a