o his rank and privileges as a member of the Institute. If
this is not done, at least fifty of us will sign a paper urging our
parents and guardians to take us away from this school."

"I will grant nothing under these circumstances--promise nothing,"
replied the principal, doggedly.

"We are in no haste. We leave the matter for your consideration, Mr.
Parasyte. We will all go to our rooms now."

Vallington left the chair, and walked out of the school-room, followed
in good order by all the students who had taken part in these
irregular proceedings. I was going out with the rest, when Mr.
Parasyte intimated that he had something to say to me, and I remained.
When the boys had all gone, he invited me to accompany him to his
private office--a small apartment, opening from the main hall, near
the front door, in which he received callers, and sat in state when
not employed in the school-room.

There is an old saying that "you must summer and winter" a man before
you know him. Mr. Parasyte was considered a tyrant; not a coarse and
brutal tyrant, but a refined and gentlemanly one, who cows you by his
polite impertinence. He seldom indulged in harsh speech, never in
personal violence--at least no instance of it was known to the
students. He indulged in sneers and polished browbeating. A boy was
never stupid--he lacked common intelligence; never a blockhead--his
perceptions were very dull. His polite epithets were more cutting than
good round invectives would have been.

He had a will of his own; and he was obstinate, mulish, pig-headed. If
he had been surprised into declaring that black was white, then black
would continue to be white, in spite of positive demonstration to the
contrary. He was dogmatic to the last degree; and this is a fault to
which the schoolmaster is peculiarly liable. It required the event of
the day whereof I speak to enable us fully to comprehend Mr. Parasyte.
We had summered him before; now we were to winter him.

What he had said in the school-room indicated that he intended to
regard the confessions of Poodles and Pearl as extorted from them by
intimidation, and that he purposed to persist in persecuting me. I had
no desire to be a martyr; but I did not see how I could help myself.

"Thornton, I see you intend, if possible, to break up the Parkville
Liberal Institute," said he.

"No, sir, I do not. I hadn't anything to do with what took place in
the school-room," I replied.

"You did not se