in connection with his realization of not
having had any thought of running away during the fight made him
hesitate in his final judgment upon himself. But he felt quite sure that
fighting was not his chosen field. The effect on his nerves was
too damaging.

III.

In the lower three grades, a single teacher with the title of Class
Principal had complete charge of the morals, manners and instruction of
the children in his grade. Keith had the luck of falling into the hands
of one of the kindest and shrewdest men in the school--a man who seemed
to understand that his mission was to guide rather than to drive, and
who, in addition to his broad, human sympathy, possessed a genuine sense
of humour.

His name was Lector Dahlstroem, but everybody spoke of him as Dally, and
little did he care. He was large of body and large of mind, with a most
impressive girth and a voice that commanded attention without grating on
supersensitive nerves. He had very rarely to assert his authority, but
if ever the need arose, no one remained long in doubt as to who was the
master, and a recurrence of the offense was unheard of. Even on such
occasions he never used corporal punishment, although at that time the
right of such administration still remained with him. He simply appealed
to the self-respect and the sense of fairness in his pupils, asking no
one to render what lay beyond his capacity. The main secret of his hold
on the boys, however, lay in his ability to keep them interested, and to
do so he frequently broke away from the text books and time-worn
pedagogical methods. If there was anything he deposed, it was learning
things by rote.

The boys sat in rows of four and were placed with regard to scholarship
and behaviour, so that the best pupils were farthest away from the
teacher and the least reliable ones right in front of him. Keith found
himself number two in the class, and that position at first tickled his
pride considerably. Later, as the term went by, and boys now and then
were shifted up or down, he began to wonder why he always remained
number two. It was reassuring in a way, as showing that he held his own,
but he failed to see why another boy should always remain _primus_,
although his performances during lessons did not surpass those of Keith.
Once he dared even give utterance to some such speculation in his
father's hearing, but was promptly put down with a stern:

"If the teacher puts another boy above you, he