. Of a sudden he left his place among
the School Commissioners and moved nearer the door.

At last the teacher was done examining the older pupils. Now came
the turn of the little ones, those who had barely learnt their
letters. They had not acquired any vast store of learning, to be
sure, but a few questions had to be put to them, also. Besides,
they were to give some account of the Story of the Creation.

First they were asked to tell who it was that created the world.
That they knew of course. And then, unhappily, the teacher asked
them if they knew of any other name for God.

Now all the little A-B-C-ers were stumped! Their cheeks grew hot
and the skin on their foreheads was drawn into puckers, but they
could not for the life of them think out the answer to such a
profound question.

Among the larger children, over on the right, there was a general
waving of hands, and whispering and tittering; but the eight small
beginners held their mouths shut tight and not a sound came from
them. Glory Goldie was as mum as the rest.

"There is a prayer which we repeat every day," said the teacher.
"What do we call God there?"

Now Glory Goldie had it! She knew the teacher wanted them to say
they called God _Father_--and raised her hand.

"What do we call God, Glory Goldie?" he asked.

Glory Goldie jumped to her feet, her cheeks aflame, her little
yellow pigtail of a braid pointing straight out from her neck.

"We call him Jan," she answered in a high, penetrating voice.

Immediately a laugh went up from all parts of the room. The gentry,
the School Board, parents and children all chuckled. Even the
schoolmaster appeared to be amused.

Glory Goldie went red as a beet and her eyes filled up. The teacher
rapped on the floor with the end of his pointer and shouted
"Silence!" Whereupon he said a few words to explain the matter.

"It was _Father_ Glory Goldie wanted to say, of course, but said
Jan instead because her own father's name is Jan. We can't wonder
at the little girl, for I hardly know of another child in the
school who has so kind a father as she has. I have seen him stand
outside the schoolhouse in rain and bluster, waiting for her, and
I've seen him come carrying her to school through blizzards, when
the snow was knee-deep in the road. So who can wonder at her saying
Jan when she must name the best she knows!"

The teacher patted the little girl on the head. The people all
smiled, but at the same time the