"I'm tired of the school," said Annie wearily; "Aw wish Aw was fourteen!"
"What's wrong now?" I asked.
"Oh, we never get any fun now, the new mester's always so strict, and we get an awful lot o' home lessons now."
"Annie got the strap on Friday," explained Jean. "Mester Macdonald's braces broke Aw think, at least something broke when he was bending doon and he took an awful red face ... and he had to keep his hands in his pouches till night time to keep his breeks up."
"Did Annie pull them down?" I asked.
Jean tittered.
"No, but she laughed and he gave her the strap."
"Aye," cried Annie in delight, "and they nearly cam doon when he was strappin' me!"
"Why do awkward incidents occur to dignity?" I said, more to myself than to the bairns, "my braces wouldn't break in fifty years of teaching." Then I laughed.
Margaret Thomson came down the road on her way to Evening Service, and she reddened as she passed.