"Tell me, now, Louis, what you want. Begin at the beginning and hide nothing."
Louis looked sullenly at his father.
"You haven't time to listen to me. You never have."
"Yes, I have. I'll take it." Paul felt more self-reproach every minute he eyed Louis. And as he looked at him he could not help thinking of how much the boy resembled in many ways Esther's brother Louis, who used to give him such concern.
"Well, father, I want to quit High School. I don't like it. I hate it."
"Why? Tell me honestly now. I can't help you unless you give me the real facts."
"I don't like the teachers. They nag me. I hate them."
"Hate them? You mean all of your teachers?"
"Well, most of them. They criticise me and make fun of me. Miss Barrows showed what I wrote about tuberculosis to every other teacher in the school."
"Go on," said Paul, after a pause.