As no one answered she continued:
“And may I ask why your Latin is not prepared? Don’t you like Latin, Marianna?”
“No, I do not, Miss Hale,” Polly answered, dangerously polite.
“You don’t like Latin, so you don’t prepare Latin; how very unfortunate!”
“I never said that was the reason I was unprepared. I told you I had no excuse.”
Polly was getting very angry, still she might have controlled herself if just at that moment Miss Hale had not lifted a restraining hand and said, “Tut, my dear,” in her most irritating manner.
Have you ever noticed the effect “Tut, tut,” has on an angry person? Sometimes it’s quite dreadful. Polly was no exception. She stamped her foot, threw her Latin book violently on the floor and marched out of the room, slamming the door behind her.
Punishment followed as a matter of course. Polly had expected to be sent to Mrs. Baird. She did not know how thoroughly the Spartan disapproved of her superior’s gentle lectures, preferring more drastic measures.
It was not until after school, however, that she learned her fate. It was in the shape of a note that read as follows:
“Kindly keep silence for the afternoon; report