“Yes, sir.”
“Then you may remain in after school also.”
“Thank you for nothing,” growled Andy, but this time under his breath.
“I am going to fix old Crabby,” said Pepper, during recess. “I think it is a shame to keep us in—with the last of the skating at hand.”
Pepper’s opportunity to torment the teacher came sooner than expected. That afternoon Josiah Crabtree had to leave the classroom for several minutes. At noon the Imp had secured some flour in a paper bag. He passed up to the platform, and on the sly placed the bag of flour in the teacher’s desk, turning it upside down, with the bottom fastened by a slit in the paper to the lock part of the desk lid.
“We will now take up our next study,” said Josiah Crabtree, a little later. He looked around for a lead pencil, but could find none. Then he walked to his desk, sat down, and started to raise the lid.
The lid did not work very easily, and he gave it a nervous jerk. Up it came, and as it did so, the flour shot down out of the bag, into the desk and over the teacher’s lap. Some arose in a cloud, covering Crabtree’s face and neck.
“Wooh!” spluttered the teacher, leaping back. “Wh—what is this? Who—er—who—wooh!—played this trick on me!”
He was covered from head to foot with the flour, which got into his eyes and nose and caused him to sneeze loudly. His appearance was so comical all of the students set up a very loud roar.
“Silence! silence! I will have silence!” roared the teacher, wrathfully. Then he had to sneeze some more, and the classroom burst into another roar.