Mr. Cæsar bit his lip, and his silver voice would scarcely come.
"Or of a pig!"
"Would a pig have manners, sir?" corrected Penny.
"That's consummate impudence!"
"Oh, is it, sir?" Penny's tone suggested that he was grateful for the enlightenment. Henceforth he would not be in two minds on the subject.
Mr. Cæsar, repulsed again by the more powerful character of the boy, tried to cover the feebleness of his position by sounding as threatening as possible.
"Go to your seat at once! The impudence of this class is insufferable!"
Loud murmurs of dissent from twenty boys greeted this aspersion. The class resolved itself into an Opposition, inspired by one object, which was to repudiate aspersions. Penny excellently voiced their resentment.
"Oh, sir." (Opposition cheers.)
Mr. Cæsar hurled his chair behind him, and approached very close to Penny.