“Yes,” said Gerald hopefully, “because maybe he will do something else some day, and then I’ll be ready for him!”
[CHAPTER VIII]
GERALD REVOLTS
Gerald wasn’t getting on very well with his studies. With English and Latin he was having little trouble, but French was a stumbling block, while as to mathematics—well, Gerald and algebra weren’t friends. And the worst of it was that Kilts, as Mr. McIntyre was called by the students, had got it into his head that Gerald wasn’t really trying to get along. This, at first, wasn’t true. But by the middle of February it must be acknowledged that Gerald had taken such a dislike to algebra, and Kilts, too, for that matter, that the latter had good reason for his suspicion. Kilts was a severe disciplinarian, and had small sympathy for boys who were not willing to work. He could forgive dullness, was often patience itself with a student who tried to learn and couldn’t, but he could make life very unpleasant for any member of his classes who didn’t try. And by the middle of February affairs were at an acute stage between Kilts and Gerald.
“Tell me, Mr. Pennimore,” he asked one morning with his best sarcasm, “is there any subject I could substitute for algebra that would interest you?” As Gerald made no reply—having learned by this time the wisdom of declining McIntyre’s challenges to debate—but merely sat with red cheeks, listening to the suppressed giggles of the fellows around him, Kilts construed the boy’s silence to please himself.
“Ah, there is, then! Now, tell me what it is, sir, and I’ll bring the matter up in Faculty Meeting, and perhaps we can make the change. Would it be embroidery—or jack-straws—or puss-in-the-corner? Would it be any of those, Mr. Pennimore?”
Gerald sat silent with burning cheeks.
“Come, come, Mr. Pennimore! Let us hear it, pray. Don’t be afraid to speak up. What would it be, now?”
“Manners!” blurted Gerald, trembling with anger. Mr. McIntyre’s little Scotch eyes blazed and the class sobered instantly. But the instructor’s voice was surprisingly gentle as he replied: