Mr. Garland restored order and announced that zoology would be the first subject of the day so that the active Yank could then be taken outside. First Mr. Garland stood Yank on the platform at the head of the class with Ted to help keep him still.
The teacher pointed out the physical characteristics of the Martian animal, touching Yank’s paws, head, jaws, and other parts with a pointer. Yank followed the movement of the stick with his eyes. Then the whole class started giggling. The bear was looking at the stick cross-eyed.
Ted had to force down a grin. He could see that Mr. Garland was having the same trouble. When Yank got tired of following the stick with his eyes, he seized it in his mouth and began gnawing on it. This brought a burst of laughter from the pupils.
Ted took the stick from Yank, and the bear thought this was a signal for them to wrestle. At home, this was the way Ted usually got him to play.
“Get off me, Yank,” Ted muttered in a low, angry voice. “We’re at school, not home! I thought we warned you to behave yourself here! You’re just trying to show off!”
Yank seemed to get the tone of Ted’s outburst, even if he could not understand the words. He stopped his foolishness and actually kept as still as a little gentleman for the next few minutes as Mr. Garland continued to demonstrate.
But then he could hold off no longer. As the instructor was leaning over close to him to point out the peculiar upsweep of his blue-tipped eyebrows, Yank’s big red tongue came out of his mouth and scraped along Mr. Garland’s cheek.
The teacher blushed at the renewed laughter as he wiped his face with his handkerchief. Ted was worried lest Mr. Garland hold Yank’s behavior against him. But the teacher was a good sport and said, with a grin, “You win, Yank. Better take him outside, Ted. This will have to conclude our study of Martian color bears for a while!”
Ted took Yank outside and tied him beneath the classroom window so that he could watch him every now and then. Ted knew what the animal must be thinking: “Please let me in! I’ll behave myself.”
When Ted returned, the class was quiet again. Mr. Garland set up the projector for a color movie on American history. But this was not merely a history lesson. The children were told to study the costumes and architecture. It was actually several studies in one.