At one of the lectures by Professor George Kirchwey, dean of Columbia Law College, New York, the students were uneasy. There was something wrong in the air. Books were dropped, chairs were pushed along the floor. There were various interruptions. The nerves of all were on edge. The members of the class kept their eyes on the clock and awaited the conclusion of the hour of the lecture. The clock beat Professor Kirchwey by perhaps a minute, but at the expiration of the schedule time the students started to their feet and prepared to leave. “Wait a minute,” objected Professor Kirchwey; “don’t go just yet. I have a few more pearls to cast.”
Mrs. Flint always demanded instant and unquestioning obedience from her children. One afternoon a storm came up and she sent her son John to close the trapdoor leading to the roof.
“But mother—” said John.
“John, I told you to shut the trapdoor.”
“Yes, but, Mother—”
“John, shut that trapdoor.”
“All right, Mother, if you say so, but—”
“John!”