Hint of crisis to come. Contributory Incident.
7. “You needn’t hurry so fast, my lad, you’ll get to school soon enough!”
The school was held in the master’s house.
8. I thought he was making game of me, and I kept right on, reaching Master Hamel’s little yard quite out of breath.
Unusual air depicted by contrast.
The story proper begins.
9. Ordinarily, as school was opening, the uproar was so great that it could be heard clear out on the street—desk-lids opening and shutting, lessons droned aloud in unison, pupils holding their ears shut to learn their An old custom. lessons easier, while the master’s great ferrule beat upon the desks:
10. “A little quietness!”
Contrast.
11. I had counted on all this noise to enable me to reach my seat unnoticed; but on that particular day everything was as quiet as a Sabbath morning. Through the open window I saw my schoolmates already ranged in their places, and Master Hamel pacing to and fro, his formidable iron ferrule under his arm. In the midst of that complete silence I had to open the door and go in! You can well imagine whether I blushed and was afraid!
Contrast.