"Lie still, lie still," he said, as some of the boys at the bottom of
the pile struggled to get out. "Lie still. I suppose you forgot that it
disturbs me to have crowding and loud trampling. Try and remember that
it disturbs me."
Turning away, he said, "The girls may now have their recess."
To this day I remember just how those terrified girls stole out from the
schoolroom. Not until they had come in from their recess and had taken
their seats did Master Brench again turn his attention to the pile of
boys. He walked round it with his face wreathed in smiles.
"Like as not that floor is hard," he remarked. "It has just come into my
mind. I'm afraid you're not wholly comfortable. Rise quietly, brush one
another, and take your seats. It grieves me to think how hard that floor
must be."
There were at that time about sixty-five pupils in our district, ranging
in size and age from little four-year-olds, just learning the alphabet,
to young men and women twenty years of age. It was impossible that so
many young persons could be gathered in a room without some shuffling of
feet and some noise with books and slates. Moreover, boys and girls
unused to study for nine months of the year are not always able at first
to con lessons without unconsciously and audibly moving their lips.
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