By the time the victim had been there ten
minutes, he wished never to repeat the experience. I know whereof I
speak, for I "sat on nothing" three times that winter.
Czar Brench's most picturesque, not to say bizarre, punishment was for
buzzing lips. Many of us, studying hard to get our lessons, were very
likely to make sounds with our lips, and in the silence of that
schoolroom the least little lisp was sure to reach the master's ear.
"Didn't I hear a buzzer then?" he would ask in his softest tone, raising
his finger to point to the offender. "Ah, yes. It is--it is _you_! Come
out here. Those lips need a lesson."
The lesson consisted in your standing, facing the school, with your
mouth propped open. The props were of wood, and were one or two inches
long, for small or large "buzzers."
I remember one day when six boys--and I believe one girl--stood facing
the school with their mouths propped open at full stretch, each gripping
a book and trying to study! Inveterate "buzzers"--those who had been
called out two or three times--had not only to face the school with
props in their mouths but to mount and stand on top of the master's
desk.
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