THE MASTER OF LINDSAY SCHOOL One evening , a month later , Eric Marshall came out of the old , white-washed schoolhouse at Lindsay , and locked the door -- which was carved over with initials innumerable , and built of double plank in order that it might withstand all the assaults and batteries to which it might be subjected . Eric 's pupils had gone home an hour before , but he had stayed to solve some algebra problems , and correct some Latin exercises for his advanced students . The sun was slanting in warm yellow lines through the thick grove of maples to the west of the building , and the dim green air beneath them burst into golden bloom . A couple of sheep were nibbling the lush grass in a far corner of the play-ground ; a cow-bell , somewhere in the maple woods , tinkled faintly and musically , on the still crystal air , which , in spite of its blandness , still retained a touch of the wholesome austerity and poignancy of a Canadian spring . The whole world seemed to have fallen , for the time being , into a pleasant untroubled dream . The scene was very peaceful and pastoral -- almost too much so , the young man thought , with a shrug of his shoulders , as he stood in the worn steps and gazed about him . How was he going to put in a whole month here , he wondered , with a little smile at his own expense . `` Father would chuckle if he knew I was sick of it already , '' he thought , as he walked across the play-ground to the long red road that ran past the school . `` Well , one week is ended , at any rate . I 've earned my own living for five whole days , and that is something I could never say before in all my twenty-four years of existence . It is an exhilarating thought . But teaching the Lindsay district school is distinctly NOT exhilarating -- at least in such a well-behaved school as this , where the pupils are so painfully good that I have n't even the traditional excitement of thrashing obstreperous bad boys . Everything seems to go by clock work in Lindsay educational institution . Larry must certainly have possessed a marked gift for organizing and drilling . I feel as if I were merely a big cog in an orderly machine that ran itself . However , I understand that there are some pupils who have n't shown up yet , and who , according to all reports , have not yet had the old Adam totally drilled out of them . They may make things more interesting . Also a few more compositions , such as John Reid 's , would furnish some spice to professional life . '' Eric 's laughter wakened the echoes as he swung into the road down the long sloping hill . He had given his fourth grade pupils their own choice of subjects in the composition class that morning , and John Reid , a sober , matter-of-fact little urchin , with not the slightest embryonic development of a sense of humour , had , acting upon the whispered suggestion of a roguish desk-mate , elected to write upon `` Courting . ''
His opening sentence made XXXXX 's face twitch mutinously whenever he recalled it during the day .
Canadian Eric Father Marshall cow-bell desk-mate month morning urchin years