The boat was all pearly and rainbowy , like the inside of the mussel shells , and her sail was like moonshine . Well , we sailed right across to the sunset . Think of that , teacher , I 've been in the sunset . And what do you suppose it is ? The sunset is a land all flowers . We sailed into a great garden , and the clouds are beds of flowers . We sailed into a great harbor , all the color of gold , and I stepped right out of the boat on a big meadow all covered with buttercups as big as roses . I stayed there for ever so long . It seemed nearly a year but the Oldest Twin says it was only a few minutes . You see , in the sunset land the time is ever so much longer than it is here . ' '' ` Your loving pupil Paul Irving . ' '' ` P. S. of course , this letter is n't really true , teacher . P.I. ' '' XII A Jonah Day It really began the night before with a restless , wakeful vigil of grumbling toothache . When Anne arose in the dull , bitter winter morning she felt that life was flat , stale , and unprofitable . She went to school in no angelic mood . Her cheek was swollen and her face ached . The schoolroom was cold and smoky , for the fire refused to burn and the children were huddled about it in shivering groups . Anne sent them to their seats with a sharper tone than she had ever used before . Anthony Pye strutted to his with his usual impertinent swagger and she saw him whisper something to his seat-mate and then glance at her with a grin . Never , so it seemed to Anne , had there been so many squeaky pencils as there were that morning ; and when Barbara Shaw came up to the desk with a sum she tripped over the coal scuttle with disastrous results .
The coal rolled to every part XXXXX the room , her slate was broken into fragments , and when she picked herself up , her face , stained with coal dust , sent the boys into roars of laughter .
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