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 of 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 . Anne turned from the second reader class which she was hearing . `` Really , Barbara , '' she said icily , `` if you can not move without falling over something you 'd better remain in your seat . It is positively disgraceful for a girl of your age to be so awkward . '' Poor Barbara stumbled back to her desk , her tears combining with the coal dust to produce an effect truly grotesque . Never before had her beloved , sympathetic teacher spoken to her in such a tone or fashion , and Barbara was heartbroken .
Anne herself felt a prick of conscience but it only served to increase her mental irritation , and the second reader class remember that lesson yet , as well as the unmerciful infliction XXXXX arithmetic that followed .
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