“During all this time Mrs. M. appeared so perfectly calm, composed, and even kind, and so regardless of sighs and doleful exclamations, that Helen entirely lost her equanimity, and let her tears flow freely and abundantly.  Her mother was always moved by her tears, and would not her aunt relent?  No.  Mrs. M. quietly performed the duties of the table, and ordered the tea-equipage to be removed.  This latter movement brought Helen to reflection.  It is useless to resist, thought she; indeed, why should I wish to?  Nothing too much has been required of me.  How ridiculous I have made myself appear in the eyes of my aunt, and even of the domestics!

“In less than an hour she had the satisfaction of reciting her lesson perfectly; her aunt made no comments on the occasion, but assigned her the next lesson, and went on sewing.  Helen did not expect this; she had anticipated a refreshing cup of tea after the long siege.  She had expected that even something nicer than usual would be necessary to compensate her for her past sufferings.  At length, worn out by long-continued watching and fasting, she went to the closet, provided herself with a cracker, and retired to bed to muse deliberately on the strange character of her aunt.

“Teachers not unfrequently threaten their pupils with some proper punishment, but, when obliged to put the threat into execution, contrive in some indirect way to abate its rigor, and thus destroy all its effects.  For example, a mother was in the habit, when her little boy ran beyond his prescribed play-ground, of putting him into solitary confinement.  On such occasions, she was very careful to have some amusing book or diverting plaything in a conspicuous part of the room, and not unfrequently a piece of gingerbread was given to solace the runaway.  The mother thought it very strange her little boy should so often transgress, when he knew what to expect from such a course of conduct.  The boy was wiser than the mother; he knew perfectly well how to manage the business.  He could play with the boys beyond the garden gate, and if detected, to be sure he was obliged to spend a quiet hour in the pleasant parlor.  But this was not intolerable as long as he could expect a paper of sugar-plums, a cake, or at least something amply to compensate him for the loss of a game at marbles.”

5.  COMPLAINTS or LONG LESSONS.—­A college officer assigned lessons which the idle and ignorant members of the class thought too long.  They murmured for a time, and at last openly complained.  The other members of the class could say nothing in behalf of the professor, awed by the greatest of all fears to a collegian, the fear of being called a “fisher” or a “blueskin” The professor paid no attention to the petitions and complaints which were poured in upon him, and which, though originated by the idle, all were compelled to vote for.  He coldly, and with uncompromising dignity, went on; the excitement in the class increased, and what is called a college rebellion, with all its disastrous consequences to the infatuated rebels, ensued.