Charlie was silent a moment, and then he answered, saying: 

“I—­I didn’t exactly take it out, Miss Bradley.  It came out when I took out my handkerchief.  I—­I didn’t mean to do it.”

“Very well then, you didn’t,” the teacher agreed, with a little smile, for she knew Charlie was telling the truth.  “But why did you bring the auto to school at all?”

Then Charlie told of having bought the toy that morning, on his way to school with Bunny Brown.

“I didn’t have time to go home with it after I bought it,” he said, “so I put it in my pocket.  We played with it at recess, and I forgot and wound it up and stuck it in my pocket.  I didn’t mean to let it get out and run down the aisle.”

Miss Bradley wanted to smile, but she knew it would not be just the thing to do.  So she said: 

“Well, Charlie, I will excuse you this time.  But please don’t bring any more toys into the schoolroom.  And now, as we have lost much time from our lessons, we must study extra hard to make it up.  Come to me after school, Charlie, and I’ll give you back your auto.”

Miss Bradley put the toy in her desk for safe keeping, and went on with the lessons.  But it was rather hard for the pupils to get their minds back on their studies, because so much had happened that day from the time the parrot had screeched “Cracker!  Cracker!” in the cloakroom until Charlie’s auto fell out of his pocket and went buzzing down the aisle to bang into the teacher’s foot.

However, the day came to an end at last, and then, talking and laughing, the boys and girls ran out of doors.  Charlie stayed after the others, and walked shyly up to the desk at which Miss Bradley sat, looking over some examination papers.  The room was very still and quiet after the noise and excitement of the children’s outgoing.

“Yes, Charlie.  What is it?” asked Miss Bradley, as she saw him standing near her desk.

“If you please—­my auto——­”

“Oh, yes,” and she opened her desk and handed it to him.  “It is a cute little toy,” and she smiled at Charlie.

“You ought to see it go!” he exclaimed eagerly, for Miss Bradley was really a friend to her pupils, and she knew how to make kites and spin tops almost as good as a boy.

“Here!  I’ll show you!” Charlie went on.  “It’s a dandy!”

Quickly he wound up the auto and set it down on the floor.  The wheels buzzed and the little red car spun across the schoolroom floor.

Bunny Brown and George Watson, waiting outside for Charlie, wondered what was keeping their chum.  They knew he had stayed in to get his plaything.

“Maybe she’s going to make him stay in half an hour,” suggested George.

“She didn’t say she was,” replied Bunny.  “But maybe she’s giving him a—­a leshure.”  What Bunny meant was lecture.

“Let’s look in,” suggested George.

On tiptoes they went to a window whence they could see into the room.  There they saw Miss Bradley winding up Charlie’s auto, and they heard Charlie saying: