No mere man can badger a dominie. From the parent's point of view a teacher is a rival when he isn't a sort of under-gardener. The parent would never think of arguing with the doctor when he says that Willie has measles; the doctor is a specialist in disease, and the parent is not. But it is different with the dominie. He is a specialist in education, but then so is the parent. That is possibly one of the reasons that the teaching profession is such a low-class one, for a teacher is merely a specialist in a world of specialists. Everybody knows how a child ought to be brought up. In justice to parents I must confess that there are only two teachers in Britain to whom I should trust the education of any child of mine. Most teachers are instructionists only, and the parent has some ground for suspicion. X. Duncan was talking about awkward moments to-night, and he told of the shock he got when he joined the army and found that the sergeant of his squad was an old pupil of his. "I think I can beat that, Duncan," I said, and told him the story of an army lecture. I had a commission in the R.G.A. for a short time, and one morning I had to give a lecture to the men of the battery on lines of fire. They were mostly miners, and I tried to make the lecture as simple as possible. I began with the definition of an angle and went on to circular measurement. I noticed that one man stared at the blackboard in bewilderment, a very stupid looking fellow he was. When the lecture was over I approached him. "I don't think you understood what I was trying to tell you," I said. "I did have some difficulty in following it, sir," he said. "H'm! What were you in civil life?" "Mathematical master in a secondary school, sir." I could not rise to the occasion. I fled to the mess and ordered a brandy and soda. Speaking about rising to the occasion brings to my mind another army incident in which I did not shine. I was a recruit in the infantry, and a gym sergeant was putting us through physical jerks. He told us the familiar tale that although we had broken our mothers' hearts we wouldn't break his; in short he put the wind up us. I got very nervous. "Right turn!" he roared, and I thought he said "Right about turn." He told the squad to stand easy, and then he eyed me curiously. "You! Big fellow! Take that smile off your face!" I don't know why he said that for I couldn't have smiled at that moment for anything less than my ticket. He studied me carefully for a bit, then enlightenment seemed to dawn on him. "I got it!" he exclaimed triumphantly. "I know wot's wrong with you! You've got a stupid face; you can't think; you never thought in yer life." I looked on the ground. "_Did_ yer ever think in yer life?" "No, sergeant," I said humbly. "I blinkin' well thought so!" he said and moved away. Then the worm turned. Who was he that he should bully a scholar and a gentleman? I would lower him to the dust. "Sergeant!"