At her desk opposite the schoolroom door, Dawn heard this deliverance, as he intended she should, and her eyes grew bright. She understood that Daniel Butterworth was her champion, and felt her courage grow stronger at the thought. In a moment more she stood at the school-house door, looking out. Daniel looked up from his whittling and met her gaze. She was smiling, and he felt that she no longer considered him a baby. The diminutive had rankled in his heart, and henceforth his purpose was to prove to her that it was undeserved. If good behavior and hard study alone could do that, then he would behave and study, though it was a new mode of procedure for him. The most interesting fact of the morning was that Daniel Butterworth had given in to the new "school-marm," and all the school knew it. "Teatcher, thshe licked Dan Butterwuth," announced the precocious A-B-C scholar that evening, as she devoured her supper of mush and milk. "Thshe licked him real hard—jetht thlapped hith fathe an’ eyeth an’ earth eth hard eth ever thshe could." Her father dropped his knife and fork on his plate resoundingly. He was the selectman who had unlocked the school-house. He felt in a measure responsible for the new teacher. "The teacher whipped Daniel Butterworth!" he exclaimed. "Well, that settles her hash, I s’pose. I didn’t much think she’d do, such a little whiffet tryin’ to manage great lunkin boys. It ain’t in conscience to expect it. We need a _man_. I told Parson so, but he insisted we try her, an’ this is how it comes out. Well, it’s no more’n I expected. Of course Dan’l’s father’ll never stand that." "What did Dan do?" inquired the A-B-C.’s mother practically. She knew how to get at the root of the matter. "He jeth thet thtill an’ took it." "Dan’l Butterwuth set still an’ took a whippin’ off’n a girl-teacher!" exclaimed the mother. "Are you sure you’re tellin’ the truth?" "Yeth, an’ then teatcher, thshe thaid he wath a _great big baby_, an’ he jeth thet thtill an’ got red, an’ then he took Bug Higginthon an’ thet him down hard where teacher thaid, when he’d thaid, ’I won’t’ to her. An’ then he filled the water-pail fer her, an’ licked all the other boyth." "Well, I snum!" said the selectman gravely. "Mebbe she’ll do, after all. If Dan’l’s took up fer her, there’s a chance." CHAPTER XX Dawn went back to the Golden Swan that evening tired but triumphant. She had had a most successful session of school, and she knew it. She felt the victor’s blood running wildly through her veins, and longed to have the minister know how well she had succeeded.