But Gilbert by that time had read so many books at home that it seemed absurd that he should be taught to read, and he would rattle through the lesson while the younger children fidgeted and then tried painfully to puzzle it out. Gilbert could spell, too, and he raced through the words, and when he was asked the meaning of words he would say that “retire” meant “go to bed,” because he had seen it mean that in a book he had read. And Miss Waldron would say he was a saucy boy, and plead with him to answer nicely. Then he would mimic her, and watch her fight back the temper in her sad, fierce eyes. She would stand him in the corner, with his back to the class, and he would look round and wink at the other children to make them laugh. Miss Waldron’s sisters would come up from the kitchen below, where they were baking, and beg Gilbert not to make the teacher so unhappy, and promise him a cookie if he would be good. And Gilbert, drunk with power, would refuse everything, and ride his high horse until the mill-whistles blew twelve o’clock, and they all went home for the day. Transcriber’s Notes Errors in punctuation have been fixed. Page 89: “large aethestic” changed to “large aesthetic” Page 93: “bright promsises” changed to “bright promises” Page 255: “capitalistic bourgeosie” changed to “capitalistic bourgeoisie” Page 313: “Glbert would” changed to “Gilbert would” Page 321: “white cumulous” changed to “white cumulus” Page 336: “pricky tangle” changed to “prickly tangle”