Miss Stanton did not call upon him again, however, that day. On the following day George decided that it would be well to give enough attention to the recitation, at least to “keep tab” on what the others were reciting, and gradually he learned that he was likely to be called up at any time that he allowed his attention to wander far away from the work of the hour. Not a word had been said about his pranks, but they ceased to be troublesome to teacher or class. Some children are natural actors. They mimic grown-ups in a ludicrous way. This may be done unconsciously, but sometimes pupils purposely imitate a teacher’s walk, attitude, voice or phraseology, just out of a desire to raise a laugh at the teacher’s expense. CASE 63 (FOURTH GRADE) [Sidenote: Mimicry of Walk] George had an unusual gift of ability to mimic others. Even at the age of nine years he could easily entertain his classmates by imitating various men of the town. His teacher, Miss Giles, was a stout little woman whose arms seemed not to hang closely enough to her body, and as she walked she swung them as if they propelled her through the air. Her voice was fretful whenever she repeated a command, which was often, or whenever she expected disobedience. One day as he followed Miss Giles across the room, the impulse seized him to mimic her gait. This he did, with marked success. When he returned to his seat he began to study her mannerisms with a view to entertaining others. At recess he showed the boys how she held her hands and nodded her head while she talked. The next step was to imitate her voice. This he did successfully. One day, about ten minutes before the afternoon session began, Miss Giles was sitting at her desk, grading penmanship papers, when Marie Allbaugh rushed in and said: “Miss Giles, come out here and listen to George. He’s playin’ like he was you.” Miss Giles hardly understood what Marie wished to tell her, but she followed the child to the front yard where a crowd of children were around George. Unnoticed by most of them, she joined in the circle in time to hear George say in a very good imitation of her voice, “Children, quietly take your books,” then in a fretful tone with a frown, “I said _quietly_.” “Whoo-ee,” shouted one of the listeners, and all joined in a laugh when suddenly they noticed Miss Giles standing there. “George, march right into the house,” said she in her harshest tones. “You shall not have another recess until you have apologized to me for this.” Soon the bell sounded for the afternoon session. When the recess period came, George started to walk out with the other children. Miss Giles saw him, and said, “George, take your seat.” After the other children had all left the room, she went to George’s seat and said, “Are you ready to apologize?” Just then a shout came through the window from the children at play. George wanted badly to join them. He said, “I don’t know how.”