And at that very moment, as the bombastic Elbert was subsiding and the window panes ceased from rattling with the reverberations of his voice, one of the boys in the corner fell more heavily than before against the stove--or, it might have been Elbert Hooker's tones had shaken loose the joints of stovepipe that crossed the schoolroom; however, there was a yell from those down front, the girls scrambled out of the way, the smoke began to spurt from between the joints, and it was seen that only the wires fastened to the ceiling kept the soot-laden lengths of pipe from falling to the floor. CHAPTER XII THE GREEN-EYED MONSTER The soot began sifting down in little clouds; but the sections of pipe had come apart so gently that no great damage was done immediately. The girls sitting under the pipe, however, were thrown into a panic, and fairly climbed over the desks and seats to get out of the way. Besides, considerable smoke began to issue from the stove. One of the young scamps to whose mischievousness was due this incident, had thrown into the fire, just as the pipe broke loose, some woolen garment, or the like, and it now began to smoulder with a stench and an amount of smoke that frightened some of the audience. "Don't you be skeert none," exclaimed Lucas, to 'Phemie and her sister, and jumping up from his seat himself. "'Taint nothin' but them Buckley boys and Ike Hewlett. Little scamps----" "But we don't want to get soot all over us, Lucas!" cried his sister. "Or be choked by smoke," coughed 'Phemie. There was indeed a great hullabaloo for a time; but the windows were opened, the teacher rescued the burning woolen rag from the fire with the tongs and threw it out of the window, and several of the bigger fellows swooped down upon the malicious youngsters and bundled them out of the schoolhouse in a hurry--and in no gentle manner--while others, including Lucas, stripped off their coats and set to work to repair the stovepipe. An hour was lost in repairs and airing the schoolhouse, and then everybody trooped back. Meanwhile, the Bray girls had made many acquaintances among the young folk. Mr. Somers, the teacher, was plainly delighted to meet Lyddy--a girl who had actually spent two years at Littleburg. He was seminary-bred himself, with an idea of going back to take the divinity course after he had taught a couple of years. But it suddenly became apparent to 'Phemie--who was observant--that Sairy looked upon this interest of the school teacher in Lyddy with "a green eye." Mr. Somers, who allowed the boys and young men to repair the damage created by his pupils while he rested from his labors, sat by Lyddy all the time until the meeting was called to order once more.