"Ah!" he remarks. "Now you are laying an invidious task upon me. Who am I, to discriminate between my colleagues' Houses?" The young parents apologise precipitately, but the Head says there is no need. In fact, he goes so far as to recommend a House--in strict confidence. "Between ourselves," he says, "I consider that _the_ man here at the present moment is Mr. Rotterson. Send your boy to him. I _believe_ he has a vacancy for next term, but you had better see him at once. I will give you a note for him now. There you are! Good morning!" Off hurry the anxious pair. But the telephone outstrips them. "Is that you, Rotterson?" says the Head. "I have just despatched a brace of parents to you. Impress them! There are prospects of more to-morrow, so with any luck we ought to be able to pull up your numbers to a decent level after all." "Thank you very much," says a meek voice at the other end. * * * * * Then there is the bluff, hearty parent--the man who knows exactly what he wants, and does not hesitate to say so. "I don't want my son taught any of your new-fangled nonsense," he explains breezily. "Just a good sound education, without frills! The boy will have to earn his own living afterwards, and I want you to teach him something which will enable him to do so. Don't go filling him up with Latin and Greek: give him something which will be useful in an office. I know you pedagogues stick obstinately to what you call a good general grounding; but, if I may say so, you ought to _specialise_ a bit more. You're too shy of specialisation, you know. But I say: Find out what each boy in your School requires for his future career, and teach him _that_!" A Headmaster once replied to a parent of this description: "Unfortunately, sir, the fees of this school and the numbers of its Staff are calculated upon a _table d'hôte_ basis. If you want to have your son educated _à la carte_, you must get a private tutor for him." * * * * * Then there is the Utterly Impossible parent. He is utterly impossible for one of two reasons--either because he is a born faddist, or because he has relieved Providence of a grave responsibility by labelling himself "A Self-Made Man, and Proud of It!"