Mr. Greenough, the principal, was a kind-hearted, just man, a good disciplinarian, and an excellent teacher. For some years now he had been in charge of the school, and under his management it had reached a degree of success never experienced before. Admission to the school, especially in the higher departments, had been eagerly sought for by scholars who lived far beyond the limits of the corporation; and the town authorities, under certain restrictions and for an ample tuition, had consented that a limited number of outsiders should be admitted. It was under this provision that Ray Branford had the September before entered the school. But as soon as Mr. Greenough learned that the lad's residence at Long Point Farm was but a temporary one, and that his legal home was still that of his father at Black Forge, he had decided that he was within the corporation limits, and was therefore entitled to free tuition at the school, and to all of its privileges. In this opinion the school board of the town had concurred; and so, with that understanding among all the interested parties, his name had been put on the regular roll of the corporation scholars. The room occupied by the senior department was on the second floor of the building, and on the south side. The next lower grade, the grammar, occupied the same room also, and the two departments came directly under the care of Mr. Greenough and his two assistants. Consequently, in this room alone, there were nearly one hundred pupils, whose ages ran from twelve to seventeen. Into this room on the Monday morning after Thanksgiving Ray came for the first time as a scholar. There was a novelty to him in his surroundings, and for a time he felt that every pair of eyes in the room was turned curiously upon him. He could not appear at ease, and evinced an awkwardness quite contrary to his usual, calm self-possession. He also found it difficult at first to study among so many, and it was well for him that the lessons for the day had been already thoroughly prepared. In his own immediate class he found some strangers, but the greater part were already old acquaintances; for it happened that Edward Lawton, the son of the president of the Forge Mills, John Bacon, the son of the superintendent, and all the other lads of Miss Squire's Sunday-school class were in the senior grade at the public school. For the most part, too, they gave Ray a cordial welcome--in fact, the only exception was Edward Lawton. He had never been quite reconciled to Ray's position in the class at the Bible school, and he now manifested a similar resentment at Ray's entrance to the senior grade. This resentment, for reasons which will soon appear, steadily increased, and became open dislike before the term closed.