Who has not seen
him hunting for a missing exercise in a copybook full of scraps of
paper? It is time to go to class; with his head hidden in his desk, he
turns over all its contents in great haste, upsetting a badly closed
ink-bottle over his books and copybooks. The master calls him to order,
and he rushes out well behind all the rest of the boys.
"He was not one of those ill-intentioned boys whose sole idea is to
disturb the class and hinder the work of his comrades. Nor was he a
ringleader. He acted entirely on his own account, and for his own
satisfaction. His practical jokes never lasted long, and did not
interrupt the work of others. His upright, frank and honest nature
always led him to acknowledge his own acts when the master attributed
them by mistake to the wrong boys. He never allowed any comrade to take
his punishment for him, but he knew very well how to extricate himself
from the greatest difficulties. His candor often won him some
indulgence. If he happened to be punished by a timorous master, he
assumed a terrible facial expression and tried to frighten him.
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