The tumultuous triumph of the children was not to be controlled.

Again and again they followed Hughie in wild yells, not only because his mother was a great favorite with them all, but because she had wrested a victory from the champion of the Front, for the Front, in all matters pertaining to culture and fashion, thought itself quite superior to the more backwoods country of the Twentieth.
It was with no small difficulty that the master brought the school to such a degree of order that the closing speeches could be received with becoming respect and attention.

The trustees, according to custom, were invited to express their opinion upon the examination, and upon school matters generally.

The chairman, John Cameron, "Long John," as he was called, broke the ice after much persuasion, and slowly rising from the desk into which he had compressed his long, lank form, he made his speech.

Long John was a great admirer of the master, but for all that, and perhaps because of that, he allowed himself no warmer words of commendation than that he was well pleased with the way in which the children had conducted themselves.