"I'm goin' to school, and I'm goin' here," he said at last.
That was defiance of the board's authority, and the lawyer--a young man--threw off his coat and tried to eject the unruly pupil from the room; but to his chagrin he was himself ejected, with considerable damage to his legal raiment.

Returning from the door, old Zack offered opportunity for battle to the reverend gentlemen--which they prudently declined.

The lawyer re-entered, covered with snow, for old Zack had dropped him into a drift outside.
Summoning his two colleagues and the schoolmaster to assist him in sustaining the constituted authority, the lawyer once more advanced upon old Zack, who retreated to the far corner of the room and bade them come on.
Many of the smaller pupils were now crying from fright; and the two clergymen, probably feeling that the proceedings had become scandalous, persuaded their colleague to cease hostilities; and in the end the board contented itself with putting a formal order of expulsion into writing.
School was then dismissed for that afternoon, and they all went away, leaving old Zack backed into the corner of the room.

But, regardless of his "expulsion," the next morning he came to school again and resumed his arduous studies.
The story had gone abroad, and the whole community was waiting to see what would follow.

The school board appealed to the sheriff, who offered to arrest old Zack if the board would provide him with a warrant.