Then he hopped softly away, and stole up and hid on the top of the book-case.
The Schoolmaster went on with his story.
"Well, children, after a while poor 7 got better and promised that he would get unmad. Before the Doctor went home again all the Alphabet and Number Children came and shook poor Number 7's hand, and promised that they would be more kind to him in future."
"Now, children, what do you think of the story?"
They all said that they liked it, that it was beautiful, and that they too would try to be more kind to poor 7 for the future. At last Ruffin the bully boy said:
"I don't believe it. And if it is true I wish he had died; we would be better without him."
"Would we?" asked the teacher, "how?"
"Because we would not be troubled with him," said Ruffin.
As he said it there was a sort of queer croak heard from the Raven, but nobody minded, except Tineboy, who said: -
"Mr. Daw, you and I love poor 7, at all events."
The Raven hated Ruffin because he always threw stones at him, and he had tried to pull the feathers out of his tail, and when Ruffin spoke, his croak seemed to mean, ''Just you wait." When no one was looking Mr. Daw stole up and hid in the rafters.
Then presently school broke up, and Tineboy went home; but he was not able to find Mr. Daw. He thought he was lost, and was very miserable, and went to bed crying.
In the meantime, when the school was locked up empty, Mr. Daw came down from the rafters very, very quietly - hobbled over to the door, and putting his head down, listened; then he flew and scrambled up on the handle of the door, and looked out through the keyhole. There was nothing to see and nothing to hear.
Then he got up on the Master's desk, flapped his wings, and began to crow like a cock, only very softly, for fear he should be heard.
Presently he went over all the room, flying up to the big sheets of multiplication table, and turning over the pages of the books with his claws, and picking up SOMETHING with his sharp beak.
One would hardly believe it, but he was stealing all the Number Sevens in the place; he picked the Seven off the clock, rubbed it off the slates, and brushed it with his wings off the blackboard.
Mr. Daw knew that if once you can get the whole of any number out of a schoolroom no one else can use it without asking your leave.
Whilst he was picking out all the Sevens he was swelling out very much; and when he had got them all he was exactly Seven times his natural size.
He was not able to do this all at once. It took him the whole night, and when he got back to his corner in the rafters it was nearly time for school to open.
He was now so big that he was only just able to squeeze into the corner and no more.
The school time came, but there was no Master, and there were no Scholars. A whole hour passed; and then the Master came, and the Ushers, and all the Boys and Girls.
When they were all in the Master said -
"You are all very late."
"Please, sir, we could not help it," they all answered together.
"Why could you not help it?"
They all answered at once -
"I wasn't called in time."
"What time are you called at every morning?"
They all seemed about to speak, but all were silent.
"Why don't you answer?" asked the Teacher.
They made motions will their mouths like speaking, but no one said anything.
The Raven up in his corner croaked a quiet laugh all to himself.
"Why don't you answer?" asked the Teacher again. "If I have not my question answered at once, I shall keep you all in."
"Please, sir, we can't," said one.
"Why not?"
''Because" -
Here Tineboy interrupted, "Why were you so late Sir?"
"Well, my boy, I am sorry to say I was late; but the fact is, my servant did not knock at my door at the usual hour."
"What hour, sir?" asked Tineboy.
The Teacher seemed as if he was going to speak, but stopped.
"This is very queer," he said, after a long pause.
Ruffin said, in a sort of swaggering way, "We are not late at all. You are here and we are here - that is all."
"No, it is not all," said the Teacher. "Ten is the hour, and it is now eleven - we have lost an hour."
"How have we lost it?" asked one of the Scholars.
"Well, that is what puzzles me. We must only wait a little and see."
Here Tineboy said suddenly, "Perhaps some one stole it!"
"Stole what?" said the scholars.
"I don't know," said Tineboy.
They all laughed.
"You need not laugh, something is stolen; look at my lesson!" said Tineboy, and he held up the book. Here is what they saw -
- 1 are - - 2 " 14 - 3 " 21 - 4 " 28 - 5 " 35 - 6 " 42 - - " 49 - 8 " 56 - 9 " 63 - 10 " -0
All the Scholars crowded round Tineboy to look at the book. Ruffin did not, for he was looking at the school clock.