OF THIS TIME, OF THAT PLACE
75
the boy. Tertan hesitated and then took the paper but he held it
only tentatively. As
if
with the effort of making something clear, he
gulped, and a slow smile fixed itself on his face.
It
was at once
knowing and shy.
"Professor," he said, "to be perfectly fair to my classmates"
-he made a large gesture over the room-"and to you"-he
inclined his head to Howe--"this would not be for me an extem–
poraneous subject."
Howe tried to understand. "You mean you've already thought
about it-you've heard we always give the same subject? That
doesn't matter."
Again the boy ducked his head and gulped. It was the gesture
of one who wishes to make a difficult explanation with perfect
candor. "Sir," he said, and made the distinction with great care,
"the topic I did not expect but I have given much ratiocination to
the subject."
Howe smiled and said, "I don't think that's an unfair ad–
vantage. Just go ahead and write."
Tertan narrowed his eyes and glanced sidewise at Howe. His
strange mouth smiled. Then in quizzical acceptance, he ducked
his head, threw back the heavy dank lock, dropped into a seat
with a great loose noise and began to write rapidly.
The room fell silent again and Howe resumed his idleness.
When the bell rang, the students who had groaned when the task
bad
been set now groaned again because they had not finished.
Howe took up the papers and held the class while he made the first
assignment. When he dismissed it, Tertan here down on him, his
slack mouth held ready for speech.
"Some professors," he said, "are pedants. They are Dryas–
dusts. However, some professors are free . souls and creative
spirits. Kant, Hegel and Nietzsche were all professors." With
this
pronouncement he paused. "It is my opinion," he continued,
"that you occupy the second category."
· Howe looked at the boy in surprise and said with good–
natured irony, "With Kant, Hegel and Nietzsche?"
Not only Tertan's hand and head but his whole awkward
body waved away the stupidity. "It is the kind and not the quantitv
of the kind," he said sternly.
Rebuked, Howe said as simply and seriously as he could,
