OF THIS TIME, OF THAT PLACE
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with all respect to our Dean who reads this, a noble man, but merely
dedicated, not consecrated. But not in the aspect of the Paraclete only
is Dr. Joseph Barker Howe established, for he must be the Paraclete
to
another aspect of himself, that which is driven and persecuted by the
lack of understanding in the world at large, so that he in himself
embodies the full history of man's tribulations and, overflowing upon
others, notably the present writer, is the ultimate end."
This was love. There was no escape from it. Try as Howe might
to remember that Tertan was mad and all his emotions invalidated, he
could not destroy the effect upon him of his student's stern, affectionate
regard. He had betrayed not only a power of mind but a power of love.
And however firmly he held before his attention the fact of Tertan's
madness, he could do nothing to banish the physical sensation of grati–
tude he felt. He had never thought of himself as "driven and persecuted"
and he did not now. But still he could not make meaningless his sen–
sation of gratitude. The pitiable Tertan sternly pitied him, and comfort
came from Tertan's never-to-be-comforted mind.
III.
In an academic community, even an efficient one, official matters
move slowly. The term drew to a close with no action in the case of
Tertan, and Joseph Howe had to confront a curious problem. How should
he grade his strange student, Tertan?
Tertan's final examination had been no different from all his other
writing, and what did one "give" such a student? De Witt must have
his A, that was clear. Johnson would get a
B.
With Casebeer it was a
question of a B-minus or a C-plus, and Stettenhover, who had been
crammed by the team tutor to fill half a blue-book with his thin feminine
scrawl, would have his C-minus which he would accept w.ith mingled
indifference and resentment. But with Tertan it was not so easy.
The boy was still in the college process and his name could not be
omitted from the grade sheet. Yet what should a mind under suspicion
of madness be graded? Until the medical verdict was given, it was for
Howe to continue as Tertan's teacher and to keep his judgment peda–
gogical. Impossible to give him an F: he had not failed. B was for
Johnson's stolid mediocrity. He could not be put on the edge of passing
with Stettenhover, for he exactly did not pass. In energy and richness
of intellect he was perhaps even De Witt's superior, and Howe toyed
grimly with the notion of giving him an A, but that would lower the value
of the A De Witt had won with his beautiful and clear,
if
still arrogant,
mind. There was a notation which the Registrar recognized-Inc. for
Incomplete and in the horrible comedy of the.situation, Howe considered
that. But really only a mark of M for Mad would serve.
In his perplexity, Howe sought the Dean, but the Dean was out of
town. In the end, he decided to maintain the A-minus he had given
Tertan at midterm. After all, there had been no falling away from that
quality. He entered it on the grade sheet with something like bravado.
