| Halliday's writing leaned very much
back to the left. He was the only pupil in the class who wrote in this way. He
was a nuisance in poetry lessons as he would giggle and make faces and could
never be persuaded to read aloud. His silly behaviour made me believe that he
didn't like poetry. However, When I gave the class a test in which they had to
write down some poetry they had learned by heart, Halliday seemed to know the
most. Halliday had a special dislike for art and I allowed him to read during this period. He never volunteered for drama and refused to make a speech. Football was the one thing at which he excelled, but the sports teacher decided that he did not assert himself enough and he made another boy captain. This boy, named John Jones, could hardly read or write. All attempts to make him work failed, but he captained the team with amazing skill. I remember an occasion when he led our school eleven out of the changing rooms for a cup match against our fiercest rivals, the team from nearby Winterton School. The Winterton girls' hockey team had already beaten our own girls' team and this—plus their excellent start to the season—had raised their morale to a fearsome level. Even so, John played like a true professional. Our only scorer, he made good use of Halliday's passes and scored a goal for every two that the Winterton players could manage between them. Though Kingston lost, the match was a triumph for Captain Jones! In spite of all this, the pupil who impressed me most in the end was David Halliday. He gained my admiration on a day when I had his class for art. They came into the hut shouting and pushing and I sent them out again and told them they would not have a lesson until they walked in properly. They thought it was fun to waste as much time as possible, and they jeered and cheered outside the hut. I let them go on for a minute. Suddenly the noise stopped and in marched Halliday. 'They' re all right now,' he said. 'I've got them lined up.' I looked outside and sure enough the pupils of class 2D were arranged like well drilled soldiers; they were in order of size and in perfect line and so still I could see them shivering in the chilly air. 'Walk in quietly,' Halliday commanded. They obeyed their superior officer and the lesson began. Halliday himself, as usual, refused to work. 'Can I just sit and have a nap?' he asked. After the help he had given me, I could hardly refuse. QUESTIONS: |