Admission was conditioned by examinations held in the school itself, and thither Keith was escorted by his mother one late August day.  All novelties stimulated him, and to his inexperience the rather dingy old school seemed enormously impressive.  The mere fact that it occupied a whole building all by itself was enough.  In addition, however, it had an assembly hall large enough to hold several hundred boys, and there were numerous rooms capable of holding thirty or forty boys.  Every pupil had a seat and a small desk of his own.  Seeing these desks, with inkstands sunk into their tops, and special grooves for the penholders, and lids that could be raised, Keith knew that he must pass the examinations or die from a broken heart.

The officiating teachers were stern but not unkind.  Keith was nervous from eagerness, but neither frightened nor embarrassed.  The questions asked were ridiculously easy, he thought.  When his turn came, he answered triumphantly, as if he had been playing a game in which he was quite skilled.  Finding him willing and well prepared, the examiners felt themselves challenged and pressed him more and more.  Still he held his own.  It ended with a sense of triumph on his part, but nothing was said about his having passed.

The wait that followed until all the boys had been questioned was the only difficult part of the ordeal.  Waiting patiently was not a strong point with Keith.  Finally his mother appeared to take him home, and the moment he looked at her he knew.  She was in such high spirits that she had to try a joke.

“Too bad you couldn’t pass,” she said in a voice she vainly tried to make sad.

He knew it was a joke, and yet his heart leaped into his throat and his eyes filled with tears.  Then she had to console him, and to do so, she let out the whole story.  The teachers had told her that he knew enough to go right into the third grade, but on account of his age they had advised her not to let him start above the second grade.  It was a whole year saved, but that was not what she was thinking of.  Her son had distinguished himself by giving proof of a brightness that had aroused unusual attention among the teachers.  Her pride in this fact was such that Keith really began to think that a new life was about to begin for him.

And that night, when his father came home, the whole story had to be told over again with new details, and Keith had the pleasure of seeing an expression of undisguised satisfaction on his father’s face.  It did not last very long, but it was sweet to watch while it lasted.  Then the father resumed his usual manner of stern indifference as he turned to the boy: 

“That’s all very well, Keith, but it means also that they will expect more of you than of the other boys, and so you have to study harder than ever in order to make good with them.”

Keith didn’t care.  It had been a wonderful day, he felt.  He had had his first taste of public approval, and he had noticed the effect of it on his father and mother.  As for the need of studying—­that was easy.  And he didn’t have to begin his studies at once anyhow.