Being late for school, Franz was much scared of scolding by his teacher M. Hamel. When he was entering school, he noticed that there was no commotion rather M. Hamel asked the boy politely to go to his place quickly. He was surprised to see his teacher beautifully dressed. But he was all the more astonished on seeing several other dignified people of the village. In a very gentle, generous, grace and sweet voice M. Hamel said : “My children ! This is the last lesson in French, I shall give you. I want you to be attentive” These words had a soothing effect on the boy. The idea of never seeing him again forgot all about his ruler and other facts.

Then Franz was called to recite participles but he got confused. M. Hamel told that he won’t scold him. The students of Alsace had the trouble of putting off learning. So they should reproach themselves about not knowing their language. He even blamed himself as well as the parents for not learning participles. Then M. Hamel taught grammar with rapt attention and all followed him very decently. In between Franz noticed piercing pain on Hamel’s face as if he wanted to fit everything in his mind before leaving. All these facts changed Franz’s feelings about M. Hamel and school.