Ozgood Blatherton walked determinedly down the hall of Montock High, flanked on both sides and behind by a group of men and women. The principal was talking to the large, rather thick-set man on his left, glancing upwards at the other's ruddy-complexioned face through his pebble-lensed glasses.
"I tell you, Mr. Conroy," Blatherton was saying in his high-pitched voice. "I tell you that you and your Committee are making a disastrous mistake."
"I'm sure you do," the white-haired man beside him dryly answered. "But that's no excuse for your insisting that we all come to school this afternoon. I have better things to do."
"Your Committee of Concerned Parents," Blatherton replied, waving a pudgy hand at the throng of adults around him, "have forced one of my best teachers to resign. Why, you should be glad to have 'new blood' in this school district. God only knows…"
"Watch your language," Mrs. Rasmussen reproved from behind him.
"God only knows," the principal repeated firmly, "that it's extremely difficult to recruit for this small and out-of-the-way area."
"It's a fine town," Elmer Dodderly snapped. "A fine one until this newfangled idea of – well, you know what kind of education."
"I don't mean that," Blatherton said as they all approached Room 12. "I only mean that your irresponsible talk about poor Miss Frazer has caused her to quit us. She was an extremely disturbed young woman, I assure you, when she came to see me yesterday. I'm only hoping that after you see a class of hers in operation, you will change your mind and we can prevail upon her to stay."
"All right," the father of young Wayne Conroy said, his own wariness clear in his voice as Blatherton reached for the door knob. "Let's go in and take a look. But I warn you, Blatherton, this had better be good!"