No one, so far as Ernie knew, had ever dared to miss two faculty meetings, so he had no idea what punishment was meted out to second offenders. He assumed that one was left alone in a room with a loaded pistol and instructions to do the only honorable thing a man could do under the circumstances. If this were the case, there would be no problem. He would shoot Miss Grimm and run like hell.

If one wanted one of Ernie's students to remember an assignment, he was simply creating frustrations for himself. The best solution was an arrangement with the child's parents, whereby the assignment was written out in large block letters and pinned to the back of the student's jacket in some obvious but unreachable spot, to be removed only by the parent, who could then act as overseer and make sure the work was done.