The Master's Question

John is a boy in school, and the master is reciting some dry lesson of history. In front of John sit two boys who hold the balance of the class in their hands. One named Hislop is the master's pet, eager and always ready with an answer. The other boy, Reed, is a butcher's son, here by the charity of a wealthy patron. He rarely speaks, but there is a certain dark gravity about him. 'A boy who cares more for the freedom to direct his own gaze than for the master's anger, is a rare creature indeed,' he writes.