Read on. Pay attention to the adjectives the author uses to depict the new teacher.

Now there was the sound of footsteps in the hall. The pupils scurried to their seats. They were looking straight ahead when the knob turned. The door opened. And the new teacher stepped into the room. He had broad shoulders and narrow hips. He was dressed in a tan suit with a plaid waistcoat. A heavy gold chain hung across his chest. He walked briskly to the front of the room.

“I am Mr. Maxfield Emerson. I will be your teacher for the next year.”

His voice was pleasant and golden, like his watch chain and his hair. His mustache was the same color. It curled up on the ends. Even his eyes glinted gold. He smiled in a dignified way at the children in front of him and brushed his hand over the curl on the top of his head. The curl bounced back, as if it were determined for Mr. Emerson to be as handsome as possible.

The class sat perfectly still while he called the roll. There had never been a man teacher in Ponder’s Mill School except in the very highest grades! Sarah swallowed. Mr. Emerson was the handsomest man she had ever seen. She couldn’t believe he was going to be her teacher.
Mr. Emerson walked to the blackboard at the front of the room.

“These are the subjects we are going to study together during the year,” he announced. He picked up the chalk and turned his back to the class. At the top of the board he wrote HISTORY. He had only written THE UNITED STATES underneath it when Pete Robbins disappeared down the slide. Three of his friends quickly followed him. A few other pupils slipped into the seats that were now empty closest to the back corner of the room.

Mr Emerson finished his list under HISTORY and turned his face to the class. He took the shiny watch out of his vest pocket and glanced at it. Then he turned his broad shoulders back to the board.

He hadn’t noticed a thing!

“Another subject will be English.”

He started a new column on the blackboard. Five or six more children seemed to be sucked down the chute while others shifted to the places they left vacant. Their parents would never have believed they could move so quietly.

The sound of chalk stopped. Then Mr. Emerson began another column headed ARITHMETIC. Sarah tiptoed quickly to the tunnel and swooshed down it. The others were waiting in a circle around the end of the tube.

“Did he see you?” they asked. “No, he doesn’t suspect at all.”

Someone said, “Boy, he must be sort of dumb.” They’d never believed they could be so successful. Finally Piggy Hayden, the last of the missing, popped out of the tunnel.

Poor Mr. Emerson. His whole class disappeared on his very first day. Sarah almost felt sorry for him.

6. Now finish reading the story. Does the ending make you smile? Why?

Just then there was another sound. It was a soft swishing noise as if Aladdin’s hand was rubbing his magic lamp. Obediently the genie appeared.

Mr. Emerson stood up at the bottom of the fire escape. Carefully he smoothed the curl on top of his head. He adjusted the chain across his vest. The class didn’t know what to do — so it did nothing.

Mr. Emerson looked around the circle of staring faces.

“Congratulations. You’re a very alert class. I confess I didn’t even hear the fire drill bell myself.” The smooth golden voice went on. “But soon after this young man left, I started timing you.” His hand dropped casually on top of Pete Robbins’s bristly head. Pete groaned.

“From then until the last one was out” — Mr. Emerson looked at Piggy now — “it only took you four-and-a-half minutes. That’s excellent. You were so quiet and orderly, too. Mr. Bostrum will be pleased. Now, if you’ll all march back upstairs, we’ll see if you’re as smart at your studies.”

Without a single word, the fifth grade marched.

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