Summary Chapter 21

Mr. Dobbins is harder on the students as Examination Day approaches. The boys often do mischief out of revenge, only to get a worse beating for it. They plan a scheme with the sign painter’s son, whose family Mr. Dobbins boards with.

The evening comes where the children demonstrate their knowledge to the adults. Tom gets stage fright in the middle of his speech and can’t finish it. The young ladies read compositions that always have a moral to it. A ten page composition wins the prize.

Mr. Dobbins tries to draw a map of the U.S. He has difficulty in doing so. A cat is lowered down, and she grabs his wig—revealing his bald head the sign painter’s son had guilded.