It so happened that this girl, Dolores by name, and a Catalonian by race, was the sort of character at once dreaded and hated by all her associates; the act of summary justice above noted proved popular: there was not one present but, in her heart, liked to see it done. They were stilled for a moment; then a smile⁠—not a laugh⁠—passed from desk to desk: then⁠—when I had gravely and tranquilly returned to the estrade , courteously requested silence, and commenced a dictation as if nothing at all had happened⁠—the pens travelled peacefully over the pages, and the remainder of the lesson passed in order and industry.

“ C’est bien ,” said Madame Beck, when I came out of class, hot and a little exhausted. “ Ça ira. ” 12

She had been listening and peeping through a spyhole the whole time.