That year a new teacher had been hired and everyone was looking forward to school. Well, everyone except Jeremy. He was a little scared. He knew his brothers had gone to the school and he knew he would eventually, but he was just a little scared. The first day he met the new teacher. He was a tall man, thin and with a sour look on his face. Not like Mr. Trimble who had been very kind and smiled a lot. This new teacher looked grim.

"Joshua, what d-d-d-d-do yo-yo-yo-you Th-th-think t-t-t-t-t-teacher will be l-l-l-l-l-like?" Jeremy asked nervously.

Joshua did not intend to scare his little brother but said that he thought the teacher looked too serious. Jeremy listened and then continued to get his clothes on for school.

Jonathan came in and told the boys to finish getting dressed and asked Jeremy:

"Jeremy, are there any questions you would like to ask before you start school for the first time?"

"Y-y-y-yes Da, W-w-w-w-w-what will it be like?" Jeremy asked this very quietly.

Jonathan looked at his youngest son and said:

"I imagine you will be learning your alphabet and how to read and write as well as your numbers. I expect you will do just as well as your brother's." Jonathan said with a smile on his face and honesty in his voice.

Jeremy smiled and felt better, then he asked:

"May I take King to school?"

Jonathan thought about it and said:

"You can ask your teacher today if you can bring your dog to school if he says yes, then I will let you bring him. If he says 'no' then you will have to leave him at home. Does that sound good?"
Jeremy nodded and grabbed his lunch bucket that Jason had made for him for his first day of school. King was ready to go as well. But Jason had put him in the cabin and Joshua would let King out but when he left the cabin. Jeremy said goodbye to King, the dog got up to go with him, but Jeremy had to say, no to the dog.

When they got to the school Jeremy was a little scared again and wished that King were with him. His father had said he should ask the teacher if it would be okay.

Mr. Crane was the teacher, a tall thin man with a serious look on his face. He rang the school bell and the children lined up outside of the schoolhouse. Looking them over, he divided them into lower grades and upper grades. The 5- and 6-year-olds were put in the front of the classroom followed by the 7-10 and then those above 10. Jeremy had not had many friends to play with due to distance between families. The Spencer children were there but they were all in the upper grades. The smallest children in Jeremy's group were all unfamiliar with each other.

Jeremy was naturally shy, but still he was friendly and had been taught to at least say hello and answer if someone says hello to him. One of the boys named Rick said hello and he responded. But when a conversation got started, he almost couldn't speak without stuttering. Then a few more boys came to talk to Rick and Jeremy and soon, they were making fun of the way he was talking. During lessons, Jeremy did not answer questions, but remained in his seat and sat quietly, wondering what to do. When Recess came, he went over to the teacher to ask if he could bring his dog to school.

"M-M-M-Mr. C-c-c-c-cra-crane?" Jeremy stood by the teacher's desk waiting for him to answer. But he did not acknowledge Jeremy, so Jeremy tried again:

"M-M-M-Mr. C-c-c-c-cra-crane?"

Mr. Crane looked up and saw the small boy standing at his desk. He looked over his spectacles and said:

"Young man, if you cannot speak properly, I cannot speak to you!" Mr. Crane said in a stern voice!

Jeremy did not quite understand what the teacher meant, so he continued to ask:

"S-s-s-sir, I-I-I -w-w-w-w-would l-l-l-l-like to bring my d-d-d-d-dog to s-s-s-sch-school?"

Mr. Crane again looked above his spectacles and asked Jeremy to have his father come talk to him. Then he dismissed him for recess.