By this time he had a long
accumulation of reasons for hating her: Dora's persistent and increasing
competency was not short of flamboyant, and teachers naturally got the
habit of flinging their quickest pupil in the face of their slowest and
"dumbest." Nevertheless, Ramsey was unable to deny that she had become
less awful lookin' than she used to be. At least, he was honest enough
to make a partial retraction when his friend and classmate, Fred
Mitchell, insisted that an amelioration of Dora's appearance could be
actually proven.
"Well, I'll take it back. I don't claim she's every last bit as awful
lookin' as she always has been," said Ramsey, toward the conclusion of
the argument. "I'll say this for her, she's awful lookin', but she may
not be as awful lookin' as she was. She don't come to school with the
edge of some of her underclo'es showin' below her dress any more, about
every other day, and her eyewinkers have got to stickin' out some, and
she may not be so abbasa_loot_ly skinny, but she'll haf to wait a mighty
long while before _I_ want to look at her without gettin' sick!"
The implication that Miss Yocum cared to have Ramsey look at her, either
with or without gettin' sick, was mere rhetoric, and recognized as such
by the producer of it; she had never given the slightest evidence of
any desire that his gaze be bent upon her.
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