Stuck inside on a beautiful, sunny day, Tom's mind wanders

aimlessly as he waits for recess to come.

He takes another bug, this one a tick, out of a box he has

stashed in his pocket. He watches it wander around on the desk
he shares with his best buddy Joe Harper. Since both Joe and
Tom want to play with the bug, they draw a line on a slate and
come up with a system: when the bug is on Tom's side, Tom gets
to play with it, and vice versa.

Needless to say, Tom gets annoyed when the tick spends most
of his time on Joe's side and the two boys argue until they start
getting whacked by the schoolmaster, who has caught them by
surprise.

When the kids get out for recess, Tom runs back over to Becky,
and starts chatting her up, bringing up such wonderful topics as
dead rats, and the joys of swinging them above one's head,
chewing gum, circuses, and marriage.

Tom gets Becky to tell him she loves him, and then to kiss him.
Then he gets her to tell him she'll never love another, and he
tells her the same.

Tom makes the mistake of bringing up his previous love, Amy

Lawrence, which causes Becky to cry. Smooth as he is, Tom fails
to rectify the situation; when he tries to give her his prized brass
andiron in short, a piece from a thing that supports wood in a
fireplace she throws it down in anger.

Tom runs away, and by the time Becky starts to reconsider her
actions, he's nowhere to be found.