¹⁹ Anyone who holds the notion that children were more respectful and better behaved in the "good old days" should read this passage carefully. The boys are constantly "plotting revenge," hoping to "do the master a mischief." They are not contemplating simple misbehavior; they want to cause the schoolmaster embarassment or harm. The schoolmaster's answer to their deeds is "retribution ... so sweeping and majestic that the boys always retired from the field badly worsted." The image of the boys "retiring from the field" indicates that we are witnessing full scale warfare. Though Twain's language is purposely overblown to add humor to the situation, his point is inescapable: there is no love lost between schoolmaster and students, and each will seize the advantage whenever it presents itself.