noon
When school took up again , the Swede boy was told to put his sums on a bit of tar-papered wall near him , and a mixed class in reading lined up in front of the teacher 's table . Soon , however , the room was again quiet . The Swede boy and the class sat down , and the whole school , made sleepy by the warmth from the stove , lounged on their benches and drowsed on their books , and even the little girl , sitting idly on the rostrum , nodded wearily . But right in the midst of the silence , and just before the pupils were dismissed for noon , something so startling happened that the little girl 's curls fairly stiffened in alarm . The teacher clapped his hands , the children followed with a hurried banging of their books and slates , and , instantly , before the little girl had time to think what it all meant , the scholars , with one accord , began to roar at the top of their lungs . `` Scotland 's burning ! Scotland 's burning ! ''