Pay Attention, Carter Jones: Chapters 12–15

I saw Billy Colt in homeroom, and while Mrs. Harknet droned, he leaned over and said, “Are you going to do it?”

In Language Arts, Mrs. Harknet said she was proud of us for expanding our repertoire beyond typically American sports.

The Butler did decide to be our coach—when I asked him, he said that Carson Krebs had already proffered the question, and he, following proper pondering, would accept.

The Butler did decide to be our coach—when I asked him, he said that Carson Krebs had already proffered the question, and he, following proper pondering, would accept.

The Butler took both balls on his bat together and lobbed them to the slips.

“I mean, you did it,” said Chall, “and you’re...”
“How do you intend to finish that identification?” said the Butler. “‘Old’?"
“Not exactly.”
“Portly?”

Emily and Charlie and Annie would go upstairs and Annie would complain that I got to stay up later than she did, and the Butler would nod and explain that I had more homework in sixth grade and would she prefer staying up for another hour to do some of Mr. Barkus’s math problems in which you had to show your work and justify your solutions?

And after a while the Butler would come out and say goodnight, and that I had ten minutes left before bedtime, that preparing my backpack would not be amiss, and to dream imaginatively.

We left. Krebs locked the door behind him and hefted his backpack to his shoulder.

The wind had come up, blustery and even cold, and I was sweaty enough to feel the chill.

“An estimable young man. Living in India for any time at all will make a gentleman of you.”
“I suppose,” I said.

“I come from the land of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle,” the Butler said. “I deduced.”
“No you didn’t,” I said. “You knew about it.”

“And the British lament the lack of subtlety and nuance in the American exploitation of our language. How could we have possibly come to that conclusion?”

“And the British lament the lack of subtlety and nuance in the American exploitation of our language. How could we have possibly come to that conclusion?”

The Butler sighed. “That does seem a tad dreary.”

I looked at him. “Why would I do that? The British didn’t think there was any reason for the Declaration of Independence.”
“And how discerning they were,” said the Butler.

“How about taxation without representation?”
“An irksome thing, no doubt—and one faced annually by the inhabitants of your District of Columbia, which is currently the seat of your American government. And yet you do not see those citizens setting up barricades and seceding.”

“How about taxation without representation?”
“An irksome thing, no doubt—and one faced annually by the inhabitants of your District of Columbia, which is currently the seat of your American government. And yet you do not see those citizens setting up barricades and seceding.”

“Hurting innocent civilians is the purview of terrorists. However, as your own John Adams proved at trial, soldiers defending themselves from a mob in the process of attacking them is hardly shooting down innocent civilians....”

“Did the British government detain American officials and subsequently tar and feather them? Did the British government board British merchantmen and ransack them, throwing their cargo into the harbor?..."

“Did the British government detain American officials and subsequently tar and feather them? Did the British government board British merchantmen and ransack them, throwing their cargo into the harbor?..."

“Of course not, young Master Carter, because trying to think objectively in order to discern and express truth is so much less worthy than parroting centuries-old propaganda.”

“Of course not, young Master Carter, because trying to think objectively in order to discern and express truth is so much less worthy than parroting centuries-old propaganda.”

“Of course not, young Master Carter, because trying to think objectively in order to discern and express truth is so much less worthy than parroting centuries-old propaganda.”

“I am not quite sure how Benedict Arnold represents a justification of your Declaration of Independence, unless you mean that document to express a rationale for boorish and illegal behavior—which of course it does...."

“I am not quite sure how Benedict Arnold represents a justification of your Declaration of Independence, unless you mean that document to express a rationale for boorish and illegal behavior—which of course it does...."

However, in the cause of objectivity, I note that the patriot Benedict Arnold, having been scorned for extraordinary acts of valor by your Congress, chose for a representative pittance to turn over an American stronghold to rightful hands for the noble purpose of ending a war ruinous to two countries, though he understood the calamitous consequences to his personal safety and estate.

However, in the cause of objectivity, I note that the patriot Benedict Arnold, having been scorned for extraordinary acts of valor by your Congress, chose for a representative pittance to turn over an American stronghold to rightful hands for the noble purpose of ending a war ruinous to two countries, though he understood the calamitous consequences to his personal safety and estate.

However, in the cause of objectivity, I note that the patriot Benedict Arnold, having been scorned for extraordinary acts of valor by your Congress, chose for a representative pittance to turn over an American stronghold to rightful hands for the noble purpose of ending a war ruinous to two countries, though he understood the calamitous consequences to his personal safety and estate.

However, in the cause of objectivity, I note that the patriot Benedict Arnold, having been scorned for extraordinary acts of valor by your Congress, chose for a representative pittance to turn over an American stronghold to rightful hands for the noble purpose of ending a war ruinous to two countries, though he understood the calamitous consequences to his personal safety and estate.

However, in the cause of objectivity, I note that the patriot Benedict Arnold, having been scorned for extraordinary acts of valor by your Congress, chose for a representative pittance to turn over an American stronghold to rightful hands for the noble purpose of ending a war ruinous to two countries, though he understood the calamitous consequences to his personal safety and estate.

However, in the cause of objectivity, I note that the patriot Benedict Arnold, having been scorned for extraordinary acts of valor by your Congress, chose for a representative pittance to turn over an American stronghold to rightful hands for the noble purpose of ending a war ruinous to two countries, though he understood the calamitous consequences to his personal safety and estate.

“Young Master Carter, might I suggest that you work to overcome the bias of your position and begin with words to this effect: ‘Due to the madness of the times’ or ‘The revolutionaries, in their arrogance’ or ‘Ignoring the many kindnesses of their mother country in their headlong ambition.’"

“Young Master Carter, might I suggest that you work to overcome the bias of your position and begin with words to this effect: ‘Due to the madness of the times’ or ‘The revolutionaries, in their arrogance’ or ‘Ignoring the many kindnesses of their mother country in their headlong ambition.’"

“Let me brew some tea to inspire you,” the Butler said. “That is, unless you wish to emulate your ancestors and throw all the Earl Grey into the swimming pool next door.”