talked for several hours about what they were going to do, but neither had anything constructive to say. The idea of physically punishing the boy was beyond both of them. They were interrupted by the telephone. One of the neighbors was saying something in an excited voice about someone climbing in a window upstairs. Mr. Cooper found his Ser- vice automatic and rushed upstairs. A quick search revealed only their son, in bed, asleep. Puzzled, they were about to leave the room when Mrs. Cooper quickly pulled the blankets down, revealing their son fully dressed. Two minutes later, they found that he had been the mysterious prowler. The judge's warning had had no effect and the boy had simply climbed out the window, returning via the same route sev- eral hours later. Mrs. Cooper sat on the bed, shaking her head back and forth, saying "what are we going to do with you?" over and over. Peter chose to ignore them.

Neither of the Coopers got much sleep that night. They would have benefitted by the judge's comments had they chosen to remember it. For it is a primary lesson among those who train mules and other stubborn animals that very often the first and most important step in training is attracting undivided attention and that very often, if not always, the best, fastest and most thorough method of obtaining this is a well-aimed blow on top of the head-or other appropriate part of the anatomy.

Peter was sent off to school the next morning, however, with the usual admonition to "Please be good!" He responded in typical fash- ion: once he had rounded the corner, he simply walked in the opposite direction and spent the better part of the day with some of his friends. By mid-morning, the school had called Mrs. Cooper and she immedi- ately called her husband. Whether it was concern or panic, he quickly asked his employer for time in order to find the boy.

The boss was instantly sympathetic, even offering his help in finding the boy before it was too late. Cooper refused, but his employer was not to be deterred. "You know, Cooper-you're too easy on your boy. Why, I had the same problem with my youngest for a long time." Cooper stared at him in disbelief. The boss' youngest son had been an honor student in high school, in college and was now excelling at the Harvard Business School; surely he was jesting.

"Yeah, you're too easy. Look, let me tell you how we handled our situation and believe me, it was even worse." After about half an hour, Cooper was still staring in disbelief. If his boss was telling the

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