Betty taught that Sunday school class for twenty years. Though she never married， or had children of her own， the town came to think of her as a surrogate parent since she taught two generations of children. At last， her hair grew into a natural gray. Increasing wrinkles about her mouth and eyes added character to her cherub face. Her hands began to shake with age. Every now and then， she received a letter from a former student. There was a doctor， a research scientist， a homemaker， a businessman， and many teachers among them.
One day she reached into her mailbox and pulled out a blue envelope with a familiar foreign stamp in the upper right-hand corner. In the left corner was the name of a boy in that very first Sunday school class， years ago. She recalled how he’d always liked her cookies and seemed so interested in her lessons. A picture slid out of the envelope and onto her lap. Squinting her eyes， she smiled at the man in the photo， still seeing the teenage boy in him. Standing in the rubble， in the city of Delhi， India， he stood with other volunteers who had come to help the earthquake victims.
The caption read， “Because of you， I am here now.”
斯萬小姐再也不想做主日學校的老師了。哪怕再上一次課都不行！這幫野蠻的孩子在禱告時間內嚼著泡泡糖，在聖經課上看雜誌。最令人無法容忍的是，在禱告時，他們竟然向上帝要求增加每周的零用錢！
“我再也無法容忍你們了，我請辭！” 她衝著學生們尖叫道。“酷，”雷克讚成地點著頭說。他是斯萬見過的最無禮的孩子。
兩個月後，星期日學校才找到新老師。牧師護送貝蒂·雷小姐去見這幫看起來像假天使的孩子們。剛到這個城鎮的她還沒聽說過孩子們趕走老師的事。看到她那小號的粉色衣服，以及一頭染的極差的金發，學生們明顯感到她很容易對付。不久，學生開始打賭貝蒂小姐最多能呆多久。