By the afternoon it seemed as if the storm had passed and that frost was setting in; but in the evening the wind rose to gale force, bringing telegraph poles down like skittles and tangling power and telephone lines.

And then he walked, with his gleaming gloves either side of his greenish-black frock coat, carefully placing one foot in front of the other to protect his brilliant top boots from the dust on the road, along the straight avenue that led up to the palace of Schönbrunn.

The first reason is that the unemancipated teacher instinctively does to-day what he did twenty years ago, and that twenty years ago, when children were examined in reading from their own books, the teacher heard them read aloud, day after day in order that he might make sure that they knew their books well enough to pass the inspector's test.

Next month, Clemons will be brought before a court presided over by a special master, who will review the case one last time. The hearing will be unprecedented in its remit, but at its core will be a simple issue: should Reggie Clemons live or die?