A COW'S MOO.
A very small girl was learning to write. Her teacher ruled the slate and set her "copies," and Lucy took great pains with the pot-hooks and round o's with which she began. One day the teacher set down something new for Lucy to copy. M—o—o—Moo.
"What is it?" asked Lucy, with a puzzled look.
"That is 'Moo.' The noise a cow makes, Lucy. See, it is made up of pot-hooks and round o's, just what you have been learning on."
So Lucy sat down and prepared to copy "Moo." But she did it in a queer way. She made an M at the beginning of each line, and followed each M with a whole string of o's all across the slate, like this, Mooooo.
"But that isn't right, Lucy," said the teacher, when the little girl showed her the slate. "You must copy the word as I have written it. So—Moo."
Lucy looked at the teacher's copy, and then at her own attempts, and then she shook her head decidedly.
"Well, I think mine is right, Miss Jones," she said. "For I never saw a cow that gave such a short 'Moo' as you wrote down!"
"Well, Tommie, I suppose you are the smartest boy in your class?"
"Yes, sir," said Tommie. "Teacher says I'm too smart."